Question

Researchers hypothesized that increasing a woman's level of arousal would increase her perceptions of attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. To test this, eighty females were randomly selected to participate in a study. First, participants were asked to ride an exercise bike for as long as they could at a predetermined high rate of speed. Then, after a brief rest period, participants were asked to rate the physical attractiveness of a series of pictures of males. Researchers found that the longer the participants rode the bike the more attractive they rated the males in the pictures.

a) Did the researchers select an appropriate methodology (e.g., correlational study, experiment) given the stated hypothesis? Yes or No?

b) If you answered Yes, explain why the methodology was appropriate for the hypothesis. If you answered No, explain why the methodology was inappropriate for the hypothesis.

Answer 1

a) Yes, the researchers selected an appropriate methodology which is correlational study for the stated hypothesis.

b) The researchers were studying the correlation between high arousal and the increase in attractiveness of opposite sex. Exercise is one of the ways to activate all the physical organs and bring mental alertness. This strong mental alertness helps one decide something sharply and in this case it’s the physical attractiveness of males by females. The research samples were also in good number which is eighty. It also proves that when one is inactive they won’t be able to make difficult decisions but when they are aroused, they will be in a position to decide quickly but at the same time accurately.