Chapter 2 Flashcards
What are the 2 characteristics of a science?
- reliance on scientific method
- similar principles/beliefs on how to understand the world
What are the 2 core beliefs of science?
- universe operates according to natural laws
- laws are discoverable and testable
What is the scientific Method?
helps the scientific process remain accurate and precise with little bias.
it is a procedure for conducting research
List the 6 steps of the scientific method.
- making observations
- develop a hypothesis
- pick participants, choose a research method, collect data
- analyze data
- review, publish, replicate
- build a theory
Explain step 1 of the scientific method.
make observations:
notice things around you and question the variables
research
Explain step 2 of the scientific method.
develop a hypothesis:
generate a prediction
find the variables
operationally define the variables
- specific and objective.
- makes them testable
What is a Hypothesis?
a tentative prediction about the relationship between 2 or more variables
What are Variables?
condition, event, or situation that is controlled/observed in a study.
What is a population?
entire group that is of interest to researchers
What is a sample?
group of people studied that stands in for the entire population of interest.
How are samples chosen?
Random selection.
random selection ensures every individual in the population has an equal chance of being chosen.
What is sampling bias?
choosing a sample group because of individual belief or bias.
what does sampling bias lead to?
sampling bias leads to the sample population not representing the chosen/general population.
What are the three categories of research methods?
- descriptive
- describes characteristics of behavior - experimental
- demonstrates cause and effect - correlational
- asks how variables are related
What are the 3 types of descriptive methods?
- case study
- naturalistic observation
- survey/questionnaire
what is a case study?
investigation of one person with a unique experience.
ie. Phineas Gage
What are the advantages to a case study?
studies rare behavior
detailed
source of support
What are the disadvantages to a case study?
cannot be applied to the general population
potential for researcher bias
cannot determine cause and effect
what is a naturalistic observation?
observing and recording participants natural behavior without influencing them or their environment.
ie. Jane Goodall
what are the advantages of naturalistic observations?
behavior is studied under natural circumstances
less controlled = natural behavior
helps support lab experiments
what are the disadvantages of naturalistic observations?
time consuming
hard to not influence participants
Hawthorne effect:
- act different when aware of being watched
cannot determine cause and effect
what is a survey/questionnaire?
participants are asked a series of questions about their behavior.
what are the advantages to a survey?
quick and cheap
can study feelings and emotions or other hard to observe behaviors
what are the disadvantages to a survey/questionnaire?
must choose wording of questions carefully as they can change the meaning of the question and influence the participant.
dependent on participants being truthful
participant bias
cannot determine cause and effect
What are experimental methods?
Controlled observations
Manipulate independent variable and observe the effects on the dependent variable
What is the independent variable?
Variable that is manipulated
What is the dependent variable
Variable that is measured
What is the experimental group?
Group that is manipulated
- receives the independent variable
What is the control group?
Group that doesn’t receive the manipulation and serves as a comparison
- dependent variable
What is random assignment?
Equal chance of those in the sample population being chosen for the experimental or control group
Ensures a mix of participants and limits researcher bias.
What is the double blind procedure?
Both the researcher and participant are unaware of what group they are in
- ie. the researcher won’t know if the participants in the control or experimental group and neither will the participant
What are the advantages of experimental methods?
Allows for good control of variables and data
Identifies cause and effect
What are the disadvantages of experimental methods?
Ethical concerns
Practical limitations
Artificial conditions
What are correlational methods?
Measures 2 or more variables and finds the relationship
uses statistics to test if variables are related
nothing is manipulated
What is the correlational coefficient (r)?
statistics that express the strength and nature of a relationship between variables.
-1.00 —> +1.00
what is positive correlation?
scores of both variables increase.
what is negative correlation?
scores of one variable increases as the other decreases.
what is the strength of the relationships?
larger # = strong/tight
small # = weak/spread out
0.00 = no correlation
what are the advantages of correlational method?
studies what experiments cant because of practical limitations and ethical limitations
studies behaviors in natural conditions
what are the disadvantages to correlational methods?
correlation does NOT equal causation
- we dont know if the IV caused the link between the DV, we just know there is a link.
no casual conclusions
how do psychologists collect data?
through empirical and objective methods
unbiased
what is step 4 of the scientific method?
analyze data
- use statistics
- revise and refine hypothesis/experiment depending on if hypothesis was supported or not.
what is step 5 of the scientific method?
review, publish, and replicate.
get work revised and criticized
publish work for it to = science
replicate experiment for further support.
what is step 6 of the scientific method?
build a theory
add your results to an existing theory or develop new theories based on results
restart step 1
what are the two types of statistics used by psychologists?
descriptive
inferential
explain descriptive statistics.
describes/summarizes the gathered data
turns raw data into useful data.
measures central tendency
- numerical value of the center of distribution
- ie. mean, median,
mode
measures variability
- numerical value of how different the scores are.
- ie. variance, range,
standard deviation
What is the mean?
average sum of each score divided by # of scores
1 + 2 + 3
= 6/3
= 2
what is median?
middle score when all numbers are lined up from least to greatest
1, 2, 3
= 2
what is mode?
most common score
1,1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4 5, 6,
= 4
what is range?
difference between smallest and largest value.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
6-1
= 5
what is standard deviation?
how far each score is from the average.
- how much they vary
2, 3, 4, 5, 6
= 20/5
= 4 = mean
2-6
= -4/4
= -1
what is variance?
the measure of variability, the degree of spread.
- average of squared deviations of the mean
- spread out scores = big deviation (vice versa)
2, 3, 4, 5, 6
= 20/5
= 4 = mean
2-6
= -4/4
= -1
(-1)(-1)
= 1
what are inferential statistics?
calculates statistical significance
indicates if differences between groups is meaningful or not
dictates what test to use
- f or t test
statistical significance is measured through probability statistics
- p=…
- needs a p of <5%
- the lower the p score = higher chance of statistical significance
uses effect size
- describes the strength of the relationship
- large effect size = strong influence.
What is a t test and when is it used?
2 variables
if t value is big p will be small
t = (diff b/w grp means)
———————————
(variability b/w grps)
big numerator small denominator = big t = small p
dependent on number of participants
what is a f test and when is it used?
2 or more variables.
big f = small p
same formula as t test
big numerator small denominator = big f = small p
what do research ethics boards do?
weigh benefits of studies and the risks.
what is informed consent?
participants have the right to know all aspects of the study.
- not always possible (ie. animals, double-blind).
what is debriefing?
after participating the participants are fully informed on the study and given any information that wasn’t previously given.
what is confidentiality?
keeping all information about participants secret.
what does Canada have to ensure the safety of animals in studies?
Canadian Council of Animal Care
