Deck 2: Research Methods in Industrialorganizational Psychology

Question 1

An hypothesis is

A) a statement of fact.
B) a natural or physical law which has been proven to be true.
C) a statement concerning the supposed relationship between or among variables.
D) an assumption that has not previously been scientifically tested.

Answer 1

a statement concerning the supposed relationship between or among variables.

Question 2

A theory is

A) a natural or physical law that has been proven to be true.
B) the organization of beliefs that enable us to better understand behavior.
C) a statement concerning the supposed relationship between or among different things or events.
D) a series of assumptions that are previously unexamined.

Answer 2

the organization of beliefs that enable us to better understand behavior.

Question 3

In addition to the basic goals of science, the applied science of I/O psychology has the goal of

A) controlling or altering behavior in order to achieve desired outcomes.
B) making the world a better place to live.
C) objectively observing human behavior.
D) systematically conducting research.

Answer 3

controlling or altering behavior in order to achieve desired outcomes.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT true of theories?

A) They either represent proven facts or the personal views of scientists.
B) They serve as useful starting points for understanding and influencing behavior.
C) They represent complex, abstract principles of behavior.
D) They are useful in developing strategies for research.

Question 5

The first step in conducting research is to

A) develop a working hypothesis.
B) develop a null hypothesis.
C) observe the target behavior.
D) formulate the problem to be studied.

Question 6

The basic goals of any science in general and of I/O psychology in particular are to

A) understand and accept phenomena.
B) describe, explain, and predict phenomena.
C) observe, communicate, and interrelate scientific principles.
D) act as a scientist and react to the scientific findings of others.

Question 7

A field experiment in I/O psychology is one which is conducted

A) at a location other than the one where the psychologist is working.
B) in a laboratory setting.
C) in a work setting.
D) in a nature setting.

Question 8

The experimental method is designed to

A) give the researcher a very high degree of control over the research setting.
B) increase the objectivity of the researcher.
C) examine relationships between variables as they naturally occur.
D) establish correlational relationships between variables.

Question 9

The dependent variable is the variable that is

A) the controlled variable.
B) manipulated by the researcher.
C) measured by the researcher.
D) ignored in most experiments.

Question 10

A stratified sample is one in which

A) subjects are selected around important variables that divide a population into subgroups.
B) subjects are selected by drawing names out of a hat.
C) either males or females, but not both, are included.
D) only volunteers are used.

Question 11

Sampling refers to

A) the selection of a population to be studied.
B) the selection of one hypothesis from several proposed hypotheses.
C) the selection of a representative group from a large population.
D) the inclusion of all members of a population in a particular study.

Question 12

Dr. Io is a scientist who studies teamwork. She is interested in examining differences in worker job satisfaction based on the type of product a team is assigned to work on in the laboratory. In this example, the independent variable is

A) teamwork.
B) the type of product worked on by the team.
C) worker job satisfaction.
D) team performance.

Question 13

The final step in the research process is

A) the statistical analysis of the data.
B) the interpretation of the results.
C) the developing of the hypothesis.
D) None of the above

Question 14

The type of research design selected depends on

A) the time and money available for conducting research.
B) the personal preferences of the researchers.
C) the research question and research setting.
D) the population of interest.

Question 15

In a field experiment, the researcher

A) generally acts as a participant observer.
B) must relinquish control and examine naturally occurring relationships.
C) cannot manipulate variables.
D) generally has less control than in the laboratory.

Question 16

A key overriding theme of social science research methodology and of scientific research methods is

A) applicability.
B) relevance.
C) objectivity.
D) prediction.

Question 17

The main benefit of random sampling is

A) it is always more informative than stratified sampling.
B) it protects against biases in the selection of participants for study.
C) it is very flexible and follows very loose guidelines.
D) it is most frequently used by scientists.

Question 18

Dr. Ob has been hired to evaluate the effectiveness of the XYZ company's training program in increasing worker productivity. In this example, the dependent variable is

A) the XYZ company.
B) the training program.
C) worker productivity.
D) monetary costs of the training program

Question 19

A random sample is one in which

A) participants are selected around important variables that divide a population into subgroups.
B) participants are chosen in such a way that each individual has an equal probability of being selected.
C) either males or females, but not both, are included.
D) only volunteers are used.

Question 20

The independent variable is the variable that is

A) the outcome variable.
B) manipulated by the researcher.
C) measured by the researcher.
D) ignored in most experiments.

