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DSST Organizational Behavior study materials
DSST Organizational Behavior study resources

DSST Organizational Behavior practice questions

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Question 1Scientific approaches

Frederick W. Taylor's approach to scientific management was built primarily around which central idea?

  1. Increasing worker autonomy so that self-directed teams could redesign their own jobs
  2. Replacing worker judgment with scientifically determined task methods and standards Correct answer.
  3. Applying group dynamics and sensitivity training to improve interpersonal relations
  4. Designing jobs around intrinsic motivation and psychological growth

Explanation

Taylor's scientific management sought to discover the one best way to perform each task through time and motion study, then standardize that method and select and train workers to follow it. Worker judgment was deliberately subordinated to engineered standards and close supervision. The other approaches belong to later human-relations and job-design movements, not to Taylor.

Question 2Scientific approaches

The Hawthorne studies are most often credited with shifting organizational research toward which conclusion?

  1. Financial incentives are the only reliable predictor of output
  2. Formal organizational charts determine how work actually gets done
  3. Productivity is driven mainly by the physical layout of the workplace
  4. Social and psychological factors such as attention and group norms influence productivity Correct answer.

Explanation

The Hawthorne investigations at Western Electric found that output changed when workers received attention and when group norms regulated acceptable performance. This redirected attention from pure engineering variables toward social and psychological factors. The studies became the foundation of the human relations movement.

Question 3Scientific approaches

A researcher wants to determine whether a new incentive plan causes higher output by comparing a group that receives the plan with an equivalent group that does not. Which research design is being used?

  1. Case study
  2. Naturalistic observation
  3. Controlled experiment Correct answer.
  4. Correlational field survey

Explanation

A controlled experiment deliberately manipulates an independent variable, here the incentive plan, and compares outcomes against a comparable control group. This design supports causal inference better than designs that merely observe naturally occurring variation. Surveys, observation, and case studies describe relationships rather than establish causation through manipulation.

Question 4Scientific approaches

Max Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by which set of features?

  1. Flexible roles, personal loyalty to leaders, and informal coordination
  2. Self-managing teams, flat structure, and minimal documentation
  3. Charismatic leadership, patronage appointments, and oral tradition
  4. Clear division of labor, hierarchical authority, written rules, and impersonal application of standards Correct answer.

Explanation

Weber described bureaucracy as a rational-legal form resting on a clear division of labor, a hierarchy of authority, formal written rules, and impersonal treatment of clients and employees. These features were meant to make organizations predictable and fair rather than dependent on personal favor. The remaining options describe pre-bureaucratic or post-bureaucratic forms.

Question 5Scientific approaches

In organizational behavior research, operational definition refers to which practice?

  1. Choosing a statistical test after the data are collected
  2. Specifying how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a particular study Correct answer.
  3. Stating a broad theoretical concept in abstract terms for discussion
  4. Selecting a sample that represents the population

Explanation

An operational definition translates a conceptual variable, such as job satisfaction, into concrete observable indicators or procedures used in a study. It makes replication and measurement possible. It is distinct from sampling strategy or statistical analysis choices.

Question 6Scientific approaches

Which statement best describes a meta-analysis as used in organizational behavior?

  1. A single longitudinal study tracking one organization over many years
  2. A statistical procedure that combines effect sizes from many studies on a relationship Correct answer.
  3. An experiment in which participants are randomly assigned to conditions
  4. A qualitative synthesis in which a researcher interprets themes across case reports

Explanation

Meta-analysis quantitatively aggregates effect sizes across studies to estimate an overall relationship and examine moderators. It is a way of summarizing a cumulative body of evidence rather than generating new primary data. This makes it valuable for questions such as the strength of the relationship between job satisfaction and performance.

Question 7Scientific approaches

The principle of informed consent in organizational behavior research requires which of the following?

  1. That participants waive their right to withdraw once data collection begins
  2. That employers approve each participant's individual responses
  3. That participants be told the hypothesis in full before taking part
  4. That participants voluntarily agree to participate after being told the purpose, risks, and procedures Correct answer.

Explanation

Informed consent means prospective participants receive enough information about purpose, procedures, and risks to make a voluntary choice, and they retain the right to decline or withdraw. It does not require disclosing every hypothesis, which could bias the study. Consent protects autonomy and is a core ethical requirement in research with human subjects.

