University of Alberta PSYCH 212/ PSYCH 212: Research Methods in Psychology: Midterm Exam 1- Questions and answers 1005 graded - Winter 2026.

LAST Name: _______________________ FIRST Name: _______________________ PSYCH 212: Research Methods in Psychology Winter 2026 Instructor: Kimberley Campbell University of Alberta Midterm Examination VERSION 1 Friday, January 30 Instructions 1. This exam consists of 35 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions. 2. Answer the multiple choice questions by filling in the selected letter response on the multiple-choice “bubble” sheet (aka scantron sheet) provided using pencil. Scantrons filled out in pen will be graded as “no correct responses.” Pick the best, most correct answer from those provided. 3. Ensure that you correctly code your name (LastName, FirstName) and student ID in the appropriate places on the “bubble” sheet. 4. You are writing Version 1 of the exam. Fill in the number 1 in column J of the Special Codes section on your scantron to ensure correct grading. IDENTIFICATION NUMBER SPECIAL CODES A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ Օ 5. Answer the short answer questions by printing clearly in the space provided. Print your name at the top of the short-answer question page before detaching. 6. Do not look at other students’ exams. Do not allow other students to look at your exam. Either of these actions constitutes cheating. 7. You have 50 minutes to complete the exam. ●Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions (35 questions worth 1 mark each) 1. Dr. Gill has designed an experiment where participants are assigned to either sit on the side of a swimming pool or float within the swimming pool while memorizing a series of water-related words. The participants are then tested on their ability to recall words from the list. Which would be the best example of a hypothesis for this study? a. Environment (wet vs dry) and recall are unrelated b. Environment (wet vs dry) correlates with recall ability c. Individuals in the wet environment are more likely to recall words from the list than individuals in the dry environment d. All of the above could be hypotheses for this study 2. In Dr. Gill’s experiment above, if they are concerned with the possibility that floating in the pool took more energy than sitting beside the pool, which may have hindered recall ability, Dr. Gill is worried about which of the following? a. Internal validity b. Statistical validity c. Construct validity d. External validity 3. In Dr. Gill’s experiment above, which of the following is true of the score calculated based on the proportion of correctly recalled words from the list? a. It is a self-report measure of recall b. It is a behavioural measure of environment c. It is an operationalization of environment (wet vs dry) d. It is an operationalization of recall 4. In Dr. Gill’s experiment above, having the participants either sit on the side of a swimming pool or float within the swimming pool is an example of which of the following? a. Manipulating a dependent variable b. Manipulating an independent variable c. Measuring a dependent variable d. Measuring an independent variable 5. In Dr. Gill’s experiment above, if they found that the individuals that learned their words in the pool had better recall than those who learned outside of the pool, the finding would produce which type of claim? a. A frequency claim b. An association claim c. A causal claim d. No claim could be made from that finding 6. Which of the following is an example of an interval scale measurement? a. Student’s overall ranking within their program based on grades b. Measuring head circumference in centimeters c. Temperature measured in degrees Celsius d. Categorizing participants by their home continent7. Ada is conducting a study on life satisfaction in senior citizens in her community and finds that participants give very different answers when asked the same questions two weeks apart. This indicates a problem with which of the following? a. Internal reliability b. Test-retest reliability c. Face validity d. Content validity 8. Dr. Smith has developed a theory that is rather straightforward compared to Dr. Jones' more complex theory. Both theories generate a number of new hypotheses. If both theories predict the same phenomena equally well, which is preferred? a. Dr. Smith's because it will be easiest to prove. b. Dr. Smith's because it conforms to the law of parsimony. c. Dr. Jones' because it is complex and will generate more hypotheses. d. Dr. Jones' because its complexity allows for more testability. 9. In a study examining the relationship between exercise and mood, which of the following would be considered a ratio scale measurement? a. Participants rating their mood as "good" or "bad" b. Number of minutes spent exercising c. Ranking exercise preferences d. Categorizing exercise types 10. Dr. Thompson wants to study the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance. She plans to keep participants awake for 48 hours without telling them the full duration beforehand. What ethical principle is being violated? a. Confidentiality b. Informed consent c. Right to withdraw d. Debriefing requirements 11. Doctor Donna is interested in studying stress. Since stress can mean different things to different people, she decides that she would like to assess stress by measuring people's blood pressure. She has just created a(n) __________. a. experiment b. independent variable c. operational definition d. case study 12. Which of the following correlation coefficients shows the strongest relationship between two variables of interest? a. -0.79 b. -0.05 c. +0.53 d. -1.5213. A researcher measures anxiety using both a new set of self-report questionnaire questions designed to quantify levels of anxiety and commonly-used physiological measures of anxiety. This approach best demonstrates which of the following? a. Discriminant validity b. Face validity c. Content validity d. Convergent validity 14. A researcher is studying how a drug effects the memory of mice. One group of mice receives the drug while a second group does not. The memory of the mice is then tested by how quickly they can negotiate a previously learned maze. In this example, the group of mice that does not receive the drug would be considered the __________. a. experimental group b. control group c. placebo group d. independent group 15. Which of the following statements is true of hypotheses and theories? a. Hypotheses tend to be externally valid while theories tend to be internally valid. b. Theories tend to be externally valid while hypotheses tend to be internally valid. c. Theories tend to be broader than hypotheses. d. Theories use operational definitions while hypotheses do not. 16. A researcher finds r = -0.95 between study time and number of errors on a test. Which interpretation of the relationship is most accurate? a. More studying somewhat reduces errors b. Studying causes more errors c. There's a very strong negative relationship between studying and errors d. Studying and errors are unrelated 17. A study finds that students who own more books have higher test scores (r = 0.81). An administrator concludes they should give students more books to raise test scores. This conclusion illustrates: a. Evidence-based decision making b. Improperly concluding causality from a correlation c. Effective educational planning d. Strong statistical validity 18. Dr. Little wants to see if it is true that people tend to become more politically conservative as they get older. She conducts a telephone