Research methods in psychology worksheet with answers

In research ethics, debriefing means:

1. AAsking participants for informed consent before the study begins and explaining the procedure
2. BRemoving names from the data
3. CPaying participants for their time
4. DExplaining the true aims of the study to participants after they take part

Which measure of spread is the difference between the highest and lowest scores?

1. AThe standard deviation
2. BThe range
3. CThe variance
4. DThe interquartile range

Which sampling method selects people who happen to be available at the time, such as students in a canteen?

1. ASystematic sampling
2. BStratified sampling
3. COpportunity sampling
4. DRandom sampling

A p-value of 0.03 means:

1. AThe effect is large
2. BIf the null hypothesis were true, data this extreme would occur about 3% of the time
3. CThe result will replicate 97% of the time
4. DGiven the observed data, there is only a 3% probability that the null hypothesis is true

A study conducted only with American undergraduates may lack:

1. AInternal consistency
2. BContent validity
3. CPopulation validity
4. DInter-rater reliability

In a perfectly normal distribution:

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

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

1. APredictive validity
2. BFace validity
3. CDiscriminant validity
4. DConvergent validity

What is the main purpose of random allocation to conditions in an experiment?

1. ATo spread participant variables evenly so they do not confound the results
2. BTo increase the response rate
3. CTo make the sample representative of the target population so results generalise
4. DTo ensure participants do not know the aim