Deck 4: How Psychologists Use the Scientific Method: Data Collection Techniques and Research Designs

Question 1

Videotaping individuals at work to look for off-task behaviors is an example of ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Answer 1

naturalistic

Question 2

For the instruction type study in the above question (19), the dependent variable is ______.

A) test scores
B) time limit instructions
C) instruction type
D) there is no dependent variable in this study

Answer 2

test scores

Question 3

Studies of the amnesiac H.M. used the ______ research design.

A) experimental
B) quasi-experimental
C) case study
D) correlational

Answer 3

case study

Question 4

Of the following, ______ is a not a good operational definition for "hunger."

A) number of times someone's stomach makes an audible rumble in 2 hours
B) general feeling of emptiness in one's stomach
C) number of minutes since someone last ate any food
D) blood sugar levels

Question 5

Using records of car crashes where individuals were not wearing seatbelts to measure use of seatbelt behavior is an example of ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 6

A researcher who examines the difference in anxiety level between individuals who smoke and those who do not smoke is using the ______ research design.

A) experimental
B) quasi-experimental
C) case study
D) correlational

Question 7

Asking individuals to rate how often each of 20 items related to depression symptoms occurs in their daily lives is an example of ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 8

The research design that allows researchers to compare groups of individuals on a measured variable based on characteristics of the individuals is a(n) ______.

A) experiment
B) quasi-experiment
C) case study
D) correlational study

Question 9

The research design that allows researchers to answer descriptive and predictive questions about the relationship between different measured variables is a(n) ______.

A) experiment
B) quasi-experiment
C) case study
D) correlational study

Question 10

Asking individuals to respond to questions or rate items according to their attitudes or behaviors uses the ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 11

Measuring how quickly individuals can perform a scrambled sentence task is an example of ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 12

Asking individuals to complete a task under controlled conditions uses the ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 13

Ruling out alternative explanations for results increases the ______ validity.

A) subjective
B) objective
C) external
D) internal

Question 14

Looking up records of behaviors that have already occurred uses the ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 15

A researcher who examines the relationship between individuals' tooth flossing frequency and the incidence of heart disease in these individuals is using the ______ research design.

A) experimental
B) quasi-experimental
C) case study
D) correlational

Question 16

A study is conducted to examine the effect of instruction type on test scores. Participants in the study are asked to complete a simple math test with either time limit instructions (i.e., the participants are told they must complete the test within 3 minutes) or no time limit instructions (i.e., the participants are not given a time limit for the test). Participants are randomly assigned to one of the instruction types. The independent variable in this study is ______.

A) time limit instructions
B) no time limit instructions
C) instruction type
D) not present (i.e., there is no independent variable in this study)

Question 17

A researcher who examines the causal relationship between amount of exercise (randomly assigned as 30 minutes per day or none) and memory abilities is using the ______ research design.

A) experimental
B) quasi-experimental
C) case study
D) correlational

Question 18

The research design that allows researchers to gain a lot of descriptive information about a single individual or institution is a(n) ______.

A) experiment
B) quasi-experiment
C) case study
D) correlational study

Question 19

Observing behaviors as they occur in an individual's natural environment uses the ______ observation technique.

A) naturalistic
B) survey
C) systematic
D) archival

Question 20

The research design that allows researchers to answer causal questions about manipulated and measured variables is a(n) ______.

A) experiment
B) quasi-experiment
C) case study
D) correlational study

Question 21

Inter-rater reliability is also known as ______.

A) inter-observer
B) inter-person
C) inter-participant
D) inter-researcher

Question 22

When surveys are used, participants are often asked to use a response scale or response category (e.g., often, sometimes, not very often, never) that matches how they feel about a behavior or how likely they are to exhibit the behavior. This is called a(n) ______ response scale.

A) closed-ended
B) open-ended
C) ambiguous
D) behavior

Question 23

Systematic observations are often collected in a ______.

A) laboratory setting
B) participant's homes
C) school
D) church

Question 24

The primary disadvantage of using surveys to collect data is that ______.

A) the observations are considered self-reports
B) survey research cannot be published in peer-reviewed journals
C) survey research is not considered to be prestigious
D) survey research used open-ended questions

Question 25

Disadvantages of using archival data include all but ______.

A) the researcher has no control over the circumstances under which the data are collected
B) the researcher has no control on the sampling technique used
C) the researcher has no control on the measures used to observe behavior
D) few resources are needed

Question 26

The Beck Anxiety Inventory is an example of ______ research.

