RESEARCH SUMMARY

A researcher is interested in the relationship between watchingTV and cognitive achievement. Cognitive achievement is the abilityto learn and remember information. The researcher hypothesized thatthe more TV a person watched, the lower their performance would beon tests of cognitive achievement. To test this hypothesis, theresearcher recruited eighty young adults who live alone. They put avideo camera in the living room of the dwelling. The individualsonly had a TV in the living room. They taped continuously for oneweek. Multiple research assistants coded how long each participantwatched TV. They did not include times when the TV was on but noone was visibly watching it. They did not include times whensomeone was sitting in front of the TV but not paying attention tothe TV. They then had each participant complete a task thatmeasures working memory (one of our cognitive abilities). The taskinvolved reciting the alphabet while also counting (A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4… etc) up to the total of 52 possible items. Performance was codedby the number of correct items completed before an error was made.The researcher found that those who watched more TV performed worseon the task (r = -.31, p<.05).

Part A.
1. (State the research question in plain language (I wonder if ___is related to ___)
2. State the null hypothesis
3. State the research hypothesis
4. Is the research hypothesis directional or non-directional?

Part B.
1. Name the Predictor / Independent Variable
2. Give the operational definition of the Predictor / IndependentVariable.
3. Evaluate the construct validity of the Predictor / IndependentVariable (Be sure to consider face, method, and procedural aspectsthough not all aspects will necessarily need to be discussed; pointout strengths and weaknesses of this measure.)

Part C. Is the Predictor/ Independent variablecategorical or continuous? Select one

Part D. Was the Predictor/ Independent variablemanipulated? Was it under the experimenter's control? Select

                                      Yes or No

Part E. If the predictor / independent variablewas measured (not manipulated), how was it measured? Select one

- observation or

- self-report or

- physiological or

- it was manipulated

Part F. Will the researchers be able todetermine causation from this predictor / independent variable?Select                                 Yes or No Part G. Considering the previousscenario: 1. Name the Outcome / Dependent Variable 2. Give the operational definition of the Outcome / DependentVariable. 3. Evaluate the construct validity of the operational definitionfor the Outcome / Dependent Variable. (Be sure to consider face,method, and procedural aspects though not all aspects willnecessarily need to be discussed; point out strengths andweaknesses of this measure.) Part H. Is the Outcome/ Dependent variablecategorical or continuous? Select one Part I. How was the Outcome/ Dependent variablemeasured? Select one      - self-report or      - physiological or     - observation Part J. - Summarize the findings. What conclusion can be drawn about therelationship between these variables? Be sure to specify whetherthe relationship is causal or associative. Pro Tip: Your findings are going to look a lot like yourhypothesis. To specify the comparison that was drawn, you might statethat 1. The researchers compared the overallrelationship between the two variables (For example: \"They correlated how many hours a student studied ina week and their grade on an exam\"); or 2. The researchers compared frequency (how manypeople fall into different groups: For example, \"They counted how many students got A's, B's, C's, D'sand F's on their tests for the students who reported studying lessthan 5 hours a week and those who reported studying more than 5hours a week.\"); or 3. The researchers compared groupaverages. For example, \"They compared the average test scores for thestudents who reported studying less than 5 hours a week to thosewho reported studying more than 5 hours a week.\"