Multiple choice high level STATISTICS test

PLEASE HIGHLIGHT THE CORRECT ANSWER

Question 1

 

An experimenter is interested in the effect of a new drug on alertness.  They gave half of their participants a stimulant, while the other half received a placebo.  Participants’ alertness was measured using a standardised questionnaire that they completed both before they took the drug, and 15 minutes after taking it.  What statistical test should be used to analyse the data collected from this study?

Select one:

 

One-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA

 

Two-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA

 

Two-Way Mixed ANOVA

 

Two-Way Independent ANOVA

 

 

 

 

Question 2

 

How many data points would each participant provide for an experiment which is analysed using an Independent 3×2 ANOVA?  (Hint: think about how many columns you would need to enter their actual performance scores into when setting up an SPSS data file).

 

Select one:

1

2

4

You can’t tell from the information provided.

 

 

 

Question 3

 

Which of the following assumptions would you need to test before you interpret the results of a two-way mixed ANOVA, where both variables have 3 experimental conditions?

 

Select one:

 

Sphericity

 

Both sphericity and homogeneity of variance

 

Neither sphericity nor homogeneity of variance

 

Homogeneity of variance

 

 

Question 4

 

The following output was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention designed to decrease generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms.  Ratings of GAD symptoms were made on a 0-10 scale, with higher scores indicating more symptoms.  Ratings were made at the start of the study (Intake), end of the study (Discharge), and at a 1-year follow-up (Follow-up); thus the independent variable in this case is Time.

 

Assuming all necessary assumptions have been met, which of the following is the correct way to report output in APA format:

Select one:

There was a significant effect of time on participants’ GAD scores, F(2,58) = 63.24, p < .001, ηp2 = .32

 

There was a significant effect of time on participants’ GAD scores, F(2,58) = 13.82, p < .001, ηp2 = .32

 

There was no significant effect of time on participants’ GAD scores, F(2,58) = 13.82, p > .05, ηp2 = .32.

 

There was a significant effect of time on participants’ GAD scores, F(1.97,57.09) = 13.82, p < .001, ηp2 = .32

 

 

 

Question 5

 

While investigating the effectiveness of an intervention designed to treat GAD symptoms, the same researcher from Q4 also obtained the following output.

 

Looking at these tables, which of the following conclusions can we reasonably draw from the data?

 

Select one:

 

No significant difference was found between any of the conditions.

 

GAD symptoms were only significantly reduced at follow-up.

 

GAD symptoms were significantly greater at intake than they were at either discharge or follow-up.

 

GAD symptoms had significantly reduced at discharge, but not at follow-up.

 

 

 

 

 

Question 6

 

A language researcher wanted to investigate the potentially negative impact that text message usage may have on children’s ability to spell.  Or, put another way: does snding txt msgs make u 4get how 2 spell?

 

To investigate this, the researcher recruited 40 children (aged 8-9) from schools in the UK. Half of the children were given a mobile phone and encouraged to send text messages to one another over a 3 month period.  The other half of children had to promise that they would not use a mobile phone until the study was over.  To investigate the impact of text usage on spelling ability, all of the children completed a spelling test (scored out of 100) both before and after the 3 months were up.

 

Thus, there are two independent variables in this study:

• The first IV is text message group (text messagers vs controls)
• The second IV was time (i.e. when the children completed the spelling text: either before or after the 3 month period).

 

You run the test and get the following output:

 

Which of the following statements are true:

Select one or more:

 

There are no significant findings here.

 

There is a significant main effect of time, but no effect of text message group and no interaction.

 

There is a significant interaction between text message group and time, but no effect of time or text message group.

 

There is a significant main effect of text message group, but no effect of time and no interaction.

 

 

 

 

Question 7

 

After attempting to replicate the study in Q6, a researcher produced the following graph in their output:

 

Which of the following statements are true (tick all that apply):

Select one or more:

 

There was an interaction such that spelling scores deteriorated over time for the controls, but not for the group encouraged to send text messages.

 

There was an interaction such that there was a difference between the two groups’ spelling scores at Time 2, but not at Time 1.

 

There was an interaction such that there was a difference between the two groups’ spelling scores at Time 1, but not at Time 2.

 

There was no interaction between the variables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 8

 

The following output can tell you whether a factor analysis an appropriate test to run on a given set of data.

 

Which of the following statements best describe this output? (tick all that apply).

 

Select one or more:

 

Bartlett’s test of sphericity indicates there are not a sufficient number of correlations in the data to run a factor analysis, so any analysis should be interpreted with caution.

 

The KMO statistics suggests the sample is not adequate for a factor analysis, so any analysis should be interpreted with caution.

 

The KMO statistics suggests the sample is adequate for a factor analysis.

 

Bartlett’s test of sphericity indicates there are a sufficient number of correlations in the data to run a factor analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 9

Looking at the above Scree Plot, what would be the most sensible number of factors to retain?

 

Select one:

 

2

3

4

5

 

 

Question 10

 

An occupational psychologist has recently developed a new survey to measure the job satisfaction of university lecturers.  They are particularly interested in establishing what factors might underlie this concept, so wish to carry a factor analysis.  They give their survey to 150 lecturers to complete and run the analysis.

The researcher runs the factor analysis, and gets the following four factors in their final output:

 

 

They interpret three of the factors as representing:

• General job satisfaction
• Autonomy
• Faculty Support

 

What is an appropriate interpretation for the missing factor?

 

Select one:

 

Pay scale.

 

Recognition and respect.

 

Work preference.

 

Student abilities.

 

 

 

Question 11

 

Which of the following tests allows you to measure the internal consistency of a measure?

Select one:

 

Test-retest reliability.

 

Inter-rater reliability.

 

Alternate forms reliability.

 

Split-half reliability.

 

 

 

Question 12

 

A test which accurately indicates a participant’s scores on a future criterion (e.g. an aptitude test predicting exam outcomes) could be said to have good ______.

Select one:

 

concurrent validity.

 

discriminant validity.

 

predictive validity.

 

convergent validity.

 

 

Question 13

 

A researcher is interested in whether exposure to certain toxins (measured as the number of days exposure per year), and an individual’s ability to process those toxins (as measured by the amount of metabolites found in their blood) can predict the psychological ill health symptoms of chemical factory workers.

They run a multiple regression and get the following output:

Which statement best sums up what the research has found here?

Select one:

 

The model explains 43.1% of the variance in the data, and is a significant predictor of psychological ill health symptoms.

 

The model explains 43.1% of the variance in the data, and is not a significant predictor of psychological ill health symptoms.

 

The model explains 18.6% of the variance in the data, and is not a significant predictor of psychological ill health symptoms.

 

The model explains 18.6% of the variance in the data, and is a significant predictor of psychological ill health symptoms.

 

 

 

Question 14

 

Imagine you are psychologist interested in understanding the well-being of the elderly.  It is well known that cognitive abilities decline with older age, and you begin to suspect there might be a relationship between psychological wellbeing and cognitive function.

 

To explore this, you recruit 80 participants aged 70-90 years old and measure several different aspects of cognitive function using standardised tests.  Specifically, you measure:

 

• Working memory
• General comprehension and semantic processing
• Mental flexibility (i.e. the ability to switch between tasks)
• Cognitive processing speed

 

Following these tests, you also give participants a questionnaire to measure their overall psychological wellbeing.  The aim of the study is to see whether the different measures of cognitive function are associated with wellbeing scores.

 

You run a multiple regression and get the following output.

Which of the cognitive abilities contribute significantly to the model of wellbeing (tick all that apply)?

Select one or more:

 

Comprehension.

 

Processing Speed.

 

None of them.

 

Mental Flexibility.

 

Memory.

 

 

 

Question 15

 

An educational psychologist believes that an individual’s reading speed (in words per minute) and general comprehension abilities (scored out of 10) may be related to how well they do on a timed exam.  To study the relative importance of these variables and the association between them, she runs a multiple regression and produces the following predictive model for exam score:

Exam Score = 7.78 + (0.05*Reading Speed) + (5.77*Comprehension)

What exam score would you expect students to achieve if they have a reading speed of 250 w.p.m. and a comprehension score of 8?

 

 

Select one:

 

15706

 

55.67

 

63.17

 

66.44