HMPYC80/Assignment03/2022
Tutorial Letter:
Assignment 03
Research Methodology
HMPYC80
Year module
Department of Psychology
This tutorial letter contains the questions
for Assignment 03
Bar code
, Extension of time for submitting the assignment.
The due dates for the submission of assignments will not be extended. Please ensure
that you submit your assignment timeously and before the due date!
If you have not done so already, activate your Unisa myLife email address. If your Unisa myLife
email is not active you will not receive vital course information and assignment allocations, and will
eventually be unable to participate in the peer-review activities for Assignment 08!
The aim of the assignments is to ensure that you (a) study and (b) demonstrate your understanding in
relation to the chapters in the textbook. Marks are awarded if you demonstrate that you correctly
understand the contents and ideas presented in each of the chapters.
ASSIGNMENT 03
Study the following assignment questions and select the MOST CORRECT answer.
Note that the multiple-choice options may be shuffled and differ from the list in this tutorial letter!
Chapter 9
Question 01
Which of one of the following statements is NOT true about C-studies?
C-studies research do NOT ...
a) aim to explore or describe without statistical testing and typically use non-random or purposive
sampling (NR).
b) compare groups or examine relationships between variables by means of some form of statistical
hypothesis testing.
c) aim to explain phenomena by means of a hypothesis.
d) use random sampling (R) as the preferred sampling technique.
Question 02
Which one of the following relates to experimental designs?
a) Correlational designs.
b) Retrospective case study, and group-comparison.
c) Quasi-experimental designs.
d) Randomised cross-sectional surveys, and replicated randomised cross-sectional surveys.
4 HMPYC80/2022
, Question 03
Which one of the following statements does NOT relate to experiments in social science research?
a) The researcher will do something (administer an intervention, or manipulate an independent
variable, called X) to one of the groups (experimental group) and do something different (or
nothing at all) to the other group (control group).
b) A retrospective case study design is used whereby data is actively collected in the present.
c) The groups are compared or tested for differences between them on a selected outcome, or
dependent variables. This is to state that any differences in the outcome (dependent variable)
between the groups are due to (or caused by) the intervention or independent variable.
d) Three types of experimental designs have been developed to determine the presence of
cause-and-effect relationships between different variables. The most significant differences
between these types of experimental designs are with regard to: (i) degree of control on the
variables being studied (X’s), (ii) degree of randomness, and (iii) presence of a comparison
or control group.
Question 04
The cross-sectional survey design …
a) is used exclusively in non-experimental studies.
b) is an example of a standalone research design.
c) is enacted as a carefully designed method for sampling the population of the study, so that
the sample represents or targets specific groups of relevance in that population.
d) consists of surveys questions that basically tap into the prejudices or "false-facts" that
participants hold.
Question 05
Threats to external validity include the following:
a) History, and maturation or changes in participants.
b) Demand factor, the researcher’s expectations, and the Hawthorne effect.
c) Statistical regression, participant attrition, and diffusion of treatments.
d) Selection, testing, and instrumentation.
HMPYC80/Assignment 03 5
Tutorial Letter:
Assignment 03
Research Methodology
HMPYC80
Year module
Department of Psychology
This tutorial letter contains the questions
for Assignment 03
Bar code
, Extension of time for submitting the assignment.
The due dates for the submission of assignments will not be extended. Please ensure
that you submit your assignment timeously and before the due date!
If you have not done so already, activate your Unisa myLife email address. If your Unisa myLife
email is not active you will not receive vital course information and assignment allocations, and will
eventually be unable to participate in the peer-review activities for Assignment 08!
The aim of the assignments is to ensure that you (a) study and (b) demonstrate your understanding in
relation to the chapters in the textbook. Marks are awarded if you demonstrate that you correctly
understand the contents and ideas presented in each of the chapters.
ASSIGNMENT 03
Study the following assignment questions and select the MOST CORRECT answer.
Note that the multiple-choice options may be shuffled and differ from the list in this tutorial letter!
Chapter 9
Question 01
Which of one of the following statements is NOT true about C-studies?
C-studies research do NOT ...
a) aim to explore or describe without statistical testing and typically use non-random or purposive
sampling (NR).
b) compare groups or examine relationships between variables by means of some form of statistical
hypothesis testing.
c) aim to explain phenomena by means of a hypothesis.
d) use random sampling (R) as the preferred sampling technique.
Question 02
Which one of the following relates to experimental designs?
a) Correlational designs.
b) Retrospective case study, and group-comparison.
c) Quasi-experimental designs.
d) Randomised cross-sectional surveys, and replicated randomised cross-sectional surveys.
4 HMPYC80/2022
, Question 03
Which one of the following statements does NOT relate to experiments in social science research?
a) The researcher will do something (administer an intervention, or manipulate an independent
variable, called X) to one of the groups (experimental group) and do something different (or
nothing at all) to the other group (control group).
b) A retrospective case study design is used whereby data is actively collected in the present.
c) The groups are compared or tested for differences between them on a selected outcome, or
dependent variables. This is to state that any differences in the outcome (dependent variable)
between the groups are due to (or caused by) the intervention or independent variable.
d) Three types of experimental designs have been developed to determine the presence of
cause-and-effect relationships between different variables. The most significant differences
between these types of experimental designs are with regard to: (i) degree of control on the
variables being studied (X’s), (ii) degree of randomness, and (iii) presence of a comparison
or control group.
Question 04
The cross-sectional survey design …
a) is used exclusively in non-experimental studies.
b) is an example of a standalone research design.
c) is enacted as a carefully designed method for sampling the population of the study, so that
the sample represents or targets specific groups of relevance in that population.
d) consists of surveys questions that basically tap into the prejudices or "false-facts" that
participants hold.
Question 05
Threats to external validity include the following:
a) History, and maturation or changes in participants.
b) Demand factor, the researcher’s expectations, and the Hawthorne effect.
c) Statistical regression, participant attrition, and diffusion of treatments.
d) Selection, testing, and instrumentation.
HMPYC80/Assignment 03 5
