Research methods in psychology worksheet with answers

Reliability refers to:

1. AWhether participants gave consent
2. BWhether a measure tests what it claims to
3. CThe consistency of a measure
4. DWhether results apply to other settings

Social desirability bias in questionnaires means that respondents:

1. AAlways agree with every statement
2. BAnswer in ways that make them look good
3. CChoose answers at random
4. DRefuse to answer sensitive questions

Selecting every 10th name from a list of the population is an example of:

1. ASystematic sampling
2. BOpportunity sampling
3. CStratified sampling
4. DSnowball sampling

A Type I error occurs when a researcher:

1. AFails to reject a null hypothesis that is false
2. BCollects too much data
3. CUses the wrong statistical test
4. DRejects a null hypothesis that is actually true

A researcher wants to test whether there is an association between gender (male/female) and preferred film genre (four categories). Which test is appropriate?

1. AChi-square test of independence
2. BOne-way ANOVA
3. CPearson's correlation
4. DPaired t-test

In a perfectly normal distribution:

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

Two observers record aggressive acts in a playground and their counts correlate at r = 0.45. What should the researcher do?

1. AAccept the data because any positive correlation is enough
2. BUse only the higher of the two counts
3. CSwitch to a one-tailed hypothesis
4. DRefine the behaviour categories and train observers, then recheck agreement

A researcher manipulates mood by showing a sad film, then asks participants to rate how sad they feel before the main task. Why is this rating included?

1. ATo counterbalance the order of conditions
2. BAs a manipulation check to confirm the IV worked as intended
3. CTo debrief participants about the aims
4. DAs the main dependent variable of the study