The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View, 1st Edition (King)

Chapter 2: Psychology's Scientific Methods

Multiple Choice Quiz

1
If a researcher is interested in the population of college students at a large state university, which of the following would provide him or her with a random sample?
A)randomly approaching students in the student union
B)randomly selecting three classrooms and including all the students in those classrooms in the sample
C)randomly selecting students from a listing of every student in the university
D)randomly selecting students from the incoming class
2
A researcher is interested in the racial identity development of African American women. She asks 200 African American women about their racial identity. What is the population?
A)the 200 African American women she interviewed
B)all Americans
C)all African Americans
D)all African American women
3
A researcher has designed a study to test the effects of different types of individual psychotherapy on people's levels of depression. She has randomly assigned people to one of three groups: a cognitive-behavioral treatment group, a psychodynamic treatment group, or a no-treatment control group. She then measures people's level of depression after the treatment. Which of the following statements is true?
A)The treatment group is the dependent variable; depression is the independent variable.
B)Depression is the dependent variable; the treatment group is the independent variable.
C)Depression is the dependent variable; cognitive-behavioral treatment is the independent variable.
D)Cognitive-behavioral treatment is the dependent variable; depression is the independent variable.
4
A psychologist examines fathers and their children at a picnic. She observes the number of times fathers engage in cooperative play with their children. This study is an example of
A)a laboratory study.
B)naturalistic observation.
C)an experiment.
D)a survey study.
5
A market-research firm calls you on the phone and asks you a series of questions about your attitudes toward exercise. The market-research firm is conducting a(n)
A)experiment.
B)laboratory study.
C)survey.
D)naturalistic observation.
6
How is a survey different from a standardized test?
A)There is no difference.
B)A survey takes place in a naturalistic setting, while a standardized test take place in the laboratory.
C)A survey does not compare a participant's performance to a larger group of participants, while a standardized test does.
D)A standardized test measures a variable, while a survey does not.
7
A double-blind study controls for
A)experimenter bias.
B)participant bias.
C)location bias.
D)experimenter and participant bias.
E)All of the answers are correct.
8
Conducting an in-depth interview of a single person with a rare illness is an example of
A)a correlational design.
B)an experiment.
C)a survey.
D)a case study.
9
A researcher obtained a correlation coefficient of -.65 for the relationship between job satisfaction and experiences of discrimination in the workplace. What does this correlation coefficient mean?
A)Discrimination causes decreased job satisfaction.
B)People who experienced more discrimination were less likely to be satisfied with their job.
C)People who were more satisfied with their job experienced more discrimination.
D)There is no relationship between job satisfaction and experiences of discrimination.
10
A school psychologist is interested in studying the effectiveness of a reading improvement program. He has randomly assigned participants to one of two groups. The first group receives training in phonics, while the second group is put on a waiting list and receives no training. What is the control group?
A)the group that received the phonics training
B)the group that received no training
C)the sample
D)the population
11
Statistical significance refers to
A)the probability that a research finding happened by chance.
B)the mean.
C)the measure of central tendency.
D)the measure of dispersion.
12
Which of the following should be adhered to in conducing ethical research?
A)informed consent
B)debriefing
C)confidentiality
D)All of the answers are correct.
13
How can causality be demonstrated?
A)through correlation
B)through an experiment
C)through inferential statistics
D)None of the answers are correct.
14
Before a study begins, the researcher tells his participants that he is interested in whether exposure to violent stimuli will result in less cooperation within a group. Which of the following should be a concern?
A)participant bias
B)experimenter bias
C)ethics
D)All of the answers are correct.
15
Which of the following is an advantage of laboratory studies?
A)ecological validity
B)lack of participant bias
C)control of extraneous variables
D)observation in a naturalistic setting
16
An experimenter is interested in determining if there are differences in happiness, life satisfaction, and optimism between people who have been given a self-help book to read versus those who have been given a sports article to read. What is the independent variable?
A)happiness
B)life satisfaction
C)optimism
D)reading material
17
A correlation of +.20 indicates
A)a weak positive correlation.
B)a strong positive correlation.
C)a weak negative correlation.
D)a strong negative correlation.
18
A research study that assesses participants in a laboratory setting in February, May, and August is an example of
A)a naturalistic observation study.
B)a longitudinal study.
C)ecological validity.
D)the third variable problem.
19
Researchers interested in health behavior postulate that people's decisions about their health are based on attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions. This is an example of
A)a theory.
B)a hypothesis.
C)a correlational research design.
D)naturalistic observation.
20
A researcher is conducting a study on the effects of yoga on mental health. She plans to randomly assign participants to one group that is given a five week yoga intervention or to another group that is given a free five week gym membership. Which of the following would she use to randomly assign participants to one of the groups?
A)The first 10 people who enroll will be put in the yoga group; the next 10 will be put in the gym group, and so forth.
B)Men will be put in the yoga group; women will be put in the gym group.
C)Each participant will flip a coin; those who get heads will be put in the yoga group, those who get tails will be put in the gym group.
D)Those that have previously done yoga will be put in the yoga group; those that have not done yoga will be put in the gym group.
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