Q&A Hero

Q: A major threat to the interpretation of results from a successive independent samples design is A. interviewer bias. B. attrition from the study. C. stratified random sampling from the population. D. noncomparable successive samples.

Q: The potential problem of noncomparable successive samples can arise in the successive independent samples design. Samples are considered noncomparable when A. they are not representative of the same population. B. they differ in sample size by more than 50 respondents. C. there is a large difference among the samples on the average survey response. D. there is no standard value in the population on which the different samples can be compared.

Q: A researcher decides to conduct a survey using telephone interviews and has access to random-digit dialing. Because some people have multiple phone numbers and therefore, a greater likelihood of being surveyed, the researcher should be aware of the potential problem of A. response rate bias. B. interviewer bias. C. telephone bias. D. selection bias.

Q: A researcher uses random-digit dialing to conduct a survey using telephone interviews. Suppose that many people don't answer their phone for the survey because when they check the caller identification, they don't recognize the phone number. This represents the potential problem of A. interviewer bias. B. selection bias. C. response rate bias. D. nonprobability bias.

Q: Which of the following statements regarding Internet surveys is false? A. Researchers have little control over the research environment when conducting Internet surveys. B. Selection bias is less problematic for Internet surveys because of the large samples that are typically obtained. C. Response rate bias due to nonresponding leads to relatively low response rates for Internet surveys. D. Internet surveys represent a low-cost, efficient method for obtaining a large, potentially diverse sample of respondents.

Q: Internet surveys are best characterized as A. nonprobability (convenience) samples. B. simple random samples of the population. C. stratified random samples of the population. D. selected samples.

Q: In a nationwide study, samples of students were asked their opinions about the quality of their college education. The results of the survey were analyzed for differences among students at the various colleges and universities. What survey design was used in this study? A. correlated samples design B. cross-sectional design C. successive independent samples design D. longitudinal design

Q: A survey researcher randomly selected individuals in Canada, Mexico, and the United States and mailed them a survey about North American trade policies. The researcher compared individuals' survey responses in these countries. This researcher used a A. cross-sectional survey design. B. successive independent samples design. C. longitudinal survey design. D. observational design.

Q: Which of the following survey methods is best for dealing with highly personal or embarrassing topics, especially when the anonymity of respondents is preserved? A. mail survey B. personal interview C. telephone interview D. successive survey

Q: Mail surveys are particularly vulnerable to a problem that arises when not all respondents complete and return the survey. This problem is called A. selection bias. B. reactivity. C. low response rate. D. social undesirability.

Q: A researcher conducts a survey using a randomly selected sample, but there is a low response rate for the survey. The researcher should A. conclude that the original random sample did not represent the population. B. conclude that the final survey sample does not represent the population. C. examine the sampling frame for the original sample. D. examine the survey data to determine whether the final sample represents the population.

Q: Low response rates that result when respondents fail to return a completed mail survey are a major factor leading to response rate bias. These low response rates pose a potential problem because A. a carefully selected convenience sample becomes a probability sample. B. segments of the population may be overrepresented or underrepresented in the final sample. C. only surveys with a 100% response rate can be interpreted. D. the sample size becomes smaller than the researcher intended.

Q: Techniques to increase the return rate for a survey include A. preserving a sense of confidentiality by addressing the survey to no one in particular ("Dear occupant"). B. making sure the survey requires minimal effort from the respondents. C. making sure the respondents are not aware of the survey topic. D. all of these

Q: A researcher adjusted the wording of a question to guide a respondent's answer and recorded only selected portions of a respondent's answers. What survey problem does this represent? A. interviewer bias B. response bias C. selection bias D. respondent bias

Q: In a simple random sample, every individual in the population A. completes the survey. B. has an equal chance of being selected to be in the sample. C. decides to participate in the survey if it is convenient for them. D. none of these

Q: The decision of how many people needed in a random sample to represent the population should be based on the A. number of people available and willing to participate in the survey. B. financial resources available to the researcher for completing the survey. C. the availability of an adequate sampling frame. D. degree of variability in the population.

