Research methods in psychology worksheet with answers

Free printable Research methods in psychology worksheet: 8 problems from easy to exam level, with an answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF.

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1.Easy

A researcher places an advert asking for people to take part in a study. Which sampling method is this?

  1. AVolunteer (self-selected) sampling
  2. BStratified sampling
  3. CSystematic sampling
  4. DOpportunity sampling
2.Easy

In a naturalistic observation, the researcher:

  1. AObserves behaviour in its usual setting without manipulating variables
  2. BControls the environment in a laboratory
  3. CAsks participants to complete a questionnaire about their everyday behaviour
  4. DRandomly assigns participants to conditions
3.Easy

The mode of a data set is:

  1. AThe middle value when scores are ordered
  2. BThe arithmetic average of all values
  3. CThe most frequently occurring value
  4. DThe difference between highest and lowest values
4.Medium

Publication bias refers to:

  1. AStudies with significant results being more likely to be published than null results
  2. BJournals publishing only qualitative research
  3. CReviewers favouring papers by authors from famous universities over lesser-known ones
  4. DResearchers publishing the same study twice
5.Medium

Which test is suitable for comparing the means of two independent groups with interval data that are roughly normal?

  1. AChi-square test
  2. BPearson correlation
  3. CIndependent samples t-test
  4. DWilcoxon signed-rank test
6.Medium

In a perfectly normal distribution:

  1. AThe mean, median and mode are equal
  2. BThe mean is always larger than the median
  3. CMost scores lie in the tails
  4. DThe mode is the lowest score
7.Hard

A researcher wants to show that a new anxiety scale measures something different from depression. Low correlations with a depression scale would support:

  1. AConvergent validity
  2. BDiscriminant validity
  3. CPredictive validity
  4. DFace validity
8.Hard

A study finds that students who sleep more have higher grades. Which design change would best allow a causal conclusion?

  1. ASurvey more students
  2. BMeasure grades more accurately
  3. CRandomly assign students to different sleep schedules
  4. DAsk students to report their sleep twice and average the two reports

Answer key

  1. 1. A · Volunteer (self-selected) sampling
  2. 2. A · Observes behaviour in its usual setting without manipulating variables
  3. 3. C · The most frequently occurring value
  4. 4. A · Studies with significant results being more likely to be published than null results
  5. 5. C · Independent samples t-test
  6. 6. A · The mean, median and mode are equal
  7. 7. B · Discriminant validity
  8. 8. C · Randomly assign students to different sleep schedules

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