Ch5 Focusing Your Question And Choosing A Verified Test Bank

Test bank questions

1. Identify three factors that help you decide what kind of research method to use and explain why they matter.
2. Discuss three different types of variables involved in experiments and provide an example to illustrate how they relate to one another.
3. Differentiate between an experimental and nonexperimental method, highlighting one strength and one limitation of each.
4. Explain how the role of theory can differ between different methods.
5. Identify three different types of validity, and define each one. Explain one way that can compromise each one of them.

1. A research project that has poorly operationalized variables would necessarily lead to which of the following scenarios?

1. Strong validity and poor reliability
2. Poor reliability
3. Poor validity
4. Poor validity and strong reliability

2. Which one of the following is not a key quality of a good research hypothesis?

1. It is falsifiable.
2. It is testable.
3. It is theoretically driven.
4. It is irrefutable.

3. Which of the following is likely to lead to a theory that is likely to be not falsifiable?

1. A theory about a construct that one cannot observe.
2. A theory about infants that makes it difficult to control in an experiment.
3. A theory about a specific culture indigenous to the Amazon jungle.
4. A theory about a brand new phenomenon that no one has previously observed.

5. What is the key component of an experimental study that provides for causal explanation?

1. The comparison of a treatment to control group.
2. Random assignment to a treatment and control group.
3. Random sampling of a generalizable population.
4. Control settings with stronger validity and reliability.

6. Joseph conducted an experiment and found that participants who were administered a supplement were less likely to contract the flu than those who were not. Irene criticizes the study, citing past experiments that have found null results. She says that the effect Joseph found was likely to be a false positive. Irene is essentially questioning what aspect of Joseph’s study?

1. External validity
2. Construct validity
3. Internal validity
4. Face validity

7. The following questions are based on this survey. The survey responses range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with 3 as a neutral point:

1. In general my life is quite satisfactory.
2. I find myself eager and motivated for every new day.
3. I am happy for the most part.
4. I am not upset about anything important in my life.
5. The 4 items are asking about more or less the same thing.
6. The survey is high on internal validity.
7. The survey is high on internal reliability.
8. The survey valid and reliable.

8. A researcher used the following survey. The survey responses range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with 3 as a neutral point:

1. In general my life is quite satisfactory.
2. I find myself eager and motivated for every new day.
3. I am happy for the most part.
4. I am not upset about anything important in my life.
5. The survey has low construct validity.
6. The survey has low internal consistency.
7. The survey has low conclusion validity.
8. The survey has high internal validity, but low external validity.

9. Ron finds that students who played with a puzzle before solving mathematical problems perform better than students who did not play with a puzzle. Ron is concerned about whether other researchers will obtain similar findings if they conduct the same experiment. Ron is mainly concerned about the study’s….

1. relativism.
2. mediation.
3. reliability.
4. population.

10. Which of the following best demonstrates reliability of a scientific finding?

1. In a media interview, a group of professors are quoted as vouching for the truth of a scientific finding.
2. A scientific finding is mentioned so often in casual conversation that it becomes common sense knowledge.
3. A researcher uses the same methodology and obtains the same results as a study published in an academic journal.
4. A psychologist uses the same methodology across all her experiments.

11. Susan is conducting a study on the effects of sexism on how highly business managers think of their staff. Susan does not reveal the true purpose of her experiment until after the managers have rated profiles of their staff, because she does not want managers to adjust their ratings if they knew that the study was about sexism. Which of the following is true?

1. Susan is preserving the validity of her study’s measure by not revealing its true aim.
2. Susan is ensuring the reliability of her study’s conclusions by surveying more than one manager.
3. Susan is reducing the effect of causality bias by not revealing the true purpose of her experiment.
4. Susan is neither preserving the validity of her study’s measure nor the reliability of her study’s conclusions with her actions.

12. John Watson claimed, “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar-man and thief.” (Watson, 1913)

1. Watson’s approach does not contain any assumptions. In other words, his approach is atheoretical.
2. Watson holds the assumption that nature defines the eventual career of a person.
3. Watson holds the assumption that nurture determines the eventual career of a person.
4. Watson holds the assumption that both nature and nurture defines the eventual career of a person.

13. Which of the following qualities are necessary for a scientific hypothesis?

1. Grounded in basic research and reliable.
2. Specific and testable.
3. Wide-ranging and testable.
4. Grounded in application and reliable.

14. Which quality of a theorized psychological processes best lends it to be falsified in hypothesis testing?

1. Unambiguous
2. Unobservable
3. Unconscious
4. Unmeasurable

15. If a psychological concept cannot be falsified, it means that the concept…

1. is false.
2. must always be true.
3. will always be outside the realm of science.
4. could one day be within the realm of science due to technological advancements.

