Chapter 3: 3 Claims and 4 Validities Flashcards
What is a variable?
something that varies
What are the variable(s) and level(s) to this statement: Most students don’t know when news is fake
- Variable: knowing if news is fake
- Levels: knowing/not knowing
What are constants?
- Something that could vary- but only has 1 level in this study
- ex. “students don’t know when the news is fake”- students is the constant
What is the constant and variable in this statement: 15% of Americans smoke
- Constant= Americans
- Variable= Smoking vs not smoking
Manipulated vs measured variable
- Measured variable: dependent variable, something you count/observe. Ex. height and IQ
- Manipulated variable: independent variable, the research controls. Has different levels
Constructs/Conceptual Variables vs Operational Definitions
- Constructs/Conceptual Variables- are more abstract and broadly explain your interests. Ex. coffee consumption, and happiness
- Operational variables: aka operational definitions, defining a variable in terms you are going to use to measure it
How could you turn “coffee consumption” and “happiness” from constructs/conceptual variables to operational variables?
- Caffeine: mg/day
- Happiness: rank on 10 point scale
What is a claim?
The argument you are trying to make
What is a frequency claim?
- statement about # of occurences
- ex. 39% of teens admit to texting while driving. Screentime for children younger than 2 doubled last year. Most students/people do not know when they are reading misinformation
What is an association claim?
- One level of one variable is related to/associated with a particular levfel of another variable
- States a relationship between at least 2 variables- a correlation coeeficient. helps make predictions
- ex. study links coffee consumption to lower levels of depression in women. There is no relationship between late dinner times and childhood obesity.
What are the 3 types of association claims?
- Positive associations: as the value of one variable increases, the value of the 2nd variable also increases
- Negative associations: as the value of one variable increases, the value of the 2nd variable decreases
- Zero association: there really isn’t a relationship between variables
What is a causal claim?
- A statement that says changes to one variable are responsible for changes to a second variable.
- Makes a statement about cause and effect. Ex. Pretending to be batman makes kids stay on task.
- Can also make a statement about lack of causal relationship. There is 0 evidence to support that vaccinations cause autism
What are the 3 criteria for causal claims
- Two variables must be correlated- their relationship cannot be 0
- The causal variable comes first and the outcome variable comes second.
- No other explanatory variables are present- internal validity
What is validity?
- Correctness/Accuracy: how well a study actually measures what it is intended to study.
- Allows inferences from study to be appropriate, meaningful, and useful
- Several kinds of validity: Face/Internal/External/Construct
What is internal validity?
- All about cause-and-effect
- What causes the outcome: did changing the IV result in changes in the DV
- Lab experiments: high in internal validity, individual differences are controlled, and the independent variable is isolated from contamination
Internal Validity
The 3 Musts of Causality: Co-Variation
- Easiest to demonstrate
- Says that changes in variable #1 predictably correspond to changes in variable #2
- Showing presence of correlation