2.2 psychological research methods

Question 1

naturalistic observations

Answer 1

observing participants in real world contexts and taking a record of their behaviour

Question 2

surveys/ questionnaires

Answer 2

involves having individuals provide answers to a series of questions

Question 3

correlational reseach

Answer 3

provides a measure of the degree of association b/w two variables

Question 4

positive correlations

Answer 4

when higher values on one variable tend to co-occur with higher values on another

Question 5

negative correlation

Answer 5

when higher values on one variable tend to co-occur with lower values on another

Question 6

positive correlations generate correlation co-efficients between

Answer 6

0 and +1

Question 7

negative correlations generate correlation co-efficients between

Answer 7

0 and -1

Question 8

strong correlations between variables (+ive or -ive) do not mean that there is a ________ ____________ b/w the two variables

Answer 8

causal relationship

Question 9

causal direction problem

Answer 9

ex. if curly hair were positively correlated with more fun, we wouldn’t know whether :
1. curly hair causes more fun
2. having fun makes hair curly

Question 10

third variable problem

Answer 10

maybe some other variable causes both curlier hair and a greater sense of fun, ex genes / pills

Question 11

experiments

Answer 11

are uniquely designed to provide answers about the causal relationship b/w variables
-they allow this because they involve manipulation of one or more variables

Question 12

random assignment to experimental conditions

Answer 12

helps to ensure that participants in te two groups are roughly equal on all other important characteristics

Question 13

confounding variables

Answer 13

variables that differ b/w experimental conditions tother than the one that the experimenter seeks to manipulate (bad to have in an experiment)

Question 14

independent variables

Answer 14

the variable or (s) being manipulated in an experiment

Question 15

dependant variable

Answer 15

the variable or (s) being measured in an experiment

Question 16

experimental condition

Answer 16

the one involving some active treatment, such as administration of a drug, providing some other type of therapy or curling their hair

Question 17

control condition

Answer 17

the one involving no active treatment, but that is used as a basis for comparison, such as administration of a placebo, giving them some SHAM type of therapy, or playing with their hair without curling it

Question 18

between-subjects design

Answer 18

when diff people participate in diff conditions of an experiment

Question 19

within subjects design

Answer 19

when the same ppl each participant in all conditions of an experiment

Question 20

statistics

Answer 20

descriptive statistics and inferential statistics

Question 21

descriptive statistics

Answer 21

used as summarized data

1. provide measure of frequency (distribution, skewed, non-skewed)
2. provide measure of central tendency (Mean and median and mode)
3. provide a measure of variability (standard deviation)

Question 22

inferential statistics

Answer 22

used to draw conclusions about the data generated from a research study
statistical hypothesis testing-purpose of inferential statistics
-is used to draw conclusions about the diff they have observed b/w conditions of an experiment or about correlation they have observed b/w two variables

Question 23

mean

Answer 23

arithmetic average of a group of scores

Question 24

median

Answer 24

the middle highest value in a group of scores

Question 25

mode

Answer 25

the most common value in a group of scores

Question 26

standard deviation

Answer 26

-the amount that scores in a set that differ from one another
higher SD reflect scores that are more dispersed further away from the mean score

Question 27

inferential statistics to be statistically significant

Answer 27

a difference b/w conditions or a correlation b/w variables must be substantially greater than the standard deviation of scores
-the same diff in scores may or may not be statistically significant, depending on the Standard deviation of scores

Question 28

case studies

Answer 28

in-depth reports about specific cases