Ch 2- Research Methodology Flashcards
Replication
Repeating a study and getting same/similar results
Scientific Inquiry
Contributing Careful scientific research
Operational definition
(Of a variable) - identifying/ quantifying variables
Longitudinal Study
Studies same participants over a period of time
- good data, but expensive + drop outs
Cohort effect
Ex: in a Cross sectional study- groups differ OUTSIDE OF the variable- (ex: group of old/New, changes might be due to societal norms, etc)
Cross- Sectional Study
Studies participants of different groups to compare/learn about both (ex: intelligence of young/old)
- fast, cheaper
- but possible other variable
Experimenter expectancy effect
Observer bias bc of expectations
ex: Rat experiment study
Blind
Subjects not knowing the true study’s purpose
external validity
degree that you can apply your findings to the world
reactivity
Hawthorne Effect- subjects act differently bc they’re being watched
better- than- average effect
everyone thinks they’re better than asvreage____
Response Performance
1- reaction time
2- response accuracy
3- stimulus judgement
experience sampling
take several samples of participant’s experiences over time ex: student recording events w notebook
psycophysiological assessment
measure how body functions change in association with mental states
electrophysiology
data collection method measuring electrical activity in brain
- uses electrodes on scalp
electroencephalograph (EEG)
measures brain activity
-records ALL activity= too much “noise” to specify responses
Event- related potential (ERP)
enables observation of patterns associated with events (like EEG graphs)
Directionality Problem
- which causes which?
stimulus judgement
- type of response performance
- see if they notice light sound/touch/etc
- judge if objects are same color, size, etc.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulus (TMS)
uses magnetic field to disrupt brain activity in a region
-but used in short periods/ only places close to scalp ex: disrupt speech
reliability
stability/consistency of results over time
MRI
- completely safe
- reads energy released by brain
PET
injection of radioactive chemical
- uses blood flow activity
- 3D image
fMRI
measures blood lfow indirectly, by oxygen level
risk/benefit analysis
is research safe enough?
2 types of error
1) random- different each time -avrgs out overtime ex: guy using stopwatch
2) systematic- same each time -bigger problem
ex: sow stopwatch
central tendancy
most common response = mean, median,mode
Descriptive Stat.
provide summaries for data
Inferential Stat.
judge if difference exists in our population
statistically significant
if results >5%, there is effect
Meta- analysis
looking at mult. studies for more accurate conclusion
Necessary Conditions for Causality
1) relationship between A & B
2) temporal antecedence- proper time order
3) No alternative explanation (confounding variable)
