In a previous correlational study, Dr. Lafayette has found that owning dogs is associated with lower levels of daily stress in a sample of returning war veterans. Which of the following would constitute a shift from theory-testing mode to generalization mode?
A)Conducting a study on the same sample of war veterans, this time using a different measure of daily stress
B)Conducting a study examining the stress reduction mechanism
C)Conducting an experimental study in which he assigns people to own a dog or not
D)Conducting a study on dog ownership using a sample of elderly participants from a local retirement home

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Conducting a study on dog ownership using a sample of elderly participants from a local retirement home would constitute a shift to generalization mode since it involves testing the generalizability of the findings to a different population (elderly participants in a retirement home) rather than simply testing a theory (as would be the case in option A) or examining the mechanism underlying the association (as would be the case in option B). Conducting an experimental study in which participants are assigned to own a dog or not (option C) would still be in theory-testing mode, but could potentially provide stronger evidence for the causal relationship between dog ownership and stress reduction.

In a Previous Correlational Study, Dr