Deck 13: Quasi Experiments

Question 1

A danger in labeling a pre-existing groups as though they were independent variables is

A) Not realizing that groups are always dependent variables
B) That true differences may be obscured
C) Not looking at individual scores
D) That variability is increased

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is a subject variable?

A) sex of participant
B) number of trials
C) friendly versus formal treatment by experimenter
D) reaction time

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which one of the following statements is true concerning the nonequivalent control group design?

A) It has an experimental and control group but lacks random assignment of subjects to groups.
B) It uses two nonequivalent control groups with random assignment of subjects to groups.
C) It is used to make comparisons between two non equivalent groups that are randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions.
D) It uses two groups that are initially the same but are found to be nonequivalent at the end of the study.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

If an experiment compared preexisting classes of students, the two classes would be called

A) Ex post facto variables
B) Extraneous variables
C) Confounding variables
D) Dependent variables

Question 5

A true experiment is preferable to a quasi experiment _____________

A) always
B) never
C) when you cannot randomly allocate subjects to conditions
D) all other things being equal

Question 6

If X = experimental treatment and O = pretest or posttest observation, then for "O X O", O represents the _____ design.

A) nonequivalent control group
B) interrupted time series
C) delayed control group
D) repeated treatment

Question 7

Whether quasi experiments with pretest and posttest designs can be interpreted depends on

A) Whether the pattern of result can be accounted for by other differences between the groups.
B) Whether pretest and posttest performance differ for the groups
C) The number of participants in the study
D) The number of participants in the control group

Question 8

Quasi experimental designs that involve two preexisting groups have as a problem that

A) The focus is entirely on individuals
B) Alternative hypotheses cannot ever be ruled out
C) Differences between the groups may have existed before the experiment started
D) They are by definition confounded

Question 9

A quasi experiment has lower __________ validity but may have higher ________ validity

A) statistical, construct
B) construct, statistical
C) external, internal
D) internal, external

Question 10

Which of the following pattern of results of a nonequivalent control group design is generally interpretable?

A) The control and experimental groups are equal in the pretest, but unequal in the posttest.
B) The control group is higher than the experimental group on both pretest and posttest, but the experimental group increases more.
C) The experimental group is higher than the control group on both pretest and posttest, but the experimental group increases more.
D) Any pattern in which the experimental group changes more than the control group from pretest to posttest.

Question 11

The presence of uncontrolled variables in a quasi experiment

A) Reduces the internal validity of the experiment
B) Renders the experiment invalid
C) Eliminates the reliability of the experiment
D) Make interpretation impossible

Question 12

A distinguishing characteristic of the nonequivalent control-group design is that the

A) control group does not receive a pretest
B) researcher has control over confounding variables
C) experimental and control treatments are randomly assigned to the groups
D) subjects are not randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups

Question 13

The results of a quasi experimental design involving non-equivalent control groups with pretests and posttests

A) Cannot be believed because of confounding
B) Cannot always be interpreted
C) Lack power
D) Lack external validity

Question 14

The most common quasi experimental design is the ______ design.

A) interrupted time series
B) repeated treatment
C) regression discontinuity
D) nonequivalent control group

Question 15

The distinctions between true and quasi experiments, in general, depend upon the degree to which

A) subjects are randomly assigned to groups
B) subjects are equivalent from the start
C) the researcher is able to maintain control over variables
D) the research findings are generalizable to other subjects, times, and places

Question 16

A field study may be preferable to a true experiment because of increased

A) Internal validity
B) Elevated reliability
C) Variability
D) Ecological validity

Question 17

In a true experiment, the researcher _______ variables, and in a quasi-experiment the researcher _______ variables.

A) manipulates, observes
B) observes manipulates
C) controls, assigns
D) assigns, records

Question 18

When a researcher has some degree of control over the independent variable, but not full control, the type of research is called

A) Quasi experimental
B) Survey
C) Factorial
D) Single factor

Question 19

A criminal psychologist is interested in studying the effect of a new furlough program on inmate morale. There are two prisons involved in the study. One prison will institute the furlough program and the other prison will not. The psychologist arranges with the superintendent of both prisons to measure inmate morale before the furlough program begins and six months after the program has started. What type of quasi experimental design is illustrated in this example?

