Chapter 13: Evaluating the Methods Section—Procedures

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. A variable which manipulates an event or phenomenon to study its effect on another variable is known as the ______.

A. dependent variable

B. independent variable

C. exogenous variable

D. indigenous variable

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Description of Study Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Random assignment to groups ______ the effects of some threats to validity.

A. increases

B. decreases

C. doesn’t change

D. escalates

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. ______ validity refers to the extent to which the researchers can replicate the actual events occurring in the natural environment and thus can generalize the results back to the population.

A. Internal

B. Extraneous

C. Replication

D. External

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Internal and External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Theoretically, the more control the researchers have over the experimental condition, ______.

A. the lower the internal validity

B. the lower the internal reliability

C. the higher the internal reliability

D. the higher the internal validity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Internal and External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Events occurring during the time of the study that are unrelated to the treatment or independent variables are known as ______.

A. instrumentation

B. statistical regression

C. history

D. maturation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Possible physical and/or psychological changes that occur in the participants over the period of the study refer to this type of threat to internal validity ______.

A. maturation

B. history

C. testing

D. instrumentation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. When participants become sensitized to the intent of the study or the desired responses the researchers are seeking from pretest to posttest, which type of threat to internal validity occurs?

A. history

B. maturation

C. attrition

D. testing

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. ______ type threat to internal validity occurs when the experimental and control groups are selected based on different criteria or when participants are assigned to groups differentially and not by random assignment.

A. Attrition

B. Differential selection

C. Maturation

D. History

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The threat to internal validity which involves participants dropping out of the study is known as ______.

A. history

B. maturation

C. attrition

D. testing

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. When the experimenter communicates to the participants, most often subtly, what outcomes he or she would like to achieve, this is known as ______.

A. the Hawthorne effect

B. the experimenter effect

C. the disruption effect

D. description effect

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Which threat to external ecological validity refers to how events occurring at the time of the intervention or treatment affect the outcome?

A. measurement of the dependent variable

B. interaction between time of measurement and treatment effects

C. interaction between history and treatment effects

D. novelty or disruption effects

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. ______ is a threat that refers to circumstances where the control group is aware of not receiving the intervention which is perceived to be of value.

A. Resentful demoralization

B. The John Henry effect

C. Bitter corruption

D. The Henry Jordan effect

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. ______ refers to when the control group is aware they are in a study and make efforts to do better and outperform the experimental group.

A. Resentful demoralization

B. The John Henry effect

C. Bitter corruption

D. The Henry Jordan effect

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The threat of ______ has been noted to be the most significant issue for single-subject research designs.

A. history

B. maturation

C. attrition

D. testing

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. A solution to which threat is to use an unobtrusive measure, so the participants are not aware they are being observed or measured on the dependent variable?

A. the Hawthorne effect

B. the experimenter effect

C. the disruption effect

D. description effect

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Internal and External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. The procedures section in a research article is intended to be a step-by-step description of how the study was conducted.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Description of Study Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The scientific method requires that researchers submit their studies to public scrutiny of the scientific/professional community.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Evaluating the Methods Section—Procedures

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. If a particular treatment is used, a step-by-step description is provided in the procedures section.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Evaluating the Methods Section—Procedures

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Unlike random selection, random assignment means that all those selected from the population to participate in a study have an equal chance of being assigned to a particular group.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. All research methods use random assignment.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The definition of a true experimental study requires that a manipulation occur and that there be random assignment to groups.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. When studies are conducted over a period of time and there is no random assignment to groups, history is not a threat.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Attrition is also called experimental mortality.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The Hawthorne effect and novelty and disruption effects are the same.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. The procedures section is not the section where considerable focus will be in determining the efficacy of the study.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Summary

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Give a brief description of what the procedures section includes.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evaluating the Methods Section—Procedures

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Define random assignment.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. List three threats to internal validity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Provide an example of when history may be a threat to internal validity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Give an example of how to reduce testing as a threat to validity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Give an example of how maturation may impact a study.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Name the two threats to population validity that have been proposed.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Provide an example of interaction between personological variables and treatment (sample characteristics) as a threat to population validity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Provide an example of the Hawthorne Effect.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Define novelty or disruption effects.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Describe the benefits and concerns about random assignment in educational research.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Random Assignment

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Discuss instrumentation as a threat to validity.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Discuss statistical regression as a threat to validity.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Threats to Internal Validity

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Discuss multiple treatment interference as a threat to external validity.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Discuss pretest sensitization.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Threats to External Validity

Difficulty Level: Hard