Class 1: Stats and Research Methods Flashcards
Define internal validity
The extent to which we can say that the change in the dependent variable is due to the intervention
Common threats to internal validity (5)
1) impression management
2) confounding variables
3) lack of reliability
4) sampling bias
5) attrition effects
Define external validity
The extent to which the findings can be generalized to the real world
Common threats to external validity (4)
1) experiment doesn’t reflect real world
2) sample not representative
3) situational effects (lab conditions impact outcomes)
4) lack of statistical power
Define observational studies
Studies in which researchers do not interfere with, or manipulate, variables
Define ethnographic studies
Observational studies that take a deep dive into a particular culture or subculture
Define twin studies, heritability studies
Studies that attempt to establish the relative effects of nature and nurture on behaviour
Define archival studies, biographical studies
Studies that use the historical record to understand events (archival) and people (biographical)
Define phenomenological studies
Studies that attempt to understand conscious experiences from a first-person perspective
Define case studies
Detailed exploration of one individual “case” or occurrence of a phenomenon
Define longitudinal studies
Long-term studies that takes measurements at different time intervals
Define independent variable (aka?)
The treatment or intervention in a study that is being manipulated by the researcher (aka controlled variable)
Define dependent variable (aka?)
The outcome variable that is measures and not directly manipulated by the researcher (aka measured variable)
Define operational definition
A formal way of defining a term or idea that researchers are trying to study
For correlation, which number represents the strongest and weakest correlations?
Strongest: +/- 1
Weakest: 0
