Chapter 3 Flashcards
Descriptive Research
Designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs
Correlational
Research designers to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge
Experimental research
Research conducted with a scientific approach where a set of variables are manipulates while the other set of variables are being measured
Control Group
The group that gets the placebo
Experimental Group
The group that gets the actual drug
Scientific Method
Set of rules, assumptions and procedures scientists use to conduct research
Scientific method has to be?
Emperical: Collection and analysis of data
Objective: Free from personal bias or emotions of the scientist
Replicable: To repeat, and to or modify previous research findings
Theory
Set of principles that explains and predicts a certain phenomena
Theories have to be?
General statements that don’t state an outcome
Has to have the simplest possible explanation
Falsifiable: Predictions are made to be correct or incorrect
Conceptual Variables
Abstract ideas that from the basis of research hypotheses.
Example: Agression
Measured Variables
Variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables.
Deception
Whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it
Active Deception
Researcher tell the experiment is learning but in reality it’s something else
Passive deception
Participants are not told about the hypotheses being studies or the potential use of the data being collected
Informed Consent
Researchers obtain and document peoples agreement to participate in a study after stating all the intents of the research
Confidentiality
Agreement not to disclose participants personal information without their consent or legal authorization
Anonymity
Name and other personally identifiable information is not collected at all or is not published in a way to identify them
Case Studies
Descriptive records of one or more individuals experiences and behaviour
Surveys
A measure administrated through either an interview or a writing questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviours of a sample of people of interest.
Sample
A group of people chosen to participate in the research
Population
All the people the researcher wishes to know information about
Naturalistic Observation
Research based on the observation of everyday events
Descriptive Statistics
Numbers that summarize the distribution of scores on a measures variable.
Normal Distribution
A data distribution that is shaped like a bell
Central Tendency
Point in the distribution around which the data is centered
Correlational Research
Measurement of 2 or more variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables.
Predictor Variable
The variable assumed to have an effect on some other variables or explains a change in another variable
Outcome Variable
The variable that is observed to determine whether it changes due to the predictor variable
Independent Variable
The causing variable that is created by the experimenter
Dependent Variable
Measured Variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation
Valid Conclusions
Legitimate conclusions
Reliable Conclusions
Consistent
Confounding Variable
Variables other than dependent variable that effects the independent variable
Experimenter Bias
The experimenter treats the participants in the various experimental conditions differently.
Single Blind
either the participants or the researcher do not know the conditions participants are assigned to
Double blind
Both participants and the researcher do not know the conditions participants are assigned to
Construct Validity
Extent to which the variables used in research adequately assesses the conceptual variables they were designed to measure
Internal validity
Extent to which the independent variable has causes the dependent variable.
Only when confounding variables are eliminated
External Validity
The extent to which the results extend to other scenarios, population, etc. Increases with replication
Exact replication
Scientists attempts to exactly recreate the scientific methods used in conditions of an earlier study to determine whether the results come out the same
Conceptual replication
A scientist tries to confirm the previous findings using a different set of specific methods that test the same idea
