EVALUATIONS & FINAL

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: METHODS & PRACTICES

Prof. Dr. Duong Nguyen Vu

1. A law may best be defined as a statement that certain events:
a. explain one or more events.
b. are regularly associated with each other.
c. occur regularly.
d. are caused by preceding events.
2. The three goals of science are to:
a. describe, predict, and explain.
b. describe, predict, and research.
c. describe, research, and explain.
d. predict, explain, and research.
3. Observing the behavior of humans or other animals in a contrived and controlled situation involves
using the ________ method.
a. laboratory observational
b. naturalistic observational
c. survey
d. correlational
4. In an experimental study of the effects of practice on reaction time, reaction time would be the:
a. dependent variable.
b. experimental group.
c. independent variable.
d. control group.
5. A very brief description of the entire paper is to the ________ section as a review of previous research
is to the ________ section.
a. Results; Introduction
b. Abstract; Results
c. Introduction; Method
d. Abstract; Introduction
6. The influence of the researcher's expectations on the outcome of the study refers to ________.
a. expectancy effects
b. reactivity
c. ecological validity
d. both reactivity and expectancy effects
7. A multiple choice question is to ________ as a short answer question is to ________.
a. a loaded question; a leading question
b. a close-ended question; an open-ended question
c. an open-ended question; a close-ended question
d. a leading question; a loaded question
8. Questions for which participants formulate their own responses are ________ questions.
a. open-ended
b. closed-ended
c. leading
d. loaded
9. If the points on a scatterplot are spread all over the graph, this would suggest that the two variables
depicted are:
a. strongly related.
b. normally distributed.
c. positively correlated.
d. not correlated.
10. In an experimental study on the effects of exercise on stress, exercise is the ________.
a. independent variable
b. dependent variable
c. experimental group
d. control group
11. During the past year, Cindy and Bobby each read 2 books, but Greg read 25, J an read 12, and Marcia
read 9. The median number of books read by these individuals was:
a. 10.
b. 9.
c. 2.
d. 50.
12. Rich's first psychology exam score is +1 standard deviation from the mean in a normal distribution.
The test has a mean of 60 and a standard deviation of 6. Rich's percentile rank would be approximately:
a. 66%.
b. cannot say from the information given.
c. 70%.
d. 84%.
13. If the null hypothesis is true, then the t-test should be close to:
a. 3.00.
b. 0.00.
c. 1.96.
d. 1.65.
14. The hypothesis predicting that differences exist between the groups being compared is to the
hypothesis predicting that no differences exist between the groups being compared as the ________
hypothesis is to the ________ hypothesis.
a. alternative; null
b. null; alternative
c. two-tailed; one-tailed
d. one-tailed; two-tailed
15. The ________ section summarizes the data collected and the type of statistics used to analyze the
data.
a. Method
b. Results
c. Introduction
d. Discussion
16. Accepting the information in an instructor's lecture without examining the book or asking about the
source of the ideas is an example of which way of knowing about behavior?
a. Authority
b. Intuition
c. Logic
d. Science
17. The suggestion to take an aspirin to relieve a headache would be considered ________ while
________ would be concerned with the reason that the aspirin works.
a. parsimonious, excessive
b. science, technology
c. technology, science
d. law, theory
18. A law may best be defined as a statement that certain events:
a. are caused by preceding events.
b. explain one or more events.
c. are regularly associated with each other.
d. occur regularly.
19. Which is not a way to judge a good theory? How well it:
a. explains existing laws.
b. agrees with common sense.
c. guides research.
d. predicts new laws.
20. The idea that scientific progress does not proceed in a straightforward manner, but rather consists of
normal science, followed by shifts to other ways of thinking, is Kuhn's concept of a ________.
a. hypothesis
b. paradigm
c. law
d. theory
21. Once you have found an interesting topic, you should try to:
a. narrow the topic down to a manageable size.
b. find the full history of your topic.
c. plan your experimental design.
d. expand your search to include all of psychology.
22. Information obtained from a web site gains credibility if:
a. the author's work is cited approvingly by a well-known authority.
b. the author is a well known authority.
c. All of these increase credibility.
d. you can find biographical material validating the author's credentials.
23. A meta-engine is:
a. an engine that permits you to use special features of other search engines.
b. a search engine for philosophical subjects.
c. a search engine that searches the output of other search engines.
d. more focused than other search engines.
