Chapter 1 Flashcards
Analysis
Investigation of data for patterns or evidence of an effect
Conclusions
A summary of what findings in term of overall theory and/or proposed relationships between variables.
Data
Relatively uninterpreted information; gathered facts
Deduction
Logical arguments using rules to derive a conclusion from premises.
Design
Structure and Strategy of a piece of research
Effect
A difference or correlation between samples leading to an assumed relationship between variables in the population
Empirical Method
Scientific method of gathering information and summarising in the hope of identifying general patterns
Falsifiability
Principle that theories must be defined in a way that makes it possible to show how they could be wrong
Field experiment/study
Research study where data are gathered from participants outside the research centre
Finding
Outcomes of a study (e.g., means, results of statistical tests) before any interpretation is made of them in terms of background theory or expectation.
Hypothesis
Precise statement of assumed relationship between variables
Hypothesis testing
Research that analyses data for a predicted effect
Hypothetico-deductive method
Method of recording observations, developing explanatory theories and testing predictions from those theories.
Induction
Process of moving from particular instances to a generalised pattern
Participant
Person who takes part in a psychological investigation as a member of sample or individual case
Peer Review
Critical review by academics, who are experts in the field, of an article submitted for publication
Pilot study/trails; piloting
Preliminary study of trials often carried out to predict snags and assess features of a main study to follow
Population
Whole group or category of people from among whom samples are selected
Qualitative data
Data left in their original forms of meaning (e.g., speech, text) and not quantified.
Quantitative data
Data in numeric form, the results of measurement or counting
Raw data
Unprocessed data as gathered in a study, e.g., individual scores
Replication
Repeating a completed study
Research prediction
Prediction in precise terms about how variables should be related in the analysis of data if a hypothesis is to be supported
Research Question
The question a researcher is trying to answer in an investigation
Scientific method
General method of investigation using induction and deduction
Theory
Researchers beliefs about how the world works, about how or why particular phenomenon occurs
Variable
Quantity that can change; usually used to refer to a measure of a phenomenon
