Chapter 2 - Research methods Flashcards
A theory sits on a mountain of what?
Evidence
To be testable means it uses what type of techniques?
available research techniques
For something to be falsifiable, it must be possible for it to be:
Disproved
What does parsimonious refer to?
Using the simplest or most efficient explanation, theory, or model that accounts for observed data
Scientific theories explain the relationship between two or more of what?
variables
Can scientific theories contradict other theories?
No
What is the intergroup theory?
if people from different groups have meaningful and positive contact, they are less likely to have prejudiced views about each other
What is the social comparison theory?
When objective evaluations are not available, people will compare themselves to others who are similar to them to evaluate their own abilities and opinions.
What is the social learning theory?
People can learn behaviours by observing others, even without directly experiencing rewards or punishments yourself.
Is this sample hypothesis falsifiable? Why?
Students who join a study group that includes students from a different racial group will show how reduced prejudice towards that racial outgroup, compared with students who join a study group that only includes people from the same racial group.
Yes it is falsifiable because there can be no differences in prejudice or increased prejudice.
What is a variable?
A variable is a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals
What is an independent variable?
A variable that is manipulated, in order to see its impact on the dependent variable
What is a dependent variable?
A variable that is measured, in order to see how it is affected by the independent variable.
In a study where prejudice is being measured to see how it affects students from racial outgroups, which is the independent variable?
The racial outgroup of students
In a study where prejudice is being measured to see how it affects students from racial outgroups, which is the dependent variable?
The prejudice
What is a construct
Something that cannot be numerically measured
What is an example of a construct
Anxiety
What are three ways anxiety can be studied
Behavioural measure, physiological measure and self reported measure.
How can anxiety have a physiological measure? (What could it be referring to)
Heart rate and sweat glands
How can anxiety have a behavioural measure? (What could it be referring to)
Squirming, stammering, fidgeting
What are the three big categories of research?
Descriptive, Correlational, and experimental
How many variables do descriptive methods study?
1
Which type of research method do surveys fall under?
Descriptive
Which type of research method do focus groups fall under?
Descriptive
Which type of research method do case studies fall under?
Descriptive
Which type of research does observational research fall under?
Descriptive
What are the three types of observation?
Naturalistic, participant, and laboratory
What type of observation counts as passive?
Naturalistic observation
What counts as active observation?
Participant observation
What counts as systematic observation?
Laboratory observation
What is naturalistic observation?
An observation set in the real world, with no manipulations or interferences with the scenario
Scenario: Social psychologists embedded themselves in a cult who believed the world was ending on a certain date. They did this to analyze the cognitive processes of the cult members. What type of observation is this?
Participant observation
Scenario: The interaction between caregiver and child is studied and the behaviour of the child is taken under certain circumstances. What type of observation is this?
Laboratory observation
Which 2 descriptive approaches are known for providing important insights and stimulate further research to test specific hypotheses?
Case studies and observational research
Which type of descriptive approach allows us to gather large amounts of information quickly and easily
Surveys
Which type of descriptive approach can provide rich, detailed information that may be lacking from a survey
Focus groups
Which study is this?
When people are aware that they are being observed, their behaviour changes because they know they are being watched
Hawthorne study
What is it called when participants guess the experiment hypothesis and purposely try to fit or ruin the experiment/act accordingly?
Reactivity
What is it called when a researcher may treat you differently to encourage you to behave a certain way
Observer/experimental bias
When someone tries to conform to social norms, they are showing what type of bias?
Self support bias
Which research method studies how two or more variables are associated with each other.
Correlational methods
Which method studies how variables are related without manipulating any of the variables?
Correlational method
Which method allows researchers to make claims about associations between variables?
Correlational method
When it comes to laptop multitasking, its been discovered that school unrelated laptop use during class has been associated with lower academic association and lower GPA’s.
What type of method was used to study this?
Correlational method
In a correlational study, the number 0 corresponds to what type of relationship?
No relationship
In a correlational study, a positive relationship means that as one variable increases, the other one:
increases
In a correlational study, a negative relationship means that as one variable increases, the other:
decreases
In a correlational study, a correlation coefficient of -1 to 1 is a:
Strong correlation
In a correlational study, a correlation coefficient of 0 is a:
Weak correlation
What kind of problem occurs when you cannot tell which variable impacted the other
Directionality problem
What kind of problem occurs when another variable that has not been considered/measured could be causing differences in variables A and B
Third variable problem
True or false: Correlational studies allow us to make cause and effect claims
False
