Research Methods

Discipline: Medical Sciences (Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology etc.)

Type of Paper: Question-Answer

Academic Level: Undergrad. (yrs 3-4)

Paper Format: APA

Pages: 1 Words: 275

Question

Psychology/Introduction To Psychology

Which of the following is an example of applying inductive reasoning to behavior?
Because people shiver when they are cold, all instances of shivering imply coldness.

Which two factors can be distinguished from each other by conducting research? 
Facts and opinions

Read the passage and answer the questions.
Indira is a student of cognitive psychology who is examining a proposed theory about the relationship between long-term memory and literacy. The theory includes elements of proficiency in reading, fluency of reading non-native languages, and overall enjoyment of extracurricular reading.
What will help Indira to test specific aspects of this theory?

Hypotheses

Which characteristic of testing a scientific hypothesis contributes to greater confidence in the theories it supports?
Falsifiability

Read the passage and answer the questions.
Wesley and Susan are gathering data for a study on self-esteem among hearing-impaired individuals. Their research agenda is threefold. First, they will conduct extensive interviews of a group of hearing-impaired children. Second, they will query the parents of these subjects with a group of written questions. Finally, they will revisit the same hearing-impaired subjects when they have reached adulthood, conducting a second interview.
1.  Which types of psychological research will Wesley and Susan employ in their study?
2. True or False. A disadvantage to Wesley and Susan’s study is the limitations of existing data sets, which will require them to tailor their questions.

1. Case study, Longitudinal, Survey
2. False

Match each description of psychological research with the type of research it describes. 
1. A study that conducts interviews with the mothers of extreme multiple births, such as sextuplets: Case Study 2. A study of the grooming habits of gazelles that requires field work: Naturalistic Observation 3. A large-scale study that queries grocery shoppers on their sensitivity to food prices by asking them to visit a website to answer questions: Survey 4. A study that examines the average age of American soldiers during WWI: Archival Research 5. A study of left-handed people that follows them throughout their lives: Longitudinal Research 6. A study of freeway driving habits by region: Cross-Sectional Research

Which of the following is a benefit of survey research?
Greater certainty in generalizing data

Which of the following are limitations to longitudinal research?
1. Significant time investment 2. High attrition rate of subjects
3. Substantial financial investment

Match the concept of psychological research findings with its definition.
1. Correlation coefficient: An indicator of relationship between variables 2. Confounding variable: A factor that accounts for relationship between variables 3. Independent variable: A variable that is controlled by the experimenter 4. Illusory correlation: A mistaken relationship between variables

Read the passage and answer the questions.
Sharla is designing an experiment to test her hypothesis about the correlation between inclement weather and depression in teenagers. Before selecting her participants, she must first describe how she will measure which type of conditions represent inclement weather.
1. What is the likely dependent variable in Sharla’s experiment?
2. What is Sharla’s description of the measurement for inclement weather conditions an example of?
1. Feelings of depression 2. Operational definition

Which factor contributes to illusory correlations when analyzing findings?
Confirmation bias

What is the purpose of an institutional review board?
Reviewing proposals for human subject research experiments

Read the passage and answer the questions.
In order to optimize its effectiveness, the researchers of an experiment about people’s emotional response to regional dialects in speech purposely mislead the participants to ensure the integrity of the results. They achieve this by informing participants of an alternate purpose for the study that is unrelated to language and speech.
The practice of misleading the participants is known as ________.
deception

Alex has agreed to participate as a subject in a research experiment and is given an informed consent form to sign before proceeding. What information will he find on the form? 
1. A description of what he can expect 2. An assurance that his participation is voluntary

Patwardhan et al. report data from a study where they hired experimental confederates to attend speed dating events, posing as daters, and carefully take notes on the behaviors of the daters. What type of research design did they use?
naturalistic observation

________ are subjects of psychological research.
Participants

Ethics need to be considered when ________ scientific research.
designing, conducting, and reviewing

Scientific knowledge is advanced through a process known as ________.
the scientific method

The only way to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables is to conduct a(n) ________.
experiment

Research on ________ subjects must always involve ________.
human; obtaining informed consent

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good hypothesis?
It is complex.

________ research uses past records or data sets to investigate research questions or to look for patterns or relationships.

Archival

Peer reviewers ________.
help ensure quality control in reporting scientific findings

Krista and Tatiana Hogan are participants in a(n) ________ of conjoined twins who are joined at the head.
case study

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was ethically problematic because ________.
participants were not allowed to seek available treatment

Which correlation coefficient best represents a moderate relationship showing fewer anxiety symptoms in people who report higher life satisfaction?
–0.5

The ________ reviews research conducted using animal subjects.
IACUC

What is a limitation that affects the generalizability of research results?
Small sample size

________ research studies the same groups of participants over time.
Longitudinal

Which of the following is a scientific way of determining facts?
Empirical studies

Dr. Mattar is interested in knowing more about brain injury to the occipital cortex, and he studies patients individually in order to gain in-depth knowledge about their behaviors. These studies would best be described as ________.
case studies

In a ________ study, both the researchers and the participants are unaware of the group assignments.
double blind

Stan & Jenny are in a psychology course that requires them to repeat an experiment that researchers have conducted in the past, in order to determine whether they produce the same results. This is called ______.
replication