Question 8Scientific approaches

In the language of scientific method, a hypothesis is best described as which of the following?

  1. A testable statement predicting a relationship between variables Correct answer.
  2. A personal opinion about workplace behavior
  3. A summary of data already collected
  4. A proven law that no observation can overturn

Explanation

A hypothesis is a testable, falsifiable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables, derived from theory. It must be stated so that data can support or fail to support it. It differs from a law, a descriptive summary, or an opinion because it is open to empirical test.

Question 9Scientific approaches

A consultant measures job satisfaction and turnover intention from the same employees on the same questionnaire and finds a strong association. Which limitation most directly threatens a causal interpretation of this result?

  1. Insufficient statistical power caused by using a single organization
  2. Common method variance from measuring both variables with one self-report instrument Correct answer.
  3. Failure to randomize employees to satisfaction levels
  4. Lack of a representative population frame

Explanation

When predictor and outcome are collected with the same method at the same time, shared method and response biases can inflate the observed association. This is common method variance, and it weakens causal claims. Longitudinal or multi-source designs reduce this threat.

Question 10Scientific approaches

A researcher finds a correlation of r = 0.30 between job satisfaction and job performance across many studies. What is the most defensible interpretation?

  1. The relationship is positive and modest, accounting for roughly 9 percent of variance Correct answer.
  2. The relationship is so weak that it should be treated as zero
  3. Performance causes satisfaction, since the correlation is positive
  4. Satisfaction causes about 30 percent of the variation in performance

Explanation

A correlation of 0.30 indicates a positive but modest linear relationship, and squaring it gives about 0.09, meaning roughly nine percent of variance is shared. Correlation alone does not establish direction or causation. Claiming causation in either direction goes beyond what the coefficient supports.

Question 11Scientific approaches

An organizational researcher conducts a field experiment on a new feedback system but cannot randomly assign employees to conditions because teams already exist intact. Which design is she using?

  1. Pure correlational survey
  2. True experiment with random assignment
  3. Quasi-experiment with intact groups Correct answer.
  4. Ethnographic case study

Explanation

A quasi-experiment manipulates an independent variable but lacks random assignment, often because intact groups such as work teams must be used. It offers stronger causal evidence than a passive survey but weaker than a true experiment. The intact-group constraint is the defining feature here.

Question 12Scientific approaches

A researcher who studies workers only in a single high-tech startup and then claims the findings apply to all employees in every industry has violated which concern?

  1. External validity Correct answer.
  2. Construct validity
  3. Internal validity
  4. Statistical conclusion validity

Explanation

External validity concerns whether results generalize beyond the sample and setting studied. Generalizing from one startup to all industries overreaches on generalizability. Internal validity concerns causal inference within the study, construct validity concerns whether measures capture the intended concepts, and statistical conclusion validity concerns the appropriateness of the analysis.

Question 13Scientific approaches

Which research method is best suited to answering a 'how' question about the informal routines a team develops during a merger?

  1. An in-depth qualitative case study with interviews and observation Correct answer.
  2. A meta-analysis of published effect sizes
  3. A laboratory experiment with student participants
  4. A cross-sectional attitude survey

Explanation

Questions about how informal routines emerge over time call for rich, contextual data, which qualitative case methods such as interviews and observation provide. Surveys and experiments capture narrower variables and strip away context. A meta-analysis synthesizes prior quantitative findings and cannot generate new contextual detail.

Question 14Scientific approaches

A team of researchers measures 'employee engagement' with a three-item scale. The items correlate highly with one another and with supervisor ratings of engagement. Which two psychometric properties are being demonstrated?

  1. Reliability and validity Correct answer.
  2. Causality and generalizability
  3. Randomization and manipulation
  4. Sampling and stratification

Explanation

High inter-item correlation indicates internal consistency reliability, and agreement with supervisor ratings provides evidence of validity through convergence with another measure. Reliability concerns consistency of measurement, while validity concerns whether the measure captures the intended construct. The other pairs refer to design and sampling features rather than measurement quality.

Question 15Scientific approaches

A researcher predicts that role ambiguity will reduce job satisfaction, and that this effect will be stronger for employees with a high need for structure. What is the need for structure in this model?

