empirical research

Question 1

when would empirical evidence be rejected and why

Answer 1

methodological flaws, lack of replication, publication bias, small sample size, conflict of interest, and failure to control for confounding variables

Question 2

why should research be replicated

Answer 2

Important because it allows us to estimate the inherent variability in the data. This allows us to judge whether an observed difference could be due to chance variation.

Question 3

independent groups design

Answer 3

Participants only take part in one condition of the experiment (2 separate groups)

Question 4

repeated measures design

Answer 4

Participants take part in both conditions of the experiment (1 group)

Question 5

repeated measures - counterbalancing

Answer 5

Systematically changing and presenting the order of treatments or tasks in a ‘balanced’ way to ‘counter’ potential unwanted order effects, e.g. practice, fatigue, boredom

Question 6

random sampling

Answer 6

Every member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being selected or chosen as a participant for a study.

Question 7

convienience sampling

Answer 7

This is the least rigorous sampling method which involves the selection of the most accessible participants (convenient) or participants who just happen to be about at the time of the investigation (opportunistic).

Question 8

hypothesis

Answer 8

A hypothesis in psychology is a testable statement that predicts the outcome of a study.

Question 9

correlated

Answer 9

Positive correlation
Two variables move in the same direction, meaning that a high score on one variable is accompanied by a high score on the other.
Negative correlation
Two variables move in opposite directions, meaning that a high score on one variable is accompanied by a low score on the other.
Correlation coefficient
A number that measures the strength of the relationship between two variables. The coefficient ranges from -1 (strong negative) to 0 (no relationship) to 1 (strong positive).

Question 10

extraneous variables

Answer 10

In psychology, an extraneous variable is a factor that can affect the results of a study but is not being investigated

Question 11

independent variable

Answer 11

In psychology, an independent variable (IV) is a characteristic that researchers manipulate or change in an experiment to see its effects

Question 12

dependent variable

Answer 12

In psychology, a dependent variable is the variable that is measured and is expected to change in response to the independent variable

Question 13

descriptive statistics

Answer 13

mean - a measure of central tendency that represents the average value in a set of data
standard deviation - is a statistical measurement that shows how spread out a set of data points are from the mean, or average, of the data set

Question 14

matched participants design

Answer 14

Researchers match participants on key characteristics like age or IQ, then randomly assign one from each pair to the experimental group and the other to the control group. This reduces individual differences, improving the study’s internal validity.

Question 15

order effects

Answer 15

when the order of conditions or tasks affects a participant’s response. This can happen in a variety of situations, including surveys, experiments, and other research

Question 16

counterbalancing

Answer 16

Counterbalancing is a technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design. With counterbalancing, the participant sample is divided in half, with one half completing the two conditions in one order and the other half completing the conditions in the reverse order.

Question 17

informed consent

Answer 17

In psychology, “informed” refers to the process of obtaining a client’s or participant’s agreement to a service or study after providing them with comprehensive information

Question 18

debriefing

Answer 18

Debriefing is a process for telling participants all the information related to the study that was initially withheld

Question 19

deception

Answer 19

when a researcher gives false information to subjects or intentionally misleads them about some key aspect of the research.

Question 20

confidentiality

Answer 20

Confidentiality means protecting personal information

Question 21

anonymity

Answer 21

Providing anonymity of information collected from research participants means that either the project does not collect identifying information of individual persons