Study Questions for Quiz #1

Research Goals & Hypotheses

1. Describe the fundamental difference between the intent and the practice of hypothesis testing research. The intent of psychological research is to provide definitive results that prove or disprove causal hypotheses about relationships between psychological constructs, so that the results can be broadly applied.

2. Compare and contrast the "critical experiment" and "converging operations" approaches to acquiring knowledge. Which is the current paradigm of psychological research, and why? Describe the research loop (be sure to tell each stage) and tell how it is related to “converging operations.”

3. Respond to the statement, "Once I've got my Ph.D. I'm never going to have to worry about research again!!!"

4. Describe the three different goals or types of knowledge sought by psychological researchers. How are these types interrelated?

5. Give a general definition of a research hypothesis and tell its most important property. Describe the three types of hypotheses and tell what kinds of evidence (conditions) must be supplied to support each. (Be sure to mention which type of hypothesis is tied to each of the "goals of the scientific method".)

External Validity

6. Describe the (four) basic types of validity we want our research conclusions to have.

7. Distinguish among the components of external validity, the types of variables associated with each, and tell how we provide evidence for each

8. Describe "cultural" and "ecological" validity and tell how they relate to the components of external validity we've discussed.

9. Describe the different approaches to "defending" the external validity of a study.

10. Why is it important to distinguish between "generalizability" and "applicability" as possible synonyms of external validity? What does it mean to say, "External validity is in the eye of the applier."? Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

11. What is "sampling" and what are the choices a researcher makes when designing a sampling methodology? How does sampling influence the validity of the study?

12. What is required to have a truly random sample? Is this often accomplished? When you are told that a sample is "random," what is usually meant by this?

13. How does sample size relate to internal and external validity? What must we consider when selecting the sample size for our study?

14. Differentiate between the "selection" and "assignment" of subjects and describe the purpose and procedures used for each.

Internal Validity

15. Describe the inter-relationships among the components of these three distinctions among the measures/behaviors studied by researchers: 1) constant vs. variable, 2) measured vs. manipulated, and 3) cause vs. effect.

16. Describe the variables/constant that "exist before the study" and those that "exist after the study". What is the moral of this distinction?

17. Distinguish among the components of internal validity, the types of variables associated with each, and tell how we provide evidence for each. (You'll want to include in your answer the material about how length of the study can influence ongoing equivalence -- from the end of the next lecture.)

1. 18. Describe how we know what “confounds” are involved and the “standards” for their control when designing our research or evaluating the research of others.

19. Distinguish between vs. within-groups designs and tell how random assignment is applied to each.

20. Describe the "non-random" procedures for participant assignment. Be sure to identify which provide for initial equivalence and which do not and why.

21. Describe the different uses of random assignment and tell what aspects of internal and external validity are enhanced by each.

22. Distinguish the different characterizations of the relationship between internal and external validity.

Research Designs

23. Describe the key components of a true experiment and how each contributes to the internal and the external validity of a study.

24. Distinguish between the different meanings of "IV" and describe why we have to be careful when applying the term.

25. Can all causal research hypotheses be studied? Why or why not? (Be sure to give examples to support your answer!)

26. Distinguish among the major types of research designs - focusing on the procedural differences among them. What are the relative advantages of these different designs to support internal and external validity claims for our research?

27. Suppose a colleague said to you, “Why even bother running non-experiments? We can’t get any useful information from them!” What seems to be the type of information this colleague thinks is the only useful kind? How should you respond to this statement?

Data Collection & The Research Process

28. Describe the relative advantages of observational and self-report data.

29. Describe the relative advantages of laboratory, structured and field settings to promote the validity of the research (be sure to refer to both internal and external validity)

30. Respond to the statement, “Observational and survey research can not provide information about causal relationships. Only experimental research can do that!”

31. Briefly describe the (six) key steps in the research process, telling the information or evidence provided by each. (Be sure to identify those steps which are only necessary for testing causal research hypotheses).

32. What would you look for if handed an empirical research article and asked if the research it reports is valid?

33. Distinguish between the attributes of a research study that directly influence the causal interpretability of the results and which do not influence the causal interpretability. What are the attributes of a research study that make it difficult to ensure ongoing equivalence and for what part of internal validity are they a problem?