  1. The independent variable
  2. The dependent variable
  3. The mediator
  4. The moderator Correct answer.

Explanation

A moderator changes the strength or direction of the relationship between an independent and dependent variable. Here the need for structure conditions how strongly role ambiguity affects satisfaction. A mediator would instead explain the process through which ambiguity exerts its effect.

Question 16Scientific approaches

A study finds that role conflict lowers satisfaction, and that emotional exhaustion explains why this happens. In this model, emotional exhaustion functions as which of the following?

  1. A control variable unrelated to the model
  2. An outcome variable measured independently of role conflict
  3. A moderator of the role conflict–satisfaction link
  4. A mediator between role conflict and satisfaction Correct answer.

Explanation

A mediator accounts for the mechanism through which an independent variable influences a dependent variable. Emotional exhaustion transmitting the effect of role conflict onto satisfaction makes it a mediator. A moderator would instead change the strength of the direct relationship.

Question 17Scientific approaches

A researcher wants to reduce social desirability bias when measuring employees' counterproductive work behavior. Which approach is most appropriate?

  1. Ask supervisors to rate each employee by name and publish the results
  2. Increase the number of items that directly ask about theft and sabotage
  3. Remove all assurances of confidentiality to encourage honesty
  4. Ask about behavior using anonymous self-reports with a neutral preamble Correct answer.

Explanation

Social desirability bias pushes respondents to underreport sensitive behavior, so anonymity and neutral framing reduce the pressure to present oneself favorably. Protecting identity is essential when asking about counterproductive acts. Increasing direct questions or removing confidentiality would likely worsen underreporting.

Question 18Scientific approaches

A researcher reports that an effect was statistically significant at p < 0.05. What does this most precisely mean?

  1. The study has a 95 percent chance of being replicated
  2. The probability that the null hypothesis is true is less than 5 percent
  3. The result is practically important for managers
  4. Assuming the null hypothesis is true, the observed result or one more extreme would occur less than 5 percent of the time Correct answer.

Explanation

A p value is the probability of obtaining the observed result, or a more extreme one, if the null hypothesis were true. It is not the probability that the null is true, nor a measure of practical importance or replicability. Interpreting it correctly is essential when evaluating organizational research claims.

Question 19Scientific approaches

A researcher wants to test whether a training program raises performance over time, measuring the same employees before training, immediately after, and three months later. Which design is this?

  1. Posttest-only control group design
  2. Pretest-posttest follow-up design with repeated measures Correct answer.
  3. Cross-sectional survey
  4. Solomon four-group design

Explanation

Measuring the same participants before the intervention and at multiple points afterward is a pretest-posttest design with repeated measures. This structure allows examination of change over time and durability of the effect. It differs from posttest-only and cross-sectional designs, which lack the repeated measurement of the same people.

Question 20Scientific approaches

Why do organizational behavior researchers often prefer field settings over laboratory settings for applied questions?

  1. Field settings provide greater realism and stronger external validity for workplace phenomena Correct answer.
  2. Field settings eliminate the need for informed consent
  3. Field settings guarantee random assignment of participants
  4. Field settings allow tighter control of extraneous variables than laboratories

Explanation

Field research occurs in actual workplaces, so findings are more likely to generalize to real organizational conditions, which is external validity. Laboratories offer greater control but often sacrifice realism. Field settings do not automatically provide random assignment, and consent requirements still apply.

Question 21Scientific approaches

A researcher studying the link between abusive supervision and employee deviance collects data from employees and their supervisors at two separate times. What is the primary methodological advantage of this design?

  1. It allows the researcher to infer causation without any assumptions
  2. It reduces common method bias and supports temporal ordering of variables Correct answer.
  3. It guarantees that the sample is representative of all industries
  4. It eliminates the need for a theoretical framework

Explanation

Using different sources and separated measurement occasions reduces shared method variance and establishes that the predictor was measured before the outcome. This strengthens causal inference by addressing temporal precedence. It does not remove all threats to validity or guarantee representativeness.

Question 22Scientific approaches

A researcher runs a field study and finds no significant effect of a new incentive plan. Later analysis shows the study had very low statistical power. What is the most appropriate conclusion?

