In a naturalistic observation, a researcher would be most likely to do which of the following?

Researchers do little to control the setting in:

a. all types of observational research.
b. only naturalistic observational research.
c. only structured observational research.
d. all types of research except observational research.

Which of the following is an instance of naturalistic observational study that informed psychological theory?

a. Piaget's son
b. H.M
c. Nadia
d. General Social Survey

Concealment is most directly a strategy to overcome which problem in naturalistic observation?

a. Lacking experimental manipulation
b. Reactivity
c. Observer bias
d. Timing and frequency of events

In a study by Arthur-Banning, Wells, Baker & Hegreness (2009), trained observers watched more than a hundred sports games and recorded examples of positive and negative sportsmanship behaviors of parents, coaches, and athletes. The researchers were looking for links between the behaviors exhibited by coaches and parents, with the behaviors exhibited by student athletes. This study is an example of a:

a. quasi-experimental design.
b. case study design.
c. structured observational design.
d. naturalistic observational design.

In observational research, qualitative data is often coded for several reasons, such as:

a. producing richer data.
b. increasing external validity of findings.
c. allowing for the use of statistical tests.
d. reducing statistical power.

Which of the following istrue of archival research?

a. It requires less time and money as comparedto observational data.
b. It often provides data from large, representative samples.
c. It limits the questions that you can ask.
d. It contains the same ethical concerns as experimental methods.

When researchers are concerned about reactivity in observational designs, they are concerned about:

a. Participants changing their behavior to match the hypothesis of the researcher.
b. Participants changing their behavior to in response to a natural occurrence in the environment.
c. Participants changing their behavior in response to being observed.
d. Participants changing their behavior due to perceived ethical violations on the part of the researcher.

In observational research, you can record participants without their consent…

a. in all situations.
b. if you are observing in a public setting and if local laws permit the recording.
c. in all situations where obtaining consent would compromise the validity of the observed behavior .
d. as long as they do not complaint or protest against such recording.

When coding observational data, the specimen record approach means that…

a. all of the behaviors of a single participant are recorded.
b. all of the behaviors in a given time period are recorded.
c. all instances of a particular behavior in a given time period are recorded.
d. the observer records whether certain behaviors occur during a sample of short time intervals.

Bob is coding the recorded data from an observational study about children's verbally aggressive behaviors when playing with a stranger as compared to when playing with a friend. He records whether children raise their voices or engage in name-calling during samples of 3-minute recordings in the videos. What is the name for this coding process?

a. Event sampling
b. Time sampling
c. Specimen record
d. Structured sampling

In coding observational data, it is of utmost importance to develop a coding system that captures the behavior of interest, is clear, and produces consistent results. These features of a good coding system improve _______________________ of research findings.

a. the validity but not reliability
b. the reliability but not validity
c. neither validity nor reliability
d. both validity and reliability

Case studies are most useful for a phenomenon that….

a. is relatively common.
b. involves only individuals with a medical diagnosis.
c. very rarely occurs.
d. involves only individuals with a neuropsychological abnormality.

Which of the following is a characteristic of findings from case studies?

a. Detailed information that is not necessarily generalizable
b. Detailed information that is also generalizable
c. General information that is not necessarily generalizable
d. General information that is also generalizable

From the case study of Nadia, many researchers make claims about autism and giftedness. What is the strongest valid claim that can be made from Nadia's case?

a. Since Nadia was diagnosed with autism and was highly gifted, we can conclude that autism could sometimes cause giftedness, even if we do not yet know how.
b. Since Nadia had language impairments but was highly gifted in art, we can conclude that individuals who have good language skills will likely be impaired at art.
c. Since Nadia was diagnosed with autism and was highly gifted, we can conclude that other individuals with autism are also gifted.
d. Since Nadia had language impairments but was highly gifted in art, we can conclude that autism and giftedness can coexist in an individual.

Some famous case studies, such as the case of Nadia, get re-analyzed by other researchers who use secondary sources that report about the case because they are unable to observe Nadia directly and unable to access the original case study. What is a pitfall of examining a phenomenon from secondary reports instead of direct sources?

a. Decreased accuracy in data
b. Increased risk of confirmation bias
c. Increased generalizability of findings
d. Lower validity of findings

In the case of Nadia, researchers have offered competing explanations for why she stopped drawing. Some researchers have argued that she lost her ability to create highly realistic drawings as she developed language skills. Other researchers have argued that she lost her ability due to therapy, the loss of her mother, and aging. These conflicting accounts illustrate:

a. the inability to rule out confounding explanations for a phenomenon in some case studies.
b. the inability to come to a consensus because researchers no longer had access to Nadia.
c. the inability to provide an explanation that is generalizable to the population.
d. the inability to obtain a truthful account from Nadia.

Archival research refers to…

a. research that takes place in a library.
b. studies of data that have been previously collected.
c. research that involves giving out large numbers of surveys.
d. studies of individuals who are no longer alive.

Many Institutional Review Boards will treat archival research as:

a. exempt from review.
b. requiring a full review.
c. qualified for expedited review.
d. not considered research.

Meta-analysis is least likely to allow you to:

a. determine the range of an effect based on published findings.
b. choose how to classify and combine data from more than one study.
c. discover the full extent to which other researchers have explored a topic.
d. generate graphs based on data from more than one study.

Which of the following is a feature of effect size?

a. Effect size can only be computed when you have more than one study.
b. Effect size can be calculated using more than one method.
c. Effect size allows researchers to evaluate the impact of a finding.
d. Effect size can be standardized or non-standardized.

How are studies of very low quality treated in the process of conducting a meta-analysis?

a. They are usually included if the findings are statistically significant.
b. They are included regardless of whether the findings are statistically significant.
c. They are excluded from the meta-analysis to avoid influencing the results.
d. They are excluded only if their data lowers the effect size in the meta-analysis.

Jenny is interested in the effect of teenage caffeine consumption on academic achievement. She conducts a literature search and discovers that some studies report a negative association, while some studies report a positive association. To evaluate the association reported by the studies, she should conduct:

a. a meta-analysis.
b. a case study.
c. a quasi-experimental study.
d. archival research.

Spencer is conducting a meta-analysis on the association between exercise and wellbeing. During this process, he looks up a database of PhD theses for dissertations that examined exercise and wellbeing but were never published. Spencer's actions will contribute to:

a. reducing the file-drawer effect in the meta-analysis.
b. increasing the file-drawer effect in the meta-analysis.
c. reducing statistical power of the meta-analysis.
d. increasing statistical power of the meta-analysis.

Which of the following is a strategy for reducing the impact of the file-drawer problem in your meta-analysis?

a. Emailing researchers who are known for studying that topic and asking if they have any unpublished research due to null findings.
b. Reviewing conference presentations for similar topics regardless of whether the presentation reports significant results.
c. Searching for related dissertations in the Dissertation Abstracts database.
d. Doing a literature search using multiple journal article databases.

Why should researchers be interested in unpublished data when conducting a meta-analysis?

a. Unpublished data usually contains larger effect sizes that can skew the overall standardized effect size in a meta-analysis.
b. Unpublished data can give insights into new research directions that are in the preliminary stages.
c. Unpublished data can help researchers estimate the frequency of non-significant findings and correct for this in their analysis.
d. Unpublished data usually involves smaller sample sizes and gives researchers a snapshot of what the data looks like in a smaller sample.