Research methods in psychology worksheet with answers

In a matched pairs design:

1. AParticipants are randomly allocated with no matching
2. BThe same participants take part in all conditions
3. CParticipants are paired on relevant characteristics and one of each pair goes into each condition
4. DOnly twins can take part

The null hypothesis usually states that:

1. AThe results are significant
2. BThe researcher's prediction is correct
3. CThere is no effect or no difference
4. DThe sample is biased

The Hawthorne effect refers to:

1. APeople changing their behaviour because they know they are being studied
2. BResearchers unconsciously influencing participants' behaviour through their own expectations
3. CParticipants performing worse as they become tired
4. DScores moving towards the average on retesting

To obtain a sample with the same proportions of first-, second- and third-year students as the university population, a researcher should use:

1. AOpportunity sampling
2. BSnowball sampling
3. CVolunteer sampling
4. DStratified sampling

A researcher compares children's aggression before and after television arrives in a remote town. The researcher did not control the arrival of television. This is a:

1. AField experiment
2. BCorrelational survey of television viewing
3. CLaboratory experiment
4. DNatural experiment

In a repeated measures design, order effects can be controlled by:

1. AUsing a larger sample only
2. BCounterbalancing
3. CRandom sampling
4. DSingle-blind procedures

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 study of 10 participants finds a large but non-significant effect. What is the most appropriate conclusion?

1. AThe effect must be a Type I error
2. BThe study may have lacked power, so the result is inconclusive
3. CThe effect size must be miscalculated
4. DThe study proves the null hypothesis is true, since the effect was not significant