Research Methods Assignment (1)

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Norwalk Community College *

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1011

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Psychology

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Dec 6, 2023

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Name: Research Methods Assignment Multiple Choice (2 points each): Identify your answers by changing them to bold font like this. 1. “Children who watch violent cartoons will become more aggressive.” According to the scientific method, this statement is most likely a(n) ____. a. conclusion b. result c. hypothesis d. fact 2. Robbie went to McDonald’s to observe people eating in fast-food restaurants. He brought a camera crew and bright lights, and they all wore yellow jump suits. Robbie said he wanted to do a naturalistic observation but may have had some problems because of _____. a. room crowding b. observer effects c. participant observation d. eating McDonald’s food 3. Dr. Smith is conducting research in Kenya into the ways that mothers and their toddlers interact throughout the day. Given the purpose of her study, it is most likely that she is engaged in ____. a. experimental research b. laboratory observation c. case study research d. naturalistic observation 4. The magazine Desperate Wives publishes a survey of its female readers called “The Sex Life of the American Wife.” It reports that 87 percent of all wives like to make love in rubber boots. The critical flaw in this research would be the fact that ____. a. the sample is not representative of American wives b. a psychological test, rather than a survey, should have been given c. rubber boots are not equally available in all regions of the country d. making love has not been operationally defined 5. Peter records data that indicates the number of hot chocolates sold at the concession stand increases as temperature outside decreases. Which of the following statements is the most accurate depiction of this finding? a. There is a correlation between the two variables. b. There is a strong, positive correlation between the two variables. c. There is a weak, positive correlation between the two variables. d. There is a negative correlation between the two variables. 6. Jamie finds that the number of hours she sleeps each night is related to the scores she receives on quizzes the next day. As her sleep approaches 8 hours, her quiz scores improve; as her sleep drops to 5 hours, her quiz scores show a similar decline. Jamie realizes that ____. a. there is a negative correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grades b. there is a positive correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grades c. her low quiz scores are caused by sleep deprivation the night before a quiz d. she should sleep about 10 hours a night to ensure 100 percent quiz grades 1

7. All of the following variables, except for ____, would likely show a positive correlation. a. height and weight b. men’s educational level and their income c. alcohol consumption and scores on a driving test d. school grades and IQ scores 8. All of the following variables, except for ____, would likely show a negative correlation. a. average income and the incidence of dental disease b. adult shoe size and IQ scores c. the value of a car and the age of a car d. hours spent watching TV and grade-point average 9. Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest relationship between two variables? a. .50 b. .25 c. –.25 d. –.75 10. A correlation coefficient represents two things: ____and ____. a. a representative sample; strength b. strength; direction of the relationship c. the experimental group; control group d. direction of the relationship; expectant functionality 11. A researcher is investigating the effects of exercise on weight. What are the independent and dependent variables in this experiment? a. The dependent variable is weight; the independent variable is exercise. b. The independent variable is calories consumed; the dependent variable is diet. c. The independent variable is weight; the dependent variable is calories consumed. d. The dependent variable is amount of exercise; the independent variable is calories consumed. 12. In order to increase typing speed, Minisoft has redesigned its keyboard and provided a chime that is related to typing speed. The company wants to know if its innovations affect typing speed. Identify the independent and dependent variables in this proposed study. The dependent variable is: a. the chime; the independent variables are the chime and typing speed. b. Typing speed; the independent variables are keyboard design and the chime. c. keyboard design; the independent variables are typing speed and the chime. d. the number of errors made; the independent variables are the chime and typing. 13. Independent variable is to dependent variable as ____. a. effect is to confound b. experimental is to correlation c. measure is to manipulate d. manipulate is to measure 14. Which of the following is a common ethical guideline when conducting psychological research? a. Participants must be informed of the nature of the research in clearly understandable language. b. Debriefing may be omitted when young children are involved. c. Participants cannot be subjected to any stressful stimuli. d. Participants may not withdraw once they start. 2

15. In a laboratory, smokers are asked to “drive” using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and a gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the driver’s seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine. You are interested in comparing how many collisions the two groups have. In this study, the participants who smoke a cigarette without nicotine comprise the _____. a. control group b. simulation group c. experimental group d. no-control group 16. Two groups of graduate students were given rats and were told to teach them how to run mazes. Group 1 was told that they had “very smart” rats that should learn quickly. Group 2 was told that they had “very stupid” rats that should learn slowly. In actuality, neither group was any different, and the rats were randomly assigned. In spite of that, when the experiment concluded, Group 1 rats had learned the maze much more quickly. How can that be explained? a. experimenter effect b. placebo effect c. subject bias d. treatment effect 17. A weakness of _____ is that subjects participating in the research often report, consciously and unconsciously, inaccurate information. a. naturalistic observation b. surveys c. field experiments d. laboratory experiments 18. Cause-and-effect conclusions can be drawn from the results of an experiment because: a. it is almost always performed in a laboratory setting. b. statistical analysis can be applied to data from an experiment. c. the independent variable is manipulated while other possible causes of change in the dependent variable are held constant. d. several groups of subjects, not just one sample, are typically investigated in a laboratory experiment. 19. The purpose of a control group in an experiment is to: a. serve as a check on the interpretation of results. b. increase the ability to generalize the findings. c. manipulate the dependent variable. d. represent the general, nonlaboratory population. 20. Why is it essential that experimental and control groups be treated identically in every respect but one? a. so that the dependent variable can be accurately measured b. so that the results will apply outside the laboratory setting. c. so that if the behavior of the two groups differs, the difference can be credited to the one thing that distinguished the groups from one another. d. so that if the behavior of the two groups differs, that difference can be used to establish a functional relationship between the independent and dependent variables. 3