A) nonequivalent control group
B) regression discontinuity
C) interrupted time series
D) repeated treatment

Question 20

In a quasi experiment, the researcher

A) selects subjects for different conditions from preexisting groups
B) has complete control over the way the experiment is to be conducted
C) has limited control over the way subjects are selected
D) both a and c

Question 21

A child psychologist believes that the level of aggressive behavior of 3- to 5-year-old children is strongly influenced by the types of toys available to play with. To test her hypothesis, she arranges with a local preschool to run the following experiment: For one week, the children will be able to play with all the toys normally available at the school. Then, all war-like toys toy soldiers, tanks, guns, etc.) will be removed for a week. In the third week, the war-like toys will be reintroduced, and in the fourth week removed again. During each week, the psychologist will observe the children's level of aggressive behavior. What type of quasi experimental design is illustrated in this example?

A) delayed control group
B) repeated treatment
C) interrupted time series
D) regression discontinuity

Question 22

An interrupted time series design lacks

A) manipulation of an independent variable
B) statistical control over many extraneous variables
C) a control group
D) external validity

Question 23

In a repeated treatment design, subjects' responses are measured

A) on several experimental variables
B) before and after repeated treatments
C) once before and several times after treatment is administered
D) only after treatment has been repeated several times

Question 24

A time series design may be considered a

A) non equivalent control group
B) within-subjects design
C) randomized design
D) factorial design

Question 25

A documentary film director made a series of films about the lives of a set of children when they were 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 years of age, i.e, the films 7-Up and 14-Up... What type of research design is this?

A) longitudinal
B) cross-sectional
C) sequential
D) program evaluation

Question 26

The ABAB single-subject design is similar to the ____________ quasi experimental design.

A) regression discontinuity
B) interrupted time series
C) repeated treatment
D) mixed factorial

Question 27

If X = experimental treatment and O = pretest or posttest observation, then "O O O O X O O O" represents the _____ design.

A) delayed posttest control group
B) interrupted time series
C) repeated treatment
D) regression discontinuity

Question 28

In a study designed to test the development of mathematical ability, a group of 3-year olds and a group of 10-year olds are tested. What sort of design is this called?

A) cross sectional
B) longitudinal
C) cross sequential
D) cohort

Question 29

A __________ study tests different individuals at the same general time.

A) cross sectional
B) longitudinal
C) cross sequential
D) cohort

Question 30

A single group of subjects is measured on a certain variable at periodic intervals and the experimental treatment is administered between two of these intervals. This is an example of the ______ design.

A) repeated treatment
B) regression discontinuity
C) delayed control group
D) interrupted time series

Question 31

An automobile plant plans to implement a new assembly procedure throughout the plant in order to increase productivity. To find out whether the new procedure is better than the old, management plans to compare weekly productivity over the last six months before the change with the first six months after the change. What type of quasi-experimental design is illustrated in this example?

A) interrupted time series
B) delayed control group
C) regression discontinuity
D) repeated treatment

Question 32

A cohort is an)

A) control group
B) experimental group
C) nonequivalent control group
D) group of subjects that has something in common, such as year of birth

Question 33

Everyone born in 1990 would be considered part of the 1990

A) Secular trend
B) Cohort
C) Cross-section
D) Longitudinal

Question 34

If a study were preformed that measured alcohol-related traffic accidents before and after an increase of the drinking age, the study would use an) ___________ design.

A) longitudinal
B) interrupted time series
C) control series
D) ABAB design

Question 35

Keogh and Witt 2001) had men and women drink a cup of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee and then measured their pain tolerance. This study could be called a __ design

A) repeated treatment
B) mixed factorial
C) delayed control group
D) interrupted time series

Question 36

If X = experimental treatment and O = pretest or posttest observation, then "O X O X O X O" represents the _____ design.

A) repeated treatment
B) mixed factorial
C) regression discontinuity
D) interrupted time series

Question 37

A __________ study tests the same group of individuals over a long period of time.

A) cross sectional
B) longitudinal
C) cross sequential
D) cohort

Question 38

Niederkrotenthaler and Sonneck 2007) measure the rate of suicide before and after the implementation of strict media guidelines. The study represents the _____ design.