Q: Stratified random sampling is especially useful when the researcher is interested in A. making specific statements about individual respondents. B. making general statements about the population as a whole. C. making comparisons with previous studies that have used simple random sampling. D. making general statements about specific portions of the population that has been sampled.

Q: The best approach for obtaining a representative sample when using stratified random sampling is to A. sample so that there is an equal number of respondents in the different strata. B. use random-digit dialing. C. sample so that the proportion of respondents in the different strata represents the proportions in the population. D. eliminate people from the sampling frame who are unlikely to return a completed survey.

Q: A TV reporter interviewed several dozen people at the scene of a political demonstration about their opinions regarding the demonstration. The reporter searched for people on both sides of the issue. In the terminology of survey research, the reporter has gathered a A. convenience sample. B. sampling frame of reference. C. random sample. D. stratified random sample.

Q: In a survey of 500 randomly selected respondents, 360 respondents (72%) said they want the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters to remain in the United States. A TV news show conducted a call-in survey and asked the same question. Of the 186,000 who phoned in their response, 124,620 people (67%) said they want the U.N. out of the United States. The most reasonable statement about these different findings is that A. the call-in survey results should be believed because of the larger number of people who responded they want the U.N. out of the United States. B. the large sample size for the call-in survey indicates it is a more representative sample. C. the findings for the randomly selected sample more likely represent the views of the population. D. call-in surveys lead to more reliable findings.

Q: Which of the following samples would be representative of a population that is 75% women and 25% men? A. 60 women, 20 men B. 75 women, 25 men C. 225 women, 75 men D. all of these

Q: When the distribution of characteristics in a sample is systematically different from that of the target population, the sample is called a A. biased sample. B. stratified sample. C. representative sample. D. distorted sample.

Q: Which of the following samples would represent a biased sample if a population comprised 40% freshmen, 20% sophomores, 20% juniors, and 20% seniors? A. 200 of each class year (a total sample of 800 students) B. 80 freshmen, 40 sophomores, 40 juniors, 40 seniors C. 40 freshmen, 20 sophomores, 20 juniors, 20 seniors D. 8 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 4 juniors, 4 seniors

Q: A survey researcher chose to administer a survey using the Internet. This sample likely overrepresents people who own a computer and underrepresents people who don't own a computer. This problem in the researcher's survey is best described as A. low response rate. B. a stratified sample. C. selection bias. D. a spurious relationship.

Q: A city used property tax records of homeowners to identify a sample of people to ask about recreational services at local parks. This survey would most likely be criticized for A. population bias. B. selection bias. C. stratification bias. D. response rate bias.

Q: The problem of selection bias in survey research is similar to the problem of ________ in research using archival data. A. selection threat to internal validity B. selective deposit C. selective survival D. spurious relationships

Q: Suppose a recent issue of the campus newspaper reported a survey about students' attitudes toward proposed changes in the required curriculum. Which of the following would you need to focus on most to decide whether the survey results reported in the paper can be generalized to the entire population of students? A. representativeness of the sample B. distinctiveness of the sample C. number of students in the sample D. variability among students in the sample

Q: When selecting a sample to best represent the population, probability sampling is _________ than nonprobability sampling. A. more convenient B. more biased C. far superior D. far worse

Q: The ability to generalize the results from a survey sample to the population of interest depends most critically on the sample's A. stratification. B. representativeness. C. homogeneity vs. heterogeneity. D. correlations.

Q: A sample is said to be representative when A. a sponsoring organization uses the sample data to sell a product. B. researchers are interested only in the opinions of people in the sample. C. it exhibits the same distribution of characteristics as the population from which it was drawn. D. all of these

Q: Surveys play an important role in a type of research that is intended to assess the covariation of naturally occurring variables with the goal of identifying predictive relationships. This general type of research is called A. experimental research. B. analytical research. C. correlational research. D. qualitative research.

Q: The quantitative index of the direction and magnitude of a predictive relationship is called A. a correlation coefficient. B. convergent validity. C. a contingency statistic. D. a dependent variable.

