PSYCH 289 FINAL EXAM ATHABASCA
UNIVERSITY UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
What are the three goals of the scientific enterprise? - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Measurement
and Description
2.) Understanding and Prediction
3.) Application and Control
Define Hypothesis, Variables, and Theory - CORRECT ANSWER - Hypothesis - is a tentative
statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
Variables - are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviours that are controlled or
observed in a study
Theory - is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations
Describe the 5 steps in scientific investigations - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Form a testable
hypothesis
2.) Select the research method and design the study
3.) Collect the data
4.) Analyze the data and draw conclusions (stats)
5.) Report the findings
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER - describes the actions or operations that will be
used to measure or control a variable
Two advantages of the scientific approach - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Clarity and Precision
2.) Relative intolerance of error
,Experimental group - CORRECT ANSWER - Refers to the group of subjects who receive special
treatment in regard to the independent variable
Control group - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to the group of similar subjects that are not exposed
to the special treatment
Extraneous Variables - CORRECT ANSWER - refer to any other variables other than the
independent variables
Confounding of variables - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to two variables that are connected in a
way that make it difficult to determine their specific effects
Between-subjects - CORRECT ANSWER - involves two separate groups of subjects that are
exposed to a manipulation of an independent variable
Within-subjects - CORRECT ANSWER - involves one group of subjects that are exposed to two
different conditions - experimental and control, for study of the effects of the independent variable
Advantage of experimental method - CORRECT ANSWER - Permits conclusions about cause-
and-effect relationships between variables
Disadvantage of experimental method - CORRECT ANSWER - Experiments are often artificial
and are limited in the scope of exploration factors that cannot be manipulated
Three descriptive research methods - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Naturalistic observation
2.) Case Studies
3.) Surveys
Advantage of descriptive research - CORRECT ANSWER - provides methods to explore questions
that cannot be examined with experiments
, Disadvantage of descriptive research - CORRECT ANSWER - researches cannot control events to
isolate cause-and-effect // cannot demonstrate that two variables are casually related
Define naturalistic observation - CORRECT ANSWER - behaviour is studied in natural
environment without direct intervention; reactivity may occur when behaviour is altered by presence of an
observer
Define case studies - CORRECT ANSWER - in-depth investigation of a subject (interviews, direct
observation, examination of records, psychological testing, etc.) and is high subjective
Define surveys - CORRECT ANSWER - questionnaires or interviews to gather information about
certain aspects of a subject's behaviour; can collect data from large samples of participants, and obtain
information on aspects of behaviour that are difficult to observe directly; depend on self-reported data,
sampling bias is possible
Discuss central tendency - CORRECT ANSWER - Median - exact middle value
Mean - calculated average value
Mode - most frequent value
Frequency distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - indicates the frequency of scores
Symmetrical frequency distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - when measures of central tendency
fall together
positively skewed distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - when scores pile up on the low end
variability - CORRECT ANSWER - measures how much the scores in a set vary from each other
and the mean
Standard deviation - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to the index of the amount of variability in a set
of data
UNIVERSITY UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
What are the three goals of the scientific enterprise? - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Measurement
and Description
2.) Understanding and Prediction
3.) Application and Control
Define Hypothesis, Variables, and Theory - CORRECT ANSWER - Hypothesis - is a tentative
statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
Variables - are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviours that are controlled or
observed in a study
Theory - is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations
Describe the 5 steps in scientific investigations - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Form a testable
hypothesis
2.) Select the research method and design the study
3.) Collect the data
4.) Analyze the data and draw conclusions (stats)
5.) Report the findings
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER - describes the actions or operations that will be
used to measure or control a variable
Two advantages of the scientific approach - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Clarity and Precision
2.) Relative intolerance of error
,Experimental group - CORRECT ANSWER - Refers to the group of subjects who receive special
treatment in regard to the independent variable
Control group - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to the group of similar subjects that are not exposed
to the special treatment
Extraneous Variables - CORRECT ANSWER - refer to any other variables other than the
independent variables
Confounding of variables - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to two variables that are connected in a
way that make it difficult to determine their specific effects
Between-subjects - CORRECT ANSWER - involves two separate groups of subjects that are
exposed to a manipulation of an independent variable
Within-subjects - CORRECT ANSWER - involves one group of subjects that are exposed to two
different conditions - experimental and control, for study of the effects of the independent variable
Advantage of experimental method - CORRECT ANSWER - Permits conclusions about cause-
and-effect relationships between variables
Disadvantage of experimental method - CORRECT ANSWER - Experiments are often artificial
and are limited in the scope of exploration factors that cannot be manipulated
Three descriptive research methods - CORRECT ANSWER - 1.) Naturalistic observation
2.) Case Studies
3.) Surveys
Advantage of descriptive research - CORRECT ANSWER - provides methods to explore questions
that cannot be examined with experiments
, Disadvantage of descriptive research - CORRECT ANSWER - researches cannot control events to
isolate cause-and-effect // cannot demonstrate that two variables are casually related
Define naturalistic observation - CORRECT ANSWER - behaviour is studied in natural
environment without direct intervention; reactivity may occur when behaviour is altered by presence of an
observer
Define case studies - CORRECT ANSWER - in-depth investigation of a subject (interviews, direct
observation, examination of records, psychological testing, etc.) and is high subjective
Define surveys - CORRECT ANSWER - questionnaires or interviews to gather information about
certain aspects of a subject's behaviour; can collect data from large samples of participants, and obtain
information on aspects of behaviour that are difficult to observe directly; depend on self-reported data,
sampling bias is possible
Discuss central tendency - CORRECT ANSWER - Median - exact middle value
Mean - calculated average value
Mode - most frequent value
Frequency distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - indicates the frequency of scores
Symmetrical frequency distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - when measures of central tendency
fall together
positively skewed distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - when scores pile up on the low end
variability - CORRECT ANSWER - measures how much the scores in a set vary from each other
and the mean
Standard deviation - CORRECT ANSWER - refers to the index of the amount of variability in a set
of data
