Deck 13: External Validity

Question 1

An experiment that is conducted in situations that are similar to everyday life experiences is said to have which of the following?

A) External validity
B) Ecological validity
C) Experimental realism
D) Experimental impact

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In terms of learning about generalization across participants,

A) the researcher can normally be confident that a result found in one sample will generalize to all populations that he or she is interested in.
B) the researcher can usually be confident that a result found in one sample will not generalize beyond the sample that he or she has studied.
C) no sample of research participants can provide definitive information about how a finding will generalize.
D) it is possible to make highly accurate statements about the likelihood of a finding generalizing to all populations.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In comparison to laboratory studies, field experiments are likely to have

A) higher internal and external validity.
B) higher internal and lower external validity.
C) lower internal and higher external validity.
D) lower internal and external validity.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is true?

A) It is useful to conduct exact replications because they provide information about generalization to new operationalizations of the original variables.
B) It is useful to conduct constructive replications because they provide information about the exact circumstances in which an effect does or does not occur.
C) It is useful to conduct constructive replications because they require fewer conditions than the original experiment.
D) It is useful to conduct participant replications because their interpretation is usually very clear.

Question 5

To determine whether a beneficial influence of therapy that has been found in a sample of women would also be found in a sample of men, the researcher will need to use which of the following?

A) A participant replication
B) A conceptual replication
C) An exact replication
D) A cross-cultural replication

Question 6

Researchers in the behavioral sciences may be content to use college students as research participants because

A) they can be assumed to have the same characteristics as any other sample of individuals.
B) they represent a random sample of all human beings.
C) they have had fewer experiences than many people, thus making them naive.
D) they are more intelligent than most people.

Question 7

If a research finding was found to hold up only in one sample of individuals or only in one laboratory, the research would be said to have low

A) external validity.
B) statistical conclusion validity.
C) internal validity.
D) construct validity.

Question 8

A variable that produces an interaction of the relationship between two other variables such that the relationship between them is different at different levels of that variable is a

A) moderator variable.
B) mediator variable.
C) extraneous variable.
D) confounding variable.

Question 9

When we say that there is a relationship between two variables but that this relationship only occurs under certain conditions, then the variable that represents the conditions under which the effect does or does not occur is known as which of the following?

A) A mediator variable
B) A generalization variable
C) A moderator variable
D) An external variable

Question 10

A replication that investigates the relationship between the same conceptual variables that were studied in previous research but tests the hypothesis using different operational definitions of the independent variable and/or the dependent variable is known as a(n)

A) conceptual replication.
B) constructive replication.
C) participant replication.
D) exact replication.

Question 11

Researcher Franklin tests the limiting conditions of a previous finding by adding a new control condition to the design. Franklin's experiment is a(n)

A) conceptual replication.
B) constructive replication.
C) participant replication.
D) exact replication.

Question 12

A collection of experiments in which a topic of interest is systematically studied through conceptual and constructive replications over time is known as a

A) research program.
B) review paper.
C) field experiment.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT true regarding field experiments?

A) They have an experimental manipulation.
B) They have a measured dependent variable.
C) They are always more externally valid than lab experiments.
D) They use a method for creating initial equivalence.

Question 14

The degree to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and using a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables is known as which of the following?

A) Conceptual replication
B) External validity
C) Ecological validity
D) Meta analysis

Question 15

A participant replication should be conducted

A) after any other study is conducted.
B) only after several studies have been conducted.
C) to be certain that the results generalize to all human beings.
D) when there is a specific reason to believe that a result will not generalize.

Question 16

Whereas internal validity refers to _________, external validity refers to _________.

A) practical conclusions; statistical conclusions
B) the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable; the extent to which the findings are expected to generalize
C) the extent to which the findings are expected to generalize; the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable
D) statistical conclusions; practical conclusions

Question 17

Exact replications are most likely to be conducted because the researcher wants to

A) add a new condition to a previous experiment.
B) examine other possible conceptual variables involved in the results of a previous experiment.
C) see if an effect that has been found in one laboratory or by one researcher can be found.
D) repeat the original experiment with a different population of participants.

Question 18

Which of the following is a potential difficulty of cross-cultural replications?

A) The findings are difficult to interpret.
B) They are not scientific.
C) There are not enough cultural variables.
D) There is too much random error.

