Research Methods in Psychology
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Research Methods in Psychology introduces students to the fundamental principles and techniques used in psychological research. The course covers various research designs, including experimental, correlational, and observational methods, as well as ethical considerations in conducting research with human and animal participants. Students will learn about data collection techniques, measurement reliability and validity, and basic statistical analyses. Emphasis is placed on developing scientific literacy, evaluating published research, and designing, conducting, and interpreting psychological studies. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the essential skills to critically assess research findings and contribute to the scientific understanding of behavior and mental processes.
Recommended Textbook
Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences 4th Edition by Frederick J Gravetter
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Chapter 1: Introduction, Acquiring Knowledge, and the Scientific Method
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Q1) Which of the following is not a good example of a hypothesis?
A)There is no relationship between fatigue and reaction time.
B)Increased sugar consumption leads to an increased level of activity.
C)Smaller class size is related to better academic performance.
D) A person's level of self-esteem is related to how long he or she will persist at a difficult task.
Answer: A
Q2) If the scientific method is being used to evaluate a hypothesis predicting a specific relationship between two variables,then it is essential that both variables can be measured.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Part of the scientific method involves using a hypothesis to make predictions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Research Ideas
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Q1) Which of the following items is not provided in a detailed record for item in PsycInfo?
A)title
B)abstract
C)details of research methodology
D)all of the other items are provided Answer: C
Q2) Magazine articles that report on previous research are primary sources.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The most complete coverage of existing journals is provided by full-text databases.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q4) A textbook is a primary source.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Defining and Measuring Variables
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Q1) Using shoe size as a measure of intelligence would produce measurements that have very high test-retest reliability.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Using the amount of class participation as a definition of self-confidence is an example of an operational definition.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) After measuring a set of individuals,a researcher finds that Bob's score is three times greater than Jane's score.These measurements must come from a(n)________ scale.
A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Ethics in Research
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Q1) Informed consent involves three elements: information,understanding,and volunteering.Describe how the intent of informed consent can be compromised by limitations in any one of these three elements.
Q2) The ethical guidelines for nonhuman subjects include items about animal care because,unlike most human participants,
A)animals cannot understand the risks involved in a research study.
B)animals cannot give informed consent.
C)animals cannot express a desire to withdraw from the research.
D)animals are usually housed in a laboratory setting before and after the research.
Q3) The IRB is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of nonhuman research subjects as well as human research participants.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Although some forms of deception are allowed,a researcher cannot deceive participants about potential risk in the study.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the common components of consent forms.
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Chapter 5: Selecting Research Participants
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Q1) Convenience sampling involves selecting individuals who are easy to get.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A researcher is interested in the television viewing preferences for of adolescent boys and selects a group of 25 boys to participate in a research study.The group of 25 boys is a ______.
A)sample
B)statistic
C)population
D)parameter
Q3) Stratified random sampling is used instead of simple random sampling when a researcher wants to ensure that the sample has specified characteristics.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Under what circumstances is a stratified random sample the most appropriate sampling method?
Q5) The accessible population is a subset of the target population.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Research Strategies and Validity
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Q1) Both qualitative and quantitative research involve observing and recording behaviors in order to describe and explain behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences.The participants in both groups consist of a mixture of males and females.In this study,gender (male/female)is a(n)________ variable.
A)independent
B)dependent
C)extraneous
D)confounding
Q3) Which research strategy attempts to address questions about cause-and-effect relationships but fails to produce an unambiguous answer because the study contains a flaw?
A)experimental
B)quasi-experimental
C)nonexperimental
D)correlational
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Chapter 7: The Experimental Research Strategy
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Q1) Dr.Jones is interested in studying how indoor lighting can influence people's moods during the winter.A sample of 100 households is selected.Fifty of the homes are randomly assigned to the bright-light condition where Dr.Jones replaces all the lights with 100-watt bulbs.In the other 50 houses,all the lights are changed to 60-watt bulbs.After two months,Dr.Jones measures the level of depression for the people living in the houses.In this example,the level of depression is the ________ variable.
A)dependent
B)extraneous
C)correlational
D)independent
Q2) A researcher reports that participants made fewer errors on a simulated air-traffic-control task when quiet background music was playing than when there was no music.For this study,the number of errors is the independent variable.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Explain why control of extraneous variables is a necessary component of an experiment.
Q4) Explain how simulation and field studies increase external validity.
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Chapter 8: Experimental Designs: Between-Subjects Design
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Q1) The primary limitation of a two-group design is that A)it is simple to interpret.
B)it increases the chances of demonstrating a significant mean difference.
C)it tends to reduce the differences between the groups.
D)it may not provide a complete picture of the relationship between the variables.
Q2) One advantage of a between-subjects design is that each score is completely independent of the other scores in the data.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Assignment bias can threaten the internal validity of between-subjects experiments. A)True
B)False
Q4) In a between-subjects experiment,one way to reduce the variance within treatments is to create more homogeneous groups by holding constant a participant characteristic such as age or gender.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the basic characteristics of a between-subjects experiment.
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Chapter 9: Experimental Designs: Within-Subjects Design
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Q1) Counterbalancing involves having different groups of participants move through the series of treatments in different orders.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A Latin square is used with
A)partial counterbalancing.
B)complete counterbalancing.
