Chapter 2: Research Ideas and Hypotheses Flashcards
(18 cards)
Applied research
Research studies that are intended to answer practical questions or solve practical problems.
Basic research
Research studies that are intended to answer theoretical questions or gather knowledge simply for the sake of new knowledge.
Primary source
A firsthand report of observations or research results written by the individual(s) who actually conducted the research and made the observations.
Testable
A hypothesis for which all of the variables, events, and individuals are real and can be defined and observed.
Secondary source
A description or summary of previous work, often conducted by another person, usually written by someone who did not participate in the research or observations discussed.
Refutable
A hypothesis that can be demonstrated to be false. That is, the hypothesis allows the possibility that the outcome will differ from the prediction.
Literature search
finding a set of published research reports that define the current state of knowledge in an area and to identify an unanswered question—that is, a gap in that knowledge base—that your study will attempt to fill.
Subject words
used to identify and describe the variables in the study and the characteristics of the participants.
Database
contains about 1 million publications, or records, that are all cross-referenced by subject words and author names.
PsycINFO
not-always-full-text database that contains over 5 million items selected from nearly 2,500 periodicals
PsycARTICLES
full-text database that contains about 235,949 items selected from 119 journals
Title
A sententce long concise and informative summary of the study’s purpose and key findings.
Abstract
a brief summary of the publication, usually about 100 words.
Introduction
the beginning of the paper which discusses previous research that forms the foundation for the current research study and presents a clear statement of the problem being investigated.
Method section
presents details concerning the participants and the procedures used in the study; often, a new research study is created by changing the characteristics of the participants or by modifying the procedures
Results section
which presents the details of the statistical analysis and usually is not important for generating a new research idea.
Discussion section
typically begins by summarizing the results of the study, stating the conclusions, and noting any potential applications.
Reference section
the end of the paper which lists complete references for all items cited in the report.