Q: A professor wants to determine if students' final exam scores in a course can be predicted based on their scores on the first test. The quantitative index the professor is likely using in this situation is the A. prediction product. B. contingency score. C. covariation cross product. D. correlation coefficient.

Q: When a survey has been created and administered by a sponsoring organization, such as a company or institution, we should A. conclude the survey results will always be biased in favor of the sponsoring organization. B. examine whether the survey data have been selectively analyzed or reported. C. assume the research will be poor quality. D. automatically ignore the survey results.

Q: Which of the following characteristics do most surveys have in common? A. direct observation and coding B. interviewing and the use of focus groups C. limited scope and pragmatic purpose D. sampling and a set of predetermined questions

Q: In sampling, the specific list of the elements of the population is called the A. sample. B. sampling frame. C. survey set. D. representative sample.

Q: A sampling frame in survey research could be considered a(n) __________ of the population. A. operational definition B. biased sample C. representative sample D. probability sample

Q: An important goal of sampling is to identify a _______ that will be representative of the ________. A. population; sample B. sample; sampling frame C. sampling frame; sample D. sample; population

Q: Survey researchers are most interested in A. the responses of individuals in their sample. B. obtaining a very large sample size. C. generalizing responses from a sample to the population. D. predicting the size of the sampling frame based on the sample.

Q: Distinguish between probability sampling and nonprobability sampling. Name two types of probability samples and one type of nonprobability sample.

Q: Why is a longitudinal design preferred over a study using successive independent samples to assess the direction and extent of attitude change for individual respondents?

Q: Self-report measures of people's attitudes and feelings are reliable if they consistently yield similar results. How do researchers typically assess reliability?

Q: Identify the key features of a good questionnaire item.

Q: Suppose a researcher wishes to use stratified random sampling to select a representative sample of 100 people from a population that has the following characteristics: Suppose the researcher mails the survey to the 100 people in the representative sample and only 50 of the people return a completed survey. Can you state that this sample of 50 represents the population? Why or why not? We cannot conclude from this information whether the sample of 50 is representative of the population. We would need to know the extent to which the characteristics of the sample (women, men; married, single) match the population characteristics. The problem of low response rate in this mail survey, however, makes it unlikely that the sample represents the population.

Q: A researcher was interested in developing a reliable and valid measure of friendliness. That is, she wanted to distinguish between friendly and unfriendly people using her questionnaire. To determine whether she developed a good measure (called "Friend"), she administered her "Friend" questionnaire to a group of 300 people twice (Friend-Time 1 and Friend-Time 2), separated by six months. At the second testing session she also administered a similar questionnaire called "Nice," which previous research has shown to be a valid measure of people's ability to get along with people and to make friends. She also administered a questionnaire designed to measure art ability, which she predicted to be unrelated to friendliness. She observed the following correlations among the measures: Is the researcher able to conclude that she has developed a reliable and valid measure of friendliness?

Q: Researchers conducted a content analysis in which they coded how males and females are depicted in work settings on TV. They included programs with a story line and all commercials, but they excluded documentaries, news broadcasts, and sports shows. Which characteristic of the researchers' sample is likely to be most affected by these decisions? A. reactivity B. homogeneity C. representativeness D. internal validity

Q: When observers are asked to use a rating scale to measure a psychological dimension such as aggressiveness or anxiety, the researchers must decide whether these ratings represent A. a nominal or an interval scale. B. a nominal or an ordinal scale. C. an ordinal or an interval scale. D. an interval or a ratio scale.

Q: When many observations of the same children in a classroom are made it is possible to determine the frequency of certain behaviors, such as how many times children speak in class. Which scale of measurement do these frequency data represent? A. nominal B. ordinal C. interval D. ratio

Q: The process of abstracting and summarizing behavioral data from narrative records, including identifying categories and themes, is called A. data abstraction. B. coding. C. data reduction. D. summative analysis.

