Question 1

To develop hypotheses about why people commit sex-related crimes, Dr. Green conducted an in-depth investigation of an individual convicted of indecent exposure. Dr. Green's investigation illustrated which methodology?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Green's investigation of an individual convicted of indecent exposure involves an in-depth examination of a single case, making it a case study methodology.

Question 2

If a marketing researcher is trying to determine whether or not individuals living in Boston prefer domestic or imported beer, which technique would MOST likely yield a random sample?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If a marketing researcher is trying to...

Question 3

The _____ is the group of people who participate in a study, whereas the _____ is all of the people about whom a study is meant to generalize.

Accepted Answer

The sample is a subset of the population that is selected to participate in a study. The population is the entire group about which the research is intended to generalize. So, the correct answer is A, where the sample refers to the group of people who participate in a study, and the population refers to all of the people about whom a study is meant to generalize.

Question 4

As Jimmy constructs a survey about attitudes toward health care, he words the questions carefully to minimize the possibility that participants will respond in a way that does not reflect what they actually think. By attending to question construction, Jimmy aims to minimize _____.

Accepted Answer

By wording questions carefully to minimize the possibility of social desirability bias, Jimmy is ensuring that participants are less likely to respond in a manner that reflects what they think would be socially acceptable or desirable, rather than their genuine personal beliefs or experiences. The other options do not directly relate to the issue of question construction and response bias.

Question 5

In order to discover the extent to which education can be used to predict political preferences, researchers are MOST likely to engage in _____.

Accepted Answer

Correlational research would allow researchers to measure the relationship between education level and political preferences. This method would involve collecting data on individuals' levels of education and political beliefs and analyzing the strength and direction of the correlation between the two variables. Naturalistic observation and the case study approach would not be effective for studying large-scale patterns of education and political preferences, and experimental research would not be ethical or practical for this topic.

Question 6

Surveys are MOST useful when researchers wish to_____.

Accepted Answer

Surveys are particularly effective for collecting data on behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes from a large group of people. They are designed to gather descriptive information and are not inherently designed to explain behaviors (choice A) or guarantee unbiased and accurate information (choice B), as the design and response biases can affect the outcomes.

Question 7

Which statement regarding populations and samples is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

In order to make valid generalizations from a sample to the entire population, the sample must be representative of the population. Therefore, a representative sample is necessary for generalization of the research findings to the population. A is incorrect because generalization from a sample to the population depends on the representativeness of the sample. C is incorrect because the population refers to the entire group of interest, not a subset used in a study. D is incorrect because statement B is true.

Question 8

Which selection procedure(s) would be MOST likely to yield a random sample of voters' opinions toward capital punishment in the state of Texas?

Accepted Answer

Randomly selecting voters from the complete list of all registered voters would be the most likely to yield a representative sample of the entire voter population of the state of Texas. The other options may introduce bias by only sampling voters from specific districts or only those who vote on election day.

Question 9

"Variable" is the answer to which question?

Accepted Answer

A variable is any factor that can take on more than one value. Option A describes a "constant", option C describes a "correlation coefficient", and option D describes a "correlation strength".

Question 10

Sharon wants to study student perceptions of the residence halls at her university. She contacts every 20th name on an alphabetized list from the registrar's office. In this situation, the students contacted by Sharon represent _____.

Accepted Answer

By selecting every 20th name on an alphabetized list, Sharon is using a systematic sampling technique, which is a type of probability sampling. This means that every student on the list has an equal chance of being selected, making the sample representative of the population. Therefore, the students contacted by Sharon represent a random sample.

Question 11

When each individual in the population has an equal opportunity of being in the sample, _____ sampling is being used.

Accepted Answer

Random sampling involves selecting individuals from the population in a way that each individual has an equal and independent chance of being chosen. This helps to avoid bias in the sample and increase the generalizability of the findings to the population.

Question 12

A _____ study is a research method used to determine how well one variable predicts another variable.

Accepted Answer

Correlational studies are specifically designed to examine the relationships between variables and determine the extent to which one variable can predict another variable. While experimental and descriptive studies can provide insight into predictive relationships between variables, they are not specifically designed for this purpose. Therefore, the best choice is A) correlational.

Question 13

Virtually all correlation coefficients in psychological research have an absolute value of less than 1.00, which indicates that _____.

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of 1.00 would indicate a perfect relationship where one variable predicts or explains the other variable with complete accuracy. Since virtually all correlation coefficients have an absolute value of less than 1.00 in psychological research, it suggests that behavior cannot be predicted or explained with complete accuracy. This is because behavior is complex and influenced by many factors, and researchers cannot control for all of these factors in their studies.

Question 14

Charlene is interested in determining whether the opinions of registered voters toward an increase in taxes for the public schools are influenced by the age of the voter. In her research, she attempts to contact every 20th person on the voter registration lists. All registered voters constitute the _____ for this study and the people she contacts constitute the _____ for this study.

Accepted Answer

The population for this study is all registered voters, while the people she contacts (every 20th person on the voter registration lists) constitute the sample. Therefore, the correct answer is (D) population; sample. Choice (A) and (B) are incorrect because this study does not involve an experimental or control group. Choice (C) is incorrect because the sample is not a control group.

Question 15

One of the major benefits of the case study technique is that it allows researchers to _____.

Accepted Answer

Case studies allow researchers to gather detailed information and develop hypotheses that can later be tested through more controlled experimental methods.

Question 16

Sample is to population as _____ is to _____.

Accepted Answer

A sample is a subset of the entire population. Therefore, choice C is the correct analogy. Choices A and B are incorrect because both refer to representativeness, which is not the main focus of the analogy. Choice D is also incorrect because it reverses the relationship between the two terms.

Question 17

Which data collection technique would be the MOST effective way of investigating the relationship between political preferences and the economic status of North Americans?

Accepted Answer

The survey would be the most effective data collection technique for investigating the relationship between political preferences and the economic status of North Americans because it allows for the collection of large amounts of data from a diverse and representative sample of the population. The survey can be designed with specific questions related to both political preferences and economic status, and can be administered through various methods, such as online, by phone, or in-person. This would allow for a broad range of participants to be included in the study, resulting in a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between political and economic factors.

Question 18

To obtain a representative sample, researchers use random _____, which allows them to _____.

Accepted Answer

Random sampling is the process of selecting participants for a study in a way that everyone in the population of interest has an equal chance of being chosen. This allows researchers to generalize the results to the population of interest with greater confidence than if they had only studied a non-random sample.  Assignment, which refers to how participants are assigned to different groups in a study, does not ensure equal representation of the population and therefore cannot guarantee generalizability.

Question 19

The purpose of drawing a _____ from the _____ is to ensure that the sample is _____ of the population.

Accepted Answer

Drawing a random sample from the population ensures that every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected, and thus the sample is more likely to be representative of the population. Option B is incorrect because there is no such thing as a random population. Option C and D are incorrect because representative samples and populations are not necessarily random.

Question 20

Which research technique would be MOST well suited to examining whether the number of hours spent watching TV predicts hours spent exercising?

Accepted Answer

A correlational study would be the most appropriate technique to examine the relationship between the number of hours spent watching TV and the number of hours spent exercising. This is because a correlational study is designed to examine the degree of association between two variables. In this case, the goal is to examine whether there is a correlation between the number of hours spent watching TV and the number of hours spent exercising. A correlational study would be able to provide information on the direction and strength of this relationship.

Quiz 1: Section 2: The Science of Psychology