Research Methods Exam 2 questions
well answered graded A+
An airport administrator investigated the attention spans of air traffic controllers to determine
how many incoming flights the average controller can coordinate at the same time. Each
randomly selected controller was tested, without his or her knowledge, by a computer program
that fed false flight information to a computer terminal. The controller first "received"
information from one plane, and by the end of an hour the controller was coordinating 10
planes simultaneously. The administrator analyzed the errors collected by the computer
program. The analysis revealed that the maximum number of planes a controller could handle
without making potentially fatal errors was six planes. Also, no errors occurred when only one
to three planes were incoming. He concluded that a controller should never coordinate more
than six incoming flights. Identify the independent variable(s). Identify the dependent
variable(s). Identify - correct answer ✔✔The identified independent variable in this experiment
is the number of incoming flights the controllers handled. The dependent variable is the
number of errors made by the controllers. The introduction of additional incoming flights is
confounded with time and fatigue. The higher numbers of flights only occurred during the latter
part of the hour's trial, since the number of flights gradually increased from one to ten over the
course of the hour. It may be that controllers are perfectly able to coordinate more than six
flights at a time but only for short periods of time. To determine this, the number of flights the
controller must coordinate should vary randomly throughout the hour's trial. The fatigue
variable could be examined by looking at the errors across the hour interval; this would create a
mixed factorial design with number of flights as the independent variable and the amount of
time elapsed as the repeated measure.
An investigator was interested in studying the effect of taking a course in child development
upon attitudes toward childrearing. At the end of the semester, the researcher distributed a
questionnaire to students who had taken the child development course. Questionnaires were
also given to an equal number of students who had not taken the course. The students who had
taken the child development course had different attitudes from the students who had not
taken the course (e.g., they had more positive attitudes about having large families). Identify the
independent variable(s). Identify the dependent variable(s). Identify any confounding
variable(s). Propose a method to "unconfound" the experiment. - correct answer ✔✔The
identified independent variable is the varying experience with the subject of child development:
, Half the participants took a child development class while the other participants did not. The
dependent variable was the attitude toward childrearing. The confounding variable in this study
stems from the possibility of nonequivalent groups since the participants were not randomly
assigned to groups, but rather, were self-selected into groups. It is very likely that those who
choose to take a class in child development already have more positive attitudes toward
childrearing (e.g., wanting large families) and that the class did not produce this difference. To
correct this design problem, the experimenter should arrange to randomly assign the
participants to groups.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying behavior? -
correct answer ✔✔Qualitative research focuses on people behaving in natural settings and
describing their world in their own words; quantitative research tends to focus on specific
behaviors that can be easily quantified (i.e., counted).
Distinguish between participant and nonparticipant observation; between concealed and
nonconcealed observation. - correct answer ✔✔Participant observation allows the researcher
to observe the setting from the inside, while a nonparticipant observer is an outsider who does
not become an active part of the setting. Concealed observation is less reactive than
nonconcealed observation because people are not aware that their behaviors are being
observed and recorded.
What is systematic observation? Why are the data from systematic observation primarily
quantitative? - correct answer ✔✔Systematic observation is an observation of one or more
specific variables, usually made in a precisely defined setting.
What is a coding system? What are some important considerations when developing a coding
system? - correct answer ✔✔A coding system is a set of rules used to categorize observations.
The researcher must decide which behaviors are of interest, choose a setting in which the
behaviors can be observed, and most important, develop a coding system to measure the
behaviors.
What is a case study? When are case studies used? What is a psychobiography? - correct answer
✔✔A case study is a descriptive account of the behavior, past history, and other relevant factors
well answered graded A+
An airport administrator investigated the attention spans of air traffic controllers to determine
how many incoming flights the average controller can coordinate at the same time. Each
randomly selected controller was tested, without his or her knowledge, by a computer program
that fed false flight information to a computer terminal. The controller first "received"
information from one plane, and by the end of an hour the controller was coordinating 10
planes simultaneously. The administrator analyzed the errors collected by the computer
program. The analysis revealed that the maximum number of planes a controller could handle
without making potentially fatal errors was six planes. Also, no errors occurred when only one
to three planes were incoming. He concluded that a controller should never coordinate more
than six incoming flights. Identify the independent variable(s). Identify the dependent
variable(s). Identify - correct answer ✔✔The identified independent variable in this experiment
is the number of incoming flights the controllers handled. The dependent variable is the
number of errors made by the controllers. The introduction of additional incoming flights is
confounded with time and fatigue. The higher numbers of flights only occurred during the latter
part of the hour's trial, since the number of flights gradually increased from one to ten over the
course of the hour. It may be that controllers are perfectly able to coordinate more than six
flights at a time but only for short periods of time. To determine this, the number of flights the
controller must coordinate should vary randomly throughout the hour's trial. The fatigue
variable could be examined by looking at the errors across the hour interval; this would create a
mixed factorial design with number of flights as the independent variable and the amount of
time elapsed as the repeated measure.
An investigator was interested in studying the effect of taking a course in child development
upon attitudes toward childrearing. At the end of the semester, the researcher distributed a
questionnaire to students who had taken the child development course. Questionnaires were
also given to an equal number of students who had not taken the course. The students who had
taken the child development course had different attitudes from the students who had not
taken the course (e.g., they had more positive attitudes about having large families). Identify the
independent variable(s). Identify the dependent variable(s). Identify any confounding
variable(s). Propose a method to "unconfound" the experiment. - correct answer ✔✔The
identified independent variable is the varying experience with the subject of child development:
, Half the participants took a child development class while the other participants did not. The
dependent variable was the attitude toward childrearing. The confounding variable in this study
stems from the possibility of nonequivalent groups since the participants were not randomly
assigned to groups, but rather, were self-selected into groups. It is very likely that those who
choose to take a class in child development already have more positive attitudes toward
childrearing (e.g., wanting large families) and that the class did not produce this difference. To
correct this design problem, the experimenter should arrange to randomly assign the
participants to groups.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying behavior? -
correct answer ✔✔Qualitative research focuses on people behaving in natural settings and
describing their world in their own words; quantitative research tends to focus on specific
behaviors that can be easily quantified (i.e., counted).
Distinguish between participant and nonparticipant observation; between concealed and
nonconcealed observation. - correct answer ✔✔Participant observation allows the researcher
to observe the setting from the inside, while a nonparticipant observer is an outsider who does
not become an active part of the setting. Concealed observation is less reactive than
nonconcealed observation because people are not aware that their behaviors are being
observed and recorded.
What is systematic observation? Why are the data from systematic observation primarily
quantitative? - correct answer ✔✔Systematic observation is an observation of one or more
specific variables, usually made in a precisely defined setting.
What is a coding system? What are some important considerations when developing a coding
system? - correct answer ✔✔A coding system is a set of rules used to categorize observations.
The researcher must decide which behaviors are of interest, choose a setting in which the
behaviors can be observed, and most important, develop a coding system to measure the
behaviors.
What is a case study? When are case studies used? What is a psychobiography? - correct answer
✔✔A case study is a descriptive account of the behavior, past history, and other relevant factors
