exam 2 Flashcards
applied research
intended to answer practical questions or solve practical problems.
basic research
intended to answer theoretical questions or gather knowledge simply for the sake of new knowledge are classified
casual observation
watching others behaviors
primary source
firsthand report of observations or research results written by individuals who actually conducted the research and made the observations
secondary source
is a description or summary of another person’s work.
-is written by someone who did not participate in the research or observations being discussed
literature search
find a set of published research reports that define the current state of knowledge in an area and to identify an unanswered question
initial factor for determining wether a specific article is relevant to your research question
the title
-secondary is abstract
introduction
discusses previous research that forms the foundation for the current research study and presents a clear statement of the problem being investigated
method section
presents details concerning the participants and the procedures used in the study
results section
presents details of the statistical analysis and usually is not important for generation new research idea
reference section
lists complete references for all items cited in the report
good hypothesis is
testable, refutable, postive
testable hypothesis
is one for which all of the variables, events, and individuals can be defined and observed
refutable hypothesis
is one that can be demonstrated to be false. That is, it is possible for the outcome to be different from the prediction
positive hypothesis
must make a positive statement about the existence of something
-usually the existence of a relationship, the existence of a difference
theory
a set of statements about the mechanisms underlying a particular behavior
-good theory generates predictions about the behavior
constructs
hypothetical attributes or mechanisms that help explain and predict behavior in a theory
-rewards can affect motivation which then affect performance
operational definition
procedure for indirectly measuring and defining a variable that cannot be observed or measured directly
-specifies a measurement procedure for measuring an external observable behavior.
a primary limitation of an operational definition
that there is not a one-on-one relationship between the variable that is being measured and the actual measurements produced by the operational definition.
what term is used for a variable that cannot be observed or measured directly but is useful for describing and explaining behavior
construct
goal of an operational definition
provide a definition and a method for measuring a hypothetical construct
first criteria for evaluating a measurement procedure is
validity
validity
is the degree to which the measurement process measures the variable that it claims to measure
face validity
the simplest and least scientific definition of validity
-the purpose of the measurement is obvious
concurrent validity
establishes consistency between two different procedures for measuring the same variable, suggesting that the two measurement procedures are measuring the same thing
predictive validity
demonstrated when scores obtained from a measure accurately predict behavior according to a theory
construct validity
requires that the scores obtained from a measurement procedure behave exactly the same as the variable itself.
-based on many research studies that use the same measurement procedure and grows gradually as each new study contributes more evidence.
convergent validity
is demonstrated by a strong relationship between the scores obtained from two or more different methods of measuring the same construct
divergent validity
demonstrated by showing little or relationship between the measurements of two different constructs
second criteria for evaluating the quality of a measurement procedure is