A) longitudinal
B) interrupted time series
C) control series
D) ABAB design

Question 39

Which one of the following statements is most true concerning baseline stability in an interrupted time series design? It is desirable to have

A) baseline stability before the independent variable is introduced
B) baseline stability after the independent variable is introduced
C) baseline stability before and after the independent variable is introduced
D) abrupt changes in baseline before the independent variable is introduced

Question 40

Interrupted time series designs are useful when

A) forming a control group is not feasible
B) subjects can be measured periodically with the same instrument
C) the experimental treatment is not a naturally occurring event
D) both a and b

Question 41

The stakeholders in a program evaluation are

A) People in an organization who are affected by a change to the program
B) People in management of the program
C) College students
D) People are sabotaging it

Question 42

Effect size is compared across different studies by

A) measuring the dependent variable on a common scale
B) considering only those with the same independent variable
C) considering the variability of the response
D) correcting any skewness in the data

Question 43

Like any other type of research, a program evaluation

A) Involves stakeholders
B) Involves reviewing the literature
C) Involves the department chair
D) Can suffer from a lack of meta-analytic validity

Question 44

Combining the results of many studies as if they were one large study is called

A) program evaluation
B) quasi-experimentation
C) meta analysis
D) factor analysis

Question 45

People sometimes resist a program evaluation because

A) They are afraid that they will lose control of the program
B) They are afraid that the information gathered will be abused
C) They believe that evaluation is pointless
D) All of the above

Question 46

Longitudinal studies have the theoretical problem that

A) Age is confounded with time of testing
B) It's difficult to recruit people for such a study
C) They are expensive
D) They take a long time to complete

Question 47

A secular trend is a

A) decrease in religiosity
B) trend in the general population
C) trend that increases and decreases in a regular pattern, such as the seasons
D) time-lag effect

Question 48

It is possible to find a large effect that is not statistically significant because

A) There were too few subjects in the study
B) The researchers used a within-subjects design
C) The researchers used an enormous number of subjects
D) The researchers used a between-groups study

Question 49

Which of the following is NOT a step in conducting a program evaluation?

A) decide whether an evaluation should be done
B) examine the literature
C) determine how the evaluators will be compensated
D) identify the stakeholders

Question 50

You are interested in determining whether the ability to name odors changes with age. Specifically, you believe that children over age 7 may perform much better than those under 4 on an odor identification task. Explain how you might construct a study longitudinally and cross-sectionally. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Now try a cross-sequential design. What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Question 51

The effect resulting from following cohorts over time in a cross-sequential design is called

A) A Null hypothesis
B) A Time lag effect
C) A Longitudinal effect
D) A Cohort effect

Question 52

When a review of the literature reveals many articles on the topic, but many of them report opposite results, a ________ may be a useful tool for evaluating the topic.

A) Factor analysis
B) Meta-analysis
C) Program evaluation
D) Quasi-experimentation

Question 53

An evaluation of how effective a program is in meeting its goals is called a

A) Summative evaluation
B) Factorial design
C) Formative evaluation
D) Meta-analysis

Question 54

Which of the following is the first step in conducting a program evaluation?

A) decide whether an evaluation should be done
B) examine the literature
C) determine the methodology
D) identify the stakeholders

Question 55

An evaluation listing how to improve a program while it is ongoing is called a

A) Summative evaluation
B) Factorial design
C) Formative evaluation
D) Meta-analysis

Question 56

We ran an experiment with 10 men and 10 women that investigated whether the color of the paper red/white) that someone was copy-typing from or the color of the computer screen red/white) that someone was typing onto made any difference in typing speed. Everyone typed on all colors of paper with all colors of screens. We hypothesized that men would be affected by the color of the screen, but not by the color of the paper. Is the experimental design within-subjects, between-subjects, or mixed? What is are) the independent variables)? The dependant variables)? Is the design a true experiment, single-subject experiment, or a quasi-experiment? What are the conditions of the experiment?

Question 57

A __________ study is able to test time lag effects.

A) cross sectional
B) longitudinal
C) cross sequential
D) cohort

Question 58

A teacher is interested in the effects of the use of programmed learning materials as supplementary aids in an advanced foreign language course. She is interested in the amount of foreign language vocabulary learned during one college semester. There are 92 students enrolled in four advanced French classes who are taught by this teacher. These students make up the subjects for the experiment. Two of the classes of students have access to the programmed learning material and the other two classes do not. Discuss an experimental design that would be appropriate for this situation. Is it necessary that the instructor use a pretest? Consider the matter of control. What procedures would be necessary for adequate internal validity? Comment on the external validity of this experiment.

Question 59

Barak and colleagues 2008) reviewed many studies of the efficacy of internet-based psychotherapy and concluded that it was generally effective. Their technique is called

A) Meta-analysis
B) Program evaluation
C) Quasi-experimentation
D) Factor analysis

Question 60

Discuss the differences between true experimental designs and quasi experimental designs. Discuss some of the major difficulties the researcher faces when less than a true design is used.