Chapter 2 Textbook Flashcards
___ ___ is the tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted the outcome AFTER knowing what has happened
hindsight bias
__ is an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena
Theory
___ is a testable statement or idea about the relationship between 2 or more variables.
hypothesis
what is an operational definition
the precise specification of how variables are measured or manipulated
3 primary types of research designs
1) observational
2) correlationsal
3) experimental method
2 types of observational research designs. Describe
1) ethnographic design: method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by observing it from the INSIDE without imposing any preconceived notions that they may have.
2) archival analysis: a form of the observational method whereby the researcher examines accumulated documents of a culture.
what is interjudge reliability
the level of agreement between 2 or ore people who independently observe and code a set of data.
Observational designs use __-____ _____ tests to ensure that the observations are NOT SUBJECTIVE
inter-judge reliability.
according to interjudge reliability, if two raters come up with a similar score, it ensures that:
the observations are not subjective.
T/F: An observational method is descriptive
true
T/F: a correlational method is causal
false. it is descriptive
describe the correlational method
measuring 2 or more variables and assessing the relationship between the 2 of them. Assess how much one can be predicted by the other, and determines the STRENGTH of the relationship
what kind of statistic is used in a correlational study?
a correlational coeficient (from -1 to 1)
Give an example of a type of correlational study
a SURVEY: research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes of behavior. Allows research to judge the relationship between variables that are often difficult to observe.
benefit and drawbacks of a survey
pro: allows a large amount of responses to be gathered by a representative segment of the population
con: response accuracy
- correlation does not prove causatio.
how do you ensure a sample is representative of a population?
random selection
T/F: an experimental method is causal
true
in the experimental method, a researcher _____ assigns participants to different conditions and ensures the conditions are ____ except for the ____ variable.
in the experimental method, a researcher RANDOMLY assigns participants to different conditions and ensures the conditions are IDENTICAL except for the INDEPENDENT variable.
What is internal validity. How is this accomplished?
how well the independent variable causes the change in the dependent variable, or how well the operational definition actually measures what is being studied.
accomplished by controlling all extraneous variables + RANDOM ASSIGNMENT to ensure that the independent variable is causing the dependent variable.
___ ____ allows experimenters to minimize differences among participants as the cause of the results
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT. Ensures that all participants have an EQUAL chance of being in either condition.
What is the P value
a value that determines how likely it is that the results of their experiment ocurred by CHANCE and NOT because of the independent variable.
When are results typically considered significant?
when p<0.05. you are 95% sure that the results are NOT due to chance.
the higher the internal validity :
the more likely that the independent variable causes the dependent variable.
What is external validity
the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people.
high internal validity = ____ external validity
LOW
The basic dilemma of a social psychologist
the need to trade off between external and internal validity.
in attempt to increase generalizability, psychologists attempt to maximize ___ ___. (define)
they try to make their studies as realistic as possible in the lab setting by maximizing PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM: extent to which the psychological processes triggered in an experiment are to psychological process that occur in every day life.
how can you maximize psychological realism?
make people feel involved in a real event. experimenters often implement cover stories.
how do you ensure that the results of an experiment are generalizeable across people?
RANDOM SELECTION is essential in order to be certain that reuslts of an experiment represent the behavior of a particular popularion.
what is a field study?
an EXPERIMENT that is conducted in a NATURAL SETTING rather than a laboratory.
T/F: in a field study, participants are unaware that the events they experience are part of an experiment
TRUE. the independent variable is still controlled by the researcher, but the participants are typically unsure what the researcher is looking for.
a field study has HIGH ____ validity and LOW ____ validity
high external validity but low internal validity because it is less controlled than a normal experiment.
Replication tests _____ validity. How?
Replication tests EXTERNAL validity by repeating the study over and over again, generally with different subject populations.
what is a meta-analysis
averages the results of 2 or more studies to see if the effect of an independent variable is reliable. Sort of like a p value except that it averages the results of many different studies.
Basic research. Why are they conducted?
studies that are designed to find the best answer as to why people behave the way they do.
- conducted purely for RESEARCH and CURIOSITY. They aren’t trying to SOLVE a specific problem
Applied research.
studies that are designed to solve a particular social problem. Building a theory is SECONDARY to solving a specific problem.
2 newer fields that are stemming from social psychology
1) cross cultural research: research conducted with members of different cultures to see whether psychological processes of interest are present across cultures or whether a process is culture dependent.
2) social neuroscience: uses brain imaging, hormone studies and more physiological methods to discover which social psychological process are biologically based.
6 main ethical principles
1) respect for dignity
2) ability to withdraw
3) confidentiality
4) informed consent.
5) minimizing harm
6) deception only if there is no other viable option.
____ is necessary if deception is used
debriefing. Must explain to participants the true purpose of the study
