Socio-cultural research methods

1.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is an example of method triangulation?

A researcher carries out a series of interviews about attitudes toward foreigners and then observes the same participants in a situation where they have to interact with a stranger.

The responses of two or more researchers are compared to make sure that they are both measuring a variable in the same way.

An experiment uses two or more samples.

When a study is replicated three or more times to establish that it has reliability.

Answer explanation

Method triangulation is when we use more than one method to guarantee that the results that we have obtained are not due to the method we chose. By using another method and getting the same results, we increase the credibility (validity) of the results.

2.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is not a limitation of carrying out a naturalistic observation?

It is not possible to control for confounding variables.

It is difficult to replicate and establish reliability.

The participants are being deceived.

Participants may leave the study.

Answer explanation

The fact that a study is naturalistic does not mean that the participants are being deceived. This depends on whether the study is covert or overt.

3.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

What did Festinger conclude from his study of the Doomsday cult?

The cult members had no clear idea of why they were joining the cult.

Cult members rationalized their failure in order to protect their self-esteem.

People are willing to forgive their leaders, as long as they feel that they did their best and made honest mistakes.

People who are more religious are more likely to join cults.

Answer explanation

Festinger argued that this was an example of cognitive dissonance. The cult members had to cope with the fact that as intelligent people, they had been led to believe that the world was going to end. When it didn't, they look foolish. To lessen this feeling of failure, they rationalized what happened - that is, they explained that they had actually saved the world through their prayers.

4.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is not an ethical concern of the Festinger study of the Doomsday cult?

Deception.

Not keeping the data anonymous.

Researcher bias.

Undue stress or harm.

Answer explanation

Festinger broke pretty much all ethical rules with this study. He did not obtain consent, he deceived the participants, he did not keep their data anonymous, he did not debrief them and the publication of his book causes undue stress. Researcher bias is not an ethical consideration. It is potentially a methodological problem. Since Festinger recorded conversations sometimes several hours after they happened, it is possible that his own biases influenced what was remembered.

5.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is not an advantage of collecting qualitative data?

It is a more holistic approach to studying an individual.

The data is very rich, giving a lot of information to the researcher.

Qualitative data is easier to analyse than quantitative data.

Qualitative data is often naturalistic, studying an individual in their normal social context.

Answer explanation

Quantitative data has the advantage of easily being analysed through statistical analysis; for qualitative data, researchers must carry out content analysis to establish trends in the data.

6.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is not an assumption made by social psychologists?

We have a personal self and several social selves.

Our behaviour is influenced by others, even when we believe we are acting independently.

Culture affects our behaviour.

Animals may be studied in order to get a deeper insight into human behaviour.

Answer explanation

Animals may be studied.... is an example of an assumption from the biological approach.

7.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Social psychologists believe that as the individual is affected by being part of a group, the individual can also affect behaviour in the group. What is the term used to describe this phenomenon?

Reciprocal determinism

Social Identity Theory

Social determinism

Bidirectional ambiguity

Answer explanation

Bandura's theory of reciprocal determinism says that our behaviour with a group is bidirectional - an individual affects a group's behaviour and the group influences an individual's behaviour.

8.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

What was the independent variable in Asch’s 1956 study?

The unanimity of the response

The rate of conformity - that is, whether they agreed with the confederates or not.

The length of the lines

The confederates' answer to the question

9.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

The Asch paradigm is highly standardized. Why is this important?

To increase the predictive validity of the study.

For ethical reasons; it is important that all participants are treated equally.

To increase the ecological validity of the study.

To increase the reliability of the study.

Answer explanation

When a procedure is highly standardized it is possible to replicate the study. Only through replication can the reliability of the results be established.

10.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

According to Asch, why did the participants conform?

A combination of informational and normative social influence.

Referential social influence

Normative social influence

Informational social influence

Answer explanation

There were some participants who claimed that they thought they didn't understand the directions. In this case, they followed what others did - a case of informational social influence. In addition, some said that they felt that they didn't want to look stupid. In this case, it was normative social influence.

11.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

What was the control group in Asch's study?

A second group was allowed to ask questions.

Participants matched the lines alone - with no confederates.

A second group had more participants.

A second group was told that they were late and to write down their responses.

Answer explanation

Asch wanted to make sure that it was in fact the power of social pressure - and not the ability to read the lines - that made the difference in the participants' responses.

12.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

What does it mean when we say that social identity has become "salient"?

That is resistant to change.

That it can change over time.

That we are more aware of that particular social identity.

That we are unaware of the influence of that particular social identity.

Answer explanation

Salience is an important concept in SIT. It says that when a social identity becomes more salient - that is, when we are made more conscious of this aspect of our identity - it is more likely to have an effect on our behaviour.

13.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is not a component of social identity theory?

Social categorization into in-groups and out-groups

Social cognitive learning theory

Social comparison

In-group bias and the tendency to use group identity to promote self-esteem.

Answer explanation

Tajfel argued that social categorization was the first step, followed by social comparison to those in the out-group. This then leads to an in-group bias and sense of increased self-esteem. Modern SIT questions whether self-esteem is necessarily the outcome. Social learning theory is a different theory that looks at how we learn by imitating a model.

14.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

What were the findings of Tajfel & Turner’s “Kandinsky vs Klee” study?

The boys' level of self-esteem increased as a result of being in their in-group.

The simple act of categorizing oneself as a member of a group led the boys to display in-group favoritism.

The boys began to dislike members of the out-group.

The boys began to show more competition when they believed that they were competing with an out-group, rather than against members of their in-group.

Answer explanation

As a result of their groupings, the boys were trying to maximize the point difference between the two gropus - an example of in-group favoritism. The debriefing did not find that the boys were in any way hostile to the boys in the out-group. The researchers also did not measure the levels of self-esteem of the boys before and after the activity.

15.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

Which of the following is a limitation of Social Identity Theory?

The theory is not able to predict which social identity will most influence an individual's behaviour in a particular situation.

The theory is not falsifiable.

The studies were case studies and therefore cannot be replicated. The studies have low reliability.

It has very few applications in the real world.

Answer explanation

SIT does not have high predictive validity in that it cannot predict an individual's behaviour. However, it can predict a trend in behaviour. It has many applications and the studies have been replicated. The theory can also be tested - and has been tested - with many different studies.

16.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

How did Abrams manipulate the IV in his study on SIT and conformity?

Sometimes the confederates gave the wrong answer and sometimes they gave the correct answer.

He told the participant that the participants were either psychology students or ancient history students.

The participant was either a psychology student or a history student.

The lines were all different lengths.

Answer explanation

The IV was whether the confederates were part of the participant's in-group or an out-group. Since Abrams only used psychology students, he decided that "ancient history students" would be an appropriate out-group. However, the confederates were same in all of the conditions.

17.

Multiple Choice

2 mins

5 pts

How did Drury test the role of SIT in helping behaviour?

He carried out a naturalistic observation.

He carried out a field experiment.

He carried out a quasi-experiment.

He used virtual reality to carry out an experiment.

Answer explanation

The study was an experiment that used virtual reality. There were two conditions - either the participant was made aware of an in-group identity, or he was made to feel highly individualistic

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