Deck 1: Research Methods

Question 1

Which of the following refers to the technical quality of a research project?

A) External validity
B) Ecological validity
C) Internal validity
D) Experimental validity

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What type of replication occurs when a researcher duplicates a previous study but uses a different population or situation?

A) Exact
B) Theoretical
C) General
D) Conceptual

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which feature describes the best theories?

A) They are the result of inductive reasoning.
B) They have minimum predictive ability.
C) They have little relationship to empirical findings.
D) They explain a wide variety of related behaviors.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which method of reasoning relies on observation to test theoretical predictions?

A) Inductive
B) Hypothetical
C) Theoretical
D) Deductive

Question 5

With what functions, respectively, are theories and hypotheses associated?

A) Prediction, control
B) Explanation, prediction
C) Control, explanation
D) Prediction, explanation

Question 6

Suppose a researcher is investigating how exercise habits change in college students over time. If the researcher selects and assesses a sample of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all at once, what type of research method is involved?

A) Cross-sectional
B) Experimental
C) Basic
D) None of the above

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT generally considered a defining characteristic of research?

A) Logical
B) Philosophical
C) Reproducible
D) Systematic

Question 8

Picking names out of a hat is an example of what type of sampling?

A) Simple random sampling
B) Systematic sampling
C) Cluster sampling
D) Sampling error

Question 9

Which of the following questions would be of LEAST importance in determining whether or not a basic (versus applied) research project is worth doing?

A) Has the topic been thoroughly investigated?
B) Will the results answer a specific question?
C) Is it possible to obtain data to answer the question?
D) Is the problem of interest to the investigator?

Question 10

Why are volunteers likely to constitute a biased sample?

A) They are probably different from non-volunteers on critical variables.
B) They are less likely to show change than subjects who are required to participate.
C) They are more subject to the Hawthorne effect than non-volunteers.
D) All of the above

Question 11

In which of the following cases would sampling bias be LEAST likely?

A) Subjects are volunteers.
B) An equal proportion of subject mortality occurred in experimental and control groups.
C) Subjects who differ in the independent variable are also different in other important respects.
D) Subjects having an important characteristic were not included in the sample.

Question 12

A researcher plans a school-district-wide study to compare Methods A and B of increasing physical activity in third graders. Which of the following procedures would be MOST appropriate for selecting a sample?

A) Obtain permission from a cooperative principal to select the sample from students in her school.
B) Require all students enrolled in physical education classes to serve as subjects.
C) Use students from one school as subjects to receive the Method A treatment and students from a second school to receive the Method B treatment.
D) Define the population as all students in the district and select a random sample.

Question 13

What is the usual method of accounting for the Hawthorne effect?

A) Including a control group
B) Using efficient and robust statistics
C) Using large sample sizes
D) Attempting to achieve the largest difference between groups possible

Question 14

An experiment is designed to measure the effect of two different methods of presenting volleyball knowledge. The dependent variable is written test scores. Of the following variables, which would be the most important to control?

A) Height
B) Socioeconomic status
C) Emotional stability
D) Intelligence

Question 15

An investigator measures 200 subjects on some variable and selects the 10 subjects who have the highest scores. The mean score for these 10 subjects is 130. If the investigator measured these 10 subjects again on the same variable, what would be the likeliest value of the mean of the second 10 measurements?

A) Less than 130
B) 130
C) More than 130
D) Cannot tell from information provided

Question 16

What type of experiment validity could be affected by the administration of a pretest?

A) External
B) Internal
C) Both external and internal
D) Neither

Question 17

Which of the following is an expression of a null hypothesis?

A) Group 1 will score significantly better than Group 2.
B) There will be a significant difference between Group 1 and Group 2.
C) Groups 1 and 2 will differ significantly from Group 3 but not from each other.
D) Groups 1 and 2 will score the same.

Question 18

What is the name given to the variable that is expected to exhibit different values as the result of subjects' being exposed to differing conditions?

A) Dependent variable
B) Control variable
C) Independent variable
D) Confounding variable

Question 19

What is an alternate name for the dependent variable?

A) Outcome variable
B) Manipulated variable
C) X variable
D) Treatment variable

Question 20

A researcher investigates the relationship between age (10 years, 12 years, and 14 years) and gender on percentage of body fat. What is (are) the independent variable(s)?

