Review for Exam 1
1. Identify the IV and DV.
a. Within a classroom setting, subjects were asked to listen to a guest instructor. All subjects were
given a description of the instructor. Some subjects read a description containing the phrase
“People who know him consider him to be a rather cold person...”, while other people read a
description where the word “warm” was substituted for the word cold (otherwise, the
descriptions were identical). After the lecture, subjects were asked to rate the instructor. Subjects
who were told the instructor was warm gave him more favorable ratings compared to subjects
who were told that the instructor was cold.
IV: Description
DV: rating
b. Subjects watched a videotape of a woman taking an SAT-like test. In all cases, she correctly
answered 15 out of 30 questions. But subjects who observed a pattern of initial success followed
by failure perceived the woman as more intelligent than did those who observed the opposite
pattern of failure followed by success.
IV: pattern
DV: perception of intelligence
c. Subjects read about a woman who used a particular title, and then rated her on a number of
traits. When the woman used the title Ms. rather than Miss or Mrs., she was assumed to be more
assertive, achievement oriented, and dynamic, but also cold, unpopular, and unlikely to have a
happy marriage.
IV: title
DV: perception
d. People were randomly approached on the street by a stranger and were asked to use his camera
to take a picture of him for a school project. For half of the subjects, the camera didn’t work--the
stranger looked concerned, said that the camera was rather delicate, asked the subject if he
touched any of the dials, and announced that it would have to be fixed. For the other half of the
subjects, the camera worked fine. Further down the street, a woman dropped a file folder of
papers. Forty percent of the subjects who had no broken-camera experience helped the woman
pick up her papers, while eighty percent of the subjects who were led to believe that they broke
the woman’s camera helped.
IV: camera experience
DV: helped woman
e. A researcher was interested in the effects of reward on intrinsic motivation. Some children
were told that they would be given a special award for drawing with magic markers (an activity
they already enjoyed). Other children were simply asked to draw with the magic markers. One
week later, the children were unobtrusively observed for how much time they spent drawing with
the markers. The children who expected and received a reward for drawing with the markers
were less likely to draw with them later.
IV: reward
DV: time spent drawing
f. In an investigation of the fundamental attribution error, subjects were given a speech to read
that either favored or opposed Fidel Castro, the communist leader of Cuba. Subjects were told
that the speech was written by a student who had been assigned to the position taken in the paper
(that is, the student writing the speech had no choice on which position to take). Nevertheless,
subjects believed that the student who wrote the pro-Castro speech had positive attitudes toward
Castro, while subjects who read the anti-Castro paper believed the writer had negative attitudes
toward Castro.
IV: type of speech
DV: perceived attitude
g. A group of college students were given a short course in speed-reading. The instructor was
curious if a monetary incentive would influence performance on a reading test taken at the end of
the course. Half the students were offered $5 for obtaining a certain level of performance on the
test, the other half were not offered money.
IV: incentive
DV: level of performance
h. To test a new voice feature in a cockpit design a flight simulator was used. The simulator was
programmed to give visual readings of flight information, or to give visual and auditory (voice)
readings of flight information. All test pilots were put through a simulated emergency landing
procedure, but were randomly assigned to the visual, or visual and auditory conditions. Flight
experts rated each pilot’s performance in the simulator on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 10
(excellent).
IV: condition
DV: performance
1. Identify the level of measurement: nominal, ordinal, or interval/ratio
a. A ranking of crimes from “least severe” to “most severe.”
O
b. A scale designed to measure the degree of empathy for crime victims is scored from 1 to 10.
I
c. The race of police officers in a major Southwestern city includes members from Asian (1), Black (2),
Hispanic (3), White (4), and other groups (5).
N
d. The hair color of an individual (red, brown, blonde, black, other).
N
e. The hair shade of an individual (very light, light, medium, dark, very dark).
O
f. American psychologist William Sheldon developed the idea that there are three major body types:
ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph.
N
g. Respondents are asked about their involvement in shoplifting, measured as never, 1 – 2 times, 3 – 4
times, 5+.
O
h. Participants in a sturdy about eating disorders are asked how many times they eat per day.
I
i. A researcher interested in family relations focuses on the birth order of siblings.
