Ninth Edition CoverGraziano & Raulin
Research Methods (9th edition)

Chapter 3 Essay Questions
The Starting Point: Asking Questions

  1. Describe the three main starting points for research, and give at least two examples of each.

  2. Distinguish between organismic variables, stimulus variables, and behavioral variables. Give a hypothetical example of a research project, and identify the behavioral, stimulus, and organismic variables that would be a part of that project.

  3. What is the distinction between a manipulated and a nonmanipulated independent variable? What implications does this distinction have for the type of conclusion that we might draw?

  4. Pick a topic of interest, and develop a research question from that topic. Identify the variables that are a part of your research question, and classify each of the variables (in terms of organismic, behavioral, stimulus, and also in terms of independent and dependent).

  5. Discuss the basic principles of ethical research with human participants.

  6. In research with animals, what are the ethical responsibilities of the researcher?

  7. Distinguish between heuristic and systematic influences in science.

  8. Distinguish between basic research and applied research.

  9. Suppose you have designed a research project using human participants, written a research proposal, and submitted it to your Institutional Review Board for clearance on ethical issues. The board returns your proposal as “ethically unacceptable” because the design is so flawed that the information from the study would be meaningless. There is no other issue raised. Why is this criticism of your proposed design an ethical issue and not just a design problem?

  10. Think of several examples of variables that could be independent variables in one study and dependent variables in another.

  11. Create several research situations in which you would use deception. For each one, explain (a) why the deception is needed and (b) how you would deal with the ethical issues raised by the deception in your research.

  12. Name and briefly describe the three main starting points for research.

  13. Distinguish between the two types of independent variables.

  14. Explain this statement: “The independent-dependent variable distinction is most important in high-constraint experimental research.”

  15.  Exactly what is meant by “manipulating the independent variable”? 

  16. What are extraneous variables? Give some examples.

  17. What is deception in research with human participants, and what is the major safeguard for deception? Give examples of deception in research.

  18. Identify and explain the moral problem that lies at the center of research ethics.

  19. Before beginning a research project, what formal body should review the research proposal for ethical issues? What factors will that body consider in its deliberation.

  20. Explain what is meant by diversity issues in research. How are such issues important in terms of both ethics and research findings?