Chapter 2- Research Methods Flashcards
List and describe 4 major kinds of research done in psychology and the advantages/ disadvantages of each.
Experimental Designs- high internal validity, low external.
Case Study- provide existence proofs, study rare, offer insights
Are typically personal
can’t infer causation
Naturalistic Observation- high in external validity. low in internal.
Correlational Designs- predict behavior. can’t infer causation
What are the two types of experimental validity?
External and Internal
What type of design will we use if we want to increase external validity? What type would we use if we want to use internal validity?
Internal- experimental
External- naturalistic
How would you ensure that the survey you conducted would be generalizable?
random samples, random assignment, controlled environment.
What are two ways of evaluating measures?
Reliability: This assesses the consistency of a measure over time or across different contexts, ensuring that it produces stable and repeatable results.
Validity: whether a measure accurately captures the concept it is intended to assess.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-report measures?
Dis- Phrasing
Accuracy is skewed
Potential dishonesty
Response sets
Adv- insider information into human thought and perspective.
Describe two basic facts about correlations.
Direction: Correlations can be positive (both variables increase together) or negative (one variable increases as the other decreases).
Strength: The strength of a correlation is measured on a scale from -1 to +1, with values closer to -1 or +1 indicating a stronger relationship, while values near 0 suggest little to no correlation.
What makes a study an experiment? ( 2 things)
Manipulation of Variables
Control of Conditions
How does a confound impact your conclusions in a study?
incorrect conclusions by introducing alternative explanations for the observed effects
What conclusions can you reach from the results of an experiment in comparison to a correlational study?
Experiment- draw causal conclusions about the relationship between variables
Correlation- only identify associations without knowing why
When conducting a study on human participants, what two things should researchers do?
Obtain Informed Consent
Ensure Confidentiality
Make sure you know the two main types of statistics in psychology:
Descriptive and Inferential
Prefrontal Lobotomy
Used to treat schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders
Severed the fibers connecting the frontal lobe and thalamus
Heuristic
Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb
Heuristics reduce the cognitive energy required to solve problems
Naturalistic Observation
Watching behavior in real-world settings
External Validity
extent to which research findings can be generalized to, and have relevance for, settings, populations
Internal Validity
accurately establishes a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables,
ensuring that the observed effects are due to the manipulation of the independent variable and not influenced by other factors
Case Study
Studying one or a small number of people for an extended period
Existence Proof
demonstration that a psychological phenomenon can occur
Random Selection
Every person in the general population has an approximately equal chance of being chosen to participate in the research sample
Reliability
Consistency of measurement
Validity
Extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure
Response Set
pattern of answering questions in a survey or assessment that reflects a tendency to respond in a particular way
Correlation Design
Examine the strength of linear association between two variables
Scatterplot
graphical representation that displays the relationship between two variables using dots to represent data points
Illusory Correlation
perception of a relationship between two variables when no such relationship exists, often based on cognitive biases or stereotypes.
Experiment
controlled study designed to test a hypothesis by manipulating one or more variables
Random Assignment
randomly allocating participants to different groups in a study to ensure each group is similar and to reduce bias.
Experimental Group
receives manipulation
Control Group
does not receive manipulation
Between- Subjects Design
2+ non-overlapping groups given different treatments
(e.g. measuring depression in Drug and Placebo groups)
Within- Subject Design
A single group given 2+ treatments (e.g. measuring mood before and after music)
Each subject acts as their own control
Independent Variable
manipulated by the experimenter
Dependent Variable
measured by the experimenter
Operational Definition
how a variable is measured or defined in a study.
Placebo Effect
Improvement because you expect improvement
Blind
Participant unaware of the treatment they receive
Double-Blind
Experimenter unaware of treatment
Experimenter Expectancy Effect
Researchers’ hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome
Demand Characteristics
Cues that participants pick up allowing them to guess the researcher’s hypothesis
Informed Consent
Participants must know what is involved in the study prior to participation
Statistics
collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to inform decision-making.
Descriptive Statistics
numerical characteristics of the nature of the data
Central Tendency
Where the group tends to cluster, three main measures: mean, median and mode
Mean
Average value, sensitive to outliers.
Median
Middle value, robust against outliers.
Mode
Most frequent value.
Range
difference between the highest and lowest scores
Variability
How loosely or closely scores are clustered
Includes range and standard deviation
Standard Deviation
how far each data point is from the mean
Inferential Statistics
using sample data to make generalizations or predictions about a population
Confound
extraneous variable that is not controlled in a study and can influence both the independent and dependent variables