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21. Surveys indicate that people are much less likely to support "government welfare" than "government aid to the needy." These two different expressions best illustrate the importance of: a. random sampling. b. wording effects. c. courtesy bias. d. the false consensus effect. 22. If those who watch a lot of TV violence are also particularly likely to behave aggressively, this would not necessarily indicate that watching TV violence influences aggressive behavior because: a. random sequences often don't look random. b. correlation does not prove causation. c. sampling extreme cases leads to false generalizations. d. events often seem more probable in hindsight. 23. In order to assess reactions to a proposed tuition hike at her college, Susan sent a questionnaire to every fifteenth person in the college registrar's alphabetical listing of all currently enrolled students. Susan employed the technique of: a. naturalistic observation. b. replication. c. mixed questioning. d. random sampling. 24. One disadvantage of survey research is that: a. they take too much time b. the sample may not represent the larger population c. you cannot compare answers across different ethnic groups d. they can only reach a small number of people 25. Why are properly conducted surveys so accurate? a. questions are asked to a small number of people b. a random sample of people are used c. only educated people are allowed to participate d. specialists are used to choose the participants 26. What is the best way to describe what a "correlation" is: a. the connection between a cause and an effect b. the association of family members into the extended family c. an occurrence that can only be explained as random d. an association or relationship between the occurrence of two or more events 27. Matthew was listening to a radio talk show and heard the announcer talk about "a high correlation between crime and poverty." The announcer then proceeded to say since there was a high correlation, poverty causes crime. Matthew is taking psychology in college and disagrees with what he just heard. Matthew knows that: a. a correlation does not indicate cause and effect relationships b. to properly evaluate the statement, he needs to know the strength of the correlation c. poverty is difficult to measure d. the research indicates that crime causes poverty, not vice versa 4

28. Which of the following correlations represents a situation in which an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in the other variable? a. +.90 b. +.30 c. .00 d. -.70 29. Which of the following correlations represents a situation in which an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other variable? a. -.45 b. -.61 c. .00 d. +.45 30. Select the statement about research methods that is incorrect . a. A survey gives us information about a large number of people. b. A case study provides information about one person. c. The experiment suggests cause and effect relationships. d. A correlation shows us cause and effect relationships. 31. Professor Mendez is conducting an experiment to determine if giving weekly homework to his students will increase their grades. He has two sections, each with 35 students. One section gets homework every week, the other section doesn’t. At the end of the 15-week semester, he calculates the overall class average for each class to determine which class performed better. In his experiment, what is the independent variable ? a. the class average b. the homework c. length of the semester d. number of students involved 32. The factor that is being measured in Professor Mendez’s experiment mention above is called the: a. independent variable b. dependent variable c. random variable d. experimental variable 33. What is the dependent variable in Professor’s Mendez’s experiment mention above? a. the class average b. the homework c. length of the semester d. number of students involved 34. Benjamin wants to see if nicotine causes cancer in rats. Half of his lab rats are given nicotine; the other half are not. In this experiment, the rats that receive nicotine are the ____, and the rats that don’t are the ____. a. independent variable; dependent variable b. dependent variable; independent variable c. control group; experimental group d. experimental group; control group 5

35. Dr. Turner is conducting a study of a new depression drug. The participants in her study don’t know if they are receiving the drug or a sugar pill. Additionally, her assistants who are administering the pills to the participants also don’t know who is getting which treatment. What kind of procedure is this known as? a. single-blind b. double-blind c. random selection d. random assignment 36. In Dr. Turner’s drug study mentioned above, what is another name for the sugar pill? a. decoy pill b. alternative treatment c. placebo d. random pill 37. A psychologist uses the double-blind technique in his research design. He is trying to avoid: a. self-selection bias b. self-reinforcement c. a biased sample d. both experimenters and subjects’ expectations from affecting the study 38. ____ is a system used for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data. a. Statistics b. The scientific method c. Checks and balances d. The double-blind method 39. When you watch dogs play in the park or watch how your professors conduct their classes, you are engaging in a form of ______. a. case study research b. naturalistic observation c. survey research d. psychometric study 40. The placebo effect means _____. a. all conditions in an experiment are the same b. that there is no control group c. the expectations of the participants influence their behavior d. experimenter bias causes the subjects to act strangely Fill-In Questions (2 points each): For each question, insert your answer in bold in place of the blank. 41. The more cigarettes a person smokes, the higher their blood pressure. This is an example of a __________ correlation. 42. The more classes you miss, the lower your GPA. This is an example of a __________ correlation. 43. & 44. In correlational research, it can often be difficult to determine which variable is the __________ and which is the __________. 45. A research method in which the real-life behavior of a pre-selected person is studied in-depth for some period of time is the __________ method of research. 6

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46. You overhear psychology students preparing for a test. They note that one research method often “fails to generalize.” They talking about the __________ method. 47. People’s intuitive theories of behavior are often __________, illustrating why we need controlled experimentation. 48., 49. & 50. Scientific thinking is based on the ideas of __________, __________ and __________. 7

Research Methods Assignment (1)

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