Chapter 2 - The Research Enterprise in Psychology

Question 1

what are the four steps of the scientific process?

Answer 1

1) identify a question
2) form a hypothesis
3) gather information
4) analyze the data

Question 2

a plausible or scientifically accepted general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena is a:

Answer 2

theory

Question 3

what four things make a good theory?

Answer 3

• needs to make sense
• needs to be open to disprovement
• predictions are supported by research
• conforms to law of parsimony

Question 4

what are the three main issues faced when studying humans?

Answer 4

• complexity
• variability
• reactivity

Question 5

proposing an explanation to a behaviour that makes sense in that context is:

Answer 5

hindsight understanding

Question 6

we understand behaviour through:

Answer 6

hypothesis testing

Question 7

a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms is an:

Answer 7

operational definition

Question 8

what are the three types of research:

Answer 8

1) descriptive
2) correlational
3) experimental

Question 9

research where we observe behaviour in nature and report what we saw is:

Answer 9

descriptive research

Question 10

a method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual are:

Answer 10

case studies

Question 11

true or false: case studies are generalizable to the public

Answer 11

false

Question 12

sending out surveys to samples of the general public is a primary form of:

Answer 12

survey research

Question 13

a sub group of a population is a:

Answer 13

sample

Question 14

are sample groups representative of a population?

Answer 14

no

Question 15

observing people in their natural environment, when they do not know they are being observed is:

Answer 15

naturalistic observation

Question 16

which type of research is best to avoid demand characteristics?

Answer 16

naturalistic observation

Question 17

what are some limits to naturalistic observation?

Answer 17

• experimenters cannot let a person know they are being observed
• makes it difficult to study some things
• requires long periods of observation to get a single measure of a desired behaviour

Question 18

case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation are all types of:

Answer 18

descriptive research

Question 19

looking for relationships between variables is:

Answer 19

correlational research

Question 20

true or false: you can use correlational research to determine causation

Answer 20

false

Question 21

comparing the pattern of variation in a series of measurements between variables is:

Answer 21

correlation

Question 22

what are the three main types of correlation:

Answer 22

• perfect
• positive
• negative

Question 23

the type of correlational research where an increase in one variable relates to an increase in the other is a:

Answer 23

positive correlation

Question 24

the type of correlational research where an increase in one variable relates to a decrease in the other is:

Answer 24

negative correlations

Question 25

the strength of correlations indicates:

Answer 25

how related two variables are

Question 26

correlation is usually a ___________ in research

Answer 26

first step

Question 27

what is the third variable problem?

Answer 27

two variables may be related to one another only because they are causally related to a third variable

Question 28

a matched sample is when:

Answer 28

participants in two groups match

Question 29

a matched pair is when:

Answer 29

each participant matches another

Question 30

the only way to truly infer causality is to:

Answer 30

develop an experiment

Question 31

a technique for establishing a causal relationship between variables is:

Answer 31

experimentation

Question 32

a property whose value can chance across individuals over time is:

Answer 32

a variable

Question 33

the variable that is manipulated in an experiment is:

Answer 33

the independent variable (IV)

Question 34

the variable that is measured in a study is:

Answer 34

the dependent variable (DV)

Question 35

the point of an experiment is to manipulate variables in a:

Answer 35

controlled environment

Question 36

what are the four steps of manipulation:

Answer 36

1) identify what you want to study
2) manipulate your independent variable
3) measure the dependent variable
4) check for effect and draw conclusions

Question 37

an experiment between-subjects is:

Answer 37

two groups of different subjects (control and experiment)

Question 38

an experiment within-subjects is:

Answer 38

one group where the participants are both the control and experiment

Question 39

a harmless substance that looks like the treatment drug; used to counter expectation effects is a:

Answer 39

placebo

Question 40

producing the same measurement when measuring the same thing is:

Answer 40

reliability

Question 41

must be related to the property of study:

Answer 41

validity

Question 42

the ability of a measure to detect the conditions specified in operational definition is:

Answer 42

power

Question 43

aspects of an observational setting that make people behave as they think they should are:

Answer 43

demand characteristics

Question 44

• ensuring participant anonymity and confidentiality
• fMRI, galvanic skin response tests
• deception
• include filler items
  these are used to:

Answer 44

reduce demand characteristics

Question 45

what are two ways that scientists can unconsciously influence participant behaviour?

Answer 45

1) expectations can influence measurements
2) expectations can influence reality

Question 46

a study where neither the researcher nor the participant knows which is treatment and which is control is a:

Answer 46

double-blind procedure

Question 47

a procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group

Answer 47

random assignment

Question 48

the value of measurements near the centre or midpoint of a distribution is a:

Answer 48

central distribution

Question 49

value of the most frequently observed measurement

Answer 49

mode

Question 50

average value of all measurements

Answer 50

mean

Question 51

value in the middle of the distribution

Answer 51

median

Question 52

what is a central tendency?

Answer 52

the value of measurements near the centre or midpoint of a distribution

Question 53

what is variability?

Answer 53

how much measurements differ from one another

Question 54

the value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the smallest

Answer 54

range

Question 55

describe the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution

Answer 55

standard deviation

Question 56

what are some characteristics of a normal distribution?

Answer 56

• a “bell-curve”
• symmetrical
• central peak
• tails off to both ends

Question 57

what does it mean for a distribution curve to be positively skewed?

Answer 57

long tail on the right

Question 58

what does it mean for a distribution curve to be negatively skewed?

Answer 58

long tail on the left

Question 59

what tests the significance of differences between groups to see if the effect we are observing is meaningful?

Answer 59

inferential statistics

Question 60

you cannot claim results are meaningful unless you can report that you are ______ sure that random assignment has not failed

Answer 60

95%

Question 61

p < 0.05 means the probability of difference due to chance is less than:

Answer 61

5%

Question 62

states that any observed differences between the samples are due to chance

Answer 62

null hypothesis

Question 63

if p < 0.05, the the experiment has:

Answer 63

internal validity

Question 64

the experimental property where variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic was is:

Answer 64

external validity

Question 65

what are the three key components or ethical considerations of the American Psychological Association?

Answer 65

• informed consent
• freedom from coercion
• protection from harm

Question 66

if a participant is deceived in any way during or before an experiment, at the end they must be given a:

Answer 66

debriefing