O
j. Governments can be divided into three different types – unitary governments, federal governments, and
confederations – depending on where the concentration of power is located.
N
2. Rates / Rate of Change
a. Chicago experienced 506 homicides in 2012. The city has a population of 2,707,120. Find the homicide
rate per 10,000.
b. Chicago reported 423 murders in 2011. Find the rate of change from 2011 to 2012. Was it an increase
or decrease?
3. Cumulative Frequencies
A survey of recently released inmates asked how many job interviews they had in the past three months.
Fill in the table below with the frequencies and percents for each column.
Class Interval
F
CF
%
C%
6
4
37
10.81%
100%
5
6
33
16.22%
89.19%
4
9
27
24.32%
72.97%
3
4
18
10.81%
48.65%
2
2
14
5.41%
37.84%
1
5
12
13.51%
32.43%
0
7
7
18.92%
18.92%
Total
37
a. What is the cumulative percent of those who have had 2 interviews?
37.84%
b. What is the cumulative percent for 4 interviews?
72.97%
4. Cross Tabs
A researcher is examining the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and the number of arrests for
females at a local university. The researcher collected the following data. Choose whether or not to do a
row cross-tab or a column cross-tab.
Socioeconomic Status
# of
Low SES Low SES Medium
Arrests
%
SES
Medium
SES%
High
SES
High
SES%
Total
Total %
0
204
79.1%
328
91.9%
227
93.4%
759
88.5%
1
47
18.2%
28
7.8%
14
5.8%
89
10.4%
2+
7
2.7%
1
0.4%
2
0.8%
10
1.2%
Total
258
100%
357
100%
243
100%
858
100%
a. What percent of the sample were arrested more than twice?
1.2%
b. What percent of low SES had only 1 arrest?
18.2%
c. What percent of medium SES had no arrests?
91.9%
d. Which SES is most likely to have 2+ arrests?
Low (2.7%)
e. Identify the independent and dependent variable.
IV: SES
DV: # of arrest
5. A researcher is interested in the SAT scores of students in a particular high school. She randomly
samples a group of students and finds the scores are normally distributed with a mean of 580 and a
standard deviation of 50. Draw your own normal curve, locate the mean and the values of +/- 1s, +/- 2s,
and +/- 3s, and provide an interpretation the results.
6. Measures of Central Tendency and Variability
A local nursing home has come under fire as a caseworker has been accusing of abusing some elderly
people living there. The following table provides information about the nine victims who have come
forward. Calculate the most appropriate measure of central tendency for each of the variables (age, health
status, type of abuse, and duration of abuse).
Note: Do NOT take into consideration if interval data is skewed.
Name
Age
Health
Type of Abuse
Duration of Abuse (Months)
Balfour
68
Fair
Physical abuse
1
Enger
79
Fair
Active neglect
4
Bradshaw
73
Poor
Financial abuse
15
Marcus
82
Good
Verbal and emotional abuse
8
McCarthy
87
Poor
Financial abuse
2
Conley
74
Fair
Active neglect
1
Quinn
91
Poor
Financial abuse
7
Stein
70
Good
Passive neglect
6
Martinez
84
Poor
Financial abuse
5
Variable
Level of measurement
Measure of central tendency
Answer
Age
I
Interval
78.7
Health
O
Median
Fair
Type of Abuse
N
Mode
Financial
Duration of Abuse
I
Mean
5.4
For the interval level variables, find the range, standard deviation, and IQR.
Age
Range = 91 – 68 = 23
IQR = 85.5 – 71.5
Duration
Range = 15 – 1 = 14
IQR = 7.5 – 1.5 = 6
For both age and duration, position of median is the same (N = 9 for both)
______________________________________________________________________________
68, 70, 73, 74, 79, 82, 84, 87, 90
Position of Initial Median = 5th position = 79
Disregard the median as there are an odd number of scores.
Median is now between the 2nd and 3rd scores on the left side and the right side
68, 70, 73, 74, 79, 82, 84, 87, 90
IQR Age = 85.5 – 71.5 = 14
______________________________________________________________________________
1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15
Position of Initial Median = 5th position = 5
Disregard the median as there are an odd number of scores.
Median is now between the 2nd and 3rd scores on the left and the ride side
1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15
IQR Duration = 7.5 – 1.5 = 6