C)matched-subjects designs.
D)all within-subjects designs.
Q3) In a Latin square
A)each participant receives each treatment in the same order.
B)each treatment is administered first in the series for one group of participants.
C)each participant receives a different treatment.
D)every possible ordering of treatment conditions is used.
Q4) Identify two time-related factors that can threaten the internal validity of a within-subjects research study.In each case,explain how the factor could be a confounding variable.
Q5) Under what circumstances is a within-subjects design not a good choice for a research study?
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Chapter 10: The Nonexperimental and Quasi-Experimental Strategies: Nonequivalent Group, Pre-Post, and Developmental Designs
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Q1) In the ______________ design,a researcher makes multiple observations before and after some event not manipulated by the researcher.
A)time-series
B)interrupted time-series
C)longitudinal
D)cross- sectional
Q2) The posttest-only nonequivalent control group design comes close to being a true experiment and therefore is a quasi-experimental design.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Nonexperimental and quasi-experimental designs involve comparing groups or conditions.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Longitudinal developmental studies provide a relatively quick and easy way to evaluate development over time.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Distinguish nonexperimental designs from quasi-experimental designs. Page 12
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Chapter 11: Factorial Designs
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Q1) In a 3*4 factorial design there are ________ main effect(s)and ________interaction(s)possible.
A)3; 4
B)2; 3
C)2; 1
D)1; 2
Q2) Which of the following is the correct description for a research study comparing problem solving ability for girls versus boys under three different levels of temperature?
A)2 x 2 design
B)2 x 3 design
C)2 x 2 x 3 design
D)none of the other options is an accurate description.
Q3) The pretest-posttest control group design is an example of a A)between-subjects design.
B)within-subjects design.
C)repeated measures design.
D)mixed design.
Q4) Explain what it means to say that main effects and interactions are all independent.
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Chapter 12: The Correlational Research Strategy
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Q1) Both correlational studies and differential research examine the relationship between two variables.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Suppose it was observed that there is a correlation of r = ?0.81 between a driver's age and the cost of the car insurance.This correlation would mean that,in general,older people pay more for car insurance.
A)True
B)False
Q3) To establish the validity of a measure,a researcher examines
A)the relationship between the scores from 2 administrations of the measure.
B)the relationship between the measure and another measure.
C)the mean difference between the scores from 2 administrations of the measure.
D)the mean difference between the measure and another measure.
Q4) A correlation of r = ?0.90 means that there is essentially no consistent relationship between X and Y.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the correlational research strategy.
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Chapter 13: Descriptive Research Strategy
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Q1) Counting how many times a child exhibits disruptive behavior during a 30-minute observation period is an example of measuring behavior using the duration method.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The case study design can be useful for studying unusual clinical cases such as rare psychiatric disorders.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Archival research involves applying the techniques of behavioral observation to record behaviors in books or movies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Behavioral observation is used in many different types of research.What is the specific characteristic that differentiates the observational research design from other research using behavioral observation?
Q5) Describe the primary distinction between descriptive research and other research strategies.
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Chapter 14: Single-Subject Research Designs
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Q1) A stop-smoking program requires participants to monitor their smoking and to control the number of cigarettes they smoke.The program sets a target for the number of cigarettes a participant is allowed each day,and the target number is changed every three days.Although the target moves up and down,it gradually reduces toward a goal of zero smoking after six weeks.If this program were evaluated using a single-subject design,which design would be appropriate?
A)ABAB design
B)multiple-baseline design
C)alternating-treatments design
D)changing-criterion design
Q2) An advantage of single-subject designs is that
A)they can be used with one participant.
B)they are valuable in clinical settings.
C)they allow for an experiment to be conducted on a single individual.
D)the other three choices are all advantages of single-subject designs.
Q3) An ABAB design is preferred to a multiple-baseline design if the treatment is expected to have a permanent or long-lasting effect.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Statistical Evaluation of Data
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Q1) In a hypothesis test,standard error measures
A)the size of the treatment effect.
B)variability for the sample data.
C)the likelihood of a Type I or Type II error.
D)the amount of difference between the sample and the population that is reasonable to expect just by chance.
Q2) For a research study comparing the average problem-solving ability for 5-year-old,6-year old,and 7-year-old boys,the appropriate hypothesis test is
A)independent-measures t test.
B)repeated-measures t test.
C)single-factor analysis of variance.
D)chi-square test for independence.
Q3) Which of the following is the definition of variance?
A)the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores
B)the average distance from the mean
C)the square root of the average distance from the mean
D)the average squared distance from the mean
Q4) Explain why a measure of effect size is recommended to accompany the result from a hypothesis test.
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Chapter 16: Writing a Research Report
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Q1) The reference section of an APA-style research report begins immediately following the discussion section,not on a new page.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A research report title should
A)be a maximum of 50 characters.
B)begin with the words "A study of".
C)describe the study as completely as possible in no more than 12 words.
D)none of the other three choices is a characteristic of a research report title.
Q3) Where should figures be placed in a manuscript?
A)in an appropriate place in the text
B)at the end
C)at the beginning
D)on the page immediately following their location in the text
Q4) When reporting statistical significance of inferential statistics,what items should be included?
Q5) What is the purpose of a research report?
Q6) What is the purpose of a research proposal?
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