Deck 2: Research Methods

Question 1

If the correlation between two variables is.90, this indicates that there is a _____.

A) strong positive association between the variables
B) strong negative association between the variables
C) weak positive association between the variables
D) no relationship between the variables

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Chang-qin developed a new measure designed to assess individuals' organizational identity. In a measure validation study, he finds that, as expected, the measure is not related to individuals' cognitive ability or emotional stability. This finding would illustrate which type of validity?

A) convergent
B) discriminant
C) face
D) content

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In 2015, Sanjay analyzed data from the 2010 U.S. Census in order to examine the relationship between education level and income. This source of data may best be labeled:

A) naturalistic
B) case study
C) archival
D) meta-analysis

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When researchers want to evaluate and integrate quantitative findings across many studies, they use a research method called ____.

A) field study
B) experimental design
C) meta-analysis
D) analysis of variance

Question 5

What is the difference between a field study and laboratory study?

A) A field study is conducted in heavily controlled artificial settings; a laboratory study is conducted in real organizations with real workers
B) A laboratory study is conducted in heavily controlled artificial settings; a field study is conducted in real organizations with real workers
C) A field study relies on inductive reasoning and introspection; a laboratory study relies on deductive reasoning and extrospection
D) A laboratory study relies on inductive reasoning and introspection; a field study relies on deductive reasoning and extrospection

Question 6

Target is a large discount retail company in the U.S., and Google is a large technology company. When leaders at Target review a case study about an employee practice at Google, they ____.

A) should be cautious in assuming that they will get the same results because Google is in a different industry with unique circumstances that may not generalize to Target.
B) can assume that Google's practices apply to them because Google and Target are similar in terms of their size.
C) can assume that Google's practices will apply to them because Google and Target likely share the same customer base.
D) can learn a lot because Google and Target are both large, U.S-based companies.

Question 7

Carol gives two versions of the same test to a group of employees, and correlate the two tests with each other. Carol's process is a way to assess _____.

A) test-retest reliability
B) criterion-related validity
C) parallel forms reliability
D) construct validity

Question 8

An I-O psychologist investigates the relationship between a test's font (bold font or regular font) and test performance. After randomly assigning 100 workers to two conditions, she finds that workers who take tests with bold font receive higher test scores than workers who take tests with regular font. The independent variable in this scenario is:

A) test performance
B) test font
C) test score
D) random assignment

Question 9

Noah is doing an experiment to see the effects of training on learning. One group of employee receives the training, while the other (control) group does not. He then gives the employees a job knowledge test. He wants to compare the mean job knowledge test score of the two groups. The best statistic to use for this would be _____.

A) t-test
B) correlation
C) meta-analysis
D) linear regression

Question 10

Karl conducted an experimental study to see the relationship between room lighting and test performance. He randomly assigned participants to one of three conditions: room with dim lighting, room with normal lighting, and room with bright lighting. He then gave the participants a cognitive ability test. What statistical test should he use to compare the mean test performance of the three groups?

A) correlation
B) t-test
C) ANOVA
D) meta-analysis

Question 11

Rocio manipulates the level of stress that participants are exposed to, such that one group of 50 participants are randomly assigned to a low stress condition and another group of 50 participants are randonly assigned to a high stress condition. He later measures the participants' performance on a memory test. What is the independent variable (IV) in this example?

A) level of stress
B) number of participants
C) performance on the memory test
D) random assignment

Question 12

Hilda is developing a test of college algebra. She does this by speaking to experts in college algebra (instructors) about what is expected as part of a college algebra course and also examining the material in algebra textbooks. Hilda appears to be using a ____ approach to develop her test.

A) content validity
B) construct validity
C) criterion-related validity
D) None of the above. This is a non-scientific way to develop a test.

Question 13

Which of the following refers to the degree to which a measure is consistent over time?

A) Inter-Rater Reliability
B) Test-Retest Reliability
C) Criterion-Related Validity
D) Internal Consistency Reliability

Question 14

Which entity reviews and governs the research process at a university?

A) University Research Committee (URC)
B) Institutional Review Board (IRB)
C) Agency for Ethical Research (AER)
D) American Psychological Association (APA)

Question 15

As the error variance of a measure goes up, _____.

A) reliability goes up
B) validity goes up
C) reliability goes down
D) none of the above

Question 16

Zoe is studying the relationship between personality and later job performance. In this study, personality would best be described as a(n) _____.

A) independent variable
B) dependent variable
C) antecedent
D) criterion

Question 17

_____ is the degree to which a scale measures what it is supposed to measure.

A) reliability
B) validity
C) generalizability
D) criterion

Question 18

Carlos is developing a test of math skills. He finds that his math test has a strong correlation with another math test and also with a test of verbal ability. In this case, his test is showing _____.

A) good convergent validity and good discriminant validity
B) poor convergent validity and poor discriminant validity
C) poor convergent validity and good discriminant validity
D) good convergent validity and poor discriminant validity

Question 19

Alessia is developing a test of academic achievement to predict college success. She gives the test to a group of college students. She correlates their test scores with their GPA and finds that there is a significant correlation between the test and GPA. This is a demonstration of _____.

A) content validity
B) construct validity
C) criterion-related validity
D) convergent validity

Question 20

Which of the following is the most accurate statement about the validity of a measure?

A) Content validity is the degree to which the test predicts an outcome of interest
B) There are not really three "types" of validity, but rather, many different types of evidence that a measure is valid.
C) Criterion-related validity is the overarching method for accumulating validity evidence.
D) Discriminant validity is the most important method to be sure that the test is fair and unbiased.

