Chapter 2 Research Enterprise in Psych

Question 1

operational definitions

Answer 1

used to clarify precisely what is meant by each variable

Question 2

participants or subjects

Answer 2

organisms whose behavior is being observed in a study

Question 3

data collection techniques

Answer 3

allow for observation and measurement

Question 4

statistics

Answer 4

using mathematics to organize, summarize, & interpret numerical data

Question 5

research methods

Answer 5

consist of differing approaches to the observation, measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in studies

strategies for conducting studies

Question 6

what’s an experiment?

Answer 6

manipulation of one variable under controlled conditions so that resulting changes jn another variable can be observed

cause & effect relationships

Question 7

independent variable? IV

Answer 7

variable that is manipulated or that the experimenter controls

Question 8

dependent variable? DV

Answer 8

variable affected by manipulation, thought to depend on manipulation of the IV

how does X effect Y?

X-independent variable
Y-dependent variable

Question 9

advantages and disadvantages of experimental research

Answer 9

experimental method has the ability to draw conclusions about cause & effect relationships from an experiment. no other research method has this power.

experimental research has limitations though. experiments are often artificial & they have ethical & practical issues

Question 10

naturalistic observation

Answer 10

when a researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without intervening directly with the subjects.

Question 11

case study?

Answer 11

an in depth investigation of an individual subject (ex. serial killer)

Question 12

surveys?

Answer 12

used to obtain specific info about subjects behavior

Question 13

descriptive stats

Answer 13

organizing and summarizing data

Question 14

inferential stats

Answer 14

interpreting data and drawing conclusions

Question 15

measures of central tendency?

Answer 15

this is a typical or average score in a distribution

mean: arithmetic average of scores
median: score falling in the center
mode: most frequently occurring score

Question 16

variability

Answer 16

how much scores vary from each other and the mean

Question 17

standard deviation

Answer 17

numerical depiction of variability

Question 18

when 2 numbers are related to each other they’re _______?

Answer 18

correlated

Question 19

correlation?

Answer 19

numerical index degree of relationship
between 0 and 1, positive or negative
numbers closers to 1 indicate stronger relationships

Question 20

sampling bias

Answer 20

when a sample is not representative of the population

Question 21

social desirability bias

Answer 21

a tendency to give socially approved answer to a question about oneself

Question 22

response set

Answer 22

a tendency to respond to questions in a particular way

Question 23

experimenter bias

Answer 23

when a researchers expect ions about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

Question 24

Ethics in psychology research

Answer 24

question of deception-is it ok to make subject think they’re hurting themselves? have homo sexual tendencies? think they’re overhearing negative comments about themselves?

question of animal research-humane treatment of animals vs no animals in research.

& others

Question 25

American Psychological Association (APA)

Answer 25

develops a set of ethical standards for research to ensure both humans and animals are treated with dignity

Question 26

APA guidelines for research

Answer 26

slide 32 chapter 2

Question 27

advantages vs disadvantages of internet psychological research

Answer 27

advantages: samples are larger and more diverse
disadvantages: sampling bias from self deletion may cause problems & data collected under far less controlled conditions