Question 1

Social psychologists will often run pilot studies that are very similar to actual experiments that they intend to run later but that differ in that participants are used as consultants to check that the experiment instructions are understandable, that the scenarios are believable, and so forth.Running a pilot study such as this particularly helps to increase the ____________ of an experiment.

Accepted Answer

Running a pilot study helps to increase the internal validity of an experiment by checking that the instructions and scenarios are clear and believable for the participants. External validity refers to how well the findings of the study can be generalized to the broader population, reliability refers to the consistency and stability of the results, and statistical significance refers to whether the results are likely due to chance or not. While pilot studies may also help with these aspects, their primary focus is on internal validity.

Question 2

A biased sample would most likely result in which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A biased sample is one that does not accurately represent the population being studied, which can lead to invalid conclusions based on the survey results. This can occur when certain groups are overrepresented or underrepresented in the sample, which can skew the results in one direction or another. It is important to minimize bias in sampling in order to obtain accurate and reliable data.

Question 3

If an experiment produces reliable results, what does this mean?

Accepted Answer

"Reliable results" means that the experiment is likely to yield consistent results.

Question 4

If a social psychology experiment is conducted that has very little relation to real-life experience or situations, then this experiment would be said to be low in ____________.

Accepted Answer

External validity refers to how well the findings of a study can be generalized to real-life situations or populations. Therefore, if an experiment has little relation to real-life experience or situations, it would be low in external validity.

Question 5

High school seniors are given a test that is supposed to predict scholastic performance during the first year of college.When the test results are compared with the students' actual first-year performance, there is no correlation between the test scores and performance.This is an example of poor ____________.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of poor measurement validity because the test is not measuring what it is intended to measure, which is scholastic performance during the first year of college. There is no correlation between the test scores and actual first-year performance, indicating that the test is not a valid measure of this concept.

Question 6

Random assignment is an important aspect of experiments because it

Accepted Answer

Random assignment helps to ensure that individual differences are evenly distributed across groups, reducing selection biases and allowing for more accurate comparisons between experimental conditions.

Question 7

Experiments are the best research method for finding causal relationships between variables because they incorporate ____________ and ____________ into their design.

Accepted Answer

Control groups ensure that the observed effect is not due to alternative explanations, and random assignment ensures that any differences between groups are due to chance rather than pre-existing differences in the participants. This allows for the identification of causal relationships between variables. Self-selection and informed consent are important ethical considerations but do not necessarily improve the validity of the research design. External validity and dependent variables are important concepts in research, but they do not directly relate to the benefits of experiments for establishing causal relationships.

Question 8

If a research group plans to conduct a survey poll about an upcoming presidential election in the United States, what is the minimum percentage of all likely voters that will be needed to obtain an accurate estimation of voter opinion, assuming that a random sample is obtained?

Accepted Answer

A random sample of about 1,000 to 1,500 people, which is much less than 2 percent of the total likely voters, is typically sufficient to obtain an accurate estimation of voter opinion in a large population like that of the United States.

Question 9

A social psychologist conducts an experiment and finds a statistically significant result.This means that

Accepted Answer

A statistically significant result means that the probability of obtaining the finding by chance alone is less than some pre-determined level of significance, usually 0.05 or 0.01. This indicates that the effect observed in the study is unlikely to be due solely to random variation or chance.

Question 10

The problem with self-selection in research is that

Accepted Answer

Self-selection can lead to biased samples that may not represent the population the researcher is interested in studying. Participants who choose to participate in one condition of the study may differ systematically from those who choose to participate in another condition. This can make it difficult to make causal interpretations because the observed differences may be due to preexisting differences between participants rather than the effect of the independent variable manipulated by the researcher.

Question 11

An experiment that is set in the real world, and in which the participants themselves are usually unaware that they are participating in a research study, is usually described as a ____________.

