Chapter 2 : Methods

Question 1

Hindsight bias

Answer 1

The tendency to believe after learning about some outcome that you could have predicted it

Question 2

Hypothesis

Answer 2

Prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances

Question 3

Theory

Answer 3

A set of related propositions intended to describe some phenomenon or aspect of the world

Question 4

Participant observation

Answer 4

Observational Research
Involves observing some phenomenon at a close range
Strength: become involved and gain a new understanding of the sample you are observing
Limitations: Observations can be misleading

Question 5

Archival Research

Answer 5

Look at evidence found in archives (census reports, sports statistics, newspaper articles, and databases)

Question 6

Surveys

Answer 6

Can be conducted using either interviews or written questionnaires

Question 7

Population

Answer 7

Group you want to know about

Question 8

Random samples

Answer 8

Are likely to capture the proportions of given types of people in the population as a whole

Question 9

Convenience samples

Answer 9

can produce proportions that are severely skewed away from the actual proportions in the population as a whole
not random

Question 10

Correlational research

Answer 10

Psychologists measure two or more variables and examine whether they are related
Correlation does not establish causation
Can point investigators to possible causal hypotheses about some aspect of the world

Question 11

Experimental research

Answer 11

Enables investigators to make strong inferences about why a relationship exists or how different situations affect people’s behavior
establishes causality
requires an independent variable, which the scientist manipulates, and a dependent variable.
Limitation: ethically, some things can’t be studied with an experiment

Question 12

Independent variable

Answer 12

presumed to the cause of some particular outcome
manipulated by scientists in an experiment

Question 13

Dependent variable

Answer 13

what is being measured
it is hypothesized to be affected by the manipulation of the independent variable

Question 14

Third variable

Answer 14

A variable, often unmeasured in correlational research, that can be the true explanation for the relationship between two other variables

Question 15

Self-selection

Answer 15

In correlational research, the situation in which the participant, rather than the research, determines the participant’s level of each variable, thereby creating the problem that unknown other properties might be responsible for the observed relationship

Question 16

Longitudinal study

Answer 16

Collecting measures at different points in time from the same participants

Question 17

Experimental condition

Answer 17

the condition in which the person receives the “vaccine”

Question 18

Control condition

Answer 18

the condition in which the person receives the placebo

Question 19

Random assignment

Answer 19

Assigning participants in experimental research to different conditions randomly
Ensures that participants are as likely to be assigned to one condition as to another

Question 20

Natural experiments

Answer 20

A naturally occurring event or phenomenon with somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as conditions manipulated by the investigator in an experiment

Question 21

External validity

Answer 21

Indication of how well the results of a study pertain to contexts outside the condition of the laboratory

Question 22

Field Experiment

Answer 22

Takes place in the real world, usually with participants who are unaware that they are involved in a research study at all
One of the best ways to ensure external validity

Question 23

Internal validity

Answer 23

The likelihood that only the manipulated variable- and no other external influence - could have produced the results.
is established by random assignment
An experiment lacks internal validity when there is a third variable that could plausibly account for any observed difference between the different conditions

Question 24

Reliability

Answer 24

Refers to the degree to which a measure gives consistent results on repeated occasions or the degree to which two measuring instruments yield the same or very similar results

Question 25

Measurement validity

Answer 25

Refers to the correlation between a measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict Ex. IQ test validity is measured by correlating IQ scores with grades in school and with performance in jobs. If IQ scores predict behavior that requires intelligence, we can safely infer that the test is a valid measure of intelligence.

Question 26

What are common threats to internal validity?

Answer 26

Selection bias Differential attrition Regression to the mean Experimenter/rater bias Expectancy/Hawthorne effects

Question 27

Selection Bias

Answer 27

Assignment to conditions is not random but systematic, meaning that different kinds of people are in different conditions, and that may be the reason for the observed difference, not the manipulated variable itself. effects internal validity

Question 28

Differential attrition

Answer 28

If many more people "drop out" from one condition than another, the people who stay in the more taxing or upsetting condition are likely to be different from those in the other condition, thus under-mining random assignment

Question 29

Regression to the mean

Answer 29

If people are in a study because they're extreme on the variable of interest, they are likely to become less extreme even if nothing is done. Therefore, a "treatment" can seem effective even when it is of no value.

Question 30

Experimenter/rater bias

Answer 30

If the dependent measure has an element of subjectivity and the rater knows the hypothesis or what condition the subject or object of judgment was in, the rater may make biased judgments

Question 31

Expectancy/Hawthorne effects

Answer 31

Participants can be biased by their expectations about the purpose of the experiment and act in a way that confirms them.

Question 32

Statistical significance

Answer 32

A measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance alone

Question 33

Replication

Answer 33

Involves the reproduction of research results by the original investigator or by someone else

Question 34

Open science

Answer 34

Practices such as sharing data and research materials with anyone in the broader scientific community in an effort to increase the integrity and replicability of scientific research

Question 35

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Answer 35

A committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research

Question 36

Informed consent

Answer 36

A person's signed agreement to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all of its relevant aspects

Question 37

Deception research

Answer 37

Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of somethings that is done to them

Question 38

Debriefing

Answer 38

In preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants directly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so on. After an experiment, debriefing is used to educate participants about the questions being studied.

Question 39

Basic science (research)

Answer 39

Concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right. Conducted with a view toward using the findings to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world.

Question 40

Applied science (research)

Answer 40

Science or research concerned with solving important real-world problems

Question 41

Intervention

Answer 41

an effort to change a person's behavior