Module 5 REVIEW

• 5-1 How do theories advance psychological science?

• Psychological theories are explanations that apply an integrated set of principles to organize observations and generate hypotheses—predictions that can be used to check the theory or produce practical applications of it. By testing their hypotheses, researchers can confirm, reject, or revise their theories.
• To enable other researchers to replicate the studies, researchers report them using precise operational definitions of their procedures and concepts. If others achieve similar results, confidence in the conclusion will be greater.

• 5-2 How do psychologists use case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys to observe and describe behavior, and why is random sampling important?

• Description methods, which include case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys, show us what can happen, and they may offer ideas for further study.
• The best basis for generalizing about a population is a representative sample; in a random sample, every person in the entire population being studied has an equal chance of participating.
• Descriptive methods describe but do not explain behavior, because these methods do not control for the many variables that can affect behavior.

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Why is an operational definition necessary when reporting research findings?
   1. An operational definition allows others to replicate the study.
   2. An operational definition provides more context and includes many examples of the concept described.
   3. An operational definition is easier to translate into multiple languages than a dictionary definition.
   4. An operational definition uses more scientific language than a dictionary definition.
   5. An operational definition is not necessary since a dictionary definition will work as well for replication.
2. A researcher looking for gender differences in 3-year-olds observes a preschool class and records how many minutes children of each gender play with dolls. She then compares the two sets of numbers. What type of descriptive research is she conducting?
   1. Case study
   2. Experiment
   3. Random sample method
   4. Naturalistic observation
   5. Survey
3. Which of the following questions is best investigated by means of a survey?
   1. Are people more likely to vote Republican or Democrat in the next election?
   2. Are violent criminals genetically different from nonviolent criminals?
   3. Does extra sleep improve memory?
   4. What is the best study technique for AP^® exams?
   5. What role does exercise play in weight loss?
4. A testable prediction that drives research is known as a(n)
   1. theory.
   2. hypothesis.
   3. operational definition.
   4. guess.
   5. random sample.
5. Researchers are interested in finding out if voters are more likely to vote for congressional candidates who have more pleasant facial expressions. Starting at a random point, the researchers contact every hundredth person on the voter list to ask about candidate facial expressions. Which method are the researchers using in choosing the people they will call?
   1. Random sample
   2. Periodic sample
   3. Biased sample
   4. Survey
   5. Operational definition
6. An individual with an exceptional memory is identified. For any given date, she is capable of recalling major events, the weather, and what she did that day. What research method is being used if a psychologist conducts an in-depth investigation of this individual using questionnaires, brain scans, and memory tests?
   1. Naturalistic observation
   2. Survey
   3. Interview
   4. Case study
   5. Theory method
7. Which of the following is most important when conducting survey research?
   1. Choosing a representative sample
   2. Choosing a large sample
   3. Choosing a biased sample
   4. Choosing a sample that includes every member of the population
   5. Choosing a sample whose answers will likely support your hypothesis

Practice FRQs

1. A teacher wants to know if nightmares are more common than dreams. He asks volunteers from his second-period class to report how many dreams they had last week. He asks volunteers from his third-period class to report the number of nightmares they had last week. Describe two things wrong with the design of this study.

Answer (2 of the following):

1 point: There is no hypothesis stated. Page 42

1 point: In asking for volunteers, the teacher is taking a nonrandom sample that is probably not representative of the population of interest. Page 47

1 point: Neither “dreams” nor “nightmares” are operationally defined, so they might be interpreted differently by later researchers. Page 42

2. Dr. Cheema is interested in studying the prevalence of cheating on exams at her local high school. Describe one disadvantage of using each of the following research methods to study this topic:
   • Case study
   • Naturalistic observation
   • Survey

(3 points)