PSY 290 Exam 3 UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
- Know the difference between a true experiment and a quasi-experiment
o Influence of subject and other non-manipulated IVs
o Difference in conclusions that can be drawn - CORRECT ANSWER -True experiment include
manipulated IV and equivalent groups formed by either straight random assignment or matching followed
by random assignment
- Conclusions that are drawn are causal
Quasi-experiment is when subjects cannot be assigned randomly and produce results with clear benefits
for people's lives
- have many of the characteristics of experiments but they lack the required manipulation of the IV, this is
typically because random sampling was not used. The IV is a subject variable.
- Applied research is a good example of where we use quasi-experimental designs
- You don't need to manipulate the IV to make it an IV (subject variable)
- Conclusions that are drawn are not causal
- Know a basic definition of a survey, - CORRECT ANSWER -a structured set of questions or
statements given to a group of people to measure their attitudes, beliefs, values, or tendencies to act
Know what Hall's "Questionnaire" was, including its purpose. - CORRECT ANSWER -Survey
measured "contents of kids minds"
- Where people were born and how much information they had and remembered
- "Living in an urban environment will stunt intellectual development
Purpose:
- Find the best way to educate children
- Questionnaires designed to uncover as much as possible about children
,-It might also be good to know why it was that surveys in general, such as Hall's, were slow to be
accepted by psychology - CORRECT ANSWER -- Survey like Hall's were slow to be accepted in
psychology due to overstatements
- The founding fathers wanted to be in the laboratory (control)
- Know why sampling is so important to survey research, including instances of bad sampling
o 1936 Literary Digest Presidential Election
o 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER --Sampling is
important in survey research due to elaboration (hopes that the results will generalize beyond the people
participating in them)
o 1936 Literary Digest Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER -- the magazine Literary
Digest tried to predict the election outcome by sending out about 10 million simulated ballots to
subscribers,
- others selected from a sample of phone books from around the country, and to others from motor vehicle
registration information
- Close to 25% (almost 2.5 million) of the ballots were returned to the magazine; of these respondents,
57% preferred the Republican candidate
- sample is bias due to them thinking they were broadening the sample and making it more representative
by adding people chosen from phone books and car registration data.
- In fact, they were selecting more Republicans. In the midst of the Great Depression, practically the only
people who could afford phones and cars were members of the upper‐middle and upper classes, and these
were more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
- So, in the survey the magazine actually was asking Republicans how they were going to cast their votes.
o 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER -Chicago tribune did a
survey to predict outcome of 1948 election and found that Dewey would defeat Truman. The tribune was
published and distributed, so sure that they were right....they were not.
- They were not correct as the sample they surveyed was already biased
- Know what self-selection bias is, and how it can influence the interpretation of the results - CORRECT
ANSWER -- is a problem that very often results when survey respondents are allowed to decide
entirely for themselves whether or not they want to participate in a survey.
, - Self-selection bias typically appear in popular magazines, survey with the a appeal for reader to reply,
results of replies are then reported
-reported results tend to emphasize the total number of returned surveys, rather than percentage
-Ex: Hite (1987) report of female sexuality 90% of women feeling dissatisfied in marriage however
survey was sent to select groups only and 4.5% of 100,000 surveys were returned
- Have a basic understanding of the difference between surveys and assessment - CORRECT
ANSWER -- Surveys include various questions measuring attitude, opinions ,etc. done in person,
online, or through mail
- Assessments use test more formal in nature (done in clinical setting) used to exactly measure construct
of interest
- Surveys measure attitudes, believes, opinions and projected behaviors. This can be done in person,
online, through the mail, etc.
- Assessment often uses psychological testing, which is more formal in its nature, and is often done in a
clinical setting.
- In addition, psychological tests are usually evaluated more rigorously to measure their reliability and
validity in order to adequately measure the construct of interest.
- The the level of training for psychological tests also tends to be much higher than that of surveys.
Open-ended survey items - CORRECT ANSWER -- questions that require a response beyond a yes
or no (narrative info required).
- Open ended questions are useful for evoking a wide range of responses that the researcher hasn't even
thought of, it can also increase the respondent's sense of control when completing survey.
- It's difficult to score open ended questions or interpret results and also issues w/ reliability and validity
dichotomous (closed questions) survey items - CORRECT ANSWER -- can be answered w/ yes or
no or choosing a single response from among several alternatives, is completed quickly
- It makes it easier to score and interpret the results.
- Often easier to analyze statistically.
- The weakness is that the format can limit the amount of information.
