UCSB COMM 88 ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+2025/2026
✔✔Post test only design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups, one receives treatment
one does not. look for mean differences among groups
✔✔Pretest posttest design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups each receive pretest,
one receives treatment, one does not. look for mean differences among groups
✔✔Possible problem of pretest posttest design - ✔✔differences in Posttest could be
reaction of Manipulation with Pretest
✔✔Solomon four group design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups tested with post
test only, two groups tested with pretest posttest only. look for pretest effects
✔✔Strengths of pretesting - ✔✔"check" on random sample, find info on change
✔✔Weaknesses of pretesting - ✔✔not necessary to establish causality,
treatment/pretest interaction is possible
✔✔Pre-experimental designs - ✔✔one shot case study, one group pretest posttest
design, static group comparison
✔✔One shot case study - ✔✔no random assignment, one group, one treatment
✔✔One group pretest posttest design - ✔✔no random assignment, one group, one
pretest, one treatment
✔✔Static group comparison - ✔✔no random assignment, posttest only
✔✔Reactivity effects - ✔✔threat to internal validity. people's reactions to being studied,
rather than to IV, influences DV
✔✔Hawthorne effect - ✔✔doesn't matter what you do, it's the attention that you're
getting from the researcher that makes you think you should respond.
✔✔Placebo effect - ✔✔a fake drug or treatment, that cannot be attributed to the
properties of the drug itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that
treatment.
✔✔Demand characteristics - ✔✔participants think they know the hypothesis so they
answer accordingly, participants respond on demand to what they think you are asking
them to do
, ✔✔Problems with procedure - ✔✔selection bias, history effect, statistical regression (to
the mean), contamination (of conditions)
✔✔Selection bias - ✔✔something to do with participants/how they are grouped. ruled
out by random assignment
✔✔History effect - ✔✔something that happens outside of experiment that alters
people's views if not controlled
✔✔Statistical regression (to the mean) - ✔✔"chance" alone means you will be closer to
the mean. whenever you score at extremes, natural fluctuation occurs to push closer to
mean
✔✔Contamination (of conditions) - ✔✔messed up data. wrong thing occurred, blurred
conditions, etc.
✔✔Effects related to pretesting - ✔✔testing effect (sensitization), maturation,
instrumentation, mortality (attrition)
✔✔Testing effect (sensitization) - ✔✔different answers from time 1 to time 2 because
subjects had time to think in between. sensitized t the test/survey
✔✔Maturation - ✔✔over-time effect, people maturing over time could be the cause of
results, any natural overtime fluctuation
✔✔Instrumentation - ✔✔conducted poorly, way of measuring changes from time 1 to
time 2
✔✔Mortality (Attrition) - ✔✔people drop out from time 1 to time 2, threat to internal
validity if it is the cause of the result
✔✔Experimenter Effect/Bias - ✔✔experimenter's behavior or attributes, rather than IV,
influence DV
✔✔How to control experimenter effects - ✔✔automate (script) the experiment, "ignorant
experimenter", "blind experimenter"
✔✔Ignorant experimenter - ✔✔experimenter does not know what experiment is, just
does what is told
✔✔Blind experimenter - ✔✔experimenter knows what the conditions are but does not
know which group is which
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+2025/2026
✔✔Post test only design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups, one receives treatment
one does not. look for mean differences among groups
✔✔Pretest posttest design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups each receive pretest,
one receives treatment, one does not. look for mean differences among groups
✔✔Possible problem of pretest posttest design - ✔✔differences in Posttest could be
reaction of Manipulation with Pretest
✔✔Solomon four group design - ✔✔random assignment, two groups tested with post
test only, two groups tested with pretest posttest only. look for pretest effects
✔✔Strengths of pretesting - ✔✔"check" on random sample, find info on change
✔✔Weaknesses of pretesting - ✔✔not necessary to establish causality,
treatment/pretest interaction is possible
✔✔Pre-experimental designs - ✔✔one shot case study, one group pretest posttest
design, static group comparison
✔✔One shot case study - ✔✔no random assignment, one group, one treatment
✔✔One group pretest posttest design - ✔✔no random assignment, one group, one
pretest, one treatment
✔✔Static group comparison - ✔✔no random assignment, posttest only
✔✔Reactivity effects - ✔✔threat to internal validity. people's reactions to being studied,
rather than to IV, influences DV
✔✔Hawthorne effect - ✔✔doesn't matter what you do, it's the attention that you're
getting from the researcher that makes you think you should respond.
✔✔Placebo effect - ✔✔a fake drug or treatment, that cannot be attributed to the
properties of the drug itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that
treatment.
✔✔Demand characteristics - ✔✔participants think they know the hypothesis so they
answer accordingly, participants respond on demand to what they think you are asking
them to do
, ✔✔Problems with procedure - ✔✔selection bias, history effect, statistical regression (to
the mean), contamination (of conditions)
✔✔Selection bias - ✔✔something to do with participants/how they are grouped. ruled
out by random assignment
✔✔History effect - ✔✔something that happens outside of experiment that alters
people's views if not controlled
✔✔Statistical regression (to the mean) - ✔✔"chance" alone means you will be closer to
the mean. whenever you score at extremes, natural fluctuation occurs to push closer to
mean
✔✔Contamination (of conditions) - ✔✔messed up data. wrong thing occurred, blurred
conditions, etc.
✔✔Effects related to pretesting - ✔✔testing effect (sensitization), maturation,
instrumentation, mortality (attrition)
✔✔Testing effect (sensitization) - ✔✔different answers from time 1 to time 2 because
subjects had time to think in between. sensitized t the test/survey
✔✔Maturation - ✔✔over-time effect, people maturing over time could be the cause of
results, any natural overtime fluctuation
✔✔Instrumentation - ✔✔conducted poorly, way of measuring changes from time 1 to
time 2
✔✔Mortality (Attrition) - ✔✔people drop out from time 1 to time 2, threat to internal
validity if it is the cause of the result
✔✔Experimenter Effect/Bias - ✔✔experimenter's behavior or attributes, rather than IV,
influence DV
✔✔How to control experimenter effects - ✔✔automate (script) the experiment, "ignorant
experimenter", "blind experimenter"
✔✔Ignorant experimenter - ✔✔experimenter does not know what experiment is, just
does what is told
✔✔Blind experimenter - ✔✔experimenter knows what the conditions are but does not
know which group is which
