(2) Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research

Question 1

Objective Measurements

Answer 1

The measure of an entity or behaviour allowed a margin of error, consistent across instruments and observers

Question 2

Variable

Answer 2

The object, concept, or event being controlled, manipulated, or measured by a scientist

Question 3

Operational Definitions

Answer 3

Are statements that describe the procedures (or operations) and specific measures used to record observations

Question 4

Validity

Answer 4

The degree to which an instrument or procedure measures what it claims to measure

Question 5

Reliability

Answer 5

Consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time

Question 6

Generalizability

Answer 6

the degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations, individuals, or events

Question 7

Population

Answer 7

The group that researchers want to generalize about

Question 8

Sample:

Answer 8

A select group of population members

Question 9

Random Sample

Answer 9

A sampling technique in which every individual of a population has an equal chance of being included

Question 10

Convenience Samples

Answer 10

Samples of individuals who are the most readily available

Question 11

Ecological Validity

Answer 11

the results of a laboratory study can be applied to or repeated in the natural environment

Question 12

Hawthorne Effect

Answer 12

Behaviour change that occurs as a result of being observed

Question 13

Social Desirability

Answer 13

Research participants respond in ways that increase chances that they will be viewed favourably by the experimenter and/or other participants

Question 14

Placebo Effect

Answer 14

A measurable and experienced improvement in health or behaviour that cannot be attributable to a medication or treatment

Question 15

Demand Characteristics:

Answer 15

Inadvertent cues given off by the experimenter or the experimental context that provide information about how participants are expected to behave

Question 16

Single-blind Study

Answer 16

Participants do not know the true purpose of the study, or else do not know which type of treatment they are receiving (ex placebo or a drug)

Question 17

Double-blind study

Answer 17

A study in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows the exact treatment for any individual

Question 18

Peer review

Answer 18

A process in which papers submitted for publication in scholarly journals are read and critiqued by experts in the specific field of study

Question 19

Replication

Answer 19

The process of repeating a study and finding a similar outcome each time

Question 20

Anecdotal Evidence

Answer 20

An individual’s story or testimony about an observation or event that is used to make a claim as evidence

Question 21

Appeal to authority

Answer 21

The belief in an “experts” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present

Question 22

Appeal to common sense

Answer 22

A claim that appears to be sound but lacks supporting scientific evidence

Question 23

Research Design

Answer 23

A set of methods that allows a hypothesis to be tested

Question 24

Qualitative Research

Answer 24

examining an issue or behaviour without performing numerical measurements of the variables

Question 25

Case Studies

Answer 25

An in-depth report about the details of a specific case

Question 26

Naturalistic Observations

Answer 26

They unobtrusively observe and record behaviour and it occurs in the subjects natural environment

Question 27

Self-reporting

Answer 27

A method of responses provided directly by the people who are being studied, typically through face-to-face interviews, phone surveys, paper-and-pencil tests, and web-based questionnaires

Question 28

Correlational Research

Answer 28

measuring the degree of association between two or more variables

Question 29

Third Variable Problem

Answer 29

the possibility that a third, unmeasured variable is responsible for a well established correlation between two variables

Question 30

Illusory Correlations

Answer 30

relationships that exist only in the mind, rather than in reality

Question 31

Random Assignment:

Answer 31

A technique for dividing samples into two or more groups in which participants are equally likely to be placed in any condition of the experiment

Question 32

Confounding Variable

Answer 32

A variable outside of the researchers control that might affect or provide an alternative explanation for the results

Question 33

Independent Variable

Answer 33

the variable that the experimenter manipulates to distinguish between two or more groups

Question 34

Dependent Variable

Answer 34

the observation or measurement that is recorded during the experiment and subsequently compared across all groups

Question 35

Between-subjects design

Answer 35

an experimental design in which we compare the performance of participants who are in different groups

Question 36

Experimental group

Answer 36

the group in the experiment that receives a treatment or the stimuli targeting a specific behaviour

Question 37

Control group

Answer 37

the group that does not receive the treatment or stimuli targeting a specific behaviour; this group therefore serves as a baseline to which the experimental group is compared

Question 38

Within-subjects designs

Answer 38

An experimental design in which the same participants respond to all types of stimuli or experience all experimental conditions

Question 39

Quasi-experimental research

Answer 39

a research technique in which the two or more groups that are compared are selected based on predetermined characteristics

Question 40

Research Ethics Board (REB)

Answer 40

a committee of researchers and officials at an institution charged with the protection of human research participants

Question 41

Informed Consent

Answer 41

a potential volunteer must be informed (know the purpose, tasks, and risk involved in the study) and give consent (agree to participate based on the information provided) without pressure

Question 42

Deception

Answer 42

misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation

Question 43

Debriefing

Answer 43

meaning that the researchers should explain the true nature of the study, and especially the nature of and reason for any deception

Question 44

Descriptive statistics

Answer 44

a set of techniques used to organize, summarize, and interpret data

Question 45

Frequency

Answer 45

the number of observations that fall within a certain category or range of scores

Question 46

Normal Distribution

Answer 46

a symmetrical distribution with values clustered around a central, mean value (bell curve)

Question 47

Skewed Distribution

Answer 47

an asymmetrical distribution with a large cluster of scores on one side and a long “tail” on the other

Question 48

Central Tendency

Answer 48

a measure of the central point of a distribution

Question 49

Mean

Answer 49

the arithmetic average of a set of numbers

Question 50

Median

Answer 50

the 50th percentile – the point on the horizontal axis at which 50% of all observations are lower, and 50% of all observations are higher

Question 51

Mode

Answer 51

which is the category with the highest frequency

Question 52

Variability

Answer 52

the degree to which scores are dispersed in a distribution

Question 53

Standard Deviation

Answer 53

a measure of variability around the mean

Question 54

Hypothesis test

Answer 54

a statistical method of evaluation whether differences among groups are meaningful (concept known as a statistically significant difference)

Question 55

Statistical significance

Answer 55

the means of the groups are father apart that you would expect them to be by random chance alone

Question 56

Null Hypothesis

Answer 56

assumes that any difference between groups (or conditions) are due to chance

Question 57

Experimental Hypothesis

Answer 57

assumes that any differences are due to a variable controlled by the experimenter