Module 2

Question 1

What three qualities make for a great scientific theory

Answer 1

1) Falsifiable
2) Hypothesis is stated a priori
3) Parsimonious (succinct)

Question 2

What are descriptive studies

Answer 2

Descriptive studies are those that involve observing behavior in a systematic way in order to accurately and objectively describe that behavior.

Question 3

What are three examples of descriptive studies

Answer 3

Case studies, observational studies, self-reports/interviews.

Question 4

What are the strengths of case studies

Answer 4

they provide in depth information

Question 5

What are the weaknesses of case studies

Answer 5

they can’t be generalized to the wider population and don’t allow for control of variables

Question 6

What are the two types of observational studies

Answer 6

participant observation and naturalistic observation

Question 7

What is naturalistic observation and how is it different from participant observation

Answer 7

the the experimenter passively observes the situation, without intervening in any way.

Question 8

What is participant observation and how is it different from naturalistic observation

Answer 8

The experimenter is actively involved in the situation being observed.

Question 9

What two issues might affect the outcome of a observational study

Answer 9

observer bias and reactivity (Hawthorne effect)

Question 10

What is the Hawthorne effect

Answer 10

When people are being studied, their performance usually improves

Question 11

What two potential concerns could affect the accuracy of a self-report/interview study

Answer 11

Researcher bias and social desirability

Question 12

What two types of correlational studies are there

Answer 12

• cross-sectional (at one time point)
• longitudinal (across many time points)

Question 13

Positive r values denote _____ correlations

Answer 13

Positive

Question 14

Negtive r values denote _____ correlations

Answer 14

Negative

Question 15

What three things are necessary to demonstrate causation

Answer 15

covariation, temporal precedence, and elimination of spuriousness

Question 16

What does the Institutional Review Board (IRB) do

Answer 16

makes sure all experiments done are safe and ethical

Question 17

In order to be valuable, the data collected must be both ________ and ______.

Answer 17

Reliable valid

Question 18

what is Construct validity

Answer 18

is the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure.

Question 19

What is External validity

Answer 19

is the extent to which the research findings can be generalized to people beyond the sample.

Question 20

What is Internal validity

Answer 20

is the extent to which the effects observed are due to changes in the independent variable

Question 21

A researcher measures extraversion in an experiment by recording the amount of time that a participant spends smiling while interacting with a group of strangers. However, his colleague argues that smiling might reflect a person’s current mood, not how extraverted they are. In doing so, she is questioning the study’s _____.

Answer 21

Construct validity

Question 22

In a classic study, researchers demonstrated that people will carry out acts that harm others if instructed to do so by a person in authority. However, critics have pointed out that almost all of the participants in the study were men, and have questioned whether or not the results apply to all people. This criticism target’s the study’s ____.

Answer 22

External validity

Question 23

When a confound is present in an experiment, it threatens the experiment’s _____.

Answer 23

Internal validity

Question 24

What three things do Descriptive statistics measure

Answer 24

central tendency, variability, and association

Question 25

What is a measure of central tendency

Answer 25

used to describe the typical response or the behavior of a group as a whole. (Mean, Median, Mode)

Question 26

What is a measure of variability

Answer 26

Measures of variability describe how different are the scores from each other, and how different they are from the mean (Standard Deviation)

Question 27

Measures of association describe…

Answer 27

how two variables are related to each other. (Represented with coefficient r)