POS 3713 GROßER EXAM 2 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. Which of the following is true if a study used random sampling to select its
participants?
(a) It means that the causal conclusions reached in the study about the relationship
between X and Y are scientifically valid.
(b) It means that every member of the population was given the opportunity to
participate in the study.
(c) It means that the results are more likely to be statistically significant.
(d) It means that every member of the population had an equal probability of being
selected to participate in the study. - Answers -D
2. Which of the following best captures the difference between experimental and
observational research designs?
(a) Experimental designs control for confounding variables through randomly assigning
participants to different treatment groups, while observational designs accomplish this
through statistical controls.
(b) Experimental designs are less prone than observational designs to bias caused by a
researcher unintentionally influencing the behaviors of participants.
(c) Reverse causality is more likely to be problematic in experimental designs.
(d) Experimental designs are more likely to have problems with internal validity because
of how they recruit participants, whereas observational designs do not suffer from this
difficulty as often. - Answers -A
3. A competent researcher would be least likely to study which of the following using an
experimental research design?
(a) The influence of negative media coverage on Iraq War opinions.
(b) The influence of emotional rhetoric on candidate evaluations.
(c) The influence of personal ideology on candidate evaluations.
(d) The influence of peer-group discussions on Iraq War opinions. - Answers -C
4. What is the most significant benefit of randomly assigning participants to different
treatment groups?
(a) It ensures that the sample is an accurate representation of the population at large.
(b) It ensures that you have a credible causal mechanism linking X to Y.
(c) Both (a) and (b).
(d) It controls for other possible causes of the dependent variable. - Answers -D
5. Which of the following is not a potential drawback of experimental research designs?
, (a) Not every independent variable is subject to experimental manipulation.
(b) Experiments often suffer from low degrees of external validity.
(c) Experiments sometimes have trouble sorting out whether X causes Y or Y causes X.
(d) Some experimental situations create ethical dilemmas for researchers. - Answers -
C
6. In observational research, which of the following "causal hurdles" is most difficult to
cross?
(a) Is there a credible causal mechanism linking X to Y ?
(b) Could Y cause X?
(c) Is there covariation between X and Y?
(d) These are all equally difficult to cross in observational research. - Answers -B
7. True or False: A measure must be both valid and reliable to be useful in hypothesis
testing.
(a) True.
(b) False, only reliability is essential for conducting hypothesis tests.
(c) False, only validity is essential for conducting hypothesis tests.
(d) False, a measure must be either valid or reliable, but it need not be both. - Answers
-A
8. Among the following imperfect measures, which one is nevertheless potentially useful
for purposes of hypothesis testing?
(a) A reliable but invalid measure.
(b) A measurement systematically biased in one direction but still a reliable measure.
(c) An invalid but reliable measure.
(d) None of the above. - Answers -B
9. If a measure of a concept is correlated with a measure of another concept in a way
that a theory predicts, then the measure of the first concept is said to possess which of
the following characteristics?
(a) Face validity.
(b) Content validity.
(c) Construct validity.
(d) Both (b) and (c). - Answers -C
10. Which of the following is a potential weakness of the Polity IV measure of
democracy?
(a) The data are not collected over an extensive period of time, making it impossible to
tell if a country is becoming more or less democratic over time.
1. Which of the following is true if a study used random sampling to select its
participants?
(a) It means that the causal conclusions reached in the study about the relationship
between X and Y are scientifically valid.
(b) It means that every member of the population was given the opportunity to
participate in the study.
(c) It means that the results are more likely to be statistically significant.
(d) It means that every member of the population had an equal probability of being
selected to participate in the study. - Answers -D
2. Which of the following best captures the difference between experimental and
observational research designs?
(a) Experimental designs control for confounding variables through randomly assigning
participants to different treatment groups, while observational designs accomplish this
through statistical controls.
(b) Experimental designs are less prone than observational designs to bias caused by a
researcher unintentionally influencing the behaviors of participants.
(c) Reverse causality is more likely to be problematic in experimental designs.
(d) Experimental designs are more likely to have problems with internal validity because
of how they recruit participants, whereas observational designs do not suffer from this
difficulty as often. - Answers -A
3. A competent researcher would be least likely to study which of the following using an
experimental research design?
(a) The influence of negative media coverage on Iraq War opinions.
(b) The influence of emotional rhetoric on candidate evaluations.
(c) The influence of personal ideology on candidate evaluations.
(d) The influence of peer-group discussions on Iraq War opinions. - Answers -C
4. What is the most significant benefit of randomly assigning participants to different
treatment groups?
(a) It ensures that the sample is an accurate representation of the population at large.
(b) It ensures that you have a credible causal mechanism linking X to Y.
(c) Both (a) and (b).
(d) It controls for other possible causes of the dependent variable. - Answers -D
5. Which of the following is not a potential drawback of experimental research designs?
, (a) Not every independent variable is subject to experimental manipulation.
(b) Experiments often suffer from low degrees of external validity.
(c) Experiments sometimes have trouble sorting out whether X causes Y or Y causes X.
(d) Some experimental situations create ethical dilemmas for researchers. - Answers -
C
6. In observational research, which of the following "causal hurdles" is most difficult to
cross?
(a) Is there a credible causal mechanism linking X to Y ?
(b) Could Y cause X?
(c) Is there covariation between X and Y?
(d) These are all equally difficult to cross in observational research. - Answers -B
7. True or False: A measure must be both valid and reliable to be useful in hypothesis
testing.
(a) True.
(b) False, only reliability is essential for conducting hypothesis tests.
(c) False, only validity is essential for conducting hypothesis tests.
(d) False, a measure must be either valid or reliable, but it need not be both. - Answers
-A
8. Among the following imperfect measures, which one is nevertheless potentially useful
for purposes of hypothesis testing?
(a) A reliable but invalid measure.
(b) A measurement systematically biased in one direction but still a reliable measure.
(c) An invalid but reliable measure.
(d) None of the above. - Answers -B
9. If a measure of a concept is correlated with a measure of another concept in a way
that a theory predicts, then the measure of the first concept is said to possess which of
the following characteristics?
(a) Face validity.
(b) Content validity.
(c) Construct validity.
(d) Both (b) and (c). - Answers -C
10. Which of the following is a potential weakness of the Polity IV measure of
democracy?
(a) The data are not collected over an extensive period of time, making it impossible to
tell if a country is becoming more or less democratic over time.
