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

Chapter 3 Multiple-Choice Questions
The Starting Point: Asking Questions

Test yourself on these multiple-choice questions. Clicking on the letter of your choice will give you immediate feedback on whether you are correct. Even when you are incorrect, you will receive feedback that will help you learn the material better so that you do well on the exam.

  1. An overt response of an organism is classified as
    (a) an organismic variable.
    (b) a behavioral variable.
    (c) a replicated variable.
    (d) a correlational variable.

  2. Response-inferred organismic variables
    (a) are constructs.
    (b) are directly observed.
    (c) cannot be measured.
    (d) occur only at the experimental level.

  3. Which variable can be directly manipulated by the experimenter?
    (a) the response-inferred variable
    (b) the organismic variable
    (c) the independent variable
    (d) the dependent variable

  4. Changes in one variable resulting in predictable changes in another
    (a) show that a causal relationship cannot be inferred.
    (b) can be observed only in naturalistic or case-study research.
    (c) occur only in correlational studies.
    (d) suggest that a causal relationship exists.

  5. Research with nonmanipulated independent variables
    (a) cannot be conducted.
    (b) usually has subject variables for independent variables.
    (c) is best done within an experimental design.
    (d) can answer questions about causal relationships between variables.

  6. Characteristics of participants, such as age and gender, are called
    (a) organismic variables.
    (b) stimulus variables.
    (c) response variables.
    (d) dependent variables.

  7. What is the usual starting point for research?
    (a) the observation phase
    (b) asking a question
    (c) communication phase
    (d) procedures design phase

  8. The behavior to be observed and the conditions under which it is to be observed
    (a) cannot be identified until the observation phase.
    (b) are not clear until the interpretation phase.
    (c) are identified in the problem-definition phase.
    (d) are important only at the experimental level.

  9. In a study on weight control, in which the proportion of fat and carbohydrate intake is varied across conditions and subsequent weight loss is measured,
    (a) fat is an independent variable.
    (b) weight loss is an independent variable.
    (c) fat and carbohydrates are correlated variables.
    (d) fat and carbohydrates are dependent variables.

  10. A response variable in one study
    (a) must be a response variable in any other study.
    (b) may be a stimulus variable in another study.
    (c) may be an independent variable in another study.
    (d) both b and c

  11. Being concerned with whether a study answers the questions posed is a concern for the study's
    (a) reliability.
    (b) replicability.
    (c) validity.
    (d) representativeness.

  12. At what phase of research would the Psychological Abstracts or PsycInfo most likely be used?
    (a) problem-definition
    (b) observation
    (c) data-analysis
    (d) interpretation

  13. In a study with organismic independent variables,
    (a) causal conclusions are very strong.
    (b) no conclusions can be drawn.
    (c) any causal conclusions must be tentative.
    (d) active manipulation of the independent variable must be included.

  14. In psychology, what is the largest category of nonmanipulated independent variables?
    (a) physiological variables
    (b) response variables
    (c) stimulus variables
    (d) subject variables

  15. A variable is
    (a) any observed event.
    (b) any set of events that may have different values.
    (c) any inferred event.
    (d) always kept under direct experimenter control.

  16. If a researcher measured neuroticism in a group of participants and then divided the participants into high, moderate, and low neuroticism, this would be an example of
    (a) classification with an organismic variable.
    (b) very poor research design.
    (c) naturalistic research.
    (d) random assignment to conditions.

  17. What is the term for the type of influence exerted when a theory or research generates a great deal of further research interest?
    (a) applied research
    (b) basic research
    (c) heuristic research
    (d) implicit research

  18. Those events that have an actual or potential effect on the behavior of the participant are called
    (a) organismic variables.
    (b) response variables.
    (c) dependent variables.
    (d) stimulus variables.

  19. Which type of research is carried out to add to our understanding and store of knowledge, without any particular practical goals?
    (a) applied research
    (b) systematic research
    (c) heuristic research
    (d) basic research

  20. Diversity issues in research refers to the
    (a) statistical variability of measures.
    (b) variety of different research designs.
    (c) measured differences between experimental and control groups.
    (d) variety of human groups represented in the sample.