Ch. 2: Research Stuff

Question 1

Construct Validity

Answer 1

The extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure.

Question 2

External Validity

Answer 2

The extent to which a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations.

Question 3

Confound

Answer 3

Anything that affects the independent variable and may unintentionally vary between trials of the study.

Question 4

Participant Observation

Answer 4

the researcher is involved in the situation they are observing

Question 5

Natural Observation

Answer 5

The researcher is completely isolated from the observational situation.

Question 6

Reactivity

Answer 6

How much change in behavior might be caused by (for example) the observer being visible vs. not visible in a study.

Question 7

The Hawthorne Effect

Answer 7

How people change their behavior when they know they are being observed.

Question 8

Observer Bias

Answer 8

Bias that results from an observer’s expectations, and since the observer is often writing down their observations as data for whichever study they are conducting, this means that observer bias can affect the results of the study.

Question 9

Experimenter Expectancy Effect

Answer 9

When the observer expects something, it has ben found to change the results of experiment (not just through a biased recording of the observations, but objectively affect what happens in the experiment).

Question 10

Repeated Measures Designs

Answer 10

Experiments designed such that the people who make up the control group are also the experimental group (they are first one then the other, without a necessary order).

Question 11

Debriefing

Answer 11

Happens after the study, and is where the researcher (must) inform the participant on the purpose of the study, the use for any deceptions (and if any occurred), and otherwise fully inform the participant on the study, including by answering all questions of the participant regarding the study.

Question 12

Internal Validity

Answer 12

The degree to which the effects observed in the experiment are due to the independent variable and not to confounds.

Question 13

Reliability

Answer 13

The stability and consistency of the data as it is measured over time. If the data is reliable, different samples under the same conditions, except that one is taken at a later time than the other, should yield similar results.

Question 14

Accuracy

Answer 14

How error-free the measurement of data in a study is.

Question 15

Variability

Answer 15

A measure of spread of data from mean like a standard deviation or variance (=SD^2)