24. Why should you stop yourself from restricting your search to full-text articles that are available
online?
a. A thorough literature search will probably have articles and books on it that are not yet
available online.
b. You shouldn't. Full-text only is fine.
c. These articles are proprietary, and thus too expensive to use exclusively.
d. They are not yet peer reviewed.
25. The format for a research proposal is:
a. almost always an oral presentation.
b. done with a few key points, rather than paragraph form.
c. usually very brief (fewer than 120 words).
d. generally similar in outline and style as the final report.
26. Which of the following represents plagiarism?
a. All of these choices.
b. Submitting a paper written by another student as your work.
c. Submitting a paper that is based on another scientist's work without giving them credit.
d. Submitting a paper created simply by cutting and pasting large sections from various
websites.
27. The methods section of a research paper contains:
a. the research design, tables and figures, and literature review.
b. the literature review and hypotheses.
c. the research design, procedures, and description of subjects and measures.
d. the definition of terms, literature review, and data analysis procedures.
28. Tables in a research report should:
a. supplement the text.
b. be color coded.
c. duplicate the text.
d. include only a summary of the data, e.g., means and standard deviations.
29. The first step in preparing a research report for publication is to:
a. determine the journal most likely to publish it.
b. develop an outline of its content.
c. write query letters to several journal editors.
d. write the abstract and introduction.
30. ________ have become popular ways of presenting research at scientific meetings.
a. Posters
b. J ournal articles
c. Blogs
d. Books
31. Which one of the following would be best for conveying the shape of the frequency distribution of
250 test scores?
a. Ungrouped frequency distribution
b. Histogram
c. Cumulative frequency distribution
d. Rank-order distribution
32. Scattergrams represent data commonly analyzed by which statistic?
a. Correlation coefficient
b. Analysis of variance
c. Chi square
d. t-test
33. A bar graph should be used when the:
a. dependent variable is a continuous variable.
b. dependent variable is a discrete variable.
c. independent variable is a continuous variable.
d. independent variable is a discrete variable.
34. A major limitation of archival research is that:
a. records and data are often difficult to obtain.
b. biases may be present in the records or data.
c. archival data are not always factual.
d. most archival data are nonscientific.
35. A major limitation of archival research is that:
a. records and data are often difficult to obtain.
b. biases may be present in the records or data.
c. archival data are not always factual.
d. most archival data are nonscientific.
36. Open-ended questions are more appropriate for:
a. preliminary studies.
b. large-scale studies.
c. follow-up studies.
d. studies in which you don't want respondents to have to think too hard.
37. A Likert scale is a(n):
a. questionnaire that uses branching of items.
b. open ended rating scale.
c. rating scale with verbal categories rather than numerical.
d. rating scale, often with seven or nine categories.
38. A law may best be defined as a statement that certain events:
a. explain one or more events.
b. are caused by preceding events.
c. are regularly associated with each other.
d. occur regularly.
39. A very brief description of the entire paper is to the ________ section as a review of previous research
is to the ________ section.
a. Introduction; Method
b. Results; Introduction
c. Abstract; Results
d. Abstract; Introduction
40. The extent to which research can be generalized to real-life situations is known as:
a. reactivity.
b. research validation.
c. experimenter effects.
d. ecological validity.
41. Lack of flexibility is to ________ observation as lack of control is to ________ observation.
a. laboratory; naturalistic
b. disguised; undisguised
c. undisguised; disguised
d. naturalistic; laboratory
42. Questions for which participants formulate their own responses are ________ questions.
a. closed-ended
b. open-ended
c. leading
d. loaded
43. Rich is conducting a survey of student opinion of the dining hall at his university. Rich decided to
conduct his survey using students enrolled in introductory psychology classes. The type of sampling
technique that Rich is using is:
a. stratified random sampling.
b. random sampling.
c. cluster sampling.
d. representative sampling.
44. The extent to which research can be generalized to real-life situations is known as:
a. reactivity.
b. research validation.
c. experimenter effects.
d. ecological validity.