Question 19

The idea of generalization is most closely related to

A) external validity.
B) internal validity.
C) construct validity.
D) statistical conclusion validity.

Question 20

The major issue underlying external validity is that of

A) ecological validity.
B) generalization.
C) random assignment.
D) meta analysis.

Question 21

A limitation of meta-analyses is that

A) they are less accurate than narrative reviews.
B) because only significant studies are published, a relationship may be overestimated.
C) psychological journals only date back to the late 1970s.
D) effect sizes are not objective measures.

Question 22

In comparison to lab experiments, field experiments have the advantage of

A) increased ecological validity.
B) increased internal validity.
C) increased reactivity.
D) increased statistical conclusion validity.

Question 23

A researcher who studies the outcomes of prior experiments by statistically analyzing effect size measures is conducting a

A) research program.
B) review paper.
C) field experiment.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 24

A document that discusses the research in a given area with the goals of summarizing existing findings, making inferences about the conditions under which relationships do and do not occur, linking research to findings in other areas, and suggesting further research is called a

A) research program.
B) review paper.
C) program analysis.
D) research report.

Question 25

The primary goal of replication is to

A) examine new conditions of an old experiment.
B) test a different research hypothesis than was previously tested.
C) investigate if the procedures in a previous study were detailed enough to be followed exactly.
D) determine the extent to which an observed relationship generalizes across different tests of the research hypothesis.

Question 26

A disadvantage of using convenience samples, such as college students, is that

A) college students are less likely to guess the experimental hypotheses.
B) the likelihood of a Type 2 error is increased.
C) the findings might not be generalizable to other samples.
D) universities require payment for using college students in experiments.

Question 27

If a researcher conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of performance enhancing drugs within professional sports, she would be most likely to

A) interview a representative sample of current professional sports teams.
B) compare her data to data from earlier findings on this topic.
C) discuss the manipulation of the independent variables at an upcoming psychological conference.
D) analyze the data on this topic from many prior studies.

Question 28

Findings that do not generalize

A) should always be ignored.
B) are likely caused by confounding.
C) are still useful because they may provide information about the limitations of prior studies.
D) nevertheless have high internal validity.

Question 29

Amalia conducted a study of how the media affects political affiliation. She showed participants a five-minute clip from CNN and then asked them to fill out a political ideology survey. Edward later conducted a similar study but had participants read an article from the Washington Post instead of watching a TV broadcast. Edward's study is an example of a

A) participant replication.
B) exact replication.
C) constructive replication.
D) conceptual replication.

Question 30

Parr, Kavanagh, Cahill, Young, and Mitchell (2008) conducted a meta-analysis to study the effects of different types of treatments on the success of tranquilizer withdrawal. The dependent measure in this study is which of the following?

A) The year of publication of the studies.
B) The number of participants in the studies.
C) The effect size of the studies
D) The correlations among the studies.

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT true about meta-analyses?

A) They use the effect size statistic to indicate the size of relationships.
B) They are explicit about which studies are or are not included in the analysis.
C) They are used to draw conclusions about research literatures.
D) They are less objective than narrative literature reviews.

Question 32

A study involving the effect of physical activity on self-esteem has a p-value of .001 and has correctly ruled out all obvious alternative hypotheses. However, this study cannot be applied to any real-life settings. Thus it can be said to have __________.

A) low internal validity, high external validity
B) low internal validity, low external validity
C) high internal validity, low external validity
D) low construct validity, high convergent validity

Question 33

Which of the following statistics serves as the dependent variable in a meta-analysis?

A) The correlation coefficient
B) The chi square
C) The effect size
D) The standard deviation

Question 34

Inclusion criteria refer to which of the following?

A) Specific rules about which participants are to be used in an experiment
B) Specific rules about which studies to include in a meta-analysis
C) Specific conditions under which an experiment is likely to generalize
D) Specific rules about choosing participants to complete an experiment

Question 35

Which of the following serve to make meta-analysis objective?

A) Inclusion criteria and fewer Type I errors
B) Fewer Type 1 errors and analysis of the effect size statistic
C) Inclusion criteria and analysis of the effect size statistic
D) Fewer Type 1 errors and analysis of the effect size statistic

Question 36

Which of the following statistics is used as the dependent measure in a meta-analysis?

A) The effect size
B) The Pearson correlation coefficient
C) The ANOVA
D) The meta-relational statistic