Research Methods Review Questions for AP Psychology

The study guides for these review questions can be found at:

• Experimental and Correlational Research Methods for AP Psychology
• Elementary Statistics for AP Psychology

Directions: For each question, choose the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1. Organized sets of concepts that explain phenomena are
   1. independent variables
   2. dependent variables
   3. hypotheses
   4. theories
   5. statistics

Refer to the following and your knowledge of psychology to answer questions 2 and 3: Students will be able to read a statement printed in the Comic Sans font faster than the same statement written in the Lucida Calligraphy font.

2. This statement is a(n)
   1. hypothesis
   2. theory
   3. replication
   4. operational definition
   5. correlation
3. The dependent variable in an experiment based on the statement would be
   1. the statement written in the Comic Sans font
   2. the statement written in the Lucida Calligraphy font
   3. the length of time it takes students to read the statements
   4. the students who read the statements written in the Comic Sans font
   5. the number of students who participate in the experiment
4. A quasi-experiment cannot be considered a controlled experiment because
   1. subjects cannot be randomly selected
   2. subjects cannot be randomly assigned
   3. experimenter bias is unavoidable
   4. demand characteristics are unavoidable
   5. too few subjects participate in the procedure

Refer to the following and your knowledge of psychology to answer questions 5 and 6: When subjects in the experimental group put a puzzle piece in the wrong place, the experimenter unconsciously winced. The experimenter did not wince when subjects in the control group put a piece in the wrong place.

5. The wincing of the experimenter must be eliminated because it is
   1. fraudulent
   2. a demand characteristic
   3. a placebo effect
   4. a confabulation
   5. a confounding variable
6. One method to eliminate the wincing of the experimenter is by instituting
   1. the experimenter expectancy effect
   2. the single-blind procedure
   3. the double-blind procedure
   4. the placebo effect
   5. counterbalancing
7. Of the following, which research method is most effective for studying unusually complex or rare phenomena?
   1. controlled experiment
   2. quasi-experiment
   3. test
   4. survey
   5. case study
8. Of the following, which research method would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between political party membership and attitude toward the death penalty?
   1. controlled experiment
   2. quasi-experiment
   3. test
   4. survey
   5. case study
9. Of the following, the strongest positive correlation would most likely be shown between
   1. an adult's weight and running speed
   2. close friendships and happiness
   3. sense of humor and years of education
   4. poverty and good health
   5. visual acuity and salary
10. John wants to study the effects of alcohol on the behavior of college students. For his study, he spends 5 hours every night for 2 weeks at a bar near a college watching how the patrons act before and after drinking alcoholic beverages. The research method John is employing is a
    1. controlled experiment
    2. quasi-experiment
    3. test
    4. naturalistic observation
    5. case study
11. Of the following, which can establish a cause and effect relationship?
    1. controlled experiment
    2. quasi-experiment
    3. correlational research
    1. I only
    2. II only
    3. I and II only
    4. I and III only
    5. I, II, and III

Refer to the following and your knowledge of psychology to answer questions 12–14: Ms. Costas owns a business with nine other employees. Ms. Costas's annual salary is $90,000. Her manager's salary is $60,000. Of her other employees, three earn $25,000 each and five earn $15,000 each.

12. The range of this distribution is
    1. $ 75,000
    2. $ 50,000
    3. $ 25,000
    4. $ 20,000
    5. $ 15,000
13. For this distribution, the mean is
    1. lower than both the median and the mode
    2. lower than the median, but higher than the mode
    3. lower than the mode, but higher than the median
    4. higher than both the median and the mode
    5. the same as the median
14. The frequency polygon for this distribution resembles a
    1. normal curve
    2. positively skewed line graph
    3. negatively skewed line graph
    4. bar graph
    5. scatterplot