1. Jenny believes that elderly people cause most of the accidents in Arizona because she has seen many "old people" drive terribly. The most important problem with basing any generalization like this on our everyday observations is that

A. we generally are not consistently skeptical and empirical in our everday lives.
B. we generally are not consistently inductive and deductive in our everday lives.
C. what we attend to generally is not a representative population of all possible observations.
D. what we attend to generally is not a representative sample of all possible observations.

2. Which of the following would be an example of a generalization as defined in this section?

A. I have concluded that a coin is not fair because I tossed it 10 times and it came up tails each time.
B. I have concluded that the paper-towel dispenser in the restroom is empty because I didn't see any paper towels in it.
C. I have concluded that it is too cold outside for me because the thermometer shows that it is only 35º F outside.
D. All the above are examples of generalizations.

3. I performed a study that I hoped would answer the following research question: How many hours per week, on average, did students at Scottsdale Community College need to study last semester in order to get As in their courses? I answered this question by asking SCC teachers to estimate the number of hours per week that students would have needed to study last semester in order to get an A in a course. My results showed that students needed to spend 10 hours per week studying for a course last semester in order to to get an A in it. Which of the following is the most important problem with my study?

A. The observations made were too small in number to answer the research question I asked.
B. The observations made were too subjective to answer the research question I asked.
C. The observations made were not relevant to answering the research question I asked.

4. A group of researchers attempted to show that taking a Vitamin C pill each day helps to prevent the "common cold." They surveyed 1000 people once each month for one year and asked them two questions: (1) how often did you take a Vitamin C pill over the past month; (2) did you develop a cold over the past month? They found that those people who reported more often taking daily Vitamin C pills also reported that they were less likely to have developed a cold over the previous 30 days (on average). Which of the following would be the most important extraneous variable in this study?

A. the average temperature for each month during that year
B. other things that these people did to prevent developing colds
C. whether or not these people experienced colds during the previous year

5. Let's say that you wanted to determine which of three chemistry professors was the best teacher. Which of the following procedures for selecting a sample of "observations" would be most likely to result in a biased sample?

A. Asking five students from each instructor's current classes what they think of him/her.
B. Asking your friend, who is majoring in chemistry, what he thinks of each instructor.
C. Seeing what former students had to say about the instructors on Ratemyprofessors.com.

6. Students who attend Jeff's class more frequently are more likely to get higher test scores than are students who attend his class less frequently. Jeff thinks that this is because he is a great teacher and, hence, that students who attend his class more frequently learn more of the material covered on the tests. Which of the following is the most important extraneous variable that Jeff is ignoring?

A. Students who are more frequent attenders also tend to be more motivated.
B. Students who are more frequent attenders also tend to be more intelligent.
C. Students who are more frequent attenders also tend to be more sociable.

Go to Quiz 3-5 answers

Go Back to Readings Section 3-5