Ch. 1- Experimental Designs and Methods

Question 1

what do experimental studies do?

Answer 1

manipulate an independent variable to observe the change in a dependent variable

Question 2

what axis are independent variables usually displayed on in graphs?

Answer 2

usually the x-axis

Question 3

in experimental studies, which variable is manipulated?

Answer 3

the independent variable

Question 4

in experimental studies, which variable changes in response to a change in the other?

Answer 4

the dependent variable

Question 5

what axis are dependent variables usually displayed on in graphs?

Answer 5

usually the y-axis

Question 6

what are confounding variables?

Answer 6

things that affect both the independent and dependent variables

Question 7

what are mediating variables?

Answer 7

things that provide a causal link between two variables

Question 8

what are moderating variables?

Answer 8

things that change the intensity of a relationship between two other variables

Question 9

what is the process of making a variable measurable?

Answer 9

operationalization

Question 10

in experimental studies, what are negative controls?

Answer 10

control groups where they receive no treatment/placebo

Question 11

in experimental studies, what are positive controls?

Answer 11

control groups where they receive something else that does the thing you’re looking for (that’s not the thing being tested itself)

Question 12

what is the purpose of randomization and blinding in studies?

Answer 12

to improve validity (making sure as few things are messing with the real outcome as possible)

Question 13

what happens in randomized controlled trials?

Answer 13

participants are assigned randomly to either a treatment or control group

Question 14

what do observational studies do?

Answer 14

analyze relationships among variables but DON’T manipulate anything

Question 15

what do cross-sectional studies do?

Answer 15

sample a population, measure things about that group

Question 16

what do case-control studies do?

Answer 16

compare individuals with the thing of interest (cases) with unaffected individuals (controls).

Question 17

what do case studies and case series do?

Answer 17

deal in depth with one or a few individuals in particular

Question 18

what are longitudinal studies?

Answer 18

studies that follow multiple measures of people over time

Question 19

what are cohort studies?

Answer 19

studies where people are grouped by some organizational principle (ie. age) and followed over time

Question 20

what are retrospective studies?

Answer 20

studies that analyze participants’ history (looking backwards in time)

Question 21

what are systematic reviews and meta-analyses?

Answer 21

it’s combining data from a bunch of studies and doing a critical or quantitative analysis

Question 22

what are prospective studies?

Answer 22

studies that analyze participants moving forward in time

Question 23

RIVBIVS

what are the seven ethics standards?

Answer 23

RIVBIVS:
1. respect
2. informed consent
3. valid science
4. benefits outweigh risks
5. independent review
6. value- social and clinical
7. subject selection is fair

Question 24

what are qualitative methods?

Answer 24

open-ended questions/verbal answers

Question 25

what are quantitative methods?

Answer 25

getting number variables

Question 26

what are objective vs. subjective measures

Answer 26

objective = something you can measure with numbers
subjective = something you can’t really measure in numbers

Question 27

what is validity of a study?

Answer 27

how accurate and meaningful a study’s results are

Question 28

what is internal validity?

Answer 28

how well you can draw a causal conclusion from the data

Question 29

what is external validity?

Answer 29

how well the experiment generalizes to real life

Question 30

what is construct validity?

Answer 30

how well the study assesses what it says it’s supposed to (content, criterion, and predictive validity)

Question 31

what is the difference between accuracy/validity and precision/reliability?

Answer 31

accuracy/validity = does the measure produce values close to the objectively true value?
precision/reliability = are the results close to each other?

Question 32

what are the pros and cons of using questionnaires as a survey method?

Answer 32

inexpensive, but vulnerable to self-reporting bias

Question 33

what is the social desirability bias?

Answer 33

tendency to respond in a way that seems more socially acceptable

Question 34

what is the acquiescence bias?

Answer 34

tendency to answer “yes” to a question by default

Question 35

what is representativeness?

Answer 35

the idea that a sample should accurately reflect the population that it was taken from

Question 36

what is the bottom-up approach to persuasion?

Answer 36

starting with all the evidence and moving to the thesis

Question 37

what is the top-down approach to persuasion?

Answer 37

starting with a thesis and then include pieces of evidence to support the thesis