Chapter 18 Test Items

1. Geronimo has been running a study examining the relationship between patient satisfaction and communication satisfaction with one’s physician and received the following correlation: r (455) = .84, p < .001. Which of the following is true about this finding?

a. As one’s communication satisfaction decreases, patient satisfaction also decreases.

b. As one’s communication satisfaction increases, patient satisfaction decreases.

c. As patient satisfaction increases, communication satisfaction decreases.

d. Patient communication satisfaction causes patient satisfaction.

2. Carlos received a correlation of .60. How would we characterize the correlation’s practical significance?

a. weak

b. moderate

c. strong

d. marvelous

3. Which of the following is the correct APA formatting for a correlation result?

a. r (N = 489) = .62, p < .005

b. r (489) = .62, p < .005

c. R (489) = .62, p < .005

d. r (489) = .62, p < .005

4. Tika finds that there is no relationship between two variables. What does this mean?

a. As one variable’s score goes up, the other variable’s score goes down.

b. As one variable’s score goes down, the other variable’s score goes up.

c. As one variable’s score goes up, the other variable’s score goes up.

d. As one variable’s score goes up or down, nothing happens to the second variable.

5. Susan found that an individual’s level of talkaholism is negatively related to her or his level of communication apprehension. Which of the following represents this concept?

a. As one’s talkaholism score goes up, one’s communication apprehension score goes down.

b. As one’s talkaholism score goes up, one’s communication apprehension score stays the same.

c. As one’s communication apprehension score goes up, one’s talkaholism score stays the same.

d. As one’s talkaholism score goes up, one’s communication apprehension score goes up.

6. Kerry has been running a study examining the relationship between patient satisfaction and communication satisfaction with one’s physician and received the following correlation: r (365)

= –.76, p < .0005. Which of the following is true about this finding?

a. As one’s communication satisfaction decreases, patient satisfaction also decreases.

b. As one’s communication satisfaction increases, patient satisfaction decreases.

c. As patient satisfaction increases, communication satisfaction increases.

d. Patient communication satisfaction causes patient satisfaction.

7. Carly is conducting a study in which she is examining the relationship between teacher immediacy and learning outcomes. Carly finds that as teacher immediacy increases, student learning outcomes also increase, to a point. At a certain level, if teacher immediacy becomes too high, student learning outcomes actually decrease. What type of relationship has Carly found?

a. positive

b. negative

c. mediated

d. curvilinear

8. Which of the following is NOT an underlying assumption of correlations?

a. The independent variable should be nominal and the dependent variable should be interval or ratio.

b. The sample should be random.

c. Scores for both variables being compared must be obtained from each participant.

d. The relationship between two scores should be linear.

9. What is the first step in analyzing the Pearson product-moment correlation?

a. determine the sum of squares

b. assess the significance level

c. examine the descriptive statistics

d. examine the strength of the relationship

10. Bill received a correlation of .30. How would we characterize the correlation’s practical significance?

a. weak

b. moderate

c. strong

d. marvelous

For questions 11 to 17, you must use the correlation results presented below. A researcher wanted to test for a relationship between an individual’s willingness to listen and her or his receiver apprehension. Here are the data from the sample:

11. In the correlation presented, what is the N?

a. 15

b. 2

c. 50

d. 13

12. In the correlation presented, what is the calculated value for the correlation?

a. –.96

b. .96

c. .69

d. –.69

13. In the correlation presented, what was the calculated p value for the correlation?

a. p < .001

b. p = .00

c. p > .05

d. p < .0005

14. In the correlation presented, which of the following statements is correct?

a. the correlation was statistically significant

b. the correlation was not statistically significant

c. the correlation reported a large effect size

d. the correlation reported a small effect size

15. In the correlation presented, which of the following is the correct APA write-up?

a. r (15) = –.96, p < .005

b. r (15) = –.96, p > .005

c. R (15) = .96, p < .005

d. r (15) = –96, p > .005

16. In the correlation presented, how would you characterize the practical significance of the correlation?

a. strong

b. moderate

c. minimal

d. statistically significant

17. In the correlation presented, which of the following is a correct interpretation of the correlation?

a. An individual’s level of willingness to listen is negatively related to her or his receiver apprehension.

b. An individual’s level of willingness to listen is positively related to her or his receiver apprehension.

c. An individual’s level of willingness to listen is not related to her or his receiver apprehension.

d. An individual’s level of willingness to listen causes her or his receiver apprehension.

18. What combination of variables do you need to have to calculate a correlation?

a. interval/ratio, interval/ratio

b. ordinal, interval/interval ratio

c. nominal, ordinal

d. nominal, nominal

19. Julian is in the process of calculating a correlation. He has 178 participants and finds an r value of .29. Which of the following is the most correct finding for statistical significance?

a. p < .01

b. p < .05

c. p < .001

d. p > .05

20. A researcher reports the following in her study, “The relationship between communication apprehension and media consumption was, r (566) = -.12, p = .05.” Based on a 95% confidence interval, which of the following statements is TRUE?

a. There is a negative relationship between communication apprehension and media consumption.

b. There is a positive relationship between communication apprehension and media consumption.

c. There was a curvilinear relationship between communication apprehension and media consumption.

d. There is a no relationship between communication apprehension and media consumption.

21. Correlations may be used to show causation.

a. True

b. False

22. Before a researcher can begin correlational analysis, simple descriptives should be examined.

a. True

b. False

23. All Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients exist on a scale from 0 to 1.0.

a. True

b. False

24. The correlation is a test of differences.

a. True

b. False

25. The Pearson product-moment correlation utilizes one nominal and one interval variable.

a. True

b. False

26. When conducting a correlation, a sample should be random.

a. True

b. False

27. When conducting a correlation, scores for both variables being compared must be obtained from each participant.

a. True

b. False

Essays:

28. Explain the different types of relationships (positive, negative, neutral, curvilinear).

29. Explain the purposes of a correlation.

30. Explain why correlation does not equal causation.

31. Interpret the correlation results that are provided below. The study examined a source's credibility (competence, caring/goodwill, and trustworthiness) and an individual's perceived knowledge of the War on Terror.

Matching:

32. Match each of the following terms with the correct statement.

a. Curvilinear Relationship = A relationship that is either positive or negative to a certain point and then starts to go in the other direction.

b. Neutral Relationship = When two variables simply are not related to each other at all.

c. Positive Relationship = When the scores on one variable go up and the scores on another variable go up.

d. Negative Relationship = When the scores on one variables go up and the scores on another variable go down.