Psychology · Unit 14

Research Methods

How psychologists find things out

Psychology's methods have to handle a subject that knows it is being studied, which creates problems no other science faces in the same form.

The unit covers experiments, variables, sampling and surveys, correlation and causation, and research ethics.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 23
Questions: 120
Difficulty: 1-5

What this unit covers

Sampling and Surveys
Correlation vs Causation
Research Ethics
Variables
Experiments

Where this fits

Best early and again late. Overlaps with Science's Research Methods and Statistics.

Where people slip

Psychology has had a serious replication crisis. A famous finding is not necessarily a robust one, and asking whether a result replicated is now a standard question.

How the unit is structured

Research Methods runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.

Correlation vs Causation

Fill the blankLevel 2
1. When two things rise and fall together, we say they are ____.
- correlatedcorrect
- unrelated
- random
- equal
Correlated means two things tend to change together in a pattern.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
2. In a negative correlation, as one thing goes up, the other tends to?
- Go downcorrect
- Also go up
- Stay exactly the same
- Turn into a cause
In a negative correlation the two things move in opposite directions, so one falls as the other rises.
Odd one outLevel 2
3. Which of these does NOT describe a correlation?
- Proof that one thing caused the othercorrect
- Two things that change together
- A positive link between two things
- A negative link between two things
A correlation is a link between two things, but it never proves that one caused the other.
True or falseLevel 2
4. Ice cream sales and swimming accidents both rise in summer, so ice cream must cause the accidents.
Answer: False
False. Hot weather raises both, so this is a correlation, not one thing causing the other.
Guess the numberLevel 3
5. A perfect positive correlation has a coefficient equal to what value?
Answer: 1
A perfect positive correlation is +1, meaning the two things move together exactly.
Put in orderLevel 5
6. Order these correlation coefficients from the weakest relationship to the strongest.
Answer: 0.1 -> -0.4 -> 0.7 -> -0.95
Strength depends on distance from zero, ignoring the sign, so 0.1 is weakest and -0.95 is strongest.

Experiments

True or falseLevel 1
7. A hypothesis is a testable prediction about what an experiment might find.
Answer: True
True. A hypothesis is a clear, testable guess that the experiment is designed to check.
Fill the blankLevel 2
8. The organized set of steps scientists use to ask questions and test ideas is called the ____ method.
- scientificcorrect
- lucky
- random
- messy
The scientific method is the step-by-step way researchers test ideas with evidence.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
9. Which group in an experiment receives the treatment being tested?
- The experimental groupcorrect
- The control group
- The survey group
- The sample group
The experimental group gets the treatment, so its results can be compared to a group that does not.
Put in orderLevel 2
10. Put these steps of the scientific method in the usual order.
Answer: Ask a question -> Form a hypothesis -> Run a test -> Look at the results
Scientists ask a question, form a hypothesis, run a test, then look at the results.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
11. Which of these help make an experiment fair and trustworthy? Select all that apply.
- A control group for comparisoncorrect
- Random assignment of people to groupscorrect
- Keeping other variables constantcorrect
- Letting participants decide the results
- Changing the research question halfway through
A control group, random assignment, and keeping other factors constant all make an experiment fairer.
Odd one outLevel 3
12. Which of these does NOT help reduce bias in an experiment?
- Only testing people who already agree with the ideacorrect
- Using a control group
- Using random assignment
- Running a double-blind design
Only testing people who already agree with your idea builds bias in, rather than reducing it.

