Deck 7: Nonexperimental Research

Question 1

A study of the relationship between a person's occupation (college professors vs. factory workers) and the need for cognition would be a correlational study.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

It is always best to avoid conducting nonexperimental research.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Single-variable research cannot answer questions about relationships between variables.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Quasi-experimental research involves the manipulation of an independent variable.

Question 5

Correlational research must be about the relationship between two quantitative variables.

Question 6

Correlational studies have good internal validity.

Question 7

Qualitative research is not used in psychology.

Question 8

Correlational research can be used when the independent variable is impossible to manipulate.

Question 9

A quasi-experiment includes the random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions.

Question 10

Nonexperimental research is appropriate when the independent variable cannot be manipulated.

Question 11

Experiments generally have good internal validity.

Question 12

Correlational and quasi-experimental research concern relationships between variables.

Question 13

A quasi-experiment includes the manipulation of an independent variable.

Question 14

Nonexperimental research generally has good internal validity.

Question 15

In correlational research, the independent variable is not manipulated.

Question 16

The defining feature of correlational research is that Pearson's r is used to describe the data.

Question 17

Nonexperimental research is more common in the study of personality and individual differences than in the study of cognition and perception.

Question 18

Correlational research is about a single variable.

Question 19

Milgram's original obedience study is an example of single-variable research.

Question 20

Good researchers avoid conducting correlational studies.

Question 21

Which of the following is most likely to be studied using a correlational study?

A) the effect of study strategy on recall
B) the effect of traumatic childhood experiences on adult depression
C) the effect of noise level on mental concentration
D) the effect of wearing glasses on how attractive people are perceived to be

Question 22

In a participant observation study, the researcher observes people secretly without interfering with them.

Question 23

A researcher conducts a study on the relationship between caffeine consumption and performance on a math test. What kind of study is this?

A) experimental
B) correlational
C) quasi-experimental
D) There is not enough information here to tell for sure.

Question 24

Which of the following is the defining feature of correlational research?

A) An independent variable is manipulated while extraneous variables are controlled.
B) One variable is measured and described.
C) Research participants are interviewed in depth about their experiences.
D) Two variables are measured and the relationship between them is assessed.

Question 25

In terms of internal validity, quasi-experimental research is lower than either experimental or correlational research.

Question 26

Interviews are a major source of data in qualitative research.

Question 27

Imagine a study in which men and women are compared in terms of their level of aggression. What kind of study is this?

A) experimental
B) correlational
C) quasi-experimental
D) qualitative

Question 28

Which of the following is a reason to conduct nonexperimental research?

A) The researcher is interested in thinking.
B) The researcher wants to maximize the internal validity of the study.
C) The researcher wants to avoid carryover effects.
D) It would be unethical to manipulate the independent variable.

Question 29

Coding of participant behaviors is generally an important part of which of the following?

A) archival data collection
B) sport psychology
C) quasi-experimental research
D) naturalistic observation

Question 30

Which of the following studies was largely qualitative?

A) Rosenhan's study of pseudopatients in a psychiatric hospital
B) Loftus and Pickrell's study of false memories
C) Milgram's original obedience study
D) Caccioppo and Petty's study of the need for cognition

Question 31

Which of the following is a type of nonexperimental research?

A) qualitative studies
B) correlational studies
C) quasi-experiments
D) all of the above

Question 32

Which of the following generally has the highest internal validity?

A) experiments
B) quasi-experiments
C) correlational studies
D) qualitative studies

Question 33

What is the defining feature of nonexperimental research?

A) It is about personality and individual differences.
B) It lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment, or both.
C) It involves only one variable.
D) It has high external validity.

Question 34

In general, empirical research has shown that psychotherapy is ineffective.

Question 35

Milgram's original obedience study is a good example of which of the following?

A) a qualitative study
B) a correlational study
C) single-variable research
D) a within-subjects experiment

Question 36

Using a nonequivalent groups design is an excellent way to control for extraneous variables.

Question 37

Qualitative research is meant to provide precise answers to specific questions.

Question 38

The pretest-posttest design is an excellent way to evaluate the effectiveness of a new form of psychotherapy.

Question 39

Levine and Norenzayan's (1999) study of walking speed in different countries is a good example of which of the following?

A) naturalistic observation
B) archival data
C) experimental research
D) quasi-experimental research

Question 40

Most research in psychology is quantitative.

Question 41

A researcher is interested in whether playing violent video games causes children to be more aggressive. So she finds a sample of children who regularly play violent video games and a sample of children who do not play violent video games. Then she compares their levels of aggression. Explain the weakness of this study in terms of her original research question.

Question 42

Qualitative research is meant to do which of the following?

A) generate novel research questions
B) explore people's "lived experience"
C) address broad questions
D) all of the above

Question 43

Imagine a study comparing psychology majors to chemistry majors in terms of their social skills. Would this study be experimental, correlational, quasi-experimental, or qualitative? Explain why.

Question 44

Describe a research question for which qualitative research would be appropriate. Explain why qualitative research would be appropriate for this research question.

Question 45

Which kind of research is most likely to involve archival data?

A) correlational
B) experimental
C) quasi-experimental
D) none of the above

Question 46

Which researcher is most likely to engage in content analysis?

A) Dr. Williams studies transcripts of police interviews with suspects.
B) Dr. Ramirez studies mathematics competence.
C) Dr. McKenzie studies relationships among various personality traits.
D) Dr. Perryman studies children's social skills.

Question 47

Imagine that a researcher uses a pretest-posttest design to test the effectiveness of losing 10 pounds on people's number of depressive symptoms. Explain the problems with this approach.

Question 48

Archival data would be least likely to be used in which of the following?

A) an experiment
B) a correlational study
C) a qualitative study
D) a single-variable study

Question 49

Data analysis in qualitative research is most likely to include which of the following?

A) means and standard deviations
B) inferential statistics
C) unfalsifiable theories
D) detailed examples of participant responses

Question 50

A quasi-experiment includes which of the following?

A) random sampling of participants
B) random assignment of participants to conditions
C) the manipulation of an independent variable
D) none of the above

Question 51

What does the prefix "quasi" mean?

A) above
B) false
C) resembling
D) not

Question 52

"Mixed methods research" refers to which of the following?

A) research that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches
B) research that combines experimental and correlational approaches
C) research that combines experimental and quasi-experimental approaches
D) research that combines basic and applied approaches

Question 53

Why does experimental research generally have higher internal validity than nonexperimental research?

Question 54

Describe a situation in which a researcher might choose to conduct a quasi-experiment rather than an experiment. Explain why the quasi-experiment might be preferred.

Question 55

Which of the following is a common data collection method in qualitative research?

A) administering questionnaires with rating scale responses
B) taking multiple physiological measures
C) using computer simulations
D) giving unstructured interviews

Question 56

A new anti-drug program is instituted at one elementary school. Then the attitudes of the students toward drugs are compared to the attitudes of students at a similar elementary school without the program. What kind of research design is this?

A) a between-subjects experiment
B) a correlational study
C) a nonequivalent groups design
D) a pretest-posttest design

Question 57

Make up an example of a research question that could only be addressed by nonexperimental research and explain why this is so.