45. Lack of flexibility is to ________ observation as lack of control is to ________ observation.
a. disguised; undisguised
b. naturalistic; laboratory
c. undisguised; disguised
d. laboratory; naturalistic
46. Questions for which participants formulate their own responses are ________ questions.
a. closed-ended
b. loaded
c. leading
d. open-ended
47. Rich is conducting a survey of student opinion of the dining hall at his university. Rich decided to
conduct his survey using students enrolled in introductory psychology classes. The type of sampling
technique that Rich is using is:
a. cluster sampling.
b. representative sampling.
c. stratified random sampling.
d. random sampling.
48. ________ sampling is a sampling technique in which each member of the population has an equal
likelihood of being selected to be part of the sample.
a. Representative
b. Probability
c. Quota
d. Nonprobability
49. A table in which the scores are grouped into intervals and listed along with the frequency of scores in
each interval is a ________.
a. class interval frequency polygon
b. histogram
c. class interval frequency distribution
d. bar graph
50. A line graph of the frequencies of individual scores is a ________.
a. bar graph
b. frequency polygon
c. frequency distribution
d. histogram
51. The arithmetic average of a distribution is the ________.
a. mode
b. standard deviation
c. median
d. mean
52. During the past year, Cindy and Bobby each read 2 books, but Greg read 25, J an read 12, and Marcia
read 9. The median number of books read by these individuals was:
a. 9.
b. 2.
c. 50.
d. 10.
53. Mode is to ________ as median is to ________.
a. all types of data; ordinal, interval, and ratio data only
b. none of the alternatives is correct
c. interval and ratio data only; nominal data only
d. nominal data only; ordinal data only
54. If the shape of a frequency distribution is lopsided, with a long tail projecting longer to the right than
to the left, how would the distribution be skewed?
a. negatively
b. normally
c. average
d. positively
55. Faculty in the psychology department at State University consume an average of 5 cups of coffee per
day with a standard deviation of 1.5. The distribution is normal. What proportion of faculty consume an
amount between 4 and 6 cups?
a. None of the alternatives is correct.
b. .4972
c. .5468
d. .50
56. Rich's first psychology exam score is +1 standard deviation from the mean in a normal distribution.
The test has a mean of 60 and a standard deviation of 6. Rich's percentile rank would be approximately:
a. 84%.
b. 70%.
c. 66%.
d. cannot say from the information given.
57. The standard deviation of the sampling distribution is called the ________.
a. standard deviation
b. deviation of the sample
c. standard error of the population
d. standard error of the mean
58. Which of the following would NOT be included in the introduction of a paper?
a. A description of the sample used and how it was selected.
b. An introduction of the problem.
c. A statement concerning the purpose and rationale for the study.
d. A review of past research on the topic.
59. The ________ section summarizes the data collected and the type of statistics used to analyze the
data.
a. Introduction
b. Discussion
c. Method
d. Results
60. Scientific conferences are good sources of ideas for research studies because they expose students to:
a. experts in a field of study.
b. findings that have not undergone peer review.
c. information that is widely known.
d. funded research.
61. Personal observation is a:
a. poor source of research ideas because they are not scientific.
b. poor source of research ideas because our observations are too subjective.
c. good source of research ideas because all good research must match everyday
experience.
d. good source of research ideas because we usually observe things of personal interest.
EVALUATING PAPERS
62. We always begin a critique with a technical analysis of the study goals.
A. True
B. False
63. All published studies should include a clear statement of the study hypothesis.
A. True
B. False
64. The characteristics of the sample and the sampling strategy should always be described in the
Methods section.
A. True
B. False
65. The primary goal of an evaluation/critique of published research is to:
a. provide a balanced overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the study.
b. ensure that all aspects of the research are technically correct.
c. find the hidden flaw that reviewers missed or thought was unimportant.
d. assess whether the study adequately addressed the research goals.
66. Which of the following is not typically found in the abstract of a research article?
a. Background literature.
b. Study design.
c. Key findings.
d. Purpose of the study.
67. The introduction of the article usually presents:
a. a detailed description of the study design.
b. operational definitions for all study variables
c. a description of the purpose of the study.
d. a summary of the study findings
68. The Method section of the article should provide:
a. enough detail so that the study can be replicated.
b. a rationale for all study hypotheses.
c. enough background material to justify the methods selected.
d. a complete description of all statistical procedures.
69. Which of the following would be a major weakness of the study Discussion?
a. Authors provide a detailed discussion of study weaknesses.
b. Authors fail to link their findings with the existing literature.
c. Authors summarize key research findings.
d. Authors speculate about what their findings mean for theory.