Ch. 2 - Methods

Question 1

Hindsight bias

Answer 1

People’s tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome.

Question 2

Hypothesis

Answer 2

A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstance

Question 3

Theory

Answer 3

A set of related propositions intended to describe some phenomenon or aspect of the world.

Question 4

Correlational research

Answer 4

Research that involves measuring two or more variables and assessing whether there is a relationship between them.

Question 5

Experimental research

Answer 5

In social psychology, research that randomly assigns people to different conditions, or situations, and that enables researchers to make strong inferences about why a relationship exists or how different situations affect behavior.

Question 6

Third variable

Answer 6

A variable, often unmeasured in correlational research, that can be the true explanation for the relationship between two other variables.

Question 7

Self-selection

Answer 7

In correlational research, the situational in which the participant, rather than the researcher, determines the participant’s level of each variable (for example, whether they are married or not, or how many hours per day they spend playing video games), thereby creating the problem that it could be these unknown other properties that are responsible for the observed relationship.

Question 8

Longitudinal study

Answer 8

A study conducted over a long period of time with the same participants.

Question 9

Independent variable

Answer 9

In experimental research, the variable that is manipulated; it is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome.

Question 10

Dependent variable

Answer 10

In experimental research, the variable that is measured (as opposed to manipulated); it is hypothesized to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.

Question 11

Random assignment

Answer 11

Assigning participants in experimental research to different conditions randomly, so they are as likely to be assigned to one condition as to another with the effect of making the types of people in the different conditions roughly equal.

Question 12

Control condition

Answer 12

A condition comparable to the experimental condition in every way except that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to produce the expected effect on the dependent variable.

Question 13

Natural experiment

Answer 13

A naturally occurring event or phenomenon having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as in experiments where the investigator manipulates the conditions.

Question 14

External validity

Answer 14

How well the results of a study generalize to contexts outside the conditions of the laboratory.

Question 15

Field experiment

Answer 15

An experiment conducted in the real world (not a lab), usually with participants who are not aware they are in a study of any kind.

Question 16

Internal validity

Answer 16

In experimental research, confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results.

Question 17

Reliability

Answer 17

The degree to which the particular way researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results.

Question 18

Measurement validity

Answer 18

The correlation between a measure and some outcome the measure us supposed to predict.

Question 19

Statistical significance

Answer 19

A measure of the probability that as given result could have occurred by chance.

Question 20

Replication

Answer 20

Reproduction of research results by the original investigator or by someone else.

Question 21

Open science

Answer 21

Practices such as sharing data and research materials with anyone in the broader scientific community in an effort to increase the integrity and replicability of scientific research.

Question 22

Institutional review board (IRB)

Answer 22

A committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research.

Question 23

Informed consent

Answer 23

A person’s signed agreement to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all of its relevant aspects.

Question 24

Deception research

Answer 24

Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research of the meaning of something that is done to them.

Question 25

Debriefing

Answer 25

In preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants directly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so on. In later versions, debriefing is used to educate participants about the questions being studied.

Question 26

Basic science

Answer 26

Science or research concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right, with a view toward using that understanding to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world.

Question 27

Applied science

Answer 27

Science or research concerned with solving important real-world problems.

Question 28

Intervention

Answer 28

An effort to charge a person’s behavior.