A) experimental
B) survey
C) case study
D) correlational

Question 27

To increase the internal validity of a study, a researcher controls for extraneous factors that can affect the observations.

Question 28

The degree to which the behavior observed in the study is realistic, would occur naturally, and can be generalized beyond the boundaries of the study to other individuals and situations is ______ validity.

A) external
B) internal
C) subjective
D) objective

Question 29

A graph showing the relationship between two dependent variables for a group of individuals is called a ______.

A) dependent graph
B) relational graph
C) scatterplot graph
D) plot-scatter graph

Question 30

Some of the observation techniques and research designs that psychologists use tend to allow for higher external validity than others.

Question 31

Participants who want to portray themselves more positively to the researcher and intentionally respond in a way that achieves that goal biases the results of a survey and is called ______.

A) peer pressure
B) social appeal
C) social pressure
D) social desirability

Question 32

The presence of extraneous factors in a study that affect the dependent variable and can decrease the internal validity of the study is the ______ variable problem.

A) predicator
B) outcome
C) third
D) negative

Question 33

A measure of the degree to which different observers rate behaviors in similar ways is called ______.

A) inter-rater validity
B) inter-rater reliability
C) subjective validity
D) subjective reliability

Question 34

Non-numerical participant responses are considered ______.

A) quantitative data
B) qualitative data
C) non-numerical data
D) invalid data

Question 35

A ______ design is an experiment conducted with one or a few participants to better understand the behavior of those individuals.

A) case study
B) small-n
C) limited correlational study
D) factorial study

Question 36

______ indicates that a survey measures the behavior it is designed to measure.

A) Deductive reasoning
B) Construct validity
C) Inter-rater validity
D) Cross-tabulation validity

Question 37

Making sure observers are categorizing behaviors the same way increases ______.

A) external validity
B) internal validity
C) subjective validity
D) reliability

Question 38

Numerical data is considered to be ______.

A) quantitative data
B) qualitative data
C) non-numerical data
D) invalid data

Question 39

A ______ relationship means that the values on the variables change in the same direction (up and down) at the same time.

A) positive
B) negative
C) stable
D) invalid

Question 40

A ______ relationship indicates that as values on one variable increase, the values on the other variable decrease.

A) positive
B) negative
C) stable
D) invalid

Question 41

Describe an experiment that tests the effect of amount of caffeine consumption on work productivity. Be sure to label the independent and dependent variables in the study and include your operational definition for "work productivity."

Question 42

In a scatterplot, one variable is placed on the x-axis, and the other variable is placed on the r-axis.

Question 43

Archival Analysis is a data collection technique that involves analysis of preexisting data.

Question 44

Analyzing the data from a closed-ended response scale would also require the development of a coding scheme because the responses are qualitative rather than quantitative.

Question 45

Due to their exploratory nature, case studies never focus on rare or unusual cases.

Question 46

A negative relationship indicates that as values on one variable increase, the values on the other variable decrease.

Question 47

Corporations may also make archival data sets available to researchers who wish to study workplace behaviors such as work productivity.

Question 48

Discuss the goal of case study research and briefly describe what one would look like.

Question 49

The third-variable problem is the reason researchers cannot determine causation from correlational studies.

Question 50

Explain why use of the naturalistic observation technique is likely to increase the external validity of a study.

Question 51

If a predictive relationship is examined, the variable that is used to make the prediction is called the outcome variable, and the variable that is being predicted is called the predictor variable.

Question 52

Explain why use of the systematic observation technique is likely to increase the internal validity of a study.

Question 53

The primary difference between case studies and small-n designs is the goal of the researcher.

Question 54

The Beck Depression Inventory II and Beck Anxiety Inventory are two commonly used surveys in psychological research on mood.

Question 55

Using a validated survey typically gives a researcher observations of behavior that are a step ahead of the other techniques discussed because the validity and reliability of a survey will already have been tested and the survey revised (if necessary) to maximize its accuracy.

Question 56

What aspects of an experiment allow tests of causal relationships between variables in experimental studies?

Question 57

What is the difference between an experiment and a quasi-experiment?

Question 58

An operational definition is a definition of a concrete concept that makes it abstract for the purpose of the research study.

Question 59

Naturalistic observations have the highest level of external validity amongst the data collection techniques.

Question 60

Describe what archival data research analysis is briefly. Include an example and explain why this analysis is considered time-consuming.