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Chapter 9: Primary Data Collection: Experimentation and Test Markets
Multiple Choice
1. In an experiment, the variable that the researcher “manipulates” (i.e., changes) is called
all of the following EXCEPT the ____________ variable.
a. independent
b. experimental
c. dependent
d. treatment
e. explanatory
2. In an experiment, the variable that the researcher measures to determine the effect of the
change in the independent variable can be any of the following EXCEPT the
_________________ variable.
a. market share
b. profit
c. unit sales
d. price
e. brand loyalty
3. A test market study is a type of:
a. laboratory experiment.
b. virtual shopping study.
c. maturation study.
d. field experiment.
e. descriptive study.
4. The extent to which the findings of a test market study can be “generalized” to predict
sales in the U.S. market is the basic concept underlying the concept of:
a. external validity.
b. internal validity.
c. the time-series effect.
d. the history effect.
e. the maturation effect.
5. All of the following are possible threats to internal experimental validity EXCEPT:
a. mortality.
b. external validity.
c. history.
d. maturation.
e. testing effects.
6. The idea that an interviewer may change his behavior when interviewing respondents in
the afternoon because of a fatigue effect is the basis of which extraneous experimental
factor?
a. Instrument variation
b. Mortality
c. Testing effects
d. History
e. Regression to the Mean
7. If real estate agents in St. Louis are offered the chance to attend a voluntary training
session on Missouri State Law, the fact that agents who are having difficulty making
enough sales to have sufficient income means that they are more likely to attend these
training sessions is an example of which type of extraneous variable?
a. Maturation
b. Testing effects
c. Selection bias
d. History
e. Regression to the Mean
8. The fact that high school juniors who re-take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in their
senior year typically achieve scores the second time that are about 50 points higher than
the first time they took this test as juniors is an example of which type of extraneous
variable?
a. Selection bias
b. Testing effects
c. Mortality
d. Instrument variation
e. History
9. The independent variable that is “manipulated” by the experimenter is called the
__________ variable.
a. contaminated
b. isolated
c. dependent
d. treatment
e. randomization
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10. Which type of experimental design occurs when a Ford dealer offers two free domestic
tickets on American Airlines to anyone who buys a new Ford from this dealer in January?
a. Before-after with control group design
b. Solomon 4 design
c. One-shot case study
d. After-only with control group design
e. One-group pretest-posttest design
11. How is the dependent variable measured in an experiment with the following notation?
O1 X O2
a. O2 – O1
b. O2 x O1
c. O2 / O1
d. O2 + O1
e. O2
12. How is the dependent variable measured in the following experimental design?
Experimental Group: (R) O1 X O2
Control Group: (R) O3 O4
a. O2 – O4
b. O4 – O3
c. (O2 – O1) ─ (O4 – O3)
d. O2 – O1
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e. O1 – O3
13. What type of experimental design is the following?
Experimental Group: (R) X O1
Control Group: (R) O2
a. Solomon 4 design
b. One-shot case study
c. Quasi-experiment
d. After-only with control group design
e. Pretest-Posttest Design
14. What type of experimental design occurs when the approval ratings of the President of
the United States are tracked weekly for several weeks both before and after a major
speech by the President on national television?
a. Pretest-Posttest experimental design
b. After-only with control group design
c. Time-series
d. Solomon 4 design
e. One-shot case study
15. When Wendy’s tracks the profits of its “single hamburger” versus a test market result of
a new product (a hot dog) to determine the impact on profits of adding the hot dog to the
menu, Wendy’s is testing for a(n):
a. quasi-effect.
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b. contamination effect.
c. multiple time-series effect.
d. cannibalization rate.
e. one-shot effect.
True/False
16. In order for an experimenter to attempt to demonstrate causality in an experiment, she
can hope to claim that A caused B only when A occurred after B on a time line.
17. Laboratory experiments have greater problems estimating external validity than test
market studies.
18. The extent to which test market results can be used to estimate market share in states
other than the ones in which the test market took place is the fundamental question in
external validity.
19. The key factor in making true experimental designs more valid than pre-experimental
designs is randomization of the independent variable.
20. Companies frequently attempt to measure the national market share of a new product
based on its market share results in a test market study.