Question 1

Which of the following correlations indicates the weakest relationship between two variables?

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of 0.1 represents a very weak relationship between two variables.

Question 2

All of the following are examples of resources used in archival research EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

Firsthand observations of behavior are not considered archival resources as they involve a researcher directly observing and documenting behavior in real-time, rather than utilizing pre-existing historical documents or records. Police records, newspaper articles, and databases are commonly used resources in archival research.

Question 3

A social psychologist finds a relationship between socioeconomic status and relationship satisfaction in married couples.This study most likely describes which type of research method?

Accepted Answer

The study describes a correlational research method because it investigates the relationship between two variables (socioeconomic status and relationship satisfaction) without manipulating or controlling any variables.

Question 4

An experiment by Darley and Batson (1973)looked at seminary students' willingness to help.In one condition,participants were made to hurry from one building to another by being told they were late to give a speech,which was described as part of the study requirements.In the other condition,participants were only told to go over to another building in order to give the speech.Both groups encountered a person lying on the ground on their way to the other building.The experimenter observed the participants from both groups and counted the number of people who stopped to check on the person lying on the ground.It was found that the participants who were in a hurry stopped much less frequently than the participants who were not in a hurry.In this experiment,what was the independent variable?

Accepted Answer

The independent variable in this experiment was whether or not the participants were made to hurry from one building to another. This was manipulated by telling some participants they were late to give a speech, whereas others were simply told to go to another building. The other variables (the person lying on the ground and the number of people stopping to check on them) were dependent variables that were measured as a result of the independent variable manipulation.

Question 5

________ is the tendency to believe you could have predicted an outcome accurately,when in reality you probably could not have.

Accepted Answer

The tendency described in the question is commonly known as the hindsight bias, which refers to the tendency to perceive events that have already occurred as being more predictable than they actually were. Option A (The prediction bias) is not a commonly recognized term, while options C (External validity) and D (Internal validity) refer to concepts related to research design and are not relevant to the question.

Question 6

In an experiment,the control condition

Accepted Answer

The control condition is used as a benchmark to compare the outcomes of the experimental condition, helping to understand the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.

Question 7

When random sampling is used,it means that

Accepted Answer

Random sampling means that every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected. This helps ensure that the sample is representative of the population and reduces the chances of biased results.

Question 8

Which of the following best describes a research study that randomly assigns people to different conditions and carefully controls all of the other circumstances so that they will be the same across the two conditions?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic definition of an experiment, as it involves random assignment of participants to different conditions (such as a treatment group versus a control group) and controlling extraneous variables to isolate the effects of the independent variable. Correlation studies, surveys, and observational studies do not necessarily involve random assignment and strict control of extraneous variables.

Question 9

Which of the following is the best example of observational research?

Accepted Answer

Observational research involves directly observing and recording behavior, which is exactly what living with a group of people and observing their behavior entails. The other options involve indirect methods of data collection, such as reviewing records or administering questionnaires.

Question 10

What is one of the most important differences between correlational and experimental research designs?

Accepted Answer

The key difference between correlational and experimental research designs is that experiments use random assignment, while correlational studies simply measure the relationship between variables without manipulating them. This random assignment is what allows researchers to draw conclusions about cause and effect.

Question 11

The primary difference between natural experiments and standard experiments is that natural experiments

Accepted Answer

Natural experiments typically involve the observation of naturally occurring differences or events, which means that the assignment of individuals to different groups is not under the control of the researcher and is not randomized. In contrast, standard experiments involve the manipulation of an independent variable and typically use random assignment to ensure that participants have an equal chance of being placed in each group. Therefore, the correct answer is D, which states that natural experiments typically do not involve the random assignment of individuals.

Question 12

Dr.Samanta is interested in how personality changes over adolescence.She enrolls a sample of 10-year-olds and follows them through age 17.This kind of study is known as a(n)________ study.

Accepted Answer

A longitudinal study is a research design in which the same group of individuals is followed over a period of time, in this case from age 10 to age 17. The purpose is to examine changes in personality over time, which cannot be achieved in cross-sectional or observational studies. A mixed design study combines two or more research designs, which is not the case here.

Question 13

Interviews and written questionnaires are forms of which type of research method?

Accepted Answer

Interviews and written questionnaires are examples of survey research, which involves collecting data through standardized questions asked of a representative sample of the population being studied.

Question 14

Which of the following would be an example of random sampling in a survey study designed to learn more about the student body at a particular college?

Accepted Answer

Random sampling involves selecting participants from a population in a way that ensures that each member of the population has an equal chance of being included. Option B, selecting participants by pulling names out of a hat, is a clear example of random sampling. Option A involves self-selection, which is not random sampling. Option C involves selecting participants based on a specific location, which is not random sampling. Option D involves selecting participants based on a specific group, which is also not random sampling.

Question 15

Which of the following research methods is the best way to identify a causal relationship between two variables?

Accepted Answer

Experimental research is the best way to identify a causal relationship between two variables because it involves manipulating an independent variable to see its effect on a dependent variable while controlling for other possible factors (through random assignment or matching). This allows researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships and rule out alternative explanations for the results. Observational and archival research cannot establish causality, while correlational research only identifies the strength and direction of the relationship between variables, but not causality.

Question 16

In her social psychology course,Maria learns that the more one is exposed to something,such as a song on the radio,the more one tends to like it.Maria thinks this is obvious and questions why she signed up for the class.What might Maria be displaying?

Accepted Answer

Maria is displaying the hindsight bias, which is the tendency to believe that an event was predictable after it has occurred. She believes that the idea of exposure leading to liking is obvious only after learning about it, disregarding the fact that she did not know it before.

Question 17

Experiments are different from other research methods in that they encompass which of the following components?

Accepted Answer

Experiments are unique in their use of random assignment to place participants into experimental and control groups, which helps establish causality by ensuring that any differences observed between groups are due to the manipulation of the independent variable rather than pre-existing differences between the participants.

Question 18

The halo effect is the tendency to believe that physically attractive people have a host of other positive qualities,such as a high level of intelligence or a good personality.When asked to guess what the halo effect is before learning about it,many mistakenly assume that the reverse is true (that attractive people are seen as less smart or less kind).Once they learn about the effect,however,many say that it is no surprise and that they knew it all along.This reflects

Accepted Answer

The description of individuals believing they knew about the halo effect all along suggests the hindsight bias, which occurs when people overestimate their ability to have predicted an event after the outcome is already known. Self-selection and convenience sampling are related to research methods rather than cognitive biases. A false memory bias involves the recall of information that was not actually experienced, and is not relevant to the scenario described.

Question 19

Which of the following scatterplot graphs displays the strongest relationship between two variables?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following scatterplot graphs displays...

Question 20

The independent variable in an experiment is

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the one that is purposely manipulated by the experimenter and is hypothesized to cause a specific outcome.

Quiz 2: The Methods of Social Psychology