chapter 3 case study quizlet

• Request new password
• Create a new account

Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology

Student resources, chapter 3: research methods.

1. Which of the following statements is not true? [TY3.1]

• Psychological measurement can involve the measurement of phenomena believed to be related to a given psychological state or process.
• Psychological measurement can involve the measurement of behaviour believed to result from a given psychological state or process.
• Psychological measurement can involve self-reports of behaviour believed to be related to a given psychological state or process.
• Psychological measurement can involve the self-reports of a sample drawn from a particular sub-population.
• Psychological measurement can involve direct examination of psychological states and processes.

2. A researcher conducts an experiment that tests the hypothesis that ‘anxiety has an adverse effect on students’ exam performance’. Which of the following statements is true? [TY3.2]

• Anxiety is the dependent variable, exam performance is the independent variable.
• Anxiety is the dependent variable, students are the independent variable.
• Anxiety is the independent variable, students are the dependent variable.
• Anxiety is the independent variable, exam performance is the dependent variable.
• Students are the dependent variable, exam performance is the independent variable.

3. An experimenter conducts a study in which she wants to look at the effects of altitude on psychological well-being. To do this she randomly allocates people to two groups and takes one group up in a plane to a height of 1000 metres and leaves the other group in the airport terminal as a control group. When the plane is in the air she seeks to establish the psychological well-being of both groups. Which of the following is a potential confound, threatening the internal validity of the study? [TY3.3]

• The reliability of the questionnaire that she uses to establish psychological health.
• The size of the space in which the participants are confined.
• The susceptibility of the experimental group to altitude sickness.
• The susceptibility of the control group to altitude sickness.
• The age of people in experimental and control groups.

4. What distinguishes the experimental method from the quasi-experimental method? [TY3.4]

• The scientific status of the research.
• The existence of an independent variable.
• The existence of different levels of an independent variable.
• The sensitivity of the dependent variable.
• The random assignment of participants to conditions.

5. Which of the following is not an advantage of the survey/correlational method? [TY3.5]

• It allows researchers to examine a number of different variables at the same time.
• It allows researchers to examine the relationship between variables in natural settings.
• It allows researchers to make predictions based on observed relationships between variables.
• It allows researchers to explain observed relationships between variables.
• It is often more convenient than experimental methods.

6. Which of the following statements is true? [TY3.6]

• Case studies have played no role in the development of psychological theory.
• Case studies have all of the weaknesses and none of the strengths of larger studies.
• Case studies have none of the weaknesses and all of the strengths of larger studies.
• Case studies should only be conducted if every other option has been ruled out.
• None of the above.

7. An experimenter, Tom, conducts an experiment to see whether accuracy of responding and reaction time are affected by consumption of alcohol. To do this, Tom conducts a study in which students at university A react to pairs of symbols by saying ‘same’ or ‘different’ after consuming two glasses of water and students at university B react to pairs of symbols by saying ‘same’ or ‘different’ after consuming two glasses of wine. Tom predicts that reaction times will be slower and that there will be more errors in the responses of students who have consumed alcohol. Which of the following statements is not true? [TY3.7]

• The university attended by participants is a confound.
• The experiment has two dependent variables.
• Reaction time is the independent variable.
• Tom’s ability to draw firm conclusions about the impact of alcohol on reaction time would be improved by assigning participants randomly to experimental conditions.
• This study is actually a quasi-experiment.

8. What is an extraneous variable? [TY3.8]

• A variable that can never be manipulated.
• A variable that can never be controlled.
• A variable that can never be measured.
• A variable that clouds the interpretation of results.

9. Which of the following statements is true? [TY3.9]

• The appropriateness of any research method is always determined by the research question and the research environment.
• Good experiments all involve a large number of participants.
• Experiments should be conducted in laboratories in order to improve experimental control.
• Surveys have no place in good psychological research.
• Case studies are usually carried out when researchers are too lazy to find enough participants.

10. A piece of research that is conducted in a natural (non-artificial) setting is called: [TY3.10]

• A case study.
• A field study.
• A quasi-experiment.
• An observational study.

11. “Measures designed to gain insight into particular psychological states or processes that involve recording performance on particular activities or tasks.” What type of measures does this glossary entry describe?

• State measures.
• Behavioural measures.
• Physiological measures.
• Activity measures.
• Performance measures.

12. “An approach to psychology that asserts that human behaviour can be understood in terms of directly observable relationships (in particular, between a stimulus and a response) without having to refer to underlying mental states.” Which approach to psychology is this a glossary definition of?

• Behaviourism.
• Freudianism.
• Cognitivism.
• Radical observationism.

13. “The complete set of events, people or things that a researcher is interested in and from which any sample is taken.” What does this glossary entry define?

• Total sample.
• Complete sample.
• Reference sample.
• Reference group.
• Population.

14. “Either the process of reaching conclusions about the effect of one variable on another, or the outcome of such a process.” What does this glossary entry define?

• Causal inference.
• Inductive reasoning.
• Inferential accounting.

15. “The extent to which the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable has been correctly interpreted.” Which construct is this a glossary definition of?

• Internal inference.
• External inference.
• External validity.
• Holistic deduction.
• Internal validity.