Question 21

Which of the following is a major drawback of the experimental method as applied to organizational settings?

A) It does not achieve the same depth as other research methods do.
B) It requires too many participants to be practicable.
C) Laboratory conditions may be quite different from conditions in the work setting.
D) It cannot be applied to actual work settings.

Question 22

The correlational method of research

A) examines relationships between variables as they naturally occur.
B) cannot be used in a laboratory.
C) must involve random assignment of participants to groups.
D) is less scientific than the experimental method.

Question 23

The control group is the group of participants

A) that receives the treatment.
B) where half of the participants receive the treatment.
C) that is always randomly selected.
D) that does not receive the treatment.

Question 24

Informed consent must be obtained from __________ before data can be collected.

A) researchers
B) participants
C) observers
D) employers

Question 25

In an experiment investigating the effects of alcohol consumption on the ability to operate a punch press machine

A) alcohol consumption is the independent variable and ability to operate the machine is the dependent variable. \
B) ability to operate the machine is the independent variable and alcohol consumption is the dependent variable.
C) the experimental group is tested on ability to operate the machine and the control group is not.
D) the control group operates the machine under the influence of alcohol and again after the effects, if any, have worn off.

Question 26

A statistical technique that allows the results from several research investigations to be combined and summarized is called

A) a factor analysis.
B) a t-test.
C) analysis of variance.
D) a meta-analysis.

Question 27

Dr. Io wants to apply the findings of her laboratory research on teamwork to a particular work organization, a beach resort and restaurant on the island of Kauai. Dr. Io's biggest problem is likely to be

A) the external validity of her results.
B) the internal validity of her results.
C) random assignment of participants to groups.
D) choosing a method.

Question 28

The question of whether research results obtained in one setting will apply to another setting is called

A) external validity.
B) internal validity.
C) research applicability.
D) method restriction.

Question 29

A company had decided to enclose a questionnaire with its next billing to ascertain its customers' opinions about company services. Which method of measuring variables is the company using?

A) self-report technique
B) direct observation
C) unobtrusive observation
D) obtrusive observation

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT typically examined as a dependent variable in I/O psychology research?

A) profits
B) employee turnover
C) employee absenteeism
D) employee job satisfaction

Question 31

Obtrusive observation is a method for measuring research variables in which subjects are

A) unaware that they are being observed.
B) aware that they are being observed.
C) unconcerned about being observed.
D) none of the above

Question 32

Which three dependent variables are most strongly theoretically linked to one another?

A) Job satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism
B) Job satisfaction, productivity, profits
C) Job satisfaction, absenteeism, turnover
D) Turnover, productivity, quality

Question 33

The key to the success of the experimental method is

A) to randomly select a very large sample of participants.
B) to hold all extraneous variables constant.
C) to manipulate as many variables as possible.
D) to allow extraneous variables to only influence the treatment group.

Question 34

Because the correlational method does not require the rigid control over variables associated with the experimental method,

A) it is less scientific than experimentation.
B) it is easy to use in actual work settings.
C) any type of measurement may be used.
D) cause-and-effect relationships are easily established.

Question 35

Turning a variable into something that is measurable is called

A) external validity.
B) relevance.
C) operationalization.
D) objectivity.

Question 36

One limitation of the correlational method is

A) it is very difficult to use.
B) it is usually costly and time-consuming.
C) it is difficult to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
D) it can only be used in controlled, laboratory-like conditions.

Question 37

An extraneous variable in the Hawthorne studies was

A) the increase in the intensity of the lighting.
B) the attention paid to the assemblers by the researchers.
C) the group of employees who experienced the change in working conditions.
D) All of the above

Question 38

The primary advantage of the experimental method is that

A) it is much simpler to use in research than the correlational method.
B) its findings are usually more useful in business environments.
C) it allows us to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
D) it produces results that are easier to analyze than the correlational method.

Question 39

Random assignment of participants to treatment and control groups

A) accomplishes control of many potential extraneous variables.
B) is rarely used by I/O psychologists.
C) is very difficult to accomplish and time-consuming.
D) is only used in correlational research designs.

Question 40

To test the effectiveness of a new training program for sales skills, a randomly selected group of salespeople receives training and another randomly selected group receives no training. The independent variable consists of

A) the amount of sales for each of the groups.
B) the group of salespeople who received the training.
C) the group of salespeople who did not receive the training.
D) whether or not the salespeople received the training.

