Research Methods

Question 1

Operational definitions

Answer 1

describes the actions that will be made to objectively measure or control a value

Question 2

Paradigm

Answer 2

set of assumptions and ideas about what kind of research questions can be asked and how they can be answers

Question 3

Parsimony

Answer 3

when there are two otherwise equally good explanations for a certain phenomenon, the simplest explanation is preferred; generally makes fewer assumptions

Question 4

Natural order

Answer 4

the attribution of the same effects to the same causes

Question 5

Generalizability

Answer 5

the same causes that produce our effects in the lab also produce those effects in everyday life situations

Question 6

Conservatism

Answer 6

scientists tend to support the current explanation until new facts accumulate that the current explanation can’t explain

Question 7

Empiricism

Answer 7

approach that emphasizes that knowledge should be based on actual observation and not reason alone

Question 8

Inductive reasoning

Answer 8

move from a collection of specific observations (facts) to a theory that allows us to describe how the observations are related

Question 9

Deductive reasoning

Answer 9

making specific predictions about situations or events that we have not yet observed directly

Question 10

Process of scientific investigation

Answer 10

• adopt a theory
• generate hypothesis
• choose research method
• collect data
• analyze data
• report findings
• revise existing theories

Question 11

Theory

Answer 11

general set of ideas on the way that the world works

Question 12

Hypothesis

Answer 12

set of testable statements; makes a specific prediction about the relationship between variables involved in the theory

Question 13

Reliability

Answer 13

ability of any test to give the same output when the same input is entered

Question 14

Validitiy

Answer 14

ability of a test to measure what we intend to measure

Question 15

Case studies

Answer 15

detailed examination of one particular individual; can provide some initial facts

Question 16

Correlational studies

Answer 16

looking at existing relationships between pairs of variables

Question 17

Correlation

Answer 17

measure of the direction and strength of the relationship; can be positive, negative, or zero

Question 18

Line of best fit

Answer 18

straight line which comes as close as possible to all the points on the graph, and shows any positive or negative trends

Question 19

Experiment

Answer 19

procedure of choice used to systematically study a problem

Question 20

Within-subjects design

Answer 20

manipulating the independent variable within each participant to minimize the effect of external variables on the dependent measure

Question 21

Practice effect

Answer 21

improved performance over the course of an experiment due to becoming more experienced

Question 22

Binary variables

Answer 22

only two possible values; eg. on/off

Question 23

Independent variable

Answer 23

variable that the researcher will manipulate

Question 24

Dependent variable

Answer 24

measure by the researchers to see the effect of the independent variable

Question 25

Confounding variables

Answer 25

researcher did not manipulate, but still affected the outcome of the experiment

Question 26

Control group

Answer 26

receives no manipulation of the independent variable

Question 27

Experimental group

Answer 27

receives a manipulation of the independent variable

Question 28

Experiment research advantages

Answer 28

allows researchers to develop cause and effect explanations; gives the ability to say why something happened

Question 29

Experiment research disadvantages

Answer 29

may be little resemblance between the controlled conditions in the laboratory and the real world

Question 30

Direct observation

Answer 30

if done in natural environment, then there is reduced artificiality; can allow for long periods of data collection; useful when little is known about subject or phenomenon

Question 31

Interviews

Answer 31

often one-on-one which allows for clarification questions; can gather information on behaviours otherwise difficult to observe

Question 32

Questionnaire

Answer 32

can gather information on behaviours otherwise difficult to observe, usually relatively simple, allows for collection by someone else

Question 33

Population

Answer 33

all of the individuals that meet your criteria

Question 34

Sample

Answer 34

the subset of the population you’re interested in that you examine; must be randomly sampled

Question 35

Random assignment

Answer 35

randomly deciding which group any particular participant is assigned; allows us to compare between different conditions of the experiment

Question 36

Descriptive statistics

Answer 36

used to organize and summarize data, based entirely on the available data; uses measures of central tendency

Question 37

Frequency distribution

Answer 37

type of graph illustrating the distribution of how frequently values appear in the data set

Question 38

Normal distribution

Answer 38

distribution with a characteristic smooth, symmetrical, bell-shaped curve with one peak

Question 39

Inferential statistics

Answer 39

assess how likely it is that the sample data are an accurate reflection of the population as a whole, require inferences to be made

Question 40

Variability

Answer 40

the extent to which the scores in a data set tend to vary from each other and the mean; the lower it is, the more likely the difference is from independent variable manipulation

Question 41

Standard deviation

Answer 41

measure of the variability of a set of data; the expected difference between any randomly selected datum and the mean of the set

Question 42

Statistical significance

Answer 42

when the difference between two groups is due to some true difference between the properties of the two groups, and not simply due to random variation

Question 43

T-test

Answer 43

statistical test that considers each data point from both groups to calculate the probability that two samples were drawn from the same population

Question 44

P-value

Answer 44

value expressing the probability calculated by the T-test; > 0.05 then it is not significant

Question 45

Replication

Answer 45

the repetition of a study to see whether the earlier results can be duplicated

Question 46

Type I error

Answer 46

concluding that independent variable manipulation had an effect, when, in reality, any difference between groups is the result of sampling error

Question 47

Type II error

Answer 47

concluding that independent variable manipulation had no effect, when, in reality, it did

Question 48

Placebo effect

Answer 48

when an individual exhibits an effect to a perceived treatment when no treatment is actually given

Question 49

Social desirability bias

Answer 49

a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

Question 50

Reponse sets

Answer 50

a tendency to respond to questions in a particular way regardless of the content

Question 51

Blind

Answer 51

subject is unaware of the group condition to which they have been assigned

Question 52

Double-blind

Answer 52

both the subject and the experimenter are unaware of group assignment