16. Which of the following is true about extrasensory perception?

1. It lies beyond the realm of science because the concept involves perception that occurs outside of our five senses.
2. It exists, because there have been cases of psychics helping detectives to solve crimes.
3. It makes claims that are falsifiable and thus can be subjected to hypothesis testing.
4. It lies beyond the realm of science because its claims violate the laws of physics.

17. What is the meaning of refuting a claim empirically?

1. Showing that it cannot be supported based on observations or experiences that can be verified.
2. Showing that it cannot be supported based on the testimony of an expert.
3. Showing that it cannot be based on the official standards of a federal or state regulatory board.
4. Refuting it based on logical deduction.

18. Which of the following is the best source of precise predictions that can be falsified?

1. Framework theories
2. Specific theories
3. Model-driven theories
4. Implicit theories

19. Which of the following is not a part of operationalizing a variable?

1. Deciding how to measure it.
2. Choosing a method to observe it.
3. Exploring various ways to conceptualize it.
4. Coming to an agreement on its fundamental properties.

20. Which of the following is the best practice for selecting what research method to use?

1. The research method you choose should primarily be driven by your research question.
2. The research method you choose should be the most convenient so that data can be collected efficiently.
3. The research method you choose should be the costliest because the best methods are always the most expensive.
4. The research method you choose should be the most commonly used method of the day so that you can easily compare results with other researchers.

21. Which of the following is true about observational research design and open-ended interviews?

1. They are unscientific because they are qualitative.
2. They can be very helpful in the early stages of research that is new and understudied.
3. They do not provide any new information to the researcher.
4. They often provide the final, definitive evidence for a theory.

22. Which of the following is true about correlational and causal designs?

1. Both designs allow you to investigate an association between variables only.
2. Both designs allow you to investigate what factors influence a particular behavior without knowing anything about causality.
3. A correlational design allows you to investigate what factors influence a particular behavior while a causal design allows you to investigate if a behavior is associated with other factors.
4. A correlational design allows you to investigate an association between variables while a causal design allows you to investigate directionality of an association.

23. Which of the following describes random assignment in the context of an experiment containing an experimental treatment group and a control group?

1. All participants are assigned to a method of treatment that was randomly selected from ten known treatments in the clinical field. After undergoing treatment, all participants were then placed in the control group.
2. The researcher randomly decides that the first thirty people recruited for the experiment will be assigned to the control group and the next thirty people recruited for the experiment will be assigned to the treatment group.
3. After deciding randomly which condition to start with, the researcher assigned participants alternately to either the control group or the treatment group. That is, if the first participant was assigned to the control group, then the second participant was assigned to the treatment group.
4. Each participant is assigned to either the control group or the treatment group based on a random decision.

24. Sally is interested in studying the effects of maternal exposure to pollution on infant health. She would like to examine whether exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is linked to an increase in infant health problems. Which is the best option for the study design that should Sally use, and why?

1. Sally should use an experimental design because it will allow her to make causal claims about pollution and infant health.
2. Sally should use an experimental design because it is a more rigorous method than a nonexperimental design.
3. Sally should use a nonexperimental design because it is unethical to use an experimental design in this case.
4. Sally should use a nonexperimental design because it is less artificial than an experimental design in this case.

25. Moderating variables _________________ the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Mediating variables _________________ the relationship between two variables.

1. uncover; also reveal
2. influence; explain
3. explain; influence
4. conceal; influence
5. The research question should be the main driving force that helps you determine what method to employ.
6. Researchers who have a political agenda may claim that all research has some sort of underlying agenda.
7. A grounded theory approach is generally a top-down approach.
8. Finding hidden meaning or non-obvious meanings from a subjective experience of a participant is known as description.
9. Qualitative researchers come from a very narrow tradition. They have similar foci and goals.
10. Stanovich (2013) suggests that essentialist questions are outside the realm of science and belong in philosophy and religion.
11. External validity refers to generalizability.
12. Studies that have high internal validity will always have high external validity.
13. Construct validity is predicted by internal consistency.
14. One of the major limitations of experimental methods is its potential lack of validity.
15. Experimental groups generally always need a standard or second group to be compared to.
16. Correlational designs help you conclude if your variables are related.
17. Moderating variables explain the relationship between an independent and dependent variable.
18. A testable-hypothesis means that it is purely driven by theory without assumptions.
19. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research differ in their degree of falsifiability.