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

Chapter 6 True/False Questions
Field Research
Naturalistic and Case-Study Research

Challenge yourself with these true/false questions. Click on your choice to see if you are correct.

  1. Naturalistic research involves the observation of organisms in their natural environment with little interference on the part of the researcher. (True/False)

  2. One of the advantages of low-constraint research is that the procedures can be flexible, allowing the researcher to follow whatever leads emerge. (True/False)

  3. The research of Charles Darwin during his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle is an excellent example of case-study research. (True/False)

  4. The research of sociologist Adeline Levine into the effects that the discovery of toxic waste had on neighborhood residents in the Love Canal neighborhood illustrates the power of experimental research methods. (True/False)

  5. Rosenhan used naturalistic and case-study research procedures to find out what the experience of being admitted to a mental hospital was like. (True/False)

  6. Case-study research procedures can be used to study both clinical and nonclinical phenomena. (True/False)

  7. Piaget's study of cognitive development in children is an example of case-study research. (True/False)

  8. In early stages of research in a new area, it is especially important to utilize the strong controls of high-constraint research. (True/False)

  9. A researcher who studies the aggressive behavior of young boys by observing playground activity from the edge of the playground without interfering with the activity is using naturalistic research methods. (True/False)

  10. Low-constraint procedures can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of a new research or treatment technique. (True/False)

  11. There is no justification for using low-constraint research procedures when high-constraint procedures are possible. (True/False)

  12. Generalizability is a central issue when one is interested in the study of one specific individual. (True/False)

  13. Sophisticated instrumentation is characteristic of the high-constraint research methods and is not used in the low-constraint approaches. (True/False)

  14. Low-constraint research can provide descriptive information about a phenomena of interest to the researcher. (True/False)

  15. Low-constraint research cannot establish a general proposition, but can negate a general proposition. (True/False)

  16. Establishing causal connections between variables requires the careful use of both naturalistic and case-study research procedures. (True/False)

  17. The relationship between variables defined by the phrase, "if X occurs, then Y is highly probable," is known as a contingency. (True/False)

  18. One of the great advantages of high-constraint research methods is the flexible manner in which it is carried out. (True/False)

  19. Causal hypotheses are best tested with low-constraint research procedures. (True/False)

  20. Although it may be tempting to draw a causal inference from an observed contingency, it is dangerous to do so. (True/False)

  21. In participant observation, the participant records his or her own behavior. (True/False)

  22. If an observer is obtrusive, measurement reactivity is a definite possibility. (True/False)

  23. Archival records are one type of unobtrusive measure. (True/False)

  24. Since the participant is unaware that any research is being conducted when unobtrusive measures are used, ethical concerns are not an issue. (True/False)

  25. The more representative of a population a sample is, the more likely that we can safely generalize the findings of a study to the entire population. (True/False)

  26. Generalizability is a concept that can be applied to settings as well as to participants. (True/False)

  27. Carefully selected statistical procedures can often compensate for lack of specific controls in a research design. (True/False)

  28. The small sample sizes and use of convenient samples in low-constraint research can often result in unrepresentative samples. (True/False)

  29. The flexibility of low-constraint methods tends to enhance replicability. (True/False)

  30. Noting that child abusers were often abused themselves and concluding that being abused as a child leads to becoming an abuser as an adult is an example of the ex post facto fallacy. (True/False)

  31. Experimenter reactivity and experimenter bias both refer to the distortions produced by the researcher not seeing and recording the behavior accurately. (True/False)