  1. The p value should be lowered to 0.10 to create significance
  2. The study proves the alternative hypothesis
  3. The incentive plan definitely does not work
  4. The null result is inconclusive because low power increases the chance of failing to detect a real effect Correct answer.

Explanation

Low statistical power raises the risk of a Type II error, that is, failing to detect an effect that actually exists. A nonsignificant result under low power is therefore inconclusive rather than evidence of no effect. Adjusting alpha after the fact to manufacture significance is inappropriate.

Question 23Scientific approaches

A researcher measures job autonomy and intrinsic motivation at the same time and concludes that autonomy causes motivation. A critic notes that highly motivated employees may instead seek out and create autonomy. Which threat to causal inference does this illustrate?

  1. Demand characteristics
  2. Reverse causation Correct answer.
  3. Instrument reactivity
  4. Selection bias in random assignment

Explanation

Reverse causation occurs when the proposed outcome actually influences the proposed cause, so the direction of the relationship is the opposite of what was claimed. The critic's alternative explanation is that motivation drives autonomy rather than the reverse. Cross-sectional designs cannot distinguish these directions.

Question 24Scientific approaches

A researcher builds a model in which organizational justice affects organizational citizenship behavior partly through trust, and also tests whether the justice-trust path is stronger when tenure is low. Which combination of variables is being tested?

  1. A mediator only
  2. A control variable and a dependent variable only
  3. Both a mediation path and a moderated relationship Correct answer.
  4. A moderator only

Explanation

The model contains a mediation component because trust transmits the effect of justice onto citizenship behavior, and a moderation component because tenure is proposed to condition the strength of the justice-trust path. This is a moderated mediation specification. Identifying both roles requires distinguishing transmission of effects from change in the strength of a relationship.

Question 25Scientific approaches

A researcher wants to compare the effectiveness of two training methods while controlling for pre-existing differences between intact departments. Which analytic strategy best addresses this design constraint?

  1. Using pretest scores as a covariate in an analysis of covariance Correct answer.
  2. Assigning departments randomly after the training has occurred
  3. Reporting only the descriptive statistics for each department
  4. Ignoring pretest scores and comparing posttest means only

Explanation

When random assignment is impossible, using pretest scores as a covariate in analysis of covariance statistically adjusts for pre-existing group differences. This reduces confounding by baseline differences between intact departments. Comparing raw posttest means or reporting only descriptives would leave those differences uncontrolled.

Question 26Scientific approaches

In organizational behavior research, which characteristic distinguishes a scientific theory from a mere opinion or hunch?

  1. It generates testable hypotheses that can be falsified by data. Correct answer.
  2. It is supported by at least one anecdote from a manager's experience.
  3. It is stated in everyday language that employees can easily understand.
  4. It is endorsed by the majority of practitioners in the field.

Explanation

A scientific theory must be falsifiable: it produces hypotheses that empirical data can potentially disconfirm. Opinions and hunches may be useful but lack this systematic openness to testing. Popularity or anecdotal support does not establish scientific status.

Question 27Scientific approaches

A researcher wants to establish that a new goal-setting intervention increases productivity more than the existing goal-setting approach. Which design provides the strongest evidence for a causal effect of the intervention?

  1. A longitudinal survey in which employees self-report both goal-setting practices and productivity.
  2. A case study documenting one department's experience after adopting the new intervention.
  3. A cross-sectional survey measuring goal-setting practices and productivity at one point in time.
  4. A randomized controlled trial with employees assigned to the new or existing goal-setting condition. Correct answer.

Explanation

Random assignment to conditions is the key feature that supports causal inference because it distributes confounding variables evenly across groups. Cross-sectional, case, and longitudinal self-report designs cannot rule out alternative explanations as effectively.

Question 28Scientific approaches

A researcher conducts a study and finds a statistically significant difference between two training methods at p = .04. Which interpretation is most consistent with the logic of null hypothesis significance testing?

  1. There is a 4% probability that the null hypothesis is true.
  2. The result would be unlikely (4% or less) if the null hypothesis were true. Correct answer.
  3. The finding has practical significance for organizational practice.
  4. The probability that the result will replicate is 96%.

