Deck 2: Scientific Methods

Question 1

A hypothesis is a tentative prediction about the relationship between two or more variables.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following is a characteristic of bias?

A) Bias refers to systematic errors in measurement
B) Bias involves value judgments about the decisions pertaining to a test
C) Bias primarily pertains to qualitative assessments
D) Bias refers to a lack of relationship to group membership

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Correlation coefficients range from 0.00 to 1.00.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

As the district manager of McBurger King Restaurants across Canada, you believe that your employees' performance is based upon whether or not they have had any previous work experience, but only when personality is taken into account.In this example, what is work experience?

A) a criterion
B) a mediator
C) a moderator
D) a predictor

Question 5

Which of the following is a strength of quasi-experimental research designs?

A) They allow researchers to make cause and effect conclusions.
B) They have the advantage of being conducted in a lab setting.
C) They involve studying naturally-occurring work groups in applied work settings.
D) Researchers can randomly assign the participants to different conditions or groups.

Question 6

The extent of linear relationship between any two variables can be described numerically using which of the following?

A) an F-test
B) a scatter plot
C) a meta-analysis
D) a correlation coefficient

Question 7

According to Alfred Whitehead (1967), how can we characterize "science"?

A) science is atheoretical
B) science does not accept prediction and causality as legitimate
C) science uses specific rules and procedures in the search for new knowledge
D) science is primarily concerned with observers' perception

Question 8

Which of the following is a principle of fairness as it relates to assessment and selection?

A) Fairness is clearly defined in terms of psychometric properties.
B) Fairness refers to the content of a test.
C) Fairness is a statistical concept that can be defined quantitatively.
D) Fairness refers to value judgments about decisions made based on assessments.

Question 9

You want to conduct a study to examine whether an existing measure, the Job Knowledge Scale (JKS), is valid, such that it predicts job performance.However, you are unable to collect enough data to make any meaningful conclusions.Therefore, you decide to get evidence through a meta-analysis of other studies that have examined its validity.Which of the following will you most likely conduct?

A) fairness analysis
B) validity generalization study
C) qualitative analysis
D) psychometric assessment

Question 10

The degree of linear relationship between two variables is known as a criterion variable.

Question 11

Ideally, when determining the criterion-related validity of a test, we DO NOT use data from that test to hire the employees because of which problem?

A) multiple regression lines
B) differential validity
C) restriction of range
D) validity generalization

Question 12

As the district manager of McBurger King Restaurants across Canada, you believe that your employees' performance is based upon whether or not they have had any previous work experience, but only when personality is taken into account.In this example, what is performance?

A) a criterion
B) a mediator
C) a moderator
D) a predictor

Question 13

What is a hypothesis?

A) a prediction about the relationship between two or more events, objects, people, or phenomena
B) a value judgment about the decisions pertaining to a test or analysis in a study
C) a causal relationship among two or more variables or events
D) a qualitative assessment about an observation pertaining to behaviours or phenomena

Question 14

Future Inc., a high tech firm, wants to implement a new computerized selection program for its assembly personnel.First, however, it wanted to ensure that the new program is at least as effective as the existing paper and pencil test. Last year all entry-level employees were administered both the paper and pencil and computerized tests and performance data for these employees were collected.Their performance was then compared with the computerized test results.What can this comparison best be described as?

A) an indicator of predictive validity evidence
B) an indicator of concurrent evidence
C) an indicator of equivalent forms reliability
D) an indicator of test-retest reliability

Question 15

What is c in the equation Y = bX + c ?

A) predictor
B) slope
C) intercept
D) criterion

Question 16

What does strict adherence to ethical principles by I/O psychologists ensure?

A) I/O psychologists are aware of changes in their environment
B) information about individuals or clients is shared with others as required
C) data is used only for the purpose(s) for which they were intended
D) I/O psychologists may engage in research

Question 17

You have conducted a field study with 300 employees from a variety of organizations.You are examining the relationship between employee personality and job performance.You have found that performance is negatively correlated with one personality component .Which of the following are you MOST likely to conclude?

A) Highly neurotic employees are successful.
B) Low neuroticism scores cause higher job performance.
C) Employees who score low on neuroticism tend to have higher levels of performance.
D) The relationship between neuroticism and performance is determined by a third variable (such as supervisor support).

Question 18

Which one of the following does the reliability of a test involve?

A) the ability to make inferences about constructs from test scores
B) the extent to which scores are free from measurement errors
C) a set of systematically interrelated concepts
D) the extent to which your inferences about a test are legitimate.

Question 19

What is b in the equation Y = bX + c ?

A) constant
B) slope
C) intercept
D) baseline

Question 20

Future Inc., a high tech firm, wants to implement a new computerized selection program for its assembly personnel.First, however, it wants to ensure that the new program is at least as effective as the existing paper and pencil test. Last year, all entry-level employees were administered both the paper and pencil and computerized tests, but were hired based only on paper and pencil results.This year, performance data for these employees were compared with the computerized test results.What can this comparison best be described as?

A) an indicator of predictive validity
B) an indicator of equivalent forms reliability
C) an indicator of concurrent validity
D) an indicator of test-retest reliability

Question 21

Explain Alfred Whitehead's (1967) five characteristics of the essential features of "science." How do these characteristics affect the work done by organizational researchers?

Question 22

True score is the degree to which the content (or items) of a test are representative of the domain in question.

Question 23

What is restriction of range? Why is it important to I/O Psychology?

Question 24

Quasi-experimental designs allow researchers to manipulate and control variables in an applied research setting.

Question 25

Compare and contrast bias and fairness.

Question 26

Experimental designs allow researchers to manipulate and control variables in an applied work setting, such that there is no random assignment.

Question 27

For the equation: Y = bX + a, b = constant.

Question 28

For the equation: Y = bX + a, b = slope.