A researcher assesses the length of prison sentence assigned to a physically attractive or unattractive defendant.The researcher believes that attractive defendants will be assigned shorter prison sentences than unattractive defendants.The research hypothesis would be
A) there is no difference in the length of prison sentence received by attractive versus unattractive defendants.
B) physically attractive defendants will receive longer prison sentences than physically unattractive defendants.
C) physically attractive defendants will receive shorter prison sentences than physically unattractive defendants.
D) some other variable such as gender is responsible for difference in assigned length of prison sentence.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The research hypothesis states that physically attractive defendants will be assigned shorter prison sentences than physically unattractive defendants, indicating that the researcher believes there is a difference in sentence length based on attractiveness. Option A states there is no difference, which contradicts the hypothesis. Option B suggests the opposite of the hypothesis. Option D introduces an alternative variable that is not relevant to the given research question. Therefore, the best choice is C.

A Researcher Assesses the Length of Prison Sentence Assigned to a Physically