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PSYC 100 > Chapter 2: Research Methods > Flashcards

Chapter 2: Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What is the scientific method?

A

The process of basing one’s confidence in an idea on systematic, direct observations of the world, usually by setting up research studies to test ideas.

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2
Q

What is the theory-data cycle?

A

The process of the scientific method, in which scientists collect data that can either confirm or disconfirm a theory.

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3
Q

What is a theory?

A

A set of propositions explaining how and why people act, think, or feel.

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4
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A specific prediction stating what will happen in a study if a theory is correct.

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5
Q

What is data?

A

A set of empirical observations that scientists have gathered.

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6
Q

What is replication?

A

When a study is conducted more than once on a new sample of participants, and obtains the same basic results.

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7
Q

What is a variable?

A

Something of interest that varies from person to person or situation to situation.

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8
Q

What is a measured variable?

A

A variable whose values are simply recorded.

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9
Q

What is a manipulated variable?

A

A variable whose value the researcher controls, usually by assigning different participants to different levels of the variable.

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10
Q

What is an operational definition?

A

Specific ways of measuring or manipulating an abstract variable in a particular study.

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11
Q

What is descriptive research?

A

A type of study in which a researcher measures one variable at a time.

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12
Q

What is a sample?

A

A group who participated in research, and belong to a larger group (the population of interest) that the researcher in interested in understanding.

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13
Q

What is a population of interest?

A

The full set of cases the researcher is interested in.

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14
Q

What is random sampling?

A

A way of choosing participants for a study in which participants are chosen without bias (like pulling names out of a hat, for example)

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15
Q

What is naturalistic observation?

A

An observational research method in which psychologists observe the behaviour of animals and people in their normal, everyday worlds and environments.

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16
Q

What is observational research?

A

A descriptive research method in which psychologists measure their variable of interest by observing and recording what people are doing.

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17
Q

What is a case study?

A

An observational research method in which researchers study one or two individuals in-depth, often those who have a unique condition.

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18
Q

What is correlational research?

A

A type of study that measures two (or more) variables in the same sample of people, and then observes the relationship between them.

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19
Q

What is a scatterplot?

A

A figure used to represent a correlation, in which each dot usually represents one participant, the x-axis represents one variable, and the y-axis represents the other.

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20
Q

What is a negative correlation?

A

A negative correlation means that a high score with one variable goes with a low score on the other. It slopes down from left to right on the scatterplot.

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21
Q

What is a positive correlation?

A

A positive correlation means that high scores on one variable go with high scores on the other (and low scores go with low scores). It slopes upward from left to right on the scatterplot.

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22
Q

What is a third-variable problem?

A

For a given observed relationship between two variables, an additional variable that is associated with both of them, making the additional variable an alternative explanation for the observed relationship.

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23
Q

What is experimental research?

A

A study in which one variable is manipulated, and the other is measured. Experimental research can provide evidence that one variable causes another.

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24
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

The manipulated variable in an experiment.

