Research Methods Final

A researcher wants to study if eating ice cream improves mood. She randomly assigns participants to eat chocolate or vanilla ice cream and measures their mood scores afterward. What is the dependent variable in this study?

• The type of ice cream

• The participants' mood scores

• The time of day

• The participants' age

A teacher assigns students to take notes using either a laptop or pen and measures their test performance. What type of design is this?

• Concurrent measures

• Independent-groups

• Repeated measures

• Pretest-posttest

A company tests whether happy music or classical music increases productivity in their employees. Which variable would need to remain constant to ensure internal validity?

• Type of task

• Music choice

• Time of year

• Employee preferences

In a study on cat behavior, researchers randomly assign cats to wear collars with or without bells to see how it affects their hunting success. What aspect of the study ensures internal validity?

• Random assignment of cats to groups

• The size of the bell

• The age of the cats

• The type of prey

Researchers study whether sitting posture (straight vs. slouched) affects confidence levels in interviews. The results show that posture only impacts confidence when the interviewer is friendly. What type of effect does this illustrate?

• Main effect

• Interaction effect

• Order effect

• Confound

In an experiment, participants watch either a comedy or a drama and rate how funny they find a subsequent commercial. The researchers find that comedy viewers rate the commercial funnier, but drama viewers don’t. What causal criteria does this study establish?

• Effect

• Cause

• Covariance

• Confound

A study shows that people rate food as tastier when it's served on colorful plates rather than plain white ones. Which threat to validity is most likely if participants know the study's goal?

• A. History threat

• B. Demand characteristics

• C. Instrumentation threat

• D. Testing threat

Two groups of people taste the same soup but rate it differently after being told it contains different ingredients. What aspect of experimental design does this highlight?

• A. Placebo effect

• B. Selection bias

• C. Attrition

• D. Order effects

A researcher studies if people spend more time shopping in a store with a relaxing aroma versus no aroma. What would strengthen the causal claim in this study?

• A. Measuring the average time spent shopping

• B. Randomly assigning stores to aroma conditions

• C. Comparing stores in different neighborhoods

• D. Using a survey to check customer satisfaction

A study finds that drinking hot chocolate makes people friendlier, but only in winter. How might researchers improve the generalizability of their results?

• A. Conducting the study during other seasons

• B. Using a larger sample

• C. Measuring friendliness differently

• D. Including more types of beverages