Explanation

A p value is the probability of obtaining a result at least as extreme as the observed one, assuming the null hypothesis is true. It is not the probability that the null is true, nor a direct index of practical importance or replicability.

Question 29Scientific approaches

A research team wants to reduce common method bias when studying the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee engagement. Which procedural remedy is most appropriate?

  1. Increase the sample size to improve statistical power.
  2. Use a cross-sectional design with all variables measured in a single questionnaire.
  3. Collect both measures from the same employees at the same time using identical response scales.
  4. Obtain measures of the predictor and criterion from different sources or at different times. Correct answer.

Explanation

Common method bias arises when predictor and criterion are measured with the same method, source, and time. Separating sources or times is a procedural remedy that reduces the overlap. Larger samples or single-questionnaire designs do not address the source of bias.

Question 30Research designs

A researcher wants to determine whether a new goal-setting program actually causes higher productivity in a factory. Which research design is best suited to establishing a cause-and-effect relationship?

  1. A controlled experiment with random assignment of workers to program and no-program groups Correct answer.
  2. A single case study of one department that adopted the program
  3. An archival review of company productivity records from the past decade
  4. A correlational survey measuring productivity and program participation at the same time

Explanation

Causal claims require manipulating the independent variable and controlling rival explanations. Random assignment to treatment and control groups lets the researcher attribute productivity differences to the program rather than to pre-existing worker characteristics. Designs that only observe variables as they naturally occur cannot rule out alternative causes.

Question 31Research designs

In an experimental study of leadership style, the researcher manipulates whether a confederate leader gives directive or participative instructions. The leadership style is best described as which element of the design?

  1. The independent variable Correct answer.
  2. A control variable
  3. A confounding variable
  4. The dependent variable

Explanation

The independent variable is the factor the researcher deliberately manipulates or varies. Here the researcher actively sets the leadership style, so it is the independent variable. The dependent variable would be the outcome measured, such as subordinate satisfaction or performance.

Question 32Research designs

A team of organizational researchers randomly assigns work groups to either a team-building intervention or a routine meeting, then measures cohesion afterward. Which feature most strongly supports the internal validity of this study?

  1. The inclusion of a large number of survey items
  2. The collection of data in a real workplace
  3. The random assignment of groups to conditions Correct answer.
  4. The use of a validated cohesion questionnaire

Explanation

Internal validity concerns whether observed effects can be attributed to the manipulated variable rather than to confounds. Random assignment distributes pre-existing differences across conditions, reducing selection bias. Measurement quality and realistic settings affect other aspects of the study but do not by themselves control alternative explanations.

Question 33Research designs

A researcher studies how employees make sense of a major merger by conducting in-depth interviews and observing meetings over several months, then building a theory from the patterns found. This approach is best characterized as which type of design?

  1. A cross-sectional survey
  2. A laboratory experiment
  3. A qualitative case study Correct answer.
  4. A field experiment

Explanation

Qualitative case studies gather rich, contextual data such as interviews and observations and often build theory inductively from patterns. They differ from experiments, which manipulate variables, and from surveys, which quantify variables across many respondents. The emphasis here on interpretation and theory building fits the qualitative case-study label.

Question 34Research designs

A study measures employee engagement and turnover intention at the same single point in time. Which limitation is most directly associated with this cross-sectional design?

  1. It cannot measure the variables reliably
  2. It requires random assignment to be meaningful
  3. It cannot include more than two variables
  4. It cannot establish the temporal order of the variables Correct answer.

Explanation

Cross-sectional designs collect all measures simultaneously, so they cannot show which variable came first. Without temporal precedence, causal direction between engagement and turnover intention remains ambiguous. Cross-sectional surveys can still be reliable and can include many variables.

Question 35Research designs

Before launching a large-scale field study of a new feedback system, a researcher tests the same measures on a small group to check whether the survey items are clear and the procedure works. This step is called which of the following?

  1. A pilot study Correct answer.
  2. A meta-analysis
  3. A debriefing
  4. A manipulation check

Explanation

A pilot study is a small-scale trial run of procedures and measures before the main study. It helps identify unclear items, logistical problems, and timing issues. Manipulation checks verify that an experimental manipulation worked, and debriefing occurs after participation.