Questions and CORRECT Answers
- Know the difference between a true experiment and a quasi-experiment
o Influence of subject and other non-manipulated IVs
o Difference in conclusions that can be drawn - CORRECT ANSWER -True experiment include
manipulated IV and equivalent groups formed by either straight random assignment or matching followed
by random assignment
- Conclusions that are drawn are causal
Quasi-experiment is when subjects cannot be assigned randomly and produce results with clear benefits
for people's lives
- have many of the characteristics of experiments but they lack the required manipulation of the IV, this is
typically because random sampling was not used. The IV is a subject variable.
- Applied research is a good example of where we use quasi-experimental designs
- You don't need to manipulate the IV to make it an IV (subject variable)
- Conclusions that are drawn are not causal
- Know a basic definition of a survey, - CORRECT ANSWER -a structured set of questions or
statements given to a group of people to measure their attitudes, beliefs, values, or tendencies to act
Know what Hall's "Questionnaire" was, including its purpose. - CORRECT ANSWER -Survey
measured "contents of kids minds"
- Where people were born and how much information they had and remembered
- "Living in an urban environment will stunt intellectual development
Purpose:
- Find the best way to educate children
- Questionnaires designed to uncover as much as possible about children
,-It might also be good to know why it was that surveys in general, such as Hall's, were slow to be
accepted by psychology - CORRECT ANSWER -- Survey like Hall's were slow to be accepted in
psychology due to overstatements
- The founding fathers wanted to be in the laboratory (control)
- Know why sampling is so important to survey research, including instances of bad sampling
o 1936 Literary Digest Presidential Election
o 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER --Sampling is
important in survey research due to elaboration (hopes that the results will generalize beyond the people
participating in them)
o 1936 Literary Digest Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER -- the magazine Literary
Digest tried to predict the election outcome by sending out about 10 million simulated ballots to
subscribers,
- others selected from a sample of phone books from around the country, and to others from motor vehicle
registration information
- Close to 25% (almost 2.5 million) of the ballots were returned to the magazine; of these respondents,
57% preferred the Republican candidate
- sample is bias due to them thinking they were broadening the sample and making it more representative
by adding people chosen from phone books and car registration data.
- In fact, they were selecting more Republicans. In the midst of the Great Depression, practically the only
people who could afford phones and cars were members of the upper‐middle and upper classes, and these
were more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
- So, in the survey the magazine actually was asking Republicans how they were going to cast their votes.
o 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune Presidential Election - CORRECT ANSWER -Chicago tribune did a
survey to predict outcome of 1948 election and found that Dewey would defeat Truman. The tribune was
published and distributed, so sure that they were right....they were not.
- They were not correct as the sample they surveyed was already biased
- Know what self-selection bias is, and how it can influence the interpretation of the results - CORRECT
ANSWER -- is a problem that very often results when survey respondents are allowed to decide
entirely for themselves whether or not they want to participate in a survey.
, - Self-selection bias typically appear in popular magazines, survey with the a appeal for reader to reply,
results of replies are then reported
-reported results tend to emphasize the total number of returned surveys, rather than percentage
-Ex: Hite (1987) report of female sexuality 90% of women feeling dissatisfied in marriage however
survey was sent to select groups only and 4.5% of 100,000 surveys were returned
- Have a basic understanding of the difference between surveys and assessment - CORRECT
ANSWER -- Surveys include various questions measuring attitude, opinions ,etc. done in person,
online, or through mail
- Assessments use test more formal in nature (done in clinical setting) used to exactly measure construct
of interest
- Surveys measure attitudes, believes, opinions and projected behaviors. This can be done in person,
online, through the mail, etc.
- Assessment often uses psychological testing, which is more formal in its nature, and is often done in a
clinical setting.
- In addition, psychological tests are usually evaluated more rigorously to measure their reliability and
validity in order to adequately measure the construct of interest.
- The the level of training for psychological tests also tends to be much higher than that of surveys.
Open-ended survey items - CORRECT ANSWER -- questions that require a response beyond a yes
or no (narrative info required).
- Open ended questions are useful for evoking a wide range of responses that the researcher hasn't even
thought of, it can also increase the respondent's sense of control when completing survey.
- It's difficult to score open ended questions or interpret results and also issues w/ reliability and validity
dichotomous (closed questions) survey items - CORRECT ANSWER -- can be answered w/ yes or
no or choosing a single response from among several alternatives, is completed quickly
- It makes it easier to score and interpret the results.
- Often easier to analyze statistically.
- The weakness is that the format can limit the amount of information.
