01 Research Methods in Psychology Online Quiz Questions

A researcher examines hospital records that were collected several years ago for clinical care, looking for patterns in sleep problems. Which method is being used?

A psychologist observes children playing in their usual school playground. This method can show behavior in an everyday setting, but the researcher has limited control over what happens.

Researchers assess the same group of students once each year for five years to track changes in their stress levels. What type of design is this?

In a class's test scores, most students score near 70, but one student scores 100. Which measure of central tendency is likely to better represent a typical score if that high value makes the distribution skewed?

If a cross-sectional study finds differences between younger and older adults, those differences might reflect different historical or cultural experiences rather than aging itself.

A researcher wants to understand the experiences of all first-year university students in a country but surveys 200 volunteers from one college. What is the term for the full group the researcher wants to understand?

Researchers find an association between stress and poor sleep. Select all conclusions justified by the correlational result alone.

A researcher compares adults who already have different work schedules, without assigning them to those schedules. Select all statements that correctly describe this kind of study.

In an experiment testing a new study-break schedule, one group follows its usual study routine while another follows the new schedule. What is the role of the group following its usual routine?

A psychologist conducts an in-depth investigation of one person with a rare neurological condition to understand the person's experiences and behavior. Which method is the best fit?

A researcher recruits volunteers from one introductory psychology course and compares students who choose to take study breaks with students who study continuously. The break-taking students later recall more words on a test. Evaluate what the study can and cannot establish. Identify a limitation for causal conclusions, a limitation for generalizing the findings, and one improvement to the design.

A researcher studies whether a short break affects memory and records how many words each participant recalls after a delay. Which part of the study is the operational definition of memory?

A researcher measures the same group of participants once a year for five years to track how their stress levels change. What type of design is this?

A psychologist wants to understand how children spontaneously share toys during free play, so she observes them at their usual after-school program without changing the activities. Which method best fits this goal?

Researchers want to estimate the study habits of all university students but recruit only volunteers from one introductory psychology course. What is the main concern with this sampling approach?

In an experiment, what is the main purpose of randomly assigning participants to different conditions?

When deception is scientifically justified and permitted, researchers should minimize risk and explain the deception to participants afterward.

A questionnaire gives consistent reports of how often participants say they exercise, but those reports may not reflect their actual activity. Which measurement property is the main concern?