Scientific Method and Comparable Exam Scores.

PSY 1105 Introduction to Psychology Name: Sara Serrano
Research Methods in Psychology Worksheet

Activity 1 - A psychology teacher allowed his third period class to eat snacks while taking an exam. His fourth period class was not allowed to eat snacks while taking the same exam. He compared the test averages from both classes. Prior to this, both classes averaged comparable exam scores. a. What is the hypothesis?
Snacks improve a student’s test performance

b. What is the control group?
The students that were not allowed snacks during testing

c. What is the experimental group?
The group that was allowed snacks during testing

d. What is the independent variable?
The snacks

e. What is the dependent variable?
The exam scores

Activity 2 – Fill in the grid below: | Pros | Cons | Descriptive Methods: | 1. Case Study | - Allows for in depth study
- can study things otherwise impossible to study (brain damage, for example) | - the individual being studied can be atypical- only describe behavior; do not tell us cause and effect (or “why?”) | 2. Survey | - can measure attitudes, motives, and opinions- A large amount of data can be obtained quite easily | - wording may affect results- relies on honesty and reflection of participants- small rate of return is not likely to be representative- only describe behavior; do not tell us cause and effect (or “why?”) | 3. Naturalistic Observation | - results have ecological (real world) significance | - only describe behavior; do not tell us cause and effect (or “why?”) | 4. Correlation Studies | - useful for predicting behavior- provides quantitative data about the strength of the relationship | - only describe behavior; do not tell us cause and effect (or “why?”) | | | | Experimentation: | 1. Experiment | - Cause and effect relationships can be determined | - may lack ecological (real-world) significance- ethical issues may limit possibilities. |

Activity 3 - Choose what you believe to be the preferred method of study for each hypothesis below. If a problem can be studied using more than one approach, choose the method with the greater precision. Choose from the following:

N Naturalistic observation
C Case study
S Survey
E Experimental Method

1. Jogging increases lung capacity. E

2. Individuals having one or more significant hobbies report more job satisfaction than individuals having no hobbies. S

3. A person cannot learn language if they are not exposed to it in the first five years of life. C

4. Unmarried cab drivers talk more with their customers than do married cab drivers. N

5. The purchase of tranquilizers increases during monetary crises. N

6. Apes are capable of understanding language. C

7. More men than women report fantasies of making large sums of money. S

8. Work productivity increases when workers are allowed flexible hours. E