Homework - Research Design

DIRECTIONS: This assignment can either be typed or handwritten, but must be neat and easy to follow in order to receive full credit. These questions may require some use of your imagination. If you have a hard time, try to get some ideas from an introductory (or any other) psychology text.

Essays

1. Drawing on your knowledge from previous psychology courses and your imagination, design a simple experiment with two groups (as we did in class with the marijuana-memory example). Use an outline format and include the following:
   1. The research question (in one sentence).
   2. Operational definitions of key terms.
   3. Descriptions of the independent variable and its levels.
   4. Description of the dependent variable(s).
   5. Two possible extraneous variables.
      
      
2. Drawing on your knowledge from previous psychology courses and your imagination, design an experiment with two independent variables. Use an outline format and include the following:
   1. The research questions involved (there is a question for each IV as well as for the interaction).
   2. Operational definitions of key terms in each question.
   3. Descriptions of each independent variable, including their levels and whether the variable is between groups or within.
   4. Description of the dependent variable(s).
   5. The number of groups in the design (describe each group clearly).
   6. Two possible extraneous variables.
      
      
3. Give an example (other than that used in class) of a Naturalistic Observation. Emphasize the systematic approach; for example, include operational definitions for two behaviors that you will observe.
   
   
4. Give an example (other than that used in class) of a Case Study. Use either the retrospective or the longitudinal approach and explain why your example fits that approach.

Multiple Choice

1. A researcher investigated the relationship between test length and grades in a Western Civilization course. She conducted an experiment and found that students who taking long exams received better grades than students who took short exams. The independent variable was
   a. test grades
   c. class size
   b. gender of the students
   d. length of test
   
   
2. A factorial design involves
   a) manipulating two or more independent variables.
   b) an inability to specify the overall effect of an independent variable.
   c) having multiple dependent measures.
   d) a limit on the amount of causation that can be inferred.