M2: Introduction to Social Psychology Experimentation

Question 1

The random assignment of human subjects to two groups to examine the effects of social policies.

Answer 1

Social Experiment

Question 2

One group, called _________ is offered or required to participate in a new program.

Answer 2

Treatment Group

Question 3

Another group, __________ receives the existing program

Answer 3

Control Group

Question 4

Are sometimes called the ”impacts” of the program.

Answer 4

Behavioral Differences

Question 5

TRUE OR FALSE:

Sample sizes in social experiments have ranged from under 100 to well over 10,000.

Answer 5

TRUE

Question 6

It monitor the behavior of persons subjected to a new policy (the treatment group) and select a “comparison group” to serve the role of a control group.

Answer 6

Non-experimental Methods

Question 7

A particularly attractive non experimental method is called ________ ?

Answer 7

Natural Experiment

Question 8

Are used to test the effects of social policies already in place.

Answer 8

Natural Experiment

Question 9

Uses a weighted average of the observed economic and demographic characteristics of the nonparticipating population to create a comparison group.

Answer 9

Propensity Score Matching

Question 10

The __________ is the age of passionate measurement of social phenomena.

Answer 10

19th Century

Question 11

TRUE OR FALSE:

19th-century experts agreed that scientific experimentation with human beings is feasible.

Answer 11

FALSE; it is not feasible

Question 12

A truly scientific experiment is called ________

Answer 12

Randomized Controlled Trial

Question 13

Much of the foundation of the modern approach to social experimentation can be traced back to the work of the famous statistician __________ in the 1920s

Answer 13

Ronald Fisher

Question 14

TRUE OR FALSE:

It was not until the 1960s that the randomized controlled trial (RCT) became the ideal experiment in the social sciences (and medicine).

Answer 14

FALSE; not until 1950s

Question 15

TRUE OR FALSE:

It was not before the 1910s that the present-day definition of a scientific experiment as a comparative measurement of experimental and control groups.

Answer 15

TRUE

Question 16

TRUE OR FALSE:

Social experiments require that a control group be denied the policy change given to the treatment group.

Answer 16

TRUE

Question 17

TRUE OR FALSE:

Social experiments take time to design and evaluate, usually several months.

Answer 17

FALSE; it usually take several years

Question 18

TRUE OR FALSE:

The treatment and control groups that are tested may turn out to be representative of the target population.

Answer 18

FALSE; it may turn out to be unrepresentative of the target population

Question 19

TRUE OR FALSE:

One common criticism of experiments is that because of their limited size, they do not generate the macroeconomic, “community,” effects that a fully operational program would generate.

Answer 19

TRUE

Question 20

TRUE OR FALSE:

Although well-designed experiments have a high degree of internal validity (inferences are valid for the tested sample), they may have external validity (they are generalizable to other settings).

Answer 20

FALSE; they may not have external validity (they are not generalizable to other settings).