Question 36Research designs

In a laboratory experiment on negotiation, participants are told the study examines decision-making speed, but it actually examines the effect of time pressure on concession behavior. The initial cover story is used primarily to do which of the following?

  1. Increase external validity
  2. Eliminate random assignment
  3. Reduce demand characteristics Correct answer.
  4. Measure the dependent variable

Explanation

A cover story reduces demand characteristics by preventing participants from guessing the hypothesis and altering their behavior accordingly. It does not make results generalize better or change the design's assignment procedures. The dependent variable is measured separately from the cover story.

Question 37Research designs

A researcher examines whether the relationship between job autonomy and job satisfaction holds equally for blue-collar and white-collar employees by measuring both groups. The two employee groups function as which element in this design?

  1. A mediating variable
  2. A dependent variable
  3. A control group
  4. A moderating variable Correct answer.

Explanation

A moderator changes the strength or direction of the relationship between an independent and dependent variable. Here the researcher asks whether the autonomy-satisfaction link differs by employee group, so group type moderates that relationship. A mediator, by contrast, explains the mechanism through which an effect occurs.

Question 38Research designs

A researcher hypothesizes that role ambiguity lowers job satisfaction and that this effect occurs because ambiguity reduces employees' perceived control. In this model, perceived control is best described as which of the following?

  1. An independent variable
  2. A control variable
  3. A moderator
  4. A mediator Correct answer.

Explanation

A mediator is the mechanism that explains how an independent variable affects a dependent variable. Here role ambiguity is proposed to influence satisfaction through perceived control, so control mediates the effect. A moderator would instead change the strength of the ambiguity-satisfaction relationship.

Question 39Research designs

A researcher wants to study how employees respond to a layoff announcement as it unfolds over several weeks. Which design feature is most essential for capturing change over time?

  1. Collecting data at multiple time points from the same participants Correct answer.
  2. Randomly assigning employees to receive the announcement
  3. Using a single large sample at one time point
  4. Measuring only the dependent variable once after the event

Explanation

Longitudinal designs collect data from the same participants at multiple time points, allowing the researcher to observe change and temporal order. A single measurement occasion, however large the sample, cannot show how responses evolve. Random assignment addresses causal control but not the tracking of change over time.

Question 40Research designs

A researcher studying organizational culture wants to understand how members interpret rituals and symbols in their own terms. Which methodological approach is most consistent with this goal?

  1. Ethnographic observation and interviews within the organization Correct answer.
  2. A mailed questionnaire with closed-ended rating scales
  3. A controlled laboratory simulation of culture
  4. A meta-analysis of published culture studies

Explanation

Ethnography immerses the researcher in the setting to capture members' own meanings, rituals, and symbols through observation and interviews. Closed-ended surveys impose the researcher's categories, and experiments and meta-analyses do not access insider interpretation directly. The interpretive goal therefore points to ethnographic fieldwork.

Question 41Research designs

A researcher assigns participants to a condition in which a supervisor gives public criticism and another in which criticism is private, then measures subsequent employee voice. Which term describes the public-versus-private criticism factor?

  1. The manipulated independent variable Correct answer.
  2. The measured dependent variable
  3. A mediating variable
  4. An extraneous variable

Explanation

The researcher deliberately creates the public and private criticism conditions, so this factor is the manipulated independent variable. Employee voice is the outcome being measured and thus the dependent variable. Extraneous and mediating variables are not deliberately manipulated conditions in this way.

Question 42Research designs

A researcher finds that employees who report high supervisor support also report low stress. A critic argues the researcher cannot conclude that support reduces stress. Which reason best supports the critic's argument?

  1. The data are correlational, so the direction of influence and third variables remain unresolved Correct answer.
  2. Stress is not a legitimate organizational variable
  3. The sample was too small to compute a correlation
  4. Supervisor support cannot be measured reliably

Explanation

Correlational data show that variables co-vary but do not establish which causes which or exclude alternative explanations. Stressed employees might also perceive less support, or a third factor might influence both. The critique rests on the limits of correlational inference, not on sample size or measurement claims.

Question 43Research designs

In an experiment on training methods, half the participants are trained by a confident, charismatic instructor and half by a quiet instructor, in addition to the intended difference in training content. The instructor charisma difference is best described as which of the following?