Q: One step in the analysis of narrative records consists of identifying units of behavior according to specific criteria. This process is called A. coding. B. chunking. C. filing. D. classifying.

Q: Which of the following would be an example of coding a narrative record during the process of data reduction in qualitative data analysis? A. calculating interobserver reliability B. classifying behaviors from an observation record into different categories C. displaying the data using a graph or a chart D. obtaining a mean number of behaviors after classifying the behaviors into categories

Q: A researcher examines the number of "family-size" products on supermarket shelves in America and France, and concludes that Americans prefer larger-sized portions than do the French. A second researcher concludes that the number of members in a typical family is larger in American than in France. These different interpretations indicate that A. both researchers are wrong. B. the researchers are making inferences about controlled-use traces. C. the validity of unobtrusive measures must be examined carefully. D. time sampling should have been used.

Q: Two types of archival records are A. running records and episodic records. B. natural-use records and controlled-use records. C. selective-deposit records and selective-survival records. D. none of these

Q: A researcher uses archival records to investigate whether divorce rates in a city change following major catastrophes (e.g., hurricane, terrorism). This represents the use of A. physical traces. B. qualitative data analysis. C. selective survival. D. natural treatments.

Q: Researchers who analyze postings on Facebook to understand human behavior are aware that the information people choose to display about themselves may be biased. In terms of archival data, this represents the problem of A. spurious relationship. B. unobtrusive measurement. C. selective deposit. D. selective survival.

Q: Advice columnists respond to only a fraction of the letters they receive. If a researcher were to analyze only the columnists' printed letters to describe the everyday problems people face, which problem likely will affect the researcher's findings? A. selective survival B. selective deposit C. spurious relationship D. situation sampling

Q: A researcher observes that the frequency of traffic accidents increases in warmer weather. This researcher need to consider whether there are more cars on the road when it is warmer. This "number of cars" variable must be considered to determine if the relationship between traffic accidents and temperature is A. due to selective survival. B. spurious. C. a causal relationship. D. due to physical traces.

Q: When a more or less faithful reproduction of behavior as it originally occurred is recorded in either written form or through the use of audio or video recording, the resulting description of behavior in an observation study is called a A. physical trace. B. data transcript. C. complete file. D. narrative record.

Q: For both physical and psychological measurement, the lowest scale of measurement involves categorizing the stimulus into one of a number of discrete categories (e.g., whether or not someone makes eye contact). This level of measurement is called A. an ordinal scale. B. a nominal scale. C. a ratio scale. D. an interval scale.

Q: A state's education director received a report listing the school rankings in terms of high school students' graduation rates. Which scale of measurement is represented in this report? A. nominal scale B. ordinal scale C. interval scale D. ratio scale

Q: A researcher measures participants' speed to push a button on the computer when a stimulus is presented on the computer screen. Which of the following measurement scales describes this reaction time measure? A. nominal scale B. ordinal scale C. interval scale D. ratio scale

Q: Which of the following dependent variables is most likely to represent a ratio scale of measurement? A. duration of eye contact B. rank ordering of amount of eye contact C. occurrence of eye contact (present/absent) D. observers' ratings of the intimacy of eye contact

Q: Research studies have examined evidence of past human behavior, including works of art, television shows, and bumper stickers, to test various hypotheses. This source of unobtrusive evidence is called A. human artifacts. B. use effects. C. cultural evidence. D. products.

Q: In a field experiment, the investigator A. always uses narrative records for recording behavior. B. never manipulates an independent variable, but observes behavior in a natural setting. C. always uses qualitative data analysis. D. always manipulates an independent variable in a natural setting.

Q: When individuals are not aware of the presence of an observer, as when data from physical traces or archival records are analyzed, the observation is described as A. reactive. B. unobtrusive. C. spurious. D. a natural treatment.

Q: The problem of reactive measurement is _________ when indirect (unobtrusive) observation is used. A. eliminated B. unchanged C. decreased D. increased

Q: The remnants, fragments, and products of past behavior that provide unobtrusive measures of behavior are called A. subtle traces. B. archival records. C. physical traces. D. anecdotal evidence.