Research Ethics

Multiple choiceLevel 1
13. What are research ethics?
- Rules that keep people in studies safe and treated fairlycorrect
- Tricks to make studies finish faster
- A way to hide results from the public
- The math used to score a quiz
Research ethics are the rules that keep people in studies safe and treated fairly.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
14. Which of these are ethical rules psychologists must follow? Select all that apply.
- Get informed consent before startingcorrect
- Protect participants from harmcorrect
- Let participants leave whenever they wishcorrect
- Hide the results from participants forever
- Force people to keep going if they are upset
Getting consent, protecting people from harm, and letting them leave are all core ethical rules.
Fill the blankLevel 2
15. Agreeing to join a study after being told what it involves is called informed ____.
- consentcorrect
- reward
- harm
- guess
Informed consent means people agree to take part after learning what will happen.
Match the pairsLevel 3
16. Match each research ethics term to its meaning.
Answer: Informed consent = Agreeing to take part after being told what happens; Debriefing = Explaining the study's true purpose afterward; Confidentiality = Keeping participants' data private; Right to withdraw = Being able to leave the study at any time
These four rules, consent, debriefing, confidentiality, and withdrawal, protect people in studies.
Odd one outLevel 3
17. Which of these is NOT a rule that protects people in research?
- Making participants continue even if they feel unwellcorrect
- Getting informed consent
- Keeping data confidential
- Offering a debrief afterward
Making participants continue even when unwell breaks the rules, so it is not a protection.
Sort into groupsLevel 4
18. Sort each researcher action as Ethical or Unethical.
Answer: Getting informed consent first = Ethical; Letting an upset participant leave = Ethical; Keeping data confidential = Ethical; Hiding serious risks from participants = Unethical; Refusing to let anyone withdraw = Unethical
Consent, allowing withdrawal, and confidentiality are ethical, while hiding risks or trapping people is not.

Sampling and Surveys

Multiple choiceLevel 1
19. In research, what is a sample?
- The smaller group of people who are actually studiedcorrect
- Every single person in the world
- The researcher's own opinion
- A free gift given to participants
A sample is the smaller group of people who are actually studied.
Fill the blankLevel 2
20. A small group chosen to stand in for a much larger group is called a ____.
- samplecorrect
- population
- census
- variable
A sample is a smaller group picked to represent the larger population.
True or falseLevel 2
21. A survey is a set of questions used to collect information from people.
Answer: True
True. Surveys gather answers from many people using a set of questions.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
22. Which of these could make a sample biased? Select all that apply.
- Only asking people who volunteer eagerlycorrect
- Surveying just one neighborhood for a whole countrycorrect
- Choosing only your own friendscorrect
- Randomly selecting from the whole population
- Giving everyone an equal chance to be picked
Asking only eager volunteers, one small area, or only your friends all leave out parts of the population.
Match the pairsLevel 3
23. Match each sampling term to its meaning.
Answer: Population = The whole group being studied; Sample = The smaller group actually studied; Representative sample = A sample that mirrors the population; Biased sample = A sample that does not reflect the population
Population is the whole group, a sample is a slice of it, and samples can be representative or biased.
Odd one outLevel 4
24. Three of these give everyone a fair chance of being selected. Which one does NOT?
- Convenience samplingcorrect
- Simple random sampling
- Systematic sampling
- Stratified random sampling
Convenience sampling just grabs whoever is handy, so not everyone has a fair chance of being chosen.

Variables

Fill the blankLevel 2
25. Factors kept the same for every group so they do not spoil the results are called ____ variables.
- controlcorrect
- independent
- dependent
- random
Control variables are held constant so only the tested factor can affect the outcome.
Match the pairsLevel 2
26. Match each type of variable to what it means.
Answer: Independent variable = The factor the researcher changes; Dependent variable = The result the researcher measures; Control variable = A factor kept the same for everyone
The independent variable is changed, the dependent variable is measured, and control variables are kept the same.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
27. Which variable does the researcher measure to see the result of a study?
- The dependent variablecorrect
- The independent variable
- The control variable
- The hidden variable
The dependent variable is the outcome that is measured to see if it changed.
True or falseLevel 2
28. The dependent variable is the thing you measure to see if it changed.
Answer: True
True. The dependent variable is the measured outcome that may depend on the independent variable.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
29. Which of these are ways to control variables so they do not spoil an experiment? Select all that apply.
- Test everyone at the same time of daycorrect
- Give every group the same instructionscorrect
- Use the same room for all participantscorrect
- Change the reward for each group
- Let the weather differ between groups
Testing at the same time, giving the same instructions, and using the same room keep conditions equal.
Sort into groupsLevel 3
30. A study tests whether music tempo changes typing speed. Sort each part into its variable role.
Answer: How fast the music plays = Independent variable; Words typed per minute = Dependent variable; Number of typing mistakes = Dependent variable; Everyone uses the same keyboard = Control variable
The tempo is changed on purpose, typing measures are the outcomes, and the shared keyboard is held constant.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Choose all that apply
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Research Methods

120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

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