Ch. 6 - Foundations: Methods and Approaches Flashcards
Experiment
An investigation seeking to understand relations of cause and effect
Independent variable
The manipulated variable
Dependent variable
The variable that is being measured
Control variable
A variable that is constant (unchanged).
Experimental group
The group receiving the treatment
Control group
The group receiving the placebo (fake treatment)
Population
Group of interest to be studied
Random Sample
The act of sampling individuals by chance only.
Random Assignment
The act of splitting participants into experimental and control groups by chance only.
Single-blind experiment
Participants in the experiment do not know whether or not they are in the control or experimental group.
Double-blind experiment
Participants AND moderators do not know which groups are experimental and control; this prevents as much bias as possible,
Correlational Research
Assesses the degree of association between two or more variables or characteristics of interest that occur naturally.
This does not prove causation!
Confounding Variable
An unknown factor that plays a role in the outcome of an experiment (a.k.a. Extraneous Variable)
Survey
Gathers information for correlational studies through the use of questionaries or interviews.
Clinical Research / Case Study
Intensive psychological studies of single individuals conducted under the assumption that an in-depth understanding with allow for better general conclusions.