Q: The degree to which a young child's dolls show signs of wear might indicate which dolls the child likes the best. This potential physical trace measure would be described as a A. physical product. B. running archival record. C. natural-use trace. D. controlled-use trace.

Q: Researchers studying factors that influence how much people eat gave college students potato chips to eat while watching a movie. The potato chips were stacked in tubes. In some of the tubes, researchers inserted colored chips at regular intervals (e.g., every 7th chip). Other tubes contained no colored chips. In this study, the use of potato chip stacks with colored chips represents A. disguised observation. B. a controlled-use trace. C. a natural-use trace. D. a product.

Q: The distinction between natural-use traces and controlled-use traces is similar to the distinction between A. correlations and spurious relationships. B. observations without intervention and observations with intervention. C. qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. D. physical traces and archival records.

Q: The primary reason why Rosenhan (1973) used participant observation to study psychiatric diagnosis in the context of a psychiatric hospital by having "pseudopatients" seek admission was to A. establish a comparison by manipulating an independent variable to determine its effect on behavior. B. investigate the limits of an organism's response by varying systematically the qualities of a stimulus event. C. precipitate or cause an event that occurs infrequently in nature. D. gain access to a situation or event that is generally not open to scientific investigation.

Q: Under which of the following circumstances is a participant observer more likely to have a significant effect on the behavior of the subjects being observed? A. when the group under observation is small and the activities of the participant observer are disguised B. when the group under observation is small and the activities of the participant observer are prominent C. when the group under observation is large and the activities of the participant observer are prominent D. when the group under observation is large and the activities of the participant observer are disguised

Q: A researcher interested in "inattentional blindness" has a confederate walk across a stage holding a large sign during the first class of an introductory psychology course. At the end of the class, assistants ask departing students if they know what the sign said. This is an example of A. structured observation. B. a field experiment. C. qualitative research. D. undisguised participant observation.

Q: In order to conduct a structured observation or a field experiment, researchers make use of ________ to create the observation situation. A. narrative records B. participant observers C. independent variables D. confederates

Q: Clinical psychologists who make behavioral assessments of parent-child interactions are likely making use of an observation technique called A. low-intervention observation. B. quasi-controlled observation. C. structured observation. D. disguised participant observation.

Q: The research method that represents a middle ground between the passive nonintervention of naturalistic observation and the systematic control when manipulating independent variables is called A. structured observation. B. participant observation. C. quasi-observation. D. nonreactive measurement.

Q: One main disadvantage of structured observation is A. observations that are made using structured observation are made under conditions that are less natural than those imposed in the laboratory. B. failure to follow similar procedures each time an observation is made may make it difficult for other observers to obtain similar results. C. the degree of control in structured observations unduly constrains the flexibility needed by researchers. D. the compromise between the passive nonintervention of naturalistic observation and the precise control of laboratory methods has not proven to be effective.

Q: Researchers conducted a study on "inattentional blindness" in the central gathering plaza of a university campus to determine whether individuals would notice unusual events. For half of the observation periods, a clown rode a unicycle in the plaza; in the other half of the observation periods, two costumed confederates acted a scene from Hamlet. Trained research assistants asked individuals who had walked through the plaza if they had noticed anything unusual. What type of observational study does this study represent? A. field experiment B. structured observation C. naturalistic observation D. reactive observation

Q: Of the following observational methods, which one does not use intervention by the researcher? A. naturalistic observation B. participant observation C. structured observation D. field experiment

Q: Which of the following is the most likely reason that a researcher studying aggressiveness of children would choose to use naturalistic observation? A. Naturalistic observation would allow for the most precise operational definition of aggressiveness and thus the highest degree of internal validity. B. Naturalistic observation would allow for the greatest control over the setting in which the observations were made. C. Naturalistic observation is the preferred method when moral and ethical limitations apply to the topic under investigation. D. Naturalistic observation is the preferred method when systematic manipulation of independent variables is required.