PSYC 304 FINAL: RESEARCH METHODS
Athabasca University UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Authority - CORRECT ANSWER based on someone's else's language
logic - CORRECT ANSWER - based on reason
intuition - CORRECT ANSWER - a way of knowing spontaneous instinctive processes rather than on logic or
reasoning
- spontaneous perception or judgment not based on reasoned mental steps
Variable - CORRECT ANSWER - A factor that can change in an experiment with different conditions
dependent variable - CORRECT ANSWER The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is
interested.
Frequency - CORRECT ANSWER The number of times a behaviour is performed
rate - CORRECT ANSWER The number of times that a behaviour is performed relative to time
duration - CORRECT ANSWER length of time something lasts
Latency - CORRECT ANSWER - The amount of time b/w the instruction and when the behaviour is actually
performed
Topography - CORRECT ANSWER - The shape or style of the behaviour
Force - CORRECT ANSWER The intensity or strength of a behaviour
locus - CORRECT ANSWER - Where the behaviour occurs in the environment
variable of interest - CORRECT ANSWER a variable for which its role in the cause and effect of an observed
relationship is not clear
subject variable - CORRECT ANSWER - Independent variables that the researcher does not manipulate
- Ex: age, sex, iQ
Confounded Variables - CORRECT ANSWER Two variables are _______ if the investigator cannot separately
identify their effects on the response variable.
quantitative variable - CORRECT ANSWER - ones that varies in amount
Categorical Variable (Qualitative) - CORRECT ANSWER ones that varies in kind
continuous variable - CORRECT ANSWER a quantitative variable that has an infinite number of possible values
that are not countable
discrete variable - CORRECT ANSWER Consists of separate, indivisible categories. No values can exist between
two neighboring categories.
real limits - CORRECT ANSWER the interval defined by the number plus or minus half the distance to the next
number
Measurement - CORRECT ANSWER - Assignment of numbers to events or objects according to rules that permit
important properties
, - Process of assigning numbers to events or objects according to rules
Nominal scales - CORRECT ANSWER - Classifies objects or events into categories
- Simplest kind of scale b/c its rule for assigning numbers or other labels to objects or events is the simplest
ordinal scale - CORRECT ANSWER - a scale of measurement in which the measurement categories form a rank
order along a continuum
- One that ranks or events in order of their magnitude
Interval Scales - CORRECT ANSWER - measure in which the differences between numbers are meaningful;
includes both nominal and ordinal information
ratio scale - CORRECT ANSWER measurement that has a natural, or absolute zero and therefore allows the
comparison of absolute magnitudes of the numbers
permissible transformations - CORRECT ANSWER - ways that we can alter the assignment of numbers to
individual events without distorting the scale
parametric statistics - CORRECT ANSWER - those that make assumptions about the population from which the
data are drawn—namely, that the data are normally distributed and each group has the same variance
- include the usual Pearson correlation coefficient, the t test, and analysis of variance
nonparametric statistics - CORRECT ANSWER various tests that are based on rank order of the data or on the sign
of the differences between subjects
relatively infrequently used b/c they lack power compared with the corresponding parametric test
Reliability - CORRECT ANSWER - The property of consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on
different occasions
Validity - CORRECT ANSWER the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
construct validity - CORRECT ANSWER a test that the measurements actually measure the constructs they are
designed to measure, but no others
face validity - CORRECT ANSWER idea that a test should appear superficially to test what it is supposed to test
content validity - CORRECT ANSWER - notion that a test should sample the range of the behaviour that is
represented by theoretical concept being measured
criterion validity - CORRECT ANSWER idea that a test should correlate with other measures of the same
theoretical construct
Types of Measurement error - CORRECT ANSWER systematic or Constant error and random error
Systematic or Constant Error - CORRECT ANSWER Measurement error that is associated with consistent bias
random error - CORRECT ANSWER an error that occurs when the selected sample is an imperfect representation
of the overall population
test-retest reliability - CORRECT ANSWER comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate
occasions
internal consistency - CORRECT ANSWER - Concerns whether the various items on a test are measures of the
same thing
internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
Confounding - CORRECT ANSWER occurs when two variables are associated in such a way that their effects on a
response variable cannot be distinguished from each other
Athabasca University UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Authority - CORRECT ANSWER based on someone's else's language
logic - CORRECT ANSWER - based on reason
intuition - CORRECT ANSWER - a way of knowing spontaneous instinctive processes rather than on logic or
reasoning
- spontaneous perception or judgment not based on reasoned mental steps
Variable - CORRECT ANSWER - A factor that can change in an experiment with different conditions
dependent variable - CORRECT ANSWER The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is
interested.
