A researcher who is studying methods of decreasing test anxiety decides to measure anxiety in a group of volunteers both before and after an experimental intervention. He finds that anxiety levels are lower after the intervention. However, when reviewing his results, the researcher notes that the first test occurred about a week before midterm exams and the second test occurred two weeks after the exams. This study appears to have a problem with ____.
a. internal validity
b. external validity
c. reliability
d. accuracy
Following an incident in which a city's water supply was contaminated by a chemical spill, researchers carefully read online comments posted in response to news stories to gauge the public mood. They specifically look for ideas related to trust in the water company, the company responsible for the spill, and the responsible government agencies, as well as for indicators of financial stress, emotional stress, and health issues associated with the contamination. The researchers are best described as using ____.
a. thematic analysis
b. focus measures
c. self-report
d. subjective measurement
Explain what a Latin square is and how it helps with counterbalancing.
What will be an ideal response?
The ____ of a research study is concerned with factors in the study that raise doubts about the interpretation of the results.
a. internal validity
b. external validity
c. reliability
d. accuracy
Cal wants to better understand the attitudes towards children who murder other children. He collects media coverage of recent incidents and uses a computer program to scan through and identify the occurrence of certain words and phrases. Cal is using ____.
a. exclusion
b. indexing
c. exception identification
d. significant change reporting
Explain what counterbalancing is, how it is achieved, and which confound it helps to minimize.
What will be an ideal response?
A study is ____ if it produces only one explanation for the results.
a. internally valid
b. externally valid
c. reliable
d. accurate
A grocery store wants to know whether e-mails containing recipes have an influence on shopping habits. They are able to track who actually opens the e-mails, as well as the time at which the e-mails are deleted, and are able to track purchasing behavior via their preferred customer program that requires scanning of an identification card to get discounted prices. This allows a(n) ____ measure of the impact of the advertising e-mails.
a. unobtrusive
b. hypothetical
c. self-report
d. subjective
Identify the two types of correlated-groups designs discussed in the text and explain why each is considered a correlated-groups design.
What will be an ideal response?
If a researcher finds that room color influences mood of the adults in a sample, then the researcher would like to conclude that room color affects the mood of ____.
a. children as well
b. any individual
c. adults in general
d. adolescents even more
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