  1. The dependent variable
  2. A confounding variable Correct answer.
  3. A manipulation check
  4. The independent variable

Explanation

A confound is an unintended variable that varies systematically with the intended independent variable, making effects ambiguous. Because instructor charisma differs alongside training content, any outcome difference could reflect charisma rather than content. Controlling charisma, for example by using the same instructor, would remove this confound.

Question 44Research designs

A researcher wants results that generalize to employees in many industries and job types. Which design feature most directly supports this goal?

  1. Conducting the study in a single small startup
  2. Increasing the number of trials in a laboratory task
  3. Recruiting a diverse sample from multiple organizations and occupations Correct answer.
  4. Using a within-subjects design with one company

Explanation

External validity, or generalizability, is strengthened when the sample and setting represent the populations and contexts to which the researcher wants to generalize. A diverse multi-organization sample supports that aim. Single-site or single-company designs limit generalizability regardless of other features.

Question 45Research designs

To test whether a manipulation of 'participative decision-making' actually produced the intended psychological experience, the researcher includes items asking participants whether they felt their input was sought. These items serve as which of the following?

  1. A dependent variable
  2. A control group
  3. A manipulation check Correct answer.
  4. A random assignment procedure

Explanation

A manipulation check verifies that participants perceived the intended experimental condition as designed. If participants in the participative condition did not feel their input was sought, the manipulation failed. It is not the main outcome of interest, nor a comparison group or assignment method.

Question 46Research designs

A researcher compares employees who voluntarily joined a wellness program with those who did not, and finds joiners report better health. Which alternative explanation most threatens the conclusion that the program improved health?

  1. Instrumentation, because the survey was long
  2. Demand characteristics, because participants knew the hypothesis
  3. Self-selection, because healthier employees may be more likely to join Correct answer.
  4. Random assignment, because it was not used

Explanation

When participants choose their own condition, pre-existing differences such as motivation or baseline health may explain outcomes. This self-selection threat means joiners might have been healthier before the program began. Random assignment would reduce this problem, but its absence is the source of the threat rather than the threat itself.

Question 47Research designs

A study finds that a diversity training program raises awareness scores immediately after training, but scores fall back to baseline six months later. Which concept does this pattern most directly illustrate?

  1. A ceiling effect
  2. A selection bias
  3. A Hawthorne effect
  4. A decay effect over time Correct answer.

Explanation

A decay effect occurs when an intervention's benefits diminish as time passes after the program ends. The return to baseline at six months reflects fading rather than a measurement ceiling or reactivity. Recognizing decay matters for judging the lasting value of training.

Question 48Research designs

A researcher measures the same employees' job satisfaction in January and again in July to see whether a reorganization changed satisfaction. This design is best described as which of the following?

  1. A posttest-only design
  2. A meta-analytic design
  3. A pretest-posttest design Correct answer.
  4. A cross-sectional design

Explanation

A pretest-posttest design measures the outcome before and after an event or intervention to assess change. Measuring satisfaction in January and July around a reorganization fits this structure. A posttest-only design would measure only after the event, and a cross-sectional design would use a single occasion.

Question 49Research designs

In a quasi-experimental study, two existing departments are compared after one receives a new incentive plan. Which feature distinguishes this from a true experiment?

  1. The study took place in a real organization
  2. More than one group was compared
  3. Participants were not randomly assigned to conditions Correct answer.
  4. The dependent variable was measured after the change

Explanation

The defining feature of a true experiment is random assignment to conditions, which supports causal inference by distributing pre-existing differences. Quasi-experiments compare groups that already exist or self-select, so assignment is not random. Real settings, post-measures, and multiple groups can appear in either design type.

Question 50Research designs

A researcher plans a study of conflict resolution and wants to ensure that observers rating team conflict agree with one another. Which property is the researcher most concerned with?

  1. Inter-rater reliability Correct answer.
  2. Construct proliferation
  3. Internal validity
  4. External validity

Explanation

Inter-rater reliability refers to the consistency or agreement among multiple raters scoring the same behavior. When observers judge team conflict, high agreement indicates the ratings are dependable rather than idiosyncratic. Internal and external validity concern causal inference and generalizability, not rater agreement.