Ch 3: 3 Claims, 4 Validities Flashcards
association claim
claim about two variables in which the levels of each vary systematically with one another such that when one variable changes, the other variable tends to change, too
causal claim
claim arguing that a specific change in one variable is responsible for influencing the level of another variable
claim
the argument an author or scientist is trying to make
conceptual definition
a researcher’s definition of a variable at an abstract level (ex: depression is a feeling of sadness etc)
constant
something that could potentially vary but that has only one level in the study in question
construct validity
a measure of how well a variable was measured or manipulated in a study
correlate
(covary) to occur or vary together systematically
covariance
one of the three rules for establishing causation, proposed causal variable must vary systematically with changes in proposed outcome variable
curvilinear association
an association in which, as one variable increases, the level of the other variable changes its pattern (such as increasing and then decreasing)
dependent variable
the variable that is measured in an experiment or the outcome variable
experiment
a study in which one variable is manipulated and the other is measured
external validity
a measure of how well the results of a study generalize to, or represent, individuals or contexts besides those in the study itself
frequency claim
a claim that describes a particular rate or level of a single variable
generalizability
the extent to which the subjects in a study represent the populations they are intended to represent; how well the settings in a study represent other settings or contexts
independent variable
a variable that is manipulated in an experiment
internal validity
the ability to rule out alternative explanations for a causal relationship between two variables
manipulated variables
a variable in an experiment that researchers control by assigning participants to its different levels
measured variables
a variable in a study whose levels are observed and recorded
negative association
an association in which high levels of one variable go with low levels of the other variable (inverse)
operational definitions
the specific way in which a concept of interest is measured or manipulated as a variable in a study (ex: score on a depression inventory)
positive association
an association in which high levels of one variable go with high levels of the other variable, and low levels of one variable go with low levels of the other variable
random assignment
the use of a random method (ex: flipping a coin) to assign participants into different experimental groups
scatterplot
a graphical representation of an association, in which each dot represents one participant in the study measured on two variables
statistical validity
the extent to which statistical conclusions derived from a study are accurate and reasonable
temporal precedence
one of the three rules for establishing causation, stating that the proposed causal variable comes first in time, before the proposed outcome variable
level
one of the possible variations, or values, of a variable
variable
an attribute that varies, having at least two levels, or values
zero association
a lack of systematic association between two variables; no correlation
establishing causation
- covariance (a changes, b changes)
- temporal precedence (a came before b)
- internal validity (no other explanation for why a makes b happen)