Accepted Answer

A field experiment is an experiment set in the natural or real-world environment, where the researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and observes the effect on one or more dependent variables. Participants in a field experiment are usually unaware that they are being studied, as the experiment is disguised as regular behavior or activity in their natural environment. Longitudinal studies are also set in the real world, but they involve observing and collecting data from the same group of participants over an extended period. Laboratory experiments are conducted in a controlled environment, and the variables are manipulated and controlled by the researcher. Correlational studies involve analyzing the relationship between variables without manipulating them.

Question 12

Random assignment is a crucial component of experiment design.Failing to use random assignment when placing participants into groups would have the most effect on the ____________ of an experiment.

Accepted Answer

Random assignment helps to control for extraneous variables and ensures that the groups are comparable at the start of the experiment. Without random assignment, it is more likely that the groups will differ on one or more important variables, which could influence the outcome of the study. This would compromise the internal validity of the experiment, or the ability to draw accurate conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships between the independent variable and the dependent variable. External validity refers to the generalizability of the findings to other populations or settings, measurement validity refers to the accuracy of the measures used in the study, and statistical significance refers to whether the results are due to chance or a real effect. While these are all important aspects of experimental design, random assignment is specifically related to internal validity.

Question 13

You read the results of a survey that reports that two-thirds of Cosmopolitan readers lost weight by "going vegan." You should not give the report of this survey much credence because

Accepted Answer

All of the above choices are reasons that the survey results should not be trusted. The survey suffers from sample bias, confusing correlation with causation, and self-selection bias. Therefore, it is not a reliable source of information.

Question 14

When an experiment has poor internal validity, which of the following might be of concern?

Accepted Answer

Poor internal validity means that there is a lack of control over extraneous variables, making it difficult to determine if the independent variable truly caused the observed effect. This can lead to concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the results. Option A may also be a concern, but it is not as directly related to internal validity as option B. Options C and D are not directly related to internal validity.

Question 15

Which of the following indicates the highest degree of relationship between variables?

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of -0.9 indicates a very strong negative correlation between the variables, meaning that as one variable increases, the other variable decreases with a very high degree of certainty.

Question 16

A study shows that people who watch the local evening news believe the world is more dangerous than do people who do not watch the evening news.On the basis of this study, a newspaper reporter concludes that watching the evening news leads people to believe the world is more dangerous than it actually is.This is a flawed conclusion because

Accepted Answer

The conclusion drawn by the newspaper reporter confuses a correlation between watching evening news and believing the world is more dangerous with causation, i.e., the evening news is causing people to believe the world is more dangerous. There could be other variables or factors leading to this correlation. Hence, it is a flawed conclusion.

Question 17

When there is a high correlation between a measurement instrument and the outcomes that the instrument is supposed to predict, then this instrument is said to be high in ____________.

Accepted Answer

Measurement validity refers to the degree to which a measurement instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. A high correlation between the instrument and the predicted outcomes indicates that the instrument is valid, as it is accurately predicting the desired outcomes. Internal validity refers to the accuracy of causation within a study, reliability refers to the consistency of results within a study or across studies, and statistical significance refers to the probability of obtaining a result due to chance. While these factors are related to validity, they do not necessarily indicate validity on their own.

Question 18

One of the primary reasons field experiments are conducted is that they

Accepted Answer

Field experiments are designed to mimic real-world situations as much as possible to achieve high external validity. They allow researchers to examine the effects of manipulations in settings that are similar to real life. However, they often sacrifice some degree of experimental control and may be more difficult to carry out logistically. Statistically significant results can be obtained in any type of experiment, regardless of whether it is a field experiment or not.

Question 19

It is very common for magazines to conduct surveys in which readers voluntarily fill out survey cards and mail the cards to the publisher.The main problem with conducting a survey in this manner is that ____________.

Accepted Answer

People who voluntarily respond to surveys through mail may not represent the entire population, as those who choose not to respond may have different opinions or characteristics. This can lead to biased results and therefore not a reliable representation of the target population.

Question 20

Which of the following is a potential limitation of correlational research?

Accepted Answer

Correlational research can only determine the relationship between two variables, but cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between them. Other factors that were not measured or controlled for could be influencing the observed relationship.

Quiz 2: The Methods of Social Psychology