Frequency - CORRECT ANSWER The number of times a behaviour is performed
rate - CORRECT ANSWER The number of times that a behaviour is performed relative to time
duration - CORRECT ANSWER length of time something lasts
Latency - CORRECT ANSWER - The amount of time b/w the instruction and when the behaviour is actually
performed
Topography - CORRECT ANSWER - The shape or style of the behaviour
Force - CORRECT ANSWER The intensity or strength of a behaviour
locus - CORRECT ANSWER - Where the behaviour occurs in the environment
variable of interest - CORRECT ANSWER a variable for which its role in the cause and effect of an observed
relationship is not clear
subject variable - CORRECT ANSWER - Independent variables that the researcher does not manipulate
- Ex: age, sex, iQ
Confounded Variables - CORRECT ANSWER Two variables are _______ if the investigator cannot separately
identify their effects on the response variable.
quantitative variable - CORRECT ANSWER - ones that varies in amount
Categorical Variable (Qualitative) - CORRECT ANSWER ones that varies in kind
continuous variable - CORRECT ANSWER a quantitative variable that has an infinite number of possible values
that are not countable
discrete variable - CORRECT ANSWER Consists of separate, indivisible categories. No values can exist between
two neighboring categories.
real limits - CORRECT ANSWER the interval defined by the number plus or minus half the distance to the next
number
Measurement - CORRECT ANSWER - Assignment of numbers to events or objects according to rules that permit
important properties
, - Process of assigning numbers to events or objects according to rules
Nominal scales - CORRECT ANSWER - Classifies objects or events into categories
- Simplest kind of scale b/c its rule for assigning numbers or other labels to objects or events is the simplest
ordinal scale - CORRECT ANSWER - a scale of measurement in which the measurement categories form a rank
order along a continuum
- One that ranks or events in order of their magnitude
Interval Scales - CORRECT ANSWER - measure in which the differences between numbers are meaningful;
includes both nominal and ordinal information
ratio scale - CORRECT ANSWER measurement that has a natural, or absolute zero and therefore allows the
comparison of absolute magnitudes of the numbers
permissible transformations - CORRECT ANSWER - ways that we can alter the assignment of numbers to
individual events without distorting the scale
parametric statistics - CORRECT ANSWER - those that make assumptions about the population from which the
data are drawn—namely, that the data are normally distributed and each group has the same variance
- include the usual Pearson correlation coefficient, the t test, and analysis of variance
nonparametric statistics - CORRECT ANSWER various tests that are based on rank order of the data or on the sign
of the differences between subjects
relatively infrequently used b/c they lack power compared with the corresponding parametric test
Reliability - CORRECT ANSWER - The property of consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on
different occasions
Validity - CORRECT ANSWER the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
construct validity - CORRECT ANSWER a test that the measurements actually measure the constructs they are
designed to measure, but no others
face validity - CORRECT ANSWER idea that a test should appear superficially to test what it is supposed to test
content validity - CORRECT ANSWER - notion that a test should sample the range of the behaviour that is
represented by theoretical concept being measured
criterion validity - CORRECT ANSWER idea that a test should correlate with other measures of the same
theoretical construct
Types of Measurement error - CORRECT ANSWER systematic or Constant error and random error
Systematic or Constant Error - CORRECT ANSWER Measurement error that is associated with consistent bias
random error - CORRECT ANSWER an error that occurs when the selected sample is an imperfect representation
of the overall population
test-retest reliability - CORRECT ANSWER comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate
occasions
internal consistency - CORRECT ANSWER - Concerns whether the various items on a test are measures of the
same thing
internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
Confounding - CORRECT ANSWER occurs when two variables are associated in such a way that their effects on a
response variable cannot be distinguished from each other