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25
What is a dependent variable?
The measured variable in an experiment.
26
What is random assignment?
A procedure used in an experiment research in which a random method is used to decide which participants will receive each level of the independent variable.
27
What is the experimental group?
In an experiment, a group or condition in which some proposed cause is present.
28
What is a control group?
In an experiment, a group or condition in which some proposed cause is NOT present.
29
What is a placebo condition?
In an experiment, a group or condition in which people expect to receive a treatment but are only exposed to an inert version.
30
What is a double-blind procedure?
A procedure in which the recipient and the person administering the treatment are unaware if the recipient is receiving a placebo treatment or not.
31
What is validity?
The appropriateness or accuracy of a conclusion or decision.
32
What is construct validity?
The specific assessment of how accurately operationalizations used in a study capture the variables of interest.
33
What is reliability?
The degree to which a measure yields consistent results each time it is administered.
34
What is external validity?
The degree to which it is reasonable to generalize from a study's sample to its population of interest.
35
What is internal validity?
The ability of a study to rule out alternative explanations for a relationship between two variables.
36
What is a confound?
An alternative explanation for a relationship between two variables; specifically, in an experiment, when two experimental groups accidentally differ on more than just the independent variable, which causes problems for internal validity.
37
What are descriptive statistics?
Graphs or computations that describe the characteristics of a batch of scores, such as its distribution, central tendency, or variability.
38
What is frequency distribution?
A descriptive statistic that takes the form of a bar graph in which the possible scores on a variable are listed on the x-axis and the total number of people who had each score are plotted on the y-axis.
39
What is a mean?
A measure of central tendency that is the arithmetic average of a group of scores.
40
What is a median?
A measure of central tendency that is the middlemost score; it is obtained by lining up the scores from smallest to largest and identifying the middle score.
41
What is a mode?
A measure of central tendency that is the most common score in a batch of scores.
42
What is variability?
The extent to which the scores in a batch differ from each other.
43
What is standard deviation?
A variability statistic that calculates how much, on average, a batch of scores varies around its mean.
44
What is an effect size?
A numerical estimate of the strength of the relationship between two variables. It can take the form of a correlation coefficient or, for an experiment, the difference between two good means divided by the standard deviations of the two groups.
45
What is the correlation coefficient?
It is abbreviated as 'r'. The value of 'r' ranges from r=-1.0 (a perfect negative relationship), to r=0 (a zero relationship), to r=1.0 (a perfect positive relationship).
46
What is the abbreviation 'd' used for?
The abbreviation 'd' is used to represent the statistical calculation of the effect size representing the difference between two means.
47
What are inferential statistics?
A set of procedures used to estimate whether a pattern of results represents a true relationship or difference in a population.
48
What is statistical significance?
A process of inference that applies rules of logic and probability to estimate whether the results obtained in a study's sample are the same as the larger population.
49
What is a null hypothesis?
The assumption that there is no relation between two or more variables.
50
What is a p-value?
A low p-value (or a significant result) does not mean that a hypothesis is "true". It just means that the data are unlikely to occur under the "null hypothesis". A high p-value (or a nonsignificant result) does not mean that a hypothesis is "false". It just means that the data are more likely to occur under the "null hypothesis".
51
What is a meta-analysis?
A process in which researchers locate all of the studies that have tested the same variables and mathematically average them to estimate the effect size of the entire body of studies.
52
What is HARKing?
A questionable research practice known as "hypothesizing after results are known", in which researchers create an after-the-fact hypothesis about an unexpected research result, making it appear as if they predicted it all along.
53
What is p-hacking?
A family of questionable data analysis techniques, such as adding participants after the results are initially analyzed, looking for outliers, or trying new analyses in order to obtain a p-value under 0.5, which can lead to nonreplicable results.
54
What is open science?
The practice of sharing one's data, hypotheses, and materials freely so that others can collaborate, use, and verify the results.
55
What are the three ethical principles?
Autonomy, justice, and benefice.
56
Define autonomy.
People must give informed consent for participating in research. They cannot be coerced into participating through intimidation or extremely high payouts. There are special consent procedures for vulnerable populations who may not be able to give true informed consent.
57
Define justice.
Research should not be conducted disproportionately on one segment of the population. The participants who bear the burden of the research should be representative of the people who will benefit from the research.
58
Define benefice.
Proposed research is evaluated on its risks and benefits to the participants, and on the research outcome's potential benefit to society.
59
What is informed consent?
When a researcher explains the procedures of the study, including its risks and potential benefits, to the potential participants, who then decide whether or not to participate.
60
What are the three Rs of working with animals?
Replacement, refinement, and reduction.
61
Define replacement (one of the 3 Rs)
Researchers should find alternatives to using animals in research when possible.
62
Define refinement (one of the 3 Rs)
Researchers should modify experimental procedures and other aspects of animal care to minimize or eliminate animal distress.
63
Define reduction (one of the 3 Rs)
Researchers should adopt experimental designs and procedures that require the fewest animal subjects possible.

PSYC 100 (11 decks)

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