A) Percent body fat and gender
B) Gender and age
C) Age and percent body fat
D) Age

Question 21

A researcher investigates the relationship between age (10 years, 12 years, and 14 years) and gender on percent body fat. What is (are) the dependent variable(s)?

A) Percent body fat
B) Gender and age
C) Age and percent body fat
D) Age

Question 22

A researcher examines the effects of mental imagery (none, 5 minutes, 25 minutes) on shooting accuracy in novice, intermediate, and expert archers. What is (are) the confounding variable(s)?

A) Mental imagery
B) Skill level and mental imagery
C) Skill level
D) None of the above

Question 23

Which threat to internal validity is related to an uneven loss of subjects from an investigation?

A) Statistical regression
B) Differential subject selection
C) Experimental mortality
D) Local history

Question 24

Which threat to internal validity is associated with extreme scores in repeated measurements?

A) Statistical regression
B) Differential subject selection
C) Experimental mortality
D) Local history

Question 25

Which threat to internal validity is related to unexpected events?

A) Statistical regression
B) Differential subject selection
C) Experimental mortality
D) Local history

Question 26

Which of the following is a threat to external validity?

A) Statistical regression
B) Pretest sensitization
C) Experimental mortality
D) Local history

Question 27

What does regression to the mean predict if a subject obtains an extreme score on a measurement and then is remeasured?

A) The second score will be more extreme than the first.
B) The second score will be nearly the same as the first.
C) The second score will be less extreme than the first.
D) None of the above

Question 28

What is true about the null hypothesis?

A) It is always false.
B) It is usually the same as the research hypothesis.
C) It is the statistical hypothesis that predicts no relationship exists.
D) It is the statistical hypothesis that predicts a treatment effect.

Question 29

Suppose you conduct an experiment to examine the effects of strength training on three factors: muscular endurance, muscular strength, and muscular power. Which of the following is true?

A) Strength training is the dependent variable.
B) Muscular power is the independent variable.
C) Muscular endurance is the control variable.
D) None of these are true.

Question 30

Toby thinks that physical ability is affected by age, gender, weight, and physical activity. What is (are)Toby's dependent variable(s)?

A) Age and gender, and weight
B) Age and gender
C) Physical ability
D) Nominal in nature
E) Physical ability and physical activity

Question 31

The statements, "Men have a greater aerobic capacity than women" and "Men have a greater aerobic capacity than women because of a larger cardiorespiratory system" are examples of what levels of knowledge, respectively?

A) Control and description
B) Description and explanation
C) Explanation and control
D) Control and prediction

Question 32

What name is given to the phenomenon in which subjects' performances change because they recognize they are in an experimental treatment?

A) Hawthorne effect
B) Placebo effect
C) Experimenter effect
D) Treatment effect

Question 33

Choose the TRUE statement about dependent variables.

A) They are set at one level.
B) They are set at more than one level.
C) They are measured.
D) They are manipulated.

Question 34

In a study to determine whether giving different doses of a drug affects the hematocrit of old and young males and females, what is the dependent variable?

A) Drug dose
B) Hematocrit
C) Males
D) Female

Question 35

What is the lowest level of measurement required for parametric statistics?

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio

Question 36

The following statement describe the basic purpose, technique, or result of some research projects.
-In this study, a small sample of subjects was selected for study, and the research hypothesis was modified as the study progressed.

A) if the statement describes an experimental study
B) if the statement describes a descriptive study.

Question 37

The following statement describe the basic purpose, technique, or result of some research projects.
-Several groups were exposed to different methods of learning the forward roll to determine which method resulted in the most efficient learning.

A) if the statement describes an experimental study
B) if the statement describes a descriptive study.

Question 38

The following statement describe the basic purpose, technique, or result of some research projects.
-The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the percentage of American adults who meet the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines.

A) if the statement describes an experimental study
B) if the statement describes a descriptive study.

Question 39

The following statement describe the basic purpose, technique, or result of some research projects.
-To reduce the Hawthorne effect, the researcher met with the control group the same number of times and for the same amount of time as she did with the treatment groups.

A) if the statement describes an experimental study
B) if the statement describes a descriptive study.