Chapter 2 Research Flashcards
Types of psychological research
Applied and basic research
Hindsight bias
Tendency for ppl to think they knew the conclusion of an experiment all along after already hearing about it
Applied research
Research whose conclusions have clear practical applications (what methods students learn best by)
Basic research
Research whose conclusions are of interest but don’t have immediate practical applications
Hypothesis
Expresses relationship bw 2 variables
Independent Variable
The factor that is purposely varied or manipulated in an experiment; what is changed
Variables
Things that are different across the different participants of the experiment
Dependent variable
The factor affected by the independent variable
Theory
Explanation that Aims to explain a phenomenon
Operational definition
Explanation of how a variable will be measured (ex: how do you measure aggressiveness?)
Valid research
How Accurate it is
Reliable research
If the experiment can be replicated and get the same consistent results
Participants/subjects
Individuals being researched in a study
Sampling
Process where participants are chosen
Sample
The complete group of participants
How to do sampling
- identify the population
- do a random selection so that it can be representative of a larger population
- the bigger the sample, the more representative it is of the population (but it’s a lot more time and money)
Population
Anyone that could possibly be selected in the sample (ex: student body of a college)
Random selection
- Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
- increases chances that the sample can be generalized to a larger population
- best done using a computer or picking names out of a hat to be truly random
Stratified sampling
If you think a certain factor or variable of the participant would affect their results, get the different proportionate variations of this factor in your sample according to the population it represents
Types of experiments
Laboratory and field experiments
Laboratory experiments
In a controlled lab environment
Field experiments
Conducted out of a lab; more realistic than lab
Experiment
Preferred method of psychological research, only research method that can show cause-effect relationship
Confounding variable
A factor other than the independent variable that may affect the dependent variable thus making experiment inaccurate
- can be controlled
2 types:
Participant-relevant (age, sex, iq)
Situation-relevant (time of day, environment)
Assignment
Process where participants are put in either experimental or control group
Group matching
Dividing a certain factor within the sample equally among the experimental and control groups
Random assignment
- diminishes chances of participant-relevant confounding variables
- everyone in the sample has an equal chance of being in experimental or control group
Experiment bias
Inadvertent tendency for researchers to treat experimental and control groups differently so that their hypothesis can be supported
- type of situational confounding variable
- can be removed using double blind procedure