Research Design

Question 1

Question ID #1102: Randomly selecting certain schools from a large school district and then including all teachers in those schools or a random sample of teachers from those schools in your study is referred to as
Select one:
A. cluster sampling.
B. stratified sampling.
C. systematic sampling.
D. nested sampling.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Question ID #1064: The best control for practice effects in an experiment is:
Select one:
A. counterbalancing.
B. random selection.
C. double-blind.  
D. equivalent groups.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Question ID #1116: A multivariate analysis of variance would be used to analyze collected data when:
Select one:
A. the researcher wants to analyze the effects of an extraneous variable
B. the researcher wants to remove the effects of an extraneous variable
C. the study includes two or more independent variables
D. the study includes two or more dependent variables

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Question ID #1085: Protocol analysis typically involves
Select one:
A. specifying the unstated rules of communication between two individuals.
B. analyzing a behavior in terms of its antecedents and consequences.
C. recording specific behaviors that allow one to understand the subject’s problem-solving methodology.
D. standardizing psychotherapy procedures.

Answer 4

C

Question 5

Question ID #1068: If you had a categorical variable and a continuous variable which of the following tests would you use?
Select one:
A. Point-biserial
B. Eta
C. Spearman Rho  
D. Tetrachoric

Answer 5

A

Question 6

Question ID #1084: Which of the following is a statistical measure of the degree of difference among scores of subjects within the same experimental or treatment group?
Select one:
A. F ratio
B. mean square between
C. mean square within
D. standard error of the mean

Answer 6

C

Question 7

Question ID #1073: In an ABAB design:
Select one:
A. the same subject is administered all treatments.
B. different subjects are administered treatments.
C. a treatment is administered to one subject across a number of different settings.
D. a treatment is administered to the same subject for a number of different behaviors.

Answer 7

A

Question 8

Question ID #1049: To use the statistical technique known as trend analysis, you need:
Select one:
A. a quantitative independent variable.
B. a linear relationship between independent and dependent variables.
C. a true experimental research design.
D. two or more independent variables.

Answer 8

A

Question 9

Question ID #1081: The error inherent in the best fit regression line is called the standard error of the:
Select one:
A. estimate.
B. mean.
C. measurement.  
D. coefficient.

Answer 9

A

Question 10

Question ID #1093: The major threat to internal validity of a time-series quasi-experiment would be
Select one:
A. maturation.  
B. selection.
C. regression.
D. history.

Answer 10

D

Question 11

Question ID #1062: The correlation obtained between two tests supposedly measuring the same ability will be affected most by the:
Select one:
A. time of day during which the tests are taken.
B. reliability of the tests used.
C. whether raw scores or standard scores are used as data.
D. ranges of abilities tested.

Answer 11

B

Question 12

Question ID #1111: Which of the following is NOT generally considered a direct threat to external validity?
Select one:
A. order effects
B. hawthorne Effect
C. interaction between selection and treatment
D. history

Answer 12

D

Question 13

Question ID #1080: Which one of the following is least likely to attenuate a measure of correlation?
Select one:
A. restricted range
B. homoscedasticity
C. curvilinear relationship  
D. the use of unreliable measures

Answer 13

B

Question 14

Question ID #1079: If you want to measure whether a weight training program resulted in significant changes in weight and strength for a sample of body builders, the best test to use is:
Select one:
A. MANOVA.
B. paired t-tests.
C. repeated measures ANOVA.
D. chi-square.

Answer 14

A

Question 15

Question ID #1105: According to the central limit theorem,
Select one:
A. as sample size increases, the shape of a sample distribution becomes more normal.
B. as the size of a sampling distribution of means increases, its distribution becomes more normal.
C. as sample size increases, the shape of a sampling distribution of means becomes more normal.
D. as sample size increases, the shape of a sampling distribution of means approximates the shape of the population distribution.

Answer 15

C

Question 16

Question ID #1075: In a normal distribution of scores, the range of raw scores represented by the percentile rank range of 50 to 55 is _______ the range of raw scores represented by the percentile rank range of 90 to 95.
Select one:
A. less than
B. greater than
C. the same as
D. depending on the standard deviation, either less than, greater than, or the same as

Answer 16

A

Question 17

Question ID #1053: Which of the following techniques would not be useful for controlling or assessing the effects of an extraneous variable?
Select one:
A. stratified random sampling
B. blocking
C. matching
D. ANCOVA

Answer 17

A

Question 18

Question ID #1046: Path analysis is useful for:
Select one:
A. examining the unidirectional relationships among a set of measured and latent traits.
B. examining the bidirectional relationships among a set of measured and latent traits.
C. examining the unidirectional causal relationships among a set of measured traits.
D. examining the bidirectional causal relationships among a set of measured traits.

