Research Methods Exam #1

Question 1

observable measures

Answer 1

a kind of behavior that you can visibly track changes in when conducting research

Question 2

operational definitions

Answer 2

a description of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it could be observed and measured
(Ex: the operational definition of anxiety could be a test score)

Question 3

Zimbardo experiment

Answer 3

ETHICS
Philip Zombardo conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment with Stanford undergraduates and violated several clauses of the Nuremburg Code

Question 4

Little Albert experiment

Answer 4

ETHICS
In this study, Watson and Rayner classically conditioned a 9-month old named Albert to be afraid of furry animals/objects. This study violated clauses of the Nuremburg Code (Ex: consent, no mental suffering, research should be necessary and fruitful)

Question 5

Tuskegee experiment

Answer 5

ETHICS
Hundreds of black men with low incomes were used as test subjects in order to observe the effects of untreated syphilis. Treatment was withheld even after it became available. This study violated clauses of the Nuremburg Code (Ex: consent, no risks of harm, researchers obliged to stop if they become aware of harm)

Question 6

Nuremburg Code

Answer 6

1. Consent
2. Research should be necessary and fruitful
3. Medical research should be based on previous knowledge and animal studies
4. No physical or mental suffering
5. No studies with the risk of death or injury
6. No risks of harm
7. Use of proper equipment and facilities
8. Researchers must be qualified
9. Participants have the right to stop at any point
10. Researchers are obliged to terminate if during the course of the study they become aware of harm issues

Question 7

independent variable

Answer 7

the factor that might hypothetically influence or cause the behavior of interest
(ex: amount of sleep)

Question 8

dependent variable

Answer 8

what you’re trying to explain or learn about
(ex: reaction time)

Question 9

levels of an independent variable

Question 10

nominal scale

Answer 10

categorical, symbolic
(ex: the numbers on sports jerseys)

Question 11

ordinal scale

Answer 11

rank order but intervals are ambiguous
(ex: order of winners in a race)

Question 12

interval scale

Answer 12

intervals are an equal size, no true zero point
(ex: temperature, 0 degrees doesn’t mean the absence of temperature)

Question 13

ratio scale

Answer 13

has an absolute zero point which indicates the absence of the variable being measured
(ex: weight, height)

Question 14

construct validity

Answer 14

the extent to which your test or measure accurately assesses what it’s supposed to
(ex: does a questionnaire about aggression accurately measure aggression levels?)

Question 15

convergent validity

Answer 15

the extent to which scores on some measure are related to scores on another measure of the same construct
(ex: attentiveness measure predicts the things that other measures of attention have predicted)

Question 16

discriminant validity

Answer 16

when the measure is not related to variables that theoretically it should not correlate with

Question 17

concurrent validity

Answer 17

whether two or more groups of people differ on the measure in expected ways

Question 18

ecological validity

Answer 18

the ability to generalize study findings to real-world settings (very similar to external validity)

Question 19

stranger in the door study

Answer 19

Uncle Dan!!
Wanted to see if research done in the lab testing one’s ability to detect changes in their environment translated into the real world

Question 20

retest reliability