Ch. 2: Research Stuff Flashcards
Construct Validity
The extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure.
External Validity
The extent to which a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations.
Confound
Anything that affects the independent variable and may unintentionally vary between trials of the study.
Participant Observation
the researcher is involved in the situation they are observing
Natural Observation
The researcher is completely isolated from the observational situation.
Reactivity
How much change in behavior might be caused by (for example) the observer being visible vs. not visible in a study.
The Hawthorne Effect
How people change their behavior when they know they are being observed.
Observer Bias
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.
Experimenter Expectancy Effect
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).
Repeated Measures Designs
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).
Debriefing
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.
Internal Validity
The degree to which the effects observed in the experiment are due to the independent variable and not to confounds.
Reliability
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.
Accuracy
How error-free the measurement of data in a study is.
Variability
A measure of spread of data from mean like a standard deviation or variance (=SD^2)