A hypothesis is a formal statement of the expected relationship or relationships between two

or more variables in a specified population. A simple hypothesis predicts the relationship

(associative or causal) between two variables. A complex hypothesis predicts the relationship
(associative or causal) among three or more variables. The relationships identified in
hypotheses are associative or causal. An associative relationship identifies variables that
occur or exist together in the real world. Causal relationships identify a cause-and-effect
interaction between two or more variables. A nondirectional hypothesis states that a
relationship exists but does not predict the nature of the relationship. A directional hypothesis
states the nature or direction of the relationship between two or more variables.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 142

14. What type of hypothesis is the following? (Select all that apply.)
The number of minutes a 16-year-old girl spends applying her makeup in the morning is
related to her perceived personal attractiveness.
a. Simple hypothesis
b. Complex hypothesis
c. Causal hypothesis
d. Associative hypothesis
e. Nondirectional hypothesis
f. Directional hypothesis
ANS: A, D, E
A hypothesis is a formal statement of the expected relationship or relationships between two
or more variables in a specified population. A simple hypothesis predicts the relationship
(associative or causal) between two variables. A complex hypothesis predicts the relationship
(associative or causal) among three or more variables. The relationships identified in
hypotheses are associative or causal. An associative relationship identifies variables that
occur or exist together in the real world. Causal relationships identify a cause-and-effect
interaction between two or more variables. A nondirectional hypothesis states that a
relationship exists but does not predict the nature of the relationship. A directional hypothesis
states the nature or direction of the relationship between two or more variables.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 142

15. What type of hypothesis is the following? (Select all that apply.)
Decreasing the time allotted for weekly in-class pop quizzes increases student anxiety and
decreases student grades.
a. Simple hypothesis
b. Complex hypothesis
c. Causal hypothesis
d. Associative hypothesis
e. Nondirectional hypothesis
f. Directional hypothesis
ANS: B, C, F
 A hypothesis is a formal statement of the expected relationship or relationships between two
or more variables in a specified population. A simple hypothesis predicts the relationship
(associative or causal) between two variables. A complex hypothesis predicts the relationship
(associative or causal) among three or more variables. The relationships identified in
hypotheses are associative or causal. An associative relationship identifies variables that
occur or exist together in the real world. Causal relationships identify a cause-and-effect
interaction between two or more variables. A nondirectional hypothesis states that a
relationship exists but does not predict the nature of the relationship. A directional hypothesis
states the nature or direction of the relationship between two or more variables.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 142

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. A research study offers elderly men who have, in the past, been prison inmates $1,500 for
participation in an all-day workshop at which they agree to be hypnotized and tell stories of
incarceration, which are later published. The research participants are allowed to listen to the
tapes of what they say under hypnosis and to withdraw permission to use any part of the
information. Why is this scenario a violation of self-determination?
a. Allowing participants to withdraw permission to use part of the research
information violates the study integrity and represents deception.
b. It is an example of coercion.
c. Prisoners are a vulnerable population and should not be used as research subjects.
d. What is said under hypnosis may not be true.
ANS: B
The right to self-determination is based on the ethical principle of respect for persons. This
principle holds that because humans are capable of self-determination, or controlling their
own destiny, they should be treated as autonomous agents who have the freedom to conduct
their lives as they choose without external controls. A subject’s right to self-determination can
be violated through the use of (1) coercion, (2) covert data collection, and (3) deception.
Coercion occurs when an overt threat of harm or excessive reward is intentionally presented
by one person to another to obtain his or her compliance. In the example, offering elderly men
$1,500 for one day could be considered offering an excessive reward: therefore, it is an act of
coercion violating the human right to self-determination.

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2. A researcher working for Google collects data on fair treatment in the workplace. He attempts
to attach one of the raw data forms to a message to himself, so that he can finish the data
analysis at home that evening, but accidentally sends it to another employee who had provided
data for the study. The two employees, coincidentally, have an identical opinion about fair
treatment in the workplace. This best describes an example of a violation of which of the
following human rights?
a. Confidentiality
b. Fair treatment
c. Protection from harm
d. None of these—no ethical violation occurred, because the two subjects share a
point of view.
 ANS: A
Confidentiality is the researcher’s management of private information shared by a subject that
must not be shared with others without the authorization of the subject. In the example,
sending one research subject the raw data of a different subject is a direct breach of
confidentiality. A breach in confidentiality can occur when a researcher, by accident or direct
action, allows an unauthorized person to gain access to raw study data. The right to fair
treatment is based on the ethical principle of justice. This principle holds that each person
should be treated fairly and should receive what he or she is due or owed. The right to
protection from discomfort and harm is based on the ethical principle of beneficence, which
holds that one should do good and, above all, do no harm.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 172