Question 21

Test-retest reliability involves giving a measure to a sample of people and then _______.

A) giving them the test again and seeing the degree to which their scores are correlated.
B) giving the test to another group of people and seeing the degree to which their scores are correlated.
C) giving the same people a different version of the test and seeing if the scores on the two versions of the test are correlated.
D) seeing the degree to which the odd-numbered items are correlated with the even-numbered items.

Question 22

Jaime has 100 employees' scores on a personality test and their job performance. He has found a statistical relationship between the two. But now he wants to be able to use the test to predict a person's job performance score. To do this, he best statistic for him to use would be ____.

A) correlation
B) ANOVA
C) meta-analysis
D) linear regression

Question 23

Mohamed is a researcher trying to figure out the relationship between leadership and happiness. He has found 20 different studies on this topic, but the results differ some from study to study. He wants a statistical summary of these studies so he can understand what the overall conclusion is from these studies. The best statistic for him to use would be ____.

A) correlation
B) ANOVA
C) meta-analysis
D) linear regression

Question 24

Which of the following is the best research study design for I-O research?

A) correlational study
B) field study
C) laboratory study
D) Some combination of methods is probably best

Question 25

Which of the following is necessary for a study to be considered a true experiment?

A) There is an experimental group receiving a manipulation.
B) There is a control group not receiving a manipulation.
C) There is random assignment to groups.
D) All of the above are required for a true experiment.

Question 26

Whereas the ___ begins with a theory and sets out to test hypotheses based on this theory, the ____ begins with observing a phenomenon and then developing a theory to explain it.

A) observational approach; experimental approach
B) experimental approach; observational approach
C) inductive approach; deductive approach
D) deductive approach; inductive approach

Question 27

Whether the findings of a study are meaningful and important is referred to as _____.

A) statistical significance
B) validity
C) reliability
D) practical significance

Question 28

____ research examines what employers can actually do to improve the attitudes, well-being, health, and performance of workers.

A) intervention
B) observational
C) practical significance
D) meta-analytic

Question 29

If the correlation between two variables is -1.00, this indicates that there is a perfect, negative relationship between the two.

Question 30

Linear regression is mostly commonly used to test whether there is a significant difference between two means.

Question 31

ANOVA is used to test whether there are significant differences among three or more means.

Question 32

When reliability is low, researchers can be more confident that differences in scores are meaningful and can differentiate among individuals

Question 33

Criterion-related validity is shown by documenting that the test was developed to sample the conceptual domain of interest.

Question 34

Test-retest reliability is shown by giving a test to two different samples and seeing if their scores are correlated.

Question 35

Discriminant validity is part of the process of demonstrating construct validity.

Question 36

Meta-analysis is used to summarize the results of several studies.

Question 37

Linear regression is used to develop an equation for the best fit line that explains the relationship between two variables.

Question 38

As error variance of a measure goes up, the reliability goes down.

Question 39

The _____ approach: A research approach that begins with a theory and sets out to test hypotheses based on this theory.

Question 40

_____ are sophisticated methods that graphically illustrate the relationships among variables to aid in data interpretation.

Question 41

_____ is a variable that covaries with the IV and whose effects on the dependent variable are not easily disentangled from the IV.

Question 42

_____uses datasets that have already been collected by others and are made available for analysis.

Question 43

_____ is used to determine the degree of relationship between two variables, X and Y, and describes the best-fit line that describes the relationship in terms of an equation.

Question 44

_____ is used to determine whether the difference between two means is statistically significant.

Question 45

_____ refers to the dependability of a measure, or its consistency in measurement.

Question 46

_____ is where a test is given to a group of people twice in order to see how stable their scores are by correlating their test scores.

Question 47

_____ is where two forms of a test are given to the same people at the same time and the scores on both measures are correlated to provide a reliability estimate.

Question 48

_____ involves the empirical demonstration that the test predicts an outcome that you care about. This is commonly done by correlating the test and the outcome.

Question 49

What is one strength and one weakness of experimental designs? What is one strength and one weakness of correlational designs?

Question 50

How does linear regression go beyond correlation

Question 51

How do quasi-experimental designs differ from true experimental designs? What is an advantage of quasi-experimental designs?

Question 52

Brandon conducts a review of the literature on positive emotion in the workplace. While reading through many studies on the topic, he finds that the correlation between positive emotion and work outcomes (e.g., performance) vary in size from study to study. What are some reasons for why the size and sign of correlations differ across studies? How might Brandon quantitatively review or synthesize this research to get better estimates of the "true" relationships between positive emotion and selected work outcomes?

Question 53

Name one advantage of using surveys to collect participant data. Name one disadvantage.

Question 54

A) Joe is comparing 2 training programs to see if they affect performance. He gives one set of training to one group of employees and the other training to another group. How should he see if the mean performance of the two groups is different. B) He then gives a third training program to another group. Now he wants to compare the means of all three groups. What statistic should he use for that. Why?

Question 55

What is an advantage and a disadvantage of collecting qualitative data?

Question 56

Why might the informed consent process be challenging if participants in your sample come from a broad range of cultural, educational, and national backgrounds?

Question 57

Name at least two types of reliability and how they are used.

Question 58

A friend tells you that there are three different kinds of validity. Explain to them why that isn't really so.

Question 59

What is meant by convergent and discriminant validity? What are they used for? Give an example of how you might use these with regard to a verbal ability test you are developing.