Time Series Analysis and Its Applications: With R Examples (Third edition)

Time Series learning

Interrupted Time-Series Design

Which of the following best describes the defining characteristic of a time series in psychological research?

Match each component of a time series design with its correct description in a psychological study context.

A clinical psychologist monitors a patient's self-reported anxiety levels every morning for three months to evaluate the stability of their symptoms during a new treatment. Because these quantitative measurements are taken at sequential intervals over a continuous period, the psychologist is using a(n) ________.

True or False: A psychologist who monitors a patient's self-reported anxiety ($a$) every morning for a year, but then collapses all those data points into a single annual mean ($\bar{x}$) for their final report, is effectively performing a time series analysis.

Stationary Dynamics

FTSE 100 Sequence Data Example

Autoregressive Conditional Probability

Synthetic Sequence Data

In the context of research methods, which of the following best defines a 'time series'?

Match each core component of a time-series design to its corresponding application in a study monitoring how student sleep quality changes throughout an academic year.

A researcher tracks the number of daily calls to a suicide prevention hotline for $90$ consecutive days to see if the frequency of calls increases during the winter holidays. True or False: This research approach is an example of a time series.

A researcher wants to use a time series approach to investigate weekly levels of test anxiety among first-year university students across one full academic semester. Arrange the following steps in the logical order required to correctly design and execute this time series study.

What is the primary purpose of utilizing a time series approach in psychological research?

A researcher monitors a group's average weekly mood ratings for an entire year to evaluate the impact of a new wellness program. Why is this time-series approach more informative than simply comparing one week of ratings before the program to one week after?

A researcher claims that a new school-wide mindfulness program significantly reduced student stress based on a single measurement taken two weeks after the program began. To evaluate whether this claim is justified or if the low stress levels are merely a temporary fluctuation, a critic would argue that the researcher should have used a(n) _____ to examine data at sequential intervals over a continuous period.

A school psychologist tracks the number of daily disciplinary incidents at a middle school for $30$ school days before and $30$ school days after implementing a new positive behavior intervention. This research design, which relies on a set of quantitative measurements taken at sequential intervals over a continuous period of time to track trends, is called a(n) _____.

An educational psychologist is analyzing a time-series plot of weekly student anxiety scores collected over an entire school year to evaluate the impact of a mid-semester stress-reduction workshop. To ensure the observed changes are truly due to the workshop, the researcher must rule out alternative explanations. Match each hypothetical pattern of time-series data to the specific threat to internal validity it represents.

A school district claims that its new anti-bullying curriculum is highly effective because the number of reported bullying incidents in the semester following the program's launch was lower than in the semester immediately preceding it. A research psychologist critiques this claim, arguing that the district should instead evaluate a continuous time series of monthly bullying incidents spanning three years before and three years after the launch.

Which of the following best explains why the psychologist's recommendation is a more valid way to evaluate the curriculum's effectiveness?