survey where she asks participants their age and political affiliation. She then uses statistics to see whether there is a relationship between these two variables. Which of the following research designs best describes Dr. Little's research? a. Experimental research b. Correlational research c. Naturalistic observation d. Descriptive research19. A researcher developing a new depression scale finds that scores on their scale correlate strongly with scores on existing depression measures. This provides evidence for which of the following? a. Discriminant validity b. Internal reliability c. Convergent validity d. Face validity 20. Which scale of measurement would be most appropriate for measuring income? a. Qualitative scale b. Ordinal scale c. Interval scale d. Ratio scale 21. In addition to asking a number of survey questions, Wendell uses a tape measure to determine the diameter of participants' heads at the beginning of long-term study looking at how different classes affect problem solving abilities in adults. At the end of the study, he asks the same questions and measures their heads again. The diameter of their heads has not changed, illustrating which quality of a good measurement? a. Reliability b. Validity c. Power d. Operationalization 22. One of the differences between experimental research and correlational research is that: a. in experimental research all variables are measured, while in correlational research at least one variable is manipulated. b. experimental research tends to use random sampling, while correlational research tends to use random assignment. c. in correlational research all variables are measured, while in experimental research at least one variable is manipulated. d. experimental research tends to have higher external validity than correlational research. 23. Which of the following is an example of a conceptual variable rather than an operational variable? a. Number of hours slept per night according to a participant’s Fitbit b. Intelligence at age 18 c. Heart rate during exercise d. Grade point average in an undergraduate program 24. A study shows r = 0.05 between shoe size and reading ability. This indicates: a. A statistically significant relationship b. A negative relationship c. Virtually no relationship d. A causal relationship25. In order to apply the results of an experiment to a broader population or situation, it is most important to have: a. Internal validity b. External validity c. Reliability d. a p-value larger than 0.05 26. A researcher studying cultural differences in emotional expression recruits participants from a university's international student organization. Why is this sampling strategy particularly problematic for generalizability? a. Student populations are always non-representative b. Students likely feel coerced to participate as part of the organization c. The sample size will likely be too small d. Participants are unlikely to be representative of all ages and cultures of interest 27. Which correlation coefficient would indicate the worst interrater reliability? a. r = 0.90 b. r = 0.70 c. r = -0.30 d. r = 0.20 28. What is the primary purpose of conducting a meta-analysis? a. To replicate previous studies b. To combine and analyze results from multiple studies c. To create new theoretical frameworks d. To identify research participants 29. Why is it unethical to provide an incentive that is too large to refuse (for example, offering undergraduate students free tuition for a semester for participating in a study)? a. It is unfair to other researchers who cannot afford to pay participants. b. It unduly influences people into participating. c. It is unfair to people who choose not to participate in the study. d. It is not unethical to do this. 30. Mia is worried about Type I error in her analysis of the link between height and premature baldness. In his case, what would a Type I error look like? a. There is actually an association between height and premature baldness, and she concludes that there is an association b. There is not actually an association between height and premature baldness, and she concludes that there is not an association c. There is not actually an association between height and premature baldness, and she concludes that there is an association d. There is actually an association between height and premature baldness, and she concludes that there is not an association31. Which of the following is an example of being a consumer of research? a. Measuring skin conductance as an operationalization of fear b. Providing informed consent to participate in a research study c. Administering a questionnaire evaluating severity of depression symptoms d. Applying a new teaching strategy to improve student engagement 32. Which of the following is a testable hypothesis? a. Happiness is defined as an emotional reaction to a change in stimuli b. There are likely differences in how people experience happiness c. Happy children are less likely to be injured when playing at school d. All of the above are testable hypotheses 33. Dr. Quinzel studies the relationship between media consumption and violent behaviour. For her most recent study, she recruited low-income students from public schools that she already worked with for other research projects. Each child was assigned to watch one hour of either violent or non-violent tv shows each night for a week and their behaviour was monitored in class and on the playground for changes in level of violent acts. Which ethical principle was violated when the potential harm participants could experience from watching potentially behaviour-altering media was not considered? a. The principle of justice b. The principle of beneficence and nonmaleficence c. The principle of integrity d. The principle of respect for people's rights and dignity 34. Which of the following would be a valid reason to trust the advice of authorities? a. Authorities base their advice on their own experience and intuition. b. Authorities cherry-pick the evidence to support their own position. c. The research cited by authorities may be unreliable. d. Authorities systematically and objectively compare different conditions. 35. Cho has recently joined the Institutional Review Board for a local university. When asked what her job involves, she would most accurately describe herself as a neutral party that is responsible for which of the following? a. Recruiting participants for research studies at the institution b. Determining if research studies at the institution follow the scientific method c. Evaluating whether proposed research studies at the institution meet ethical guidelines d. All of the above should be included in her job descriptionLAST Name: _______________________ FIRST Name: _______________________ Part 2: Short Answer Questions (2 questions worth 2 marks each) Print your responses clearly in the space below. Make sure that you answer all parts of each question as concisely as possible. Point form responses are encouraged. 1. Choose two of the three types of reliability taught in class. For these two measures of reliability, briefly explain what they are measuring and how their outputs would be interpreted. (2 marks) 2. When using data collected from our sample to make an estimate of some value in the larger population of interest (i.e., a point estimate), researchers often also include a statement of the precision of the estimate. Briefly explain what precision means in this context (i.e., what does it mean to have a more or less precise estimate?) and how that precision might be reported. (2 marks)