Advanced Topic: a Social Psychologist Is Designing a Study to See

question 25

Essay

Advanced topic: A social psychologist is designing a study to see whether people who see a particular film are more likely to use violence as a solution to a problem.The psychologist plans to use a scale that assesses this construct,which has a population mean of 78 and a standard deviation of 14.The psychologist expects an increase of eight points above the population mean.Fifteen participants will be enrolled in the study,and the data will be analyzed at the .05 level.
a.What is the power of the study?
b.Sketch the distributions involved.
c.Explain your answer to a person who understands hypothesis testing with means of samples,but who is not familiar with effect size or power.
d.What is the predicted effect size?
e.What are three things that might be done to increase the power of the study?

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Definitions:

Biological Preparedness

The idea that people and animals are inherently inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses.

Biogenesis

The scientific principle that living organisms are only produced by other living organisms.

Biological Significance

The importance of a biological finding or phenomenon in terms of its implications for the survival, function, or evolution of living organisms.

Evoked Responses

The brain's electrical activity in response to specific stimuli, measured through techniques like EEG.