Unit 1 of 5
Study guide for DSST DSST Human Development — Unit 1: Theories and Research Methods. Practice questions, key concepts, and exam tips.
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Dr. Smith is conducting a study on the effects of parental involvement on child development. She recruits 100 parents and their children, and then randomly assigns them to either an intervention group, where parents receive training on how to be more involved in their child's education, or a control group, where parents do not receive any training. After 6 months, Dr. Smith measures the children's academic achievement and finds a significant difference between the two groups. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the difference in academic achievement between the two groups?
Answer: D — The correct answer is D because the study used random assignment, which helps to control for selection bias and other extraneous variables. The significant difference in academic achievement between the two groups is likely due to the causal effect of the intervention. The other options are incorrect because the placebo effect (A) is not relevant in this study, the Hawthorne effect (B) is not a likely explanation since the parents' behavior was not being directly observed, and selection bias (C) is not a concern due to the use of random assignment.
Dr. Smith is conducting a study on the effects of parental involvement on child development. She collects data from a group of children whose parents are highly involved in their education and another group whose parents are not involved. However, she realizes that the two groups differ significantly in terms of socioeconomic status, which could also impact child development. To address this issue, Dr. Smith should use which of the following methods?
Answer: D — Dr. Smith should use matching to control for the confounding variable of socioeconomic status. This involves pairing participants from each group who are similar in terms of socioeconomic status, thereby reducing the impact of this variable on the results. Random sampling (A) would not address the issue of socioeconomic status, correlational design (B) would not allow Dr. Smith to establish cause-and-effect relationships, and longitudinal design (C) would not directly address the confounding variable.
Dr. Thompson is conducting a study on the effects of parental involvement on children's academic achievement. She collects data from a group of children whose parents are highly involved in their education and compares it to a group of children whose parents are not involved. However, Dr. Thompson does not randomly assign children to these groups. Instead, she selects the groups based on pre-existing characteristics. Which of the following research designs is Dr. Thompson most likely using?
Answer: A — Dr. Thompson is using a quasi-experimental design because she is comparing two groups that are not randomly assigned. This design is used when random assignment is not possible, and it can help establish cause-and-effect relationships. However, it is vulnerable to confounding variables. Option B is incorrect because experimental design requires random assignment. Option C is incorrect because correlational design involves measuring the relationship between two variables, but it does not involve comparing groups. Option D is incorrect because survey design involves collecting self-report data, but it does not involve comparing groups.
Dr. Smith is conducting a study on the effects of parental involvement on childhood development. She collects data from a group of children whose parents are actively involved in their education and another group whose parents are not. What type of research design is Dr. Smith using?
Answer: A — Dr. Smith is using a quasi-experimental design because she is comparing two groups that already exist (children with involved parents and children without involved parents), rather than randomly assigning participants to groups. This design is used when random assignment is not possible. Option B is incorrect because experimental design requires random assignment. Option C is incorrect because correlational design involves measuring the relationship between two variables, but does not involve comparing groups. Option D is incorrect because survey design involves collecting self-report data, which is not described in the scenario.
Dr. Smith is conducting a study on the effects of parental involvement on child development. She collects data from a group of children whose parents are highly involved in their education, and then compares this data to a group of children whose parents are not as involved. Which of the following best describes Dr. Smith's research method?
Answer: A — Dr. Smith's study is an example of a quasi-experimental design because she is comparing two existing groups (children with highly involved parents and children with less involved parents) to examine the effect of parental involvement on child development. This is not an experimental design (B) because Dr. Smith is not manipulating the independent variable (parental involvement) or randomly assigning participants to groups. It is not a correlational design (C) because Dr. Smith is not examining the relationship between two variables, but rather comparing the outcomes between two groups. It is not a survey design (D) because Dr. Smith is collecting data through a comparison of groups, not through self-report measures.
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