Question 1

Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse."
Which type of claim is Dr. Ramon making?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Ramon is making a causal claim because they are stating that watching television causes people to spend less time communicating with their spouses.

Answer: B
 Dr. LaSalle is making an association claim because they are stating a correlation between making more money and spending less time talking with your spouse. However, there is no causal relationship implied in this claim.

Question 2

To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus most on evaluating which of the following validities?

Accepted Answer

Frequency claims are primarily concerned with how often something occurs, so construct validity (how well the variable is measured) and external validity (how well the results generalize to other contexts) are most important.

Question 3

Which of the following is an association claim?

Accepted Answer

An association claim explores the relationship between two variables, which is what the statement "Owning a dog is related to higher life satisfaction" does.

Question 4

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music.
Which of the following is a variable in this study?

Accepted Answer

The variable in this study is the sex of the participant. The study found that male participants performed worse when listening to rock music while playing board games, whereas female participants' performance was not affected by the type of music they were listening to. Therefore, the sex of the participant is the variable that the study was investigating. The sex of the researcher, the volume of the music, and the type of game may have been controlled variables or factors, but they are not the focus of the study or the variables being investigated.

Question 5

Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?"
Manish's concern is addressing which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Manish's concern about the strength of the relationship between bullying and self-esteem and whether one can predict the other is related to the study's statistical validity. This involves assessing the strength and significance of the observed relationships among variables.

Question 6

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music.
In this study, the researchers recorded how many errors participants committed. This is an example of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The researchers recorded the number of errors committed by participants, which is a measurement of their performance. Therefore, this is an example of a measured variable. A constant is a value that does not change, a variable's level refers to the different values that a variable can take, and a manipulated variable is the variable that researchers intentionally change or control in a study. None of these apply to the recording of errors as a measured variable in this study.

Question 7

Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?"
Clarissa's concern is addressing which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Clarissa's concern about the measurability of being bullied relates to construct validity, which involves the adequacy of the operational definitions of the variables.

Question 8

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music.
In this study, the authors were interested in participants' board game performance. Which of the following would be a reasonable operational definition of performance?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Anderson is reading his morning paper and...

Question 9

Which of the following phrases would NOT indicate that a researcher is making a causal claim?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following phrases would NOT...

Question 10

Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse."
Which of the following statements is true of Dr. Ramon's and Dr. LaSalle's claims?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Ramon's claim suggests a causal relationship (watching television leads to less communication), while Dr. LaSalle's claim only suggests a correlation (making more money is associated with less communication), making Dr. Ramon's claim go further by implying causation.

Question 11

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music.
How many variables are included in this study?

Accepted Answer

The study includes two variables: the type of music (rock vs classical) and the gender of the participants. All other factors were kept constant, such as the game being played and the instructions given to participants.

Question 12

Which of the following is true of variables?

Accepted Answer

Variables can refer to either a concept that can be measured (such as height or weight) or an idea that can be manipulated (such as intelligence or happiness). Therefore, some variables can be either manipulated or measured. Option A is incorrect because variables and constants are not the same. Option B is incorrect because not all variables can be manipulated, as some may only be measured. Option D is incorrect because variables need both conceptual and operational definitions.

Question 13

Which of the following allow us to make strong predictions using association claims?

Accepted Answer

Strong positive and negative associations allow us to make strong predictions using association claims because they indicate a strong relationship between two variables, supporting the idea that changes in one variable are likely to cause changes in the other. A weak association, or no association at all, provides little information about how changes in one variable will affect the other.

Question 14

Dr. Hoda measures job satisfaction and number of years of education. In examining her scatterplot, she sees the cloud of points has no slope. This indicates which type of relationship?

Accepted Answer

A scatterplot with no slope indicates that there is no association between the two variables being examined, meaning there is a zero association between job satisfaction and number of years of education. The other answer choices are not applicable because they suggest some sort of relationship or cause-effect, which is not indicated by a scatterplot with no slope.

Question 15

Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?"
Quinn's concern is addressing which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Quinn's concern is about whether the study's sample is representative of all middle school students, which is an issue of external validity.

Question 16

Which of the following is the difference between claims based on personal experience (anecdotal claims) and frequency claims?

Accepted Answer

Anecdotal claims are based on personal experience and do not involve scientific studies, while frequency claims are based on an analysis of data and are scientifically validated.

Question 17

Dr. Ellison finds a relation between amount of sleep and problem solving. Specifically, having a higher amount of sleep the night before an exam is associated with higher scores on two measures of problem solving. This is an example of which type of association?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Ellison's findings suggest that as the amount of sleep increases, the scores on measures of problem solving also increase. This indicates a positive association between the two variables.

Question 18

Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse."
Which type of claim is Dr. LaSalle making?

Accepted Answer

Dr. LaSalle's claim is an association claim because it suggests a correlation between two variables (making more money and spending less time talking with one's spouse) without implying causation.

Question 19

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music.
Which of the following is a constant in this study?

Accepted Answer

The type of game (Operation) was kept constant for all participants in the study. The researchers were also not varied, so D is not the correct answer. While effort put into playing the game may have varied among participants, this was not controlled for or measured, so B is not a constant. Sex of the participant was the variable being examined, so C is also not a constant.

Question 20

Which of the following is true of operational definitions?

Accepted Answer

Operational definitions are specific descriptions of how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a study. While some concepts are clearly defined and easy to measure (such as age or weight), others may be more abstract or difficult to measure (such as intelligence or happiness). However, it is still important to operationally define these concepts in order to conduct rigorous research. Option A is incorrect because conceptual definitions and operational definitions are not the same thing - conceptual definitions describe the meaning of a term, while operational definitions specify how a term will be measured or manipulated. Option C is not entirely true - many psychological concepts can be operationally defined, although they may require more thought and creativity than some other variables. Option D is incorrect because operational definitions do not answer the question of why a variable is being measured - that is a question of research design and theoretical background.

Quiz 3: Three Claims, Four Validities: Interrogation Tools for Consumers of Research