Chapter 3 Flashcards
Basic Research
Answers fundamental questions about behaviour
Applied Research
Investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems
Descriptive Research
Designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs
Correlational Research
Research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge
Experimental research
Research conducted with a specific approach, where a set of variables are manipulated while the other set of variables are being measured
Scientific Method
Set of assumptions, rules and procedures scientists use to conduct research
Laws
Principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry
Theory
Integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many but not all observed relationships within a given domain of enquire
Good Theories have 4 characteristics
General
Parsimonious
Falsifiable
Research Hypotheses
A specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables
Variable
Any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places
Conceptual variables
Abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses
Measured Variables
Variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables
Operational definition
A precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable
Deception
Occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it
Active Deception
researcher tells the
participants that he or she is studying learning when in fact the experiment really
concerns obedience to authority.
Passive Deception
when participants are not told about the
hypothesis being studied or the potential use of the data being collected.
Nuremberg Code (WW2)
particularly clear about the importance of carefully
weighing risks against benefits and the need for informed consent.
Declaration of Helsinki
human participants
should be based on a written protocol—a detailed description of the research—
that is reviewed by an independent committee.
Belmont Report
explicitly outlined principles of justice, respect for persons,
beneficence, in response to the Tuskegee study.
Informed Consent
Researchers obtain and document peoples agreement in a study after having informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their decision
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.
Types of descrittive research
Case studies
Surveys
Naturalistic Observation
Case studies
Descriptive records of one or more individuals experiences or behaviour of individuals
Surveys
Measures administrated through either as intervene or a written questionnaire to her a picture of the beliefs or behaviours of a sample of people of interest
Sample
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 measured variable
Normal Distribution
A data distribution that is shaped like a bell
Central Tendency
Point in the distribution around which the data are centered
Arithmetic Mean
Sum of all the scores of the variable divided by the number of participants in the distribution
Outliners
Extreme scores within the distribution
Median
middle (50%)
Mode
Value that occurs most frequently in the distribution
Dispersion
Extent to which the scores are all tightly clustered around the central tendency
Correlational research
involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of
the relationship between or among those variables.
Predictor variable
the variable assumed to have an effect on some other variable or explains a change in another variable.
Outcome variable
The variable that is observed to determine whether it changes due
to the predictor variable.
Linear Relationship
When the association between the variables on the scatter plot can be easily approximated with a straight line.
Pearson Correlational coefficient
When the association between the variables on the scatter plot can be easily approximated with a straight line.
Multiple Regression
Statistical technique based on correlation coefficients among variables,
that allows predicting a single outcome variable from more than one predictor variable.
Common - causal variable
A variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the observed correlation between them
Spurious Relationship
Arelationship between two variables in which a common- causal variable produces and “explains away” the relationship.
Independent Variable
the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter
Dependant Variable
a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the
experimental manipulation
Random Assignment to Conditions
a procedure in which the condition that each
participant is assigned to is determined through a random process, such as
drawing numbers out of an envelope or using a random number table.1
Valid
Legitimate
Reliable
Consistent
Experimental Bias
the experimenter subtly treats the research participants in the
various experimental conditions differently, resulting in an invalid confirmation of
the research hypothesis.
Single Blind Study
either the participants or the researcher do not know the
conditions participants are assigned to
Double Blind Study
both the participants and the researcher do not know the
conditions participants are assigned to.
Construct Validity
the extent to which the variables used in the research
adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure.
Internal Validity
Extent to which the independent variable has caused the dependant variable
External Validity
Extent to which the results extend to other scenarios populations
Statistical Conclusion Validity
the extent to which we can be certain that the
researcher has drawn accurate conclusions about the statistical significance of the
research.1
Meta Analysis
A statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw
conclusions about those studies.
Exact replication
Exactly recreating
Conceptual Replication
a statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw
conclusions about those studies.
