Chapter 7 Practice Quiz

. The most distinctive feature of social scientific experiments is

a laboratory setting.

the experimenter's control over events to which participants are exposed.

the direct observation of behavior.

random sampling.

. What procedure was used in the prosecutorial misconduct study to ensure that any differences in misconduct were due to the severity of the crime and not to characteristics of the research participants?

random assignment

use of two levels of crime severity

use of a quantitative measure of misconduct

requiring all participants to read the same police report

. What does it mean when the results of an experiment are statistically significant?

measurement of the dependent variable is valid

manipulation of the independent variable is valid

the independent variable is likely to be associated with the dependent variable

the results may be generalized to other sample populations

. A study is designed to test the effectiveness of a program to teach adolescents about nutrition. All research participants are randomly assigned to two groups, one which goes through the program and the other which does not. Both before and after the program, all participants take a test measuring knowledge of nutrition. What type of experimental design is this?

posttest-only control group design

pretest-posttest control group design

2 × 2 factorial design

2 × 4 factorial design

. Unlike in a laboratory experiment, in a field experiment

participants are unaware that they are in an experiment.

the independent variable usually is measured rather than manipulated.

random assignment of participants is rarely possible.

it is easier to protect the rights of participants.

. Which of the following is true of the cover story in an experiment?

It rarely involves deception.

If sufficiently detailed, it can take the place of debriefing.

It usually is presented between the manipulation of the independent variable and the measurement of the dependent variable.

It provides research participants with an explanation of experimental events.

. How was a manipulation check performed in the experiment on the effect of crime severity on prosecutorial misconduct?

by asking participants if they perceived misconduct on the part of the prosecutor

by asking participants to rate the severity of the crime

by explaining to participants why they would be reading a police report of the crime

by asking participants in a postexperimental interview how they felt about being in the experiment

. What is a primary objective of debriefing?

to pay participants and thank them for their participation

to make sure that participants were behaving naturally during the experiment

to inform participants about any deception and explain the true purpose of the experiment

to present the results of the experiment

. __________ is used to ensure internal validity, whereas __________ increases external validity.

replication; random assignment

random sampling; replication

random sampling; random assignment

random assignment; random sampling

. Which of the following is an advantage of the experimental approach?

high internal validity

high external validity

estimable sampling error

minimization of reactive measurement effects

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