Which of the following is a reason why knowledge of research methods is important even for clinicians who don’t do research?
a. clinicians are required to keep up on the latest research
b. funding agencies might want to know if your services actually work
c. clinical work often requires scientific thinking when assessing and treating clients
When students assume that their textbook must be correct, they are relying on _________ as a
way of knowing.
authority
The a priori method involves drawing logical conclusions ________ direct experience
before
Clinging to a belief despite evidence to the contrary is referred to as
belief perseverance
in science, the general assumption that every event has a cause is called
determinism.
Objective data
can be observed by more than one person
A falsifiable question is one that
can be disconfirmed
Pseudoscientific theories
are non-falsifiable
Which of the following are goals of psychological research?
explanation
application
description
Basic research is concerned with ______ while applied research tries to ________
establishing fundamental principles; solve practical problems
It is easier to address ethical issues (e.g., informed consent, privacy) in
laboratory research
One advantage of laboratory research is that it is
high in experimental realism.
_________ research involves analytical, non-numeric summaries of things such as responses to
open-ended questions.
qualitative
Operational definitions
force researchers to be clear about defining the terms of their studies.
Which of the following would be an example of a research project that began as the result of a serendipitous event?
a researcher has an equipment failure and notices some unusual behavior that leads to a
series of studies
Which of the following statements about theories is FALSE?
theories can be conclusively proven
A specific prediction about how events will be related is called a
hypothesis
Most psychological theorizing is
deductive
Which of the following in NOT a characteristic of a good theory?
beneficence
A __________ theory is one that contains a minimal number of constructs and assumptions
parsimonious
When members of a research team discuss their various research projects, it can prompt new
research by
leading to the “what’s next” question.
Extensive use of a particular theory can
inhibit scientific creativity
A gradual decline in responding in the presence of a repeated stimulus is known as
habituation
__________ refers to the extent to which a measure is accurate and consistent
reliability
A measure is said to be __________ if it actually measures what it designed to measure
valid