Question 41

A characteristic of a normal distribution of scores is that

A) it is a bell-shaped curve.
B) it has a midpoint score which is both the mean and the median.
C) 50% of the scores fall above the mean, and 50% of the scores fall below the mean.
D) All of the above

Question 42

Of the handful of dependent variables typically used in I/O research, quality of work is the easiest to measure.

Question 43

Extraneous variables need to be controlled as much as possible when conducting scientific research.

Question 44

The most common measure of central tendency is the

A) frequency distribution.
B) mean.
C) standard deviation.
D) median.

Question 45

A negative correlation coefficient indicates that

A) an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in another variable.
B) a decrease in one variable is associated with a decrease in another variable.
C) an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in another variable.
D) there can be no negative correlation since correlations range between 0 and +1.0.

Question 46

Since the researcher often directly observes behavior in an experimental design, another name for the experimental method is the observational method.

Question 47

Which of the following is an example of a negative correlation?

A) As turnover increases, absenteeism rates are unchanged.
B) Greater absenteeism leads to a drop-off in productivity.
C) The more training, the better worker performance.
D) The happy worker is a productive worker.

Question 48

An I/O psychologist discovers that as job satisfaction increases, absenteeism decreases. This is an example of

A) a negative correlation.
B) a positive correlation.
C) a mean difference.
D) none of the above

Question 49

Theories are useless ideas which have much less meaning in scientific research than facts and laws.

Question 50

The last step in the research process involves interpreting the results and drawing conclusions.

Question 51

An advantage of examining more than one independent variable at a time is

A) detection of main effects.
B) detection of interaction effects.
C) it is more cost-effective than examining one independent variable.
D) fewer participants are required.

Question 52

One problem with using self-report techniques of data collection is that subjects may give socially desirable answers rather than truthful answers.

Question 53

Job satisfaction is an example of a variable examined in organizational research.

Question 54

A meta-analysis is a statistical technique that allows the results of a number of studies to be combined and analyzed together.

Question 55

A simple statistical test commonly used to test the difference between the means of two groups on some dependent variable is the

A) correlation coefficient.
B) t-test.
C) multivariate analysis of variance.
D) standard deviation.

Question 56

Inferential statistics are used to

A) create a useful "picture" of data.
B) test hypotheses.
C) determine the variability of a sample.
D) All of the above

Question 57

Obtrusive observation refers to any method of observing participants in a study and recording their behavior.

Question 58

I/O scientists and practitioners are required to keep data __________.

A) available to all participants.
B) numeric rather than verbal.
C) in an organized data file.
D) confidential.

Question 59

A researcher takes care to select participants for a study that represent the ethnic and age breakdowns of the population at large. This is an example of stratified sampling.

Question 60

In a normal distribution, what percentage of scores lies between one standard deviation above and below the mean?

A) 5 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 68 percent
D) 95 percent

Question 61

Describe the experimental method, and the advantages and disadvantages associated with laboratory and field experiments.

Question 62

Discuss the issue of sampling in research, including examples of random and stratified sampling.

Question 63

Descriptive statistics are used to statistically verify that there is a significant difference between two groups on some dependent variable.

Question 64

Discuss, compare, and contrast the experimental and correlational methods.

Question 65

Describe the steps in the research process.

Question 66

A strong negative correlation is represented by a coefficient of zero (0.0).

Question 67

Informed consent refers to participants' being paid for their research participation.

Question 68

Researchers use multivariate research designs to help capture the complexity of actual work behavior.

Question 69

In a normal distribution, the median and the mode are the same number.

Question 70

Another name for the median is the "average."

Question 71

Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics are used to test research hypotheses.

Question 72

I/O practitioners follow different ethical standards than I/O scientists.

Question 73

External validity is concerned with whether obtained research results will generalize to other settings.

Question 74

Describe the basic and applied goals of I/O psychology.

Question 75

A 1970s re-analysis of the data from the original Hawthorne studies revealed that the Hawthorne studies were a model of good social scientific research methods.

Question 76

Describe the research method of meta-analysis, including its particular purposes.

Question 77

Analysis of research data can be either quantitative or qualitative.

Question 78

External validity is usually more of a problem for research conducted in laboratory settings as opposed to field settings.