Teachers and administrators at a particular school are concerned about a possible rise in bullying ...

Teachers and administrators at a particular school are concerned about a possible rise in bullying in recent months. Before deciding how to respond to the problem, they want to determine if, in fact, their perceptions are accurate. For example, they want to know how many students are considered to be bullies, how many students are victims of bullying, and how often students encounter bullying incidents at school. In three separate paragraphs, describe three different data collection techniques they might use to get the information they need.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Ques. 2

A team of researchers wants to know whether a new crime prevention program is really effective in reducing crime in young adolescents. The researchers find two middle schools, Adams Middle School and Monroe Middle School, which serve similar kinds of students and report similar rates of theft, physical assault, and vandalism. The researchers implement the program at Adams and use Monroe as a control group. Afterwards, they discover that crime has decreased at Adams but not at Monroe. This study is a good example of which type of design?
 
  a. Correlational
  b. Experimental
  c. Cross-sectional
  d. Quasi-experimental

Ques. 3

Which one of the following statements best describes a quasi-experimental study?
 
  a. Participants are randomly assigned to treatment and control groups.
  b. Treatment and control interventions are administered to pre-existing groups.
  c. Researchers examine children's behaviors in educational settings rather than in laboratories.
  d. Researchers are less concerned about the validity and reliability of their measures than is true in experimental studies.

Ques. 4

Imagine that a researcher finds that, on average, students who weigh more are better athletes. Which one of the following is an appropriate conclusion from this information?
 
  a. Parents should feed their children as much as possible.
  b. The school cafeteria should decrease the fat content of the food it serves.
  c. On average, students who eat more become stronger and more agile.
  d. There is a correlation between weight and athletic performance.

Ques. 5

Which one of the following conclusions can be firmly drawn only from an experimental study?
 
  a. Children grow taller as they get older.
  b. Boys are more likely than girls to engage in physical aggression.
  c. Some drugs administered during pregnancy affect a child's prenatal development.
  d. Children's muscular coordination and physical endurance improve as they grow older.

Ques. 6

Dr. Fitz wants to know which of three health programs is most effective in promoting children's physical well-being. With the consent of both the children and their parents, children who regularly attend a community center are randomly assigned to one of three 8-week programs. After the programs have ended, Dr. Fitz assesses the children's general physical wellbeing. Dr. Fitz's study can best be classified as which one of the following?
 
  a. experimental
  b. correlational
  c. cross-sectional
  d. quasi-experimental

Ques. 7

Experimental research requires only one of the following. Which one is an essential component of an experimental study?
 
  a. Manipulating an aspect of the environment
  b. Being able to predict two or more variables
  c. Describing each variable in considerable detail
  d. Studying behavior in a laboratory rather than in a more naturalistic setting