Answer 18

C

Question 19

Question ID #1074: A psychologist is conducting research to evaluate the effectiveness of three predictor tests of overall mental health he has developed. He administers the predictors to 35 individuals randomly chosen from the population of interest and obtains a squared multiple correlation coefficient (R2) of .47. If the psychologist administers the predictors to another 70 individuals drawn from the same population, the best prediction is that, he would obtain an R2 that is:
Select one:
A. lower than .47.
B. about equal to .47.
C. slightly to moderately higher than .47.
D. much higher than .47.

Answer 19

C

Question 20

Question ID #1056: In the analysis of the effects of two independent variables, multiple regression analysis is sometimes used as a substitute for the factorial ANOVA. One advantage of using multiple regression as opposed to a factorial ANOVA is that:
Select one:
A. multiple regression analysis can be used for multiple dependent variables as well as multiple independent variables.
B. continuous or categorical data (as opposed to solely categorical data) can be used to measure the independent variables in multiple regression analysis.
C. the use of multiple regression allows one to estimate the probability that obtained differences on the dependent variable between groups represent true population differences.
D. when multiple regression is used and a significant result is obtained, the conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables is more plausible.

Answer 20

B

Question 21

Question ID #1101: Cluster sampling involves
Select one:
A. randomly selecting individual subjects from a larger target population.
B. randomly selecting a naturally-occurring group of subjects from a larger target population.
C. randomly selecting several naturally occurring groups from a larger population, and then randomly selecting individuals from each group.
D. randomly selecting individuals from a larger target population and dividing subjects into groups on the basis of their status on a demographic variable.

Answer 21

B

Question 22

Question ID #1109: You are investigating whether there is a relationship between the number of years one has been smoking cigarettes and the number of psychotherapy sessions required to quit smoking. The best statistical method to analyze the results is:
Select one:
A. chi-square  
B. Pearson r
C. t-test for independent samples
D. multiple regression analysis

Answer 22

B

Question 23

Question ID #1066: A percentile rank is
Select one:
A. a norm-referenced score, but not a standard score.
B. a standard score, but not a norm-referenced score.
C. a standard score and a norm-referenced score.
D. neither a standard score nor a norm-referenced score.

Answer 23

A

Question 24

Question ID #1097: The use of "pooled variance" in statistics assumes that:
Select one:
A. the sample sizes are equal  
B. the sample variances are equal
C. the population sizes are equal
D. the population variances are equal

Answer 24

D

Question 25

Question ID #1107: A psychologist believes that physical exercise can reduce a person's anxiety level, which reduces the strength of substance cravings in people recovering from substance dependence. According to this hypothesis anxiety is a:
Select one:
A. suppressor variable
B. mediator variable
C. moderator variable  
D. criterion contaminator

Answer 25

B

Question 26

Question ID #1047: A psychologist uses a two-group pretest/posttest design to evaluate the effects of a new treatment. She obtains the following data:
PreTest Post Test
Group 1 Mean 13.4, SD 1.2 Mean 19.8, SD 1.5
Group 2 Mean 19.5, SD 1.5 Mean 21.7, SD 1.9

The biggest threat to this study's internal validity is
Select one:
A. reactivity.
B. test x treatment.
C. selection.
D. history.

Answer 26

C

Question 27

Question ID #1110: You conduct a study designed to assess the effectiveness of psychotherapy in the treatment of depression. You work with two groups, one of which receives the therapy and one of which is an attention-only control group. All of your subjects are hospitalized inpatients; thus, all of them are extremely depressed and therefore score extremely low on your pretest measure of depression. The biggest threat to external validity in this study is:
Select one:
A. regression to the mean
B. reactivity
C. interaction between selection and treatment
D. pretest sensitization

Answer 27

C

Question 28

Question ID #1059: If you wanted to compare the average depression level (as measured by the number of scored responses given on a depression inventory) of anorexic females to that of non-anorexic females, you would use which of the following statistical tests?
Select one:
A. two-way ANOVA
B. student's t-test
C. chi-square  
D. Kolmogorov

Answer 28

B

Question 29

Question ID #1069: When a study has two or more independent variables the research design used is:
Select one:
A. MANOVA
B. ANOVA-one way
C. Factorial ANOVA
D. ANCOVA

Answer 29

C

Question 30

Question ID #1099: During a research study the participants are able to guess the research hypothesis, causing them to behave differently than they would under normal conditions. This phenomenon is due to:
Select one:
A. demand characteristics
B. the Hawthorne effect
C. the use of a quasi-experimental design
D. the use of psychic research participants

Answer 30

A