Chapter 2 Flashcards
An independent variable is the variable that’s being manipulated, and the dependant variable is the variable being measured. Why can’t aging be an independent variable?
Because we can’t change anything, we can’t just make someone age to study it
What is the year or period in which a person is born in called?
Cohort
What are 3 things we need to factor when measuring someones age
Their age, Cohort, and the Time of measurement
Why do we need to factor in cohort when measuring aging (why is it important?)
Being born at a certain time period means you have the same life experiences or circumstances unique to being born at that time
eg. if a test is on a computer, a person born during a time period where there wasn’t computers will do worse
Why does the “Time of measurement” matter when measuring aging?
Cultural, historical, or environmental effects at the time of data collection can impact/change it.
eg. doing a test before and after 9/11, you might get different results
What are Cross-Sectional research designs?
The comparison between two or more persons at “one” point in time
eg. measuring 50 year olds, 60 year olds, and 70 year olds at once.
Looking at the differences, not the changes
With cross-sectional designs, you never know if the cause is _____ related or ______ related.
Age or Cohort
Is the research question “does muscle mass change with age?” a cross sectional design question? Why or why not?
No because we can’t measure a “change”, we can only measure now and if theirs differences with age groups
What are Longitudinal Designs?
When data is collected on the SAME group of people at multiple points in time
What is the most well-known longitudinal study
The Nun Study = tested nuns and collected their brains after they died, they were all very similar which is why nuns were a great choice of research, but in the end wasn’t generalizable to others (not everyone acts like a nun)
What is it called when offering to participate in a longitudinal study indicates that these participants are not representative of the sample they were supposed to represent (their different in some way because their in it)
Selective Attrition
What is it called when individuals gradually lose cognitive abilities as they draw closer to death
Terminal decline/drop
Why do people drop out of longitudinal studies? (4 m’s)
Motivation (lack of to participate)
Mobility (people might move away)
Morbidity (people get sick/injured)
Mortality (when studying older groups, you’ll loose people to death)
What are Time-Lag designs?
A study that examines the responses of different participants of similar age at different points in time
What are Sequential Designs?
Combinations of Cross sectional, Longitudinal, and Time lag designs