3. In a study of outpatients experiencing panic attacks, a researcher was working in a busy clinic
waiting room and left his computer to consent a new study participant. A transcription of a
patient interview was displayed, and at the end of the transcription was the patient’s medical
record number and a list of medications currently taken. The researcher had not closed down
the screen, and when he returned to his computer, he found an adult patient playing a video
game on the computer. This best describes an example of a violation of which of the
following human rights?
a. Protection from the harm of exposure
b. Security
c. Confidentiality
d. Privacy
ANS: D
Privacy is an individual’s right to determine the time, extent, and general circumstances under
which personal information will be shared with or withheld from others. This information
consists of one’s attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, opinions, and records. The Privacy Act of 1974
provided the initial protection of an individual’s privacy. Because of this act, data collection
methods were to be scrutinized to protect subjects’ privacy, and data cannot be gathered from
subjects without their knowledge. Individuals also have the right to access their records and to
prevent access by others. The intent of this act was to prevent the invasion of privacy that
occurs when private information is shared without an individual’s knowledge or against his or
her will. Invading an individual’s privacy might cause loss of dignity, friendships, or
employment or create feelings of anxiety, guilt, embarrassment, or shame. The HIPAA
Privacy Rule expanded the protection of an individual’s privacy, specifically his or her
protected individually identifiable health information, and described the ways in which
covered entities can use or disclose this information. De-identifying health data involves
removing 18 elements that could be used to identify an individual. An important one on this
list is the individual’s medical record number. In the example, the researcher’s use of an
actual patient identification number on a transcription risks the human right to privacy; a code
number should have been used instead.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 169

4. Ellen is a participant in a research study. She will receive either the customary medication to
treat her metastatic colon cancer or a new medication that has shown better results in animal
studies and one small human study. This is _____ research.
a. Coercive
 b. Correlational
c. Therapeutic
d. Dangerous
ANS: C
Therapeutic research gives the patient an opportunity to receive an experimental treatment that
might have beneficial results. Nontherapeutic research is conducted to generate knowledge for
a discipline, and the results from the study might benefit future patients but will probably not
benefit those acting as research subjects. The Declaration of Helsinki differentiated
therapeutic research from nontherapeutic research. Neither descriptive nor correlational
research involves treatment or manipulation of a variable. There is no evidence of coercion.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 160

5. A graduate student receives a mailed survey asking her to participate in research about
unpleasant experiences in graduate school. She is asked to return the survey, and the
instructions say, “Return of this instrument implies consent.” Why does this constitute
consent?
a. Studies like this are exempt from institutional review board oversight, so consent is
not required.
b. Not returning the survey constitutes refusal, and subjects may indeed refuse by not
completing the survey. The opposite is equally true.
c. The study is anonymous, so there is no risk of disclosure.
d. Only interventional research requires consent.

ANS: B
The requirements for written consent may be waived in research that “presents no more than
minimal risk of harm to subjects and involves no procedures for which written consent is
normally required outside of the research context.” For example, if questionnaires are used to
collect relatively harmless data, a signed consent form from the subjects would not be
required. The subject’s completion of the questionnaire may serve as consent. The top of the
questionnaire might contain a statement such as “Your completion of this questionnaire
indicates your consent to participate in this study.”

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 180

6. Both a subject in an experimental group who receives an experimental treatment and a subject
in a control group who receives a control treatment are considered to be subjects in
therapeutic research. Why is this?
a. A patient in an experimental research study who elects to be a member of the
experimental group knows he or she will be receiving the experimental treatment.
b. Each patient who is consented to be a research subject in an experimental study in
which the treatment has potentially beneficial results has the potential to receive a
therapeutic intervention.
c. The research is designed to measure the effect of the therapeutic treatment as
compared with the usual therapeutic treatment; hence, this is therapeutic research.
d. Each subject is blind to treatment.
ANS: C
 Therapeutic research gives the patient an opportunity to receive an experimental treatment that
might have beneficial results. In experimental research this means only that the subject is
recruited into the study and randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group, not that
the subject receives the experimental treatment.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Evaluation REF: Page 160

7. In what way could the researchers in the Willowbrook study have designed their research on
the hepatitis virus so that it was ethically acceptable?
a. The researchers could have given each participant a chance to assent.
b. The researchers could have performed their study on persons who were capable of
full assent.
c. The researchers could have made the study available at many institutions for the
mentally retarded.
d. The researchers could have performed descriptive research on persons already
infected with hepatitis.
ANS: D
From the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, research on hepatitis was conducted by Dr. Krugman
at Willowbrook, an institution for the mentally retarded. The subjects, all children, were
deliberately infected with the hepatitis virus. During the 20-year study, Willowbrook closed
its doors to new inmates because of overcrowded conditions. However, the research ward
continued to admit new inmates. To gain their child’s admission to the institution, the parents
were forced to give permission for the child to be a subject in the study. Because, the principal
of beneficence requires the researcher to do good and “above all, do no harm,” the only way
to study a virus that clearly harms people is non-interventionally: through descriptive or
correlational research.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Synthesis REF: Page 161

8. The right an individual has to be told that he is a potential participant in a research study and
may decide not to be so best defines which of the following human rights?
a. Beneficence
b. Justice
c. Privacy
d. Self-determination
ANS: D
The right to self-determination holds that because humans are capable of self-determination,
or controlling their own destiny, they should be treated as autonomous agents who have the
freedom to conduct their lives as they choose without external controls. Privacy is an
individual’s right to determine the time, extent, and general circumstances under which
personal information will be shared with or withheld from others. Justice holds that each
person should be treated fairly and should receive what he or she is due or owed. The right to
protection from discomfort and harm is based on the ethical principle of beneficence, which
holds that one should do good and, above all, do no harm.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 162

9. The right an individual has to receive treatment even if he decides not to participate in the
research best defines which of the following human rights?