Research Design & Statistics Flashcards
(255 cards)
aim of science
discover systematic explanations for and/or rules governing natural phenomena
research
conduct systematic investigations and inquiries into the phenomenon (or phenomena) in question
research design
plan that specifies the research strategy — how subjects will be selected, how variables will be defined and measured, the conditions under which the research will be conducted, etc.
basic sequence of a scientific inquiry
1) hypothesis (or proposition) regarding the relationship between 2+ variables, is formulated
2) hypothesis is operationally defined (specify what exactly we should observe if the hypothesis is true)
3) collect and analyze data to test the hypothesis
variable
simply anything that varies;
not consistent or having a fixed pattern; liable to change
constant
something that does not vary;
factors that do not change during the experiment
independent variable (IV)
input variable — the event or treatment manipulated by the researcher
other names for IV
the treatment variable or experimental variable
dependent variable (DV)
is the outcome variable;
what is hypothesized to change as a result of manipulations of the independent variable;
measured to determine if they change as the result of the experimental manipulations
correlational research
investigates relationships between two variables (or more) without the researcher controlling or manipulating any of them;
variables are measured not manipulated;
finding an association, not causation;
can be used to predict status on another variable
predictor variable
variable that is suspected to predict or correlate with an outcome variable
criterion variable
the outcome, result, or effect that researchers try to predict or explain in a study
levels
when applied to a variable, refers to the values it could take
factor design
statistical method used in experimental research that helps you study the effects of multiple factors simultaneously;
each level of one independent variable is combined with each level of the others to produce all possible combinations
internal validity
possible to determine whether a causal relationship exists between the IV and DV;
reasonably sure that the IV, rather than an extraneous (irrelevant) variable, is causally responsible for any observed change in the DV
one-group, pretest/post-test design
the dependent variable is measured once before the treatment is implemented and once after it is implemented;
subjects in one group are measured before and after they receive a treatment;
poor internal validity
extraneous variable
any variable not being investigated that has the potential to affect the outcome of a research study;
any factor not considered an independent variable that can affect the dependent variables or controlled conditions
confounded
experiment that is contaminated by an extraneous variable
equivalence
ensure that all the groups involved in a study are equivalent in every respect, except for their status on the IV
Threats to Internal Validity
history, maturation, testing, instrumentation, statistical regression, selection, differential mortality, experimental bias
TISSDEMH
history
any external event, besides the experimental treatment, that affects scores or status on the dependent variable
maturation
any internal (biological or psychological) change that occurs in the subjects while the experiment is in progress and exerts a systematic effect on the DV;
fatigue, boredom, hunger, physical or intellectual development
testing
testing is always a threat to internal validity in the one-group pretest/post-test design;
when the pretest and post-test are similar, subjects may show improvement on the post-test simply from their experience with the pretest
instrumentation
when the nature of the measuring instrument has changed;
raters’ assessment abilities have improved over time;
one way to control for this threat is to use highly reliable (dependable and consistent) measuring instruments