BAPSY Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Psychological Research Methods Questions and Answers

Question 1

A researcher is studying the effect of a new anxiety medication.
She randomly assigns participants to two groups.
Group A receives the new medication, and Group B receives a placebo.
Neither the participants nor the researcher interacting with them know who is in which group.
Which research design feature is best illustrated by this scenario?

Accepted Answer

A double-blind study

Answer

A single-blind study

Answer

A correlational study

Answer

A longitudinal study

Question 2

A study found a strong positive correlation between the number of ice cream cones sold and the number of drowning incidents on a given day. Concluding that eating ice cream causes drowning is incorrect due to which of the following research limitations?

Accepted Answer

The third-variable problem

Answer

Lack of a control group

Answer

Sampling bias

Answer

Poor operational definitions

Question 3

A psychologist develops a new 10-item questionnaire to measure self-esteem. To assess its reliability, she administers the test to a group of students and then calculates the correlation between their scores on the odd-numbered items and their scores on the even-numbered items. What type of reliability is being measured?

Accepted Answer

Split-half reliability

Answer

Test-retest reliability

Answer

Inter-rater reliability

Answer

Parallel-forms reliability

Question 4

In an experimental design, which of the following refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations, people, and settings?

Accepted Answer

External validity

Answer

Internal validity

Answer

Construct validity

Answer

Statistical validity

Question 5

Which of the following APA ethical principles of research states that psychologists should strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm?

Accepted Answer

Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Answer

Integrity

Answer

Justice

Answer

Fidelity and Responsibility

Question 6

A researcher is investigating the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance. An unintended variable, such as the participants' caffeine intake, is not controlled and systematically varies with the independent variable (sleep duration), potentially affecting the results. What is the term for this type of variable?

Accepted Answer

Confounding variable

Answer

Dependent variable

Answer

Independent variable

Answer

Operational variable