Bengan, Angel B.

BS Psychology 3-3

Field Methods - Formative Assessment 2

1. An educational researcher compares the academic performance of students from

the “rich” side of the town with that of students from the “poor” side of the town.
Answer: Correlational study; because the variables such as rich and
poor students who are from different sides of the town cannot be
manipulated; the researcher only “compares” which means he/she only
aims to determine the relationship between these variables, not its cause-
and-effect phenomena.

2. A cognitive psychologist compares the ability of people to recall words that they
were instructed to “read” with their ability to recall words that they were instructed
to “imagine”.
Answer: Experimental study; there is a variable manipulated which is
the method of recalling the words (to read and imagine, which was
“instructed” = manipulated) that might affect the dependent variable, their
ability to recall words.

3. A manager studies the correlation between new employees’ college grade point
averages and their first-year performance reports.
Answer: Correlational study; because the variables which are the new
employees’ college grade point averages and their first-year performance
reports are measured/quantified and impossible to be manipulated;
manager studies the correlation which means he/she only aims to study
the relationship between the variables.

4. An automotive engineer installs different stick shifts in a new car prototype, each
time asking several people to rate how comfortable the stick shift feels.
Answer: Experimental study; because there is an independent variable
which is the different stick shifts and dependent variable which is the rate
of how comfortable the stick shift feels; the engineer can then infer that the
difference in stick shifts installed may cause the high/low stick shift
comfortability rate; asking several people for the rate = randomized

5. A food scientist studies the relationship between the temperature inside people’s
refrigerators and the amount of bacteria in their food.
Answer: Correlational study; since the food scientist only studies the
relationship between these variables, it is highly unlikely that he/she
manipulated the refrigerators’ temperature; the researcher is possibly only
 aiming to determine whether change in temperature (high or low) would
either increase or decrease the amount of bacteria in their food, not
necessarily whether this temperature would cause the increase or
decrease in bacterial amount of food.

6. A social psychologist tells some research participants that they need to hurry
over to the next building to complete a study. She tells others that they can take
their time. Then she observes whether they stop to help a research assistant who
is pretending to be hurt.
Answer: Experimental study; because there is an independent variable
which is the researcher pretending to be hurt and dependent variable
which is the participants’ response to the researcher (to stop or to help);
the research is under a specific condition therefore the social psychologist
can easily infer that the sight of “hurt” research assistant caused the
participants behavior (helping or stopping) under that circumstance; the
participants are randomly assigned to conditions.