Chapter 2 Flashcards
Differentiate between empiricism and determinism
Empiricism holds that we are able to know things about the world through careful observation while determinism is the belief that all events are the product of lawful, cause and effect relationships
What are the 5 steps of the scientific method?
Observing a phenomenon
Formulating hypotheses and predictions
Testing through empirical research
Drawing conclusions
Evaluating theory
Examples of observing a phenomenon
- currents events
- social issues
- personal experiences
Define a theory
A theory is a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations
Define a hypothesis
An educated guess that derives logically from a theory and previous research findings - an expectation that can be tested
Define prediction
Specific expectation for the outcome of a study
Define empirical method
Creating new knowledge through observation and experimentation through collecting data and analyzing information
Define variable
Anything that can change or take on different values
Define operational definition
Objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study
Differentiate between direct replication and conceptual replication
Direct: doing the study precisely as it was conducted in its original form
Conceptual: doing the study with different methods or different types of samples
Definition of meta analysis
Type of systematic review that statistically combines results of quantitative studies - allows researchers to conclude whether their results are consistent
Define descriptive research
Involves describing some phenomenon - determining basic dimensions of variables and defining what it is, how often it occurs etc
Examples of descriptive research methods
- naturalistic observation
- archival research
- physical trace research
- surveys and interviews
- case studies
- correlational research
- longitudinal designs
Define naturalistic observation
Involves viewing behaviour in a real world setting
What is archival research?
Uses records produced by people, governments and corporations
What is physical trace research?
Study of the remnants and physical changes in the environment
Why are Surveys and questionnaires criticized?
Participants tend to answer questions in a way that will make them look good rather than in a way that communicates their true beliefs and thoughts which is referred to as impression management or social desirability bias
What is a case study?
In depth investigation of a small group of individuals or often only a single person that display unique characteristics. May provide information about a person’s beliefs, perceptions, hopes, traumatic experiences and more and often relies on qualitative data collection
What is correlational research?
Tells us about the relationship between 2 variables and how 2 variables change together
What do the signs (+,- and 0) tell us about correlations
A positive sign means the variables move in the same direction. A negative sign means the variables are moving in opposite directions and a zero correlation means that there is no systematic relationship between the variables
Why does correlation not equal causation?
Seeing two variables moving together does not necessarily mean we know whether one variable causes the other to occur
Define cross sectional design
Is a type of correlational study in which variables are measured at a single point in time
Define longitudinal design
Involves obtaining measure s of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time
What is experimental research
To determine whether a causal relationship between variables, researchers must use experimental methods to manipulate a variable to influence another variable while keeping additional variables constant
Define random assignment
Researchers assign participants to groups by chance
Define independent and dependent variables
Independent: manipulated experimental factor
Dependent: variable that may change as a result of manipulations of the independent variable
Define confederate
A person given a role to play in a study so that social context can be manipulated
Define experimental group
Participants that are exposed to the change that the independent variable represents
Define control group
Much like an experimental group except participants do not go through a change as a result of the independent variable - this helps provides a comparison to which researches can test the effects of the IV
What is a quasi experimental design
Similar to an experiment but does not randomly assign participants to conditions because such assignment is either impossible or unethical
Ex: natural disasters, aspects of identity
Define validity and state the 2 broad types
Refers to the soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment
External and internal validity
What is external validity?
An experimental design that actually reflects the read world issues that it is supposed to address
What is internal validity?
Refers to which changes in the dependent variable are genuinely due to the manipulation of the independent variable
Define experimenter bias
Occurs when the experimenter’s expectations and biases influence the outcome of the research
Define demand characteristic
Any aspect of a study that communicates to participants how the experimenter wants them to behave
What is an effective way of minimizing experimenter bias?
Double blind procedure - neither the participants nor the researchers know the group assignments. No one would know which group is which until after all the data was collected
Define research participant bias
Occurs when the behaviour of participants during the experiment is influenced by how they think they are supposed to behave
Define placebo effect
Occurs when participant’s expectations rather than the experimental treatment produces a specific outcome
Define placebo
Substance or treatment that does not contain the active component being studied - giving indictable in the control group placebo to determine whether changes in the experimental group are due to the active drug and not simply participants expectations
Define convergent evidence
Term that describes research findings from several different types of research methods and samples from different populations
If depression can also cause increased relationship problems, which research method would allow scientists to test a cause-effect relationship between the 2 variables?
Quasi experimental method
Define population
The entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions
Define sample
Subset of the population chosen by investigator for study
Define random sample
A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected
Define convenience sample
Researchers select participants from those who are readily available
Explain WEIRD and its relationship with psychology
W - Western
E - Educated
I - Industrialized
R - Rich
D - Democratic societies
People with low socioeconomic backgrounds have been traditionally excluded as participants of psychological research
Define descriptive statistics
Mathematical procedures researchers use to describe and summarize sets of data in a meaningful way
Define mean, median and mode
(Math 👎)
Mean: The average, adding all the scores and dividing by the number of scores
Median: score that falls exactly in the middle
Mode: Score that occurs most often in data
Define measures of dispersion
How much the scores in a sample differ from one another
Define range
Distance between the highest and lowest scores
Define standard deviation
Measures how much scores vary, on average from the mean of the sample
Define inferential statistics
Mathematical methods used to indicate whether the data sufficiently supports a research hypothesis
Inferential statistics help us decide whether an observed difference is unlikely to be the result of……
Chance
Define null hypothesis
Claim that there is no relationship between the phenomena measured
List the 4 important issues that the ethical guidelines for research addresses
- informed consent: participants must know the risks and purpose of their participation
- confidentiality: data should be anonymous and confidential
- debriefing: after study was completed, researcher should inform participants of the methods used
- deception: must ensure that if any deception is done, it will not harm the participants
Why is deception a critical controversy?
Is an ethical issue since participants need to know specific details about the study but sharing those details might alter the behaviour of the participants leading to invalid data
The research ethics board determines
Whether the benefits of the proposed research outweigh its possible risks
A meta analysis refers to the
Analysis of many studies on a particular topic
