Quiz 4

Question 1

______ means that the results of a study can be generalized.

Answer 1

External validity

Question 2

______ means that, within the conditions created artificially by the researcher, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable is isolated from other plausible explanations.

Answer 2

Internal validity

Question 3

A ______ experiment is one that occurs in the subject’s normal surroundings.

Answer 3

field

Question 4

A ______ is composed of subjects who receive a treatment that the researcher believes is causally linked to the dependent variable.

Answer 4

test group

Question 5

A characteristic upon which subjects in a study have variable values is known as a ______.

Answer 5

compositional difference

Question 6

A researcher is studying the formation of political attitudes in a group of individuals. Some of the individuals are exposed to several fake news stories to determine if the stories affect their attitudes while others are not. The exposed individuals are called the ______.

Answer 6

test group

Question 7

A researcher is studying the social habits of 100 male college students. She divides the subjects into two groups with each individual having the same likelihood of being in either group. This is called ______.

Answer 7

random assignment

Question 8

A researcher studying individual attitudes divides participants into two groups and has them watch news reports in a home theater setting created in a college classroom. This is an example of a(n) ______.

Answer 8

laboratory experiment

Question 9

A researcher studying the attitudes of college students on social norms posts a survey on her webpage. After receiving 150 responses she closes the survey and analyzes the results by comparing the results against those of a survey conducted in the campus library. What error has the researcher likely committed?

Answer 9

selection bias

Question 10

A researcher who fails to account for gender when researching the effect of partisanship on political attitudes has missed a potential ______.

Answer 10

rival explanation

Question 11

Field experiments often lack ______ because it is sometimes difficult to ensure that all members of the test group are exposed to the treatment.

Answer 11

internal validity

Question 12

In a political research experiment, the group that is not exposed to a treatment is referred to as the ______.

Answer 12

control group

Question 13

In any type of experiment it is essential that participants be ______ to ensure the absence of systematic bias.

Answer 13

randomized

Question 14

In which phase do the two groups, control and test, receive different values of the independent variable?

Answer 14

intervention phase

Question 15

To conduct a ______, the organization would divide the population into two or more strata.

Answer 15

stratified random sample

Question 16

When conducting political research, it is important that individuals in the two experimental groups are ______ in every way that could affect the dependent variable.

Answer 16

identical

Question 17

Which of the following occurs when every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample?

Answer 17

random selection

Question 18

Which of the following occurs when every prospective has an equal chance of ending up in the control group or the test group?

Answer 18

random assignment

Question 19

Which of the following occurs when some cases in the sample are more likely than others to be measured?

Answer 19

response bias

Question 20

Which of the following refers to the population that the researchers wants to analyze and the source from which the samples are drawn?

Answer 20

sampling frame

Question 21

A control group is composed of subjects who receive a treatment that the researcher believes is causally linked to the independent variable.

Answer 21

False

Question 22

A researcher studying the effectiveness of Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) methods in a community is likely conducting a field experiment.

Answer 22

True

Question 23

A researcher wishes to test the effect of media consumption on the political attitudes of 100 college students. To ensure the validity of her research she must account for rival explanations of the students’ political attitudes.

Answer 23

True

Question 24

All political science research should be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

Experimental approaches represent the gold standard in research procedure.

Answer 25

True

Question 26

Experimental designs do not control for the possible effects of all rival explanations.

Answer 26

False

Question 27

Field experiments are not known for overcoming the limitations of the laboratory environment.

Answer 27

False

Question 28

Measuring the dependent variable for both groups is referred to as the premeasurement phase.

Answer 28

True

Question 29

Our ability to rule out worrisome alternative explanations depends upon the power of our research design.

Answer 29

True

Question 30

Pretreatment measurements allow the researcher to make a before and after comparison.

Answer 30

True

Question 31

The causal effect of an independent variable is the difference between two potential outcomes.

Answer 31

True

Question 32

The fundamental purpose of research design is to allow the research to study causal effects of independent variables.

Answer 32

True

Question 33

The more varied the values of the explanatory variable, the better.

Answer 33

True

Question 34

The terms random sampling and random assignment can be used interchangeably.

Answer 34

False

Question 35

When the results of a laboratory experiment cannot be generalized to the outside world the study is said to lack external validity.

Answer 35

True