Flashcards in Methods Deck (66):
1
applied research
research with clear, practical applications
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basic research
research that explores questions that are of interest of psychologists that are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications
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valid
measures what it's supposed to measure; accurate
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reliable
can be replicated, consistent
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hypothesis
a relationship between two variables
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variables
things that vary among the participants in the research
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dependent variable
depends on the independent variable
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theory
an explanation of some phenomenon, allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses
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operationalize
to explain how you will measure a variable
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subjects
the participants in research
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sampling
the process by which subjects are selected
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sample
group of subjects; should be representative of a larger population
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population
anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample
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random selection
randomly selecting the sample group, increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population
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stratified sampling
randomly sampling each strata (category of people, for example race or gender) of the population, so that the final sample reflects the population more accurately
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laboratory experiment
conducted in a lab, a highly controlled environment
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field experiment
conducted in the world, more realistic than laboratory experiment
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experiment
only experiments can show cause and effect relationships through the manipulation of the independent variable and subsequent observation of the dependent variable while controlling for confounding variables
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confounding variable
any difference between the experimental and control conditions, besides the changes of the independent variable
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assignment
the process by which subjects are put into a group, experimental or control
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random assignment
each subject has an equal chance of being placed in either the experimental or the control group
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group matching
half of each condition (for example, male or female) is assigned to each group (experimental or control)
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situation-relevant confounding variables
differences between the experimental and control situations that may affect the experiment
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experimenter bias
the unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypotheses
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double-blind procedure
neither the subjects nor the researcher are able to affect the outcome of the research
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single-blind procedure
only the subjects do not know which group they're in
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demand characteristics
cues about the purpose of the study
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response/subject bias
when subjects behave in ways they think the observer wants them to behave
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Hawthorne effect
selecting a group of people on whom to experiment will affect the performance of hat group, regardless of what is done to the individuals
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placebo effect
the purely psychological effects of thinking you took a drug when you really didn't
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counterbalancing
using subjects as their own control group by having half of them be experimental first and half of them be control first
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order effect
the order of the experimental/control group activities may affect the results
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correlation
a relationship between two variables without ascribing cause
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ex post facto study
research in which subjects are chosen based on a pre-existing condition; all other variables are controlled
35
survey method
kind of correlational research in which surveys are filled out; difficult to control for confounding variables
36
naturalistic observation
unobtrusive observation on subjects in their natural habitats, control is sacrificed
37
case study
a full, detailed picture of one subject or a small group of subjects; not reflective of population, as a result findings cannot be generalized
38
descriptive statistics
describe a set of data
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frequency distribution
a distribution of observed frequencies of occurrence of the values of a variable
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frequency polygon
line graph
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histogram
bar graph
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measures of central tendency
attempt to mark the center of a distribution
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mean
the average of all the scores in a distribution
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median
the middle score of a distribution when written in ascending or descending order
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mode
the score that appears most frequently
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positively skewed
when a distribution has a high outlier, there are more low scores than high scores due to the outlier
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negatively skewed
when a distribution has a low outlier, there are more high scores than low scores due to the outlier
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measures of variability
attempt to depict the diversity of the distribution
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variance
the average of the squared differences of each number from the mean
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standard deviation
the square root of the variance
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range
the distance between the highest and lowest score in a distribution
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z score
the distance of a score from the mean in units of standard deviation
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normal curve
theoretical bell-shaped curve for which the area under the curve lying between any two z scores has been predetermined
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percentile
the distance of a score from 0
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correlation coefficient
range from -1 and +1
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scatter plot
a series of points plotted on a graph
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line of best fit
the line drawn through the scatter plot that minimizes the distance of all the points from the line
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inferential statistics
determine whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was selected; making sure the results are not due to sampling error and chance
59
sampling error
the extent to which a sample differs from the population
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p value
the percent chance that the findings were due to chance
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institutional review board
reviews research proposal for ethical violations and/or procedural errors
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informed consent
participants must know that they are involved in research and give their consent
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coercion
participation must be voluntary
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anonymity/confidentiality
both protect privacy
65
risk
participants cannot be placed in significant mental or physical risk
66