Chapter 2: The Scientific Method Flashcards
The Scientific Method is grounded in what?
Systematic Observations
What is the Theoretical Phase?
General - Theory - Hypothesis - Prediction - Specific
What is the most important property of the theoretical phase?
That it is falsifiable
What is the Empirical Phase?
Prediction - design study - collect data
Definition of good operational?
(1) Does not rely on subjective judgment, (2) Easy for other researchers to replicate, (3) High reliability (consistency), (4) High validity (accuracy)
What is a Case Study?
Extensive observation of one unusual person.
What is Naturalistic Observation?
Observe people in public typically without them knowing.
What are surveys and questionnaires?
Ask people directly but they can be unrealiable.
What are correlational studies?
Measures two variables and studies the relationship between them.
What are the 3 types of correlation?
(1) Positive correlation, both x and y move in the same direction. (2) Negative correlation, means x and y are going in opposite directions. (3) Zero correlation, x and y are unrelated.
What are the two problems with correlation and causation?
Directionality problem and the third-variable problem.
What is the directionality problem?
You don’t know which variable influences the other.
What is the third - variable problem?
There is a third variable that influences both variables.
What are experimental studies?
A study that investigates the cause and effect of one variable on another.
What are independent and dependant variables?
The independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect.
What is the Placebo Effect?
When patients report better results after taking a FAKE pill.
What is the expectancy effect?
This is when the experimenter expects the outcome which can influence the experiment and the results.
What is internal validity?
This reassures there is no variable that is messing up the experiment.
How do researchers solve the validity problem?
(1) Calculate the likelihood that random assignment has failed, only accept results below 5%. (2) Make a larger group. (3). The importance of replication.
What is external validity?
Your sample is similar and related to the general population.
What is random selection?
Everybody in the population has the ability to be in the experiment.
What is the Law of large numbers?
As the size of a sample increases the attributes of that sample will reflect the population better.
