AP Psychology Homework: Research Methods
Name: ____________________________
A. Mr. Jones theorized that listening to classical music would have a positive impact on his students’ grades. In order to prove his point, he set up an experiment. Beginning on the first day of school in September (and continuing for 4 weeks), the students in his 3rd period geometry class listened to low levels of classical music while he taught. Additionally, Mr. Jones played the same music while the students took their quizzes and exams. During the same 4 weeks, Mr. Jones taught his 7th period calculus class in the “normal” way (i.e., no music during lectures or tests). At the end of the four week period, Mr. Jones compared the average test scores of his two groups of subjects. He found that students who listened to music while learning and taking tests had significantly higher average test scores than the students who learned and took tests in silence.
What was the Independent Variable? ____________________________________________________
How was the IV Manipulated (i.e., the operational definition)? _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
What was the Dependent Variable? ______________________________________________________
How was the dependent variable measured (i.e., the operational definition)? ______________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Identify the control group (control condition): ______________________________________________
Identify the experimental group (condition): _________________________________
What was Mr. Jones’s hypothesis? (Be sure it is in the form of a comparison) ____________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were controlled (i.e., were the SAME in both groups): ____________
____________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were NOT controlled: ________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
On the basis of the study’s methodology, did Mr. Jones’s study support his hypothesis? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________________________________________
B. A pharmaceutical company has just developed a new drug, called Tapcil, to treat depression. To test their new drug, the company gives a depression test (the Beck Depression Inventory) to 300 people who have been diagnosed as suffering from depression. Half of the subjects are then randomly assigned to one group that receives traditional psychotherapy and is given 20 mg. of Tapcil each day. They are treated for 3 months (August-October). The other 150 subjects receive psychotherapy alone from November-January. At the end of each three-month period, the subjects are again given the Beck Depression Inventory. Any improvement in test scores is noted. Due to significant improvement in the average scores of the Tapcil group when compared to the psychotherapy only group, the company concludes that Tapcil has a positive effect on depression.
What was the Independent Variable? _____________________________________________________
How was the IV Manipulated (i.e., the operational definition)? _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
How was the DV measured (operationalized)? _______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Identify the control group (control condition): _________________________________________________
Identify the experimental group (experimental condition): _______________________________________
What was the company’s hypothesis? (In terms of a comparison) _______________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were controlled (i.e., were the SAME in both groups): ______________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were NOT controlled: _______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
On the basis of the study’s methodology, did the study support the effectiveness of Tapcil? Why or why not?
________________________________________________________________________________
C. Mary and Bob, two researchers from a cosmetics company, want to prove that the new shampoo they have developed makes women’s hair shinier. They put ads in the paper for volunteers who have shoulder length hair that has never been colored. Mary evaluates the “shine factor” of the first 50 women by using a special lumiscope (a complicated but accurate device). She then instructs them to wash their hair daily with the new shampoo, FineShine. The second 50 volunteers have their hair evaluated by Bob (using the same lumiscope) who then instructs the subjects to shampoo their hair daily with their “regular” brand of shampoo. At the end of 6 months, all subjects have their hair reevaluated for shininess. They conclude, based on their statistics, that the women who used FineShine had significantly shinier hair at the end of the study.
What was the Independent Variable? _____________________________________________________
How was the IV Manipulated (i.e., the operational definition)? _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
How was the DV measured (i.e., the operational definition)? _______________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Identify the control group (control condition): _________________________________________________
Identify the experimental group (condition): ________________________________________________
What was the company’s hypothesis? (Comparison) ________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were controlled (i.e., were the SAME in both groups): _____________
____________________________________________________________________________________
List TWO confounding variables that were NOT controlled: ______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
On the basis of the study’s methodology, did the study support the effectiveness of FineShine? Why or why not?
____________________________________________________________________________