Research Methods Quiz

1. Which of the following is NOT an example of an operational definition?
a) great grandpa's recipe for moonshine
b) an actor has memorized his lines when he can repeat all of his lines twice without an error
c) reaction time is the interval between the presentation of a stimulus and the participant's response
d) a rat is hungry when the rat craves food

2. Your professor asks you to take a personality test. After taking the test, you read your description of your personality type, and re disappointed that the results do not seem to capture your personality at all. In fact, you think the test probably measures attitudes rather than personality. What might be the problem with this test?
a) The test has too many confounds.
b) The test is not reliable.
c) The test is not a valid measure of personality.
d) The test has not been tested on a random sample.

3. Which of the following is an example of a positive correlation?
a) The crime rate increases as the income level decreases.
b) As educaiton levels decrease, the crime rates increase.
c) The crime rate decreases as city population decreases.
d) None of the above.

4. If your research findings can generalize to new people, new locations, and a different time, they show greater
a) internal validity.
b) face validity.
c) construct validity.
d) external validity.


5. If you completed an in-depth study of a successful student in a research methods class to see his or her motivations, desires, problems, etc., a good research method would be a
a) single-case experiment
b) case study
c) panel study
d) naturalistic observation


6. In what way does culture influence the research process?
a) Culture influences the choice of the research project.
b) Culture influences the nature of the experimental hypothesis.
c) Culture influences the selection of the IV and recording of the DV.
d) All of the above.

7. You are to design a study to determine whether regular meditation will help depression. How might you design a study? What are the independent and dependent variables? What might be some intervening variables?