More Practice Problems
1. Dr. Hugh R. Biased believes that brown-eyed children are more intelligent than blue-eyed children. To test his hypothesis, he gives 200 fifth-graders at James Q. Polk Elementary School an IQ test, noting the eye color of each child on the answer sheet. He finds a 25-point difference in IQ between the two groups, in the predicted direction.
a. Does he have a testable hypothesis? Why or why not?
b. What kind of research design is this? How do you know?
c. Identify a potential confound in the study and explain how you know that it is a confound.
2. Believing that exposure to psychologists is detrimental to mental health, Dr. I. M. Crazy has his students take a measure of psychological adjustment at three different times during the semester: on the first day of class, halfway through the class, and on the last day of class. Average mental health scores are observed to decline throughout the semester.
a. Does he have a testable hypothesis? Why or why not?
b. What kind of research design is this? How do you know?
c. Identify a potential confound in the study and explain how you know that it is a confound.
3. Dr. Perry Noid believes that Britney Spears is actually a space alien. As evidence, he cites the fact that those who frequently listen to her music are more likely to report having experienced being abducted by aliens than those who rarely or never listen to it.
a. Does he have a testable hypothesis? Why or why not?
b. What kind of research design is this? How do you know?
c. Identify a potential confound in the study and explain how you know that it is a confound.