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REQUIRED TEXT: Experimental Methodology eighth edition
by Larry B. Christensen, Allyn and Bacon, 2001
ISBN #0-205-30832-5
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POSSIBLE FINAL EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
Psych 200, Spring 2003
Dr. John M. Morgan
1. Why is replication such an important aspect of the scientific
method? Why aren't more studies replicated?
2. What is operationalism? Why is it an essential element of the
scientific method?
3. Define and give an example of the four major goals of science. How
does each relate to a science of behavior?
4. Identify two nonexperimental research techniques discussed in your
textbook. Describe the major advantages and limitations of each.
5. Why is correlational research unable to establish causal
relationships?
6. What precautions must a researcher take when interpreting data
collected from participant observation?
7. What are the goals of phenomenological research?
8. Explain the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions
of causation. Give an example of each.
9. Identify two criticisms of the experimental approach. If this
approach has these problems, why do psychologists continue to do
experiments?
10. Compare and contrast laboratory experiments and field experiments.
Include the relative advantages and disadvantages of each.
11. What is the difference between a research problem and a
hypothesis? Between a scientific and a null hypothesis?
12. Why do experiments typically test the null, not the scientific,
hypothesis?
13. What are the types of information that you should look for when
doing a literature review?
14. What is the role of a research institution's Institutional Review
Board (IRB)?
15. What is "informed consent" and how does a researcher obtain it?
16. What are the arguments against using animals in research? What are
the counter arguments for using animals in research?
17. Why are operational definitions used in psychological research?
18. What does it mean to say that a dependent variable is reliable and
valid? Discuss at least two means to use to show that one's
operational definition of a dependent variable is valid.
19. What is the advantage of having more than one independent
variable? Dependent variable?
20. What is an "extraneous" variable? Explain under what conditions an
extraneous variable will influence the internal validity of an
experiment.
21. Define/describe three major types or sources of extraneous
variables that can affect the outcome of an experiment. Give an
example of each, making sure to show how the experiment can be
affected by the extraneous variable.
22. Research is commonly believed to be a rather impersonal, objective
endeavor. However, as you now know, characteristics of both
participants and experimenters can influence the outcome of
studies. Describe at two ways that the experimenter can affect the
experiment, and two ways the participant can affect results.
23. As we shall see, it is often an advantage to have the same
participants experience all levels of the independent variable(s)
in an experiment, i.e. have each participant be tested under all
experimental conditions. However, this approach carries with it
the risk of introducing an extraneous variable. Describe that
variable. Give an example of this problem.
24. Compare and contrast
a) history and maturation.
b) selection bias and mortality.
25. Describe the difference between random selection of participants
and random assignment of participants to groups. What are the
implications of inadequate random selection of participants? What
are the implications of inadequate random assignment of
participants to groups?
26. What is the purpose of counterbalancing? Under what conditions
would counterbalancing be ineffective?
27. What is the difference between a "blind" and a "double-blind"
technique? What is accomplished by using these techniques?
28. What is the principal focus of the techniques to control for
participant effects? Name two of these techniques and explain how
they achieve their goal.
29. What three experimental "designs" does your book identify as being
flawed? Summarize the procedure of each design, and state the way
in which each design is flawed.
30. A psychologist pretests a group of participants on their reading
speed and comprehension, puts them in a reading enhancement
program for 6 weeks, then tests them again and finds their scores
are higher. She concludes that the program is effective. Point out
the flaw(s) in this experimental design and describe what she
should have done in order to make her experiment more internally
valid.
31. A within-participants design has the advantage that you know for
sure that your groups of participants are equivalent in all
important respects before, during, and after the experiment; that
is, the participants in each condition are perfectly matched to
themselves. However, the within-participants design carries with
it one major disadvantage. What is that disadvantage, and how
might it affect your results? What could you do to minimize the
effects of that disadvantage?
32. One study was conducted on the effects of lighting on reading
speed in the library by comparing the effects of fluorescent
lighting to incandescent lighting. Another study was conducted on
the effects of noise on reading speed in the library by comparing
the effects of no added noise to an added masking noise. Could
these two experiments be combined into a factorial design? If so,
how? If not, why not? What new information could have been
discovered using a factorial design, if appropriate?
33. Distinguish between experimental and quasi-experimental research
designs? When would a researcher be more likely to use a quasi-
experimental design? How is it possible to make a causal inference
from a quasi-experimental design?
34. Draw two graphs of hypothetical outcomes for interrupted time
series, one clearly showing an effect of the treatment and the
other no effect of the treatment. Explain how your hypothetical
data support your assertion of an effect and of no effect.
35. Why are quasi-experimental designs unable to eliminate the effects
of important extraneous variables (e.g. selection, maturation,
history) as the true experimental designs do?
36. The scenario below lends itself to a single-case research design.
Briefly describe a design for the scenario. State why you chose
that particular design for the scenario. A graph of possible
results would be very useful in your answer.
A private therapist is seeing a new client twice a week for
treatment of fear of heights. She's trained in cognitive-
behavioral therapy but would like to test the effectiveness of her
traditional therapy against a new, strictly behavioral therapy.
She also wants to know whether this individual might benefit from
some unique combination of the two approaches. How could she
decide which therapy is best for her patient?
37. What is the difference between an A-B-A design that uses
"withdrawal" and an A-B-A design that uses "reversal?" When would
an experimenter want to use a reversal design rather than a
withdrawal design?
38. Describe and give an example (not from the text or lecture) of a
multiple-baseline design. In what kinds of situations is this a
useful design?
39. Describe and give an example (not from the text or lecture) of a
changing-criterion design. In what kinds of situations is this
design most useful?
40. The issue of "stability" is important for single-participant
designs. What are the important considerations for determining
stability?
41. What are the important considerations to take into account when
constructing instructions for one's research participants?
42. What is debriefing (postexperimental interview)? List, and
describe the need for, the four functions of the postexperimental
interview process?
43. If we can see just by looking at group means whether groups
performed differently, what is the need for statistical testing?
44. Why do we speak of "failing to reject the null hypothesis" rather
than "accepting the null hypothesis?"
45. Define Type I and Type II error in statistical testing. Most
researchers are biased against committing one of these errors.
Which one, and why?
46. Define "external validity." What procedures can experimenters use
to increase the external validity of their work?
47. Summarize the pros and cons of focusing almost exclusively on
college students as participants in psychological experiments.
48. Compare temporal, population, and ecological validity. Give an
example of a threat to each.
49. Discuss the tradeoff between internal and external validity in
psychological research. Why does the tradeoff tend to go towards
one rather than the other in psychological experiments?
50. The majority of psychological experiments have limits to external
validity built-in. What are the reasons for intentionally
executing an experiment with little possibility of generalization?
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This page last edited Nov 25, 2002
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