CMIT 321 FINAL EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS
WITH DETAILED SOLUTIONS 2026
◉ An investigator was interested in studying the effect of taking a
course in child development upon attitudes toward childrearing. At
the end of the semester, the researcher distributed a questionnaire
to students who had taken the child development course.
Questionnaires were also given to an equal number of students who
had not taken the course. The students who had taken the child
development course had different attitudes from the students who
had not taken the course (e.g., they had more positive attitudes
about having large families). Answer: 1. What are the independent
variable (including its levels) and the dependent variable in this
study?
IV: Exposure to a child development class vs. no exposure (at least,
that was the plan).
Levels:Students enrolled in a particular child development course
during a specific
term vs. those who were not.
• DV: Attitudes toward child rearing
,2. What type of design and assignment procedures were used in this
study? Check all that apply.
Answer:
X Posttest only
X Independent groups
3. What are the potential problems with this experimental design
and the procedures used?
• Potentially non-equivalent groups (no random assignment),
possible exposure to child development courses in other classes or
during different terms.
• Given that the students were self-selected into groups, it is very
likely that those who choose to take a class in child development
already have more positive attitudes toward childrearing (e.g.,
wanting large families) and any differences observed are not due to
exposure to child development classes.
4. What are some ways that the design and procedures could be
revised to address those problems?
• Use random assignment.
,• Use a pretest/posttest design
◉ Researchers are interested in the effects of patterns of TV
watching on children's aggressive behavior. They have kids keep a
diary of what they are watching and for how long and then compare
it to school reports of aggressive actions. They find that the more
aggressive TV a child watches the more aggressive schools report
they are. Answer: 1. What are the independent variable (including
levels) and the dependent variable in this study?
IV: TV content viewed
DV: Instances of aggressive behavior at school
2. What type of design and assignment procedures were used in this
study? Check all that apply.
Answer:
X Correlational design
3. How might experimenter effects or demand characteristics
influence the results of this study?
What could the researcher do to protect against these effects?
, Because data recording is completed by the participants at home,
away from the experimenters, this design is less vulnerable to
experimenter effects.
There is a potential for experimenter effects if the instructions given
to the children are inconsistent or the coding for TV shows viewed
by the children is not standardized.
Careful training of experimenters to assure consistency when
interacting with participants and coding TV viewing are essential.
Demand characteristics are more problematic. Simply asking
children to record their television viewing habits may sensitize to
the content they are viewing which could in turn change their
viewing behavior and possibly even their aggressive behavior. This
flaw is not easily countered.
4. Do you see any other flaws in the design for this study? If so, what
are they and how do you think the design and/or procedures could
be revised to address those problems?
There are concerns about accuracy of data recording and testing
effects.
WITH DETAILED SOLUTIONS 2026
◉ An investigator was interested in studying the effect of taking a
course in child development upon attitudes toward childrearing. At
the end of the semester, the researcher distributed a questionnaire
to students who had taken the child development course.
Questionnaires were also given to an equal number of students who
had not taken the course. The students who had taken the child
development course had different attitudes from the students who
had not taken the course (e.g., they had more positive attitudes
about having large families). Answer: 1. What are the independent
variable (including its levels) and the dependent variable in this
study?
IV: Exposure to a child development class vs. no exposure (at least,
that was the plan).
Levels:Students enrolled in a particular child development course
during a specific
term vs. those who were not.
• DV: Attitudes toward child rearing
,2. What type of design and assignment procedures were used in this
study? Check all that apply.
Answer:
X Posttest only
X Independent groups
3. What are the potential problems with this experimental design
and the procedures used?
• Potentially non-equivalent groups (no random assignment),
possible exposure to child development courses in other classes or
during different terms.
• Given that the students were self-selected into groups, it is very
likely that those who choose to take a class in child development
already have more positive attitudes toward childrearing (e.g.,
wanting large families) and any differences observed are not due to
exposure to child development classes.
4. What are some ways that the design and procedures could be
revised to address those problems?
• Use random assignment.
,• Use a pretest/posttest design
◉ Researchers are interested in the effects of patterns of TV
watching on children's aggressive behavior. They have kids keep a
diary of what they are watching and for how long and then compare
it to school reports of aggressive actions. They find that the more
aggressive TV a child watches the more aggressive schools report
they are. Answer: 1. What are the independent variable (including
levels) and the dependent variable in this study?
IV: TV content viewed
DV: Instances of aggressive behavior at school
2. What type of design and assignment procedures were used in this
study? Check all that apply.
Answer:
X Correlational design
3. How might experimenter effects or demand characteristics
influence the results of this study?
What could the researcher do to protect against these effects?
, Because data recording is completed by the participants at home,
away from the experimenters, this design is less vulnerable to
experimenter effects.
There is a potential for experimenter effects if the instructions given
to the children are inconsistent or the coding for TV shows viewed
by the children is not standardized.
Careful training of experimenters to assure consistency when
interacting with participants and coding TV viewing are essential.
Demand characteristics are more problematic. Simply asking
children to record their television viewing habits may sensitize to
the content they are viewing which could in turn change their
viewing behavior and possibly even their aggressive behavior. This
flaw is not easily countered.
4. Do you see any other flaws in the design for this study? If so, what
are they and how do you think the design and/or procedures could
be revised to address those problems?
There are concerns about accuracy of data recording and testing
effects.
