Midterm 1

Question 1

What is causality?

Answer 1

Causality refers to the relationship between cause and effect.

Question 2

What does causality imply?

Answer 2

Causality implies that one event (the cause) leads to the occurrence of another event (the effect).

Question 3

Types of peer reviewed papers

Answer 3

• empirical
• theoretical
• general reviews
• commentaries, responses

Question 4

What is the primary purpose of the peer review process in academic publishing?

Answer 4

To evaluate the quality, validity, and significance of a manuscript before publication.

Question 5

What feedback might reviewers provide during the peer review process?

Answer 5

They may suggest revisions, identify errors, or recommend acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

Question 6

What is the primary purpose of publishing research?

Answer 6

To disseminate knowledge and findings to the scientific community and the public.

Question 7

True or False: Peer review is an essential step in the research publishing process.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Parts of a research paper

Answer 8

• introduction
• method
• results
• discussion

Question 9

What is the primary purpose of inferential statistics?

Answer 9

To make generalizations or predictions about a population based on a sample.

Question 10

What is an example of inferential statistics?

Answer 10

Estimating a population mean from a sample mean

Question 11

statistical inference

Answer 11

set of techniques for drawing conclusions from a sample to the population the sample came from

Question 12

sampling error

Answer 12

variation caused in sample statistics by using different samples

Question 13

What is the primary cause of sampling error?

Answer 13

Sampling error is primarily caused by the natural variability in populations.

Question 14

True or False: Sampling error can be completely eliminated.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

How can researchers minimize sampling error in their studies?

Answer 15

Researchers can minimize sampling error by using a larger sample size and ensuring random sampling methods.

Question 16

What is the definition of sample size in research?

Answer 16

Sample size refers to the number of observations or replicates included in a statistical sample.

Question 17

True or False: A larger sample size generally leads to more reliable results.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

What is the relationship between sample size and the confidence interval width?

Answer 18

As sample size increases, the width of the confidence interval decreases.

Question 19

What is the definition of margin of error?

Answer 19

The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey’s results.

Question 20

True or False: A smaller margin of error indicates more precise survey results.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

What factors can affect the margin of error in a survey?

Answer 21

Sample size, population variability, and confidence level.

Question 22

random sampling

Answer 22

selecting people randomly from a population to form a sample

Question 23

convenience sampling

Answer 23

a practically achievable sample from the population

Question 24

sample statistics

Answer 24

statistics calculated from a sample data

Question 25

population parameters

Answer 25

unknown and unobserved

Question 26

epistemic uncertainty

Answer 26

uncertainty due to lack of knowledge

Question 27

aleatory uncertainty

Answer 27

uncertainty due to randomness

Question 28

What is replication in research?

Answer 28

Replication in research refers to the process of repeating a study to see if the original results can be obtained.

Question 29

Fill in the blank: Replication helps to establish the ________ of research findings.

Answer 29

validity

Question 30

What are the two main types of replication?

Answer 30

Direct replication and conceptual replication.

Question 31

What is a direct replication?

Answer 31

A direct replication involves repeating the exact study with the same methods to see if the results are consistent.

Question 32

What role does replication play in the scientific method?

Answer 32

Replication serves to verify results and strengthen the reliability of scientific claims.

Question 33

Fill in the blank: A successful replication study can help to reduce ________ in scientific research.

Answer 33

bias

Question 34

What is open science?

Answer 34

Open science is a movement aimed at making scientific research, data, and dissemination accessible to all levels of society.

Question 35

What are the key principles of open science?

Answer 35

The key principles include openness, transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility.

Question 36

What is the primary purpose of a meta-analysis?

Answer 36

To combine results from multiple studies to obtain a more precise estimate of the effect size.

Question 37

What is one potential limitation of meta-analysis?

Answer 37

The quality of the meta-analysis is dependent on the quality of the included studies.

Question 38

What is an independent variable?

Answer 38

An independent variable is a factor that is manipulated in an experiment to observe its effect on a dependent variable. (the predictor)

Question 39

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 39

A dependent variable is the variable in an experiment or study that is measured and is affected by changes in the independent variable. (the outcome)

Question 40

How does the dependent variable relate to the independent variable in an experiment?

Answer 40

The dependent variable is the outcome that is measured and is expected to change as a result of variations in the independent variable.

Question 41

non experimental designs

Answer 41

designs that don't use random assignment

Question 42

experimental designs

Answer 42

random assignment is considered to be gold standard for researchers to infer causality because of its ability to rule out alternative explanations

Question 43

causality

Answer 43

- x must precede y in time - x must be reliably correlated with y - the relation between x and y must not be explained by other causes

Question 44

What is a counterfactual argument?

Answer 44

A counterfactual argument is a reasoning process that explores what could have happened if certain conditions were different from what actually occurred.

Question 45

What is the primary purpose of using counterfactuals in argumentation?

Answer 45

The primary purpose is to evaluate causality and understand the impact of different actions or events.

Question 46

internal validity

Answer 46

the degree to which we can draw conclusions about casual relationships in our data

Question 47

Name one method researchers use to enhance internal validity.

Answer 47

Random assignment

Question 48

operational definitions

Answer 48

specification of hoe something is being measured

Question 49

construct definitions

Answer 49

explanatory variables not directly observable

Question 50

Nominal scale

Answer 50

a numerical representation based on already known or identifiable attributes

Question 51

ordinal scale

Answer 51

produce ranks, people are ordered based in amounts of an attribute they possess

Question 52

interval scale

Answer 52

measure of quantity with arbitrary zero, assumes equality of intervals

Question 53

ratio scale

Answer 53

quantity with absolute zero, allow additivity and are multiplicative

Question 54

classical test theory

Answer 54

x = T + E observation = true score + error

Question 55

skewness

Answer 55

refers to the asymmetry of a distribution, can be positive or negative

Question 56

kurtosis

Answer 56

indicates the "tailedness" of distributions > platykurtic > leptokurtic > mesokurtic

Question 57

platykurtic

Answer 57

less tail, less peak (< 3)

Question 58

leptokurtic

Answer 58

more tail, more peak (> 3)

Question 59

mesokurtic

Answer 59

normal distribution (=3)

Question 60

mean

Answer 60

the simple average

Question 61

median

Answer 61

the value where half of the data points lie above and below

Question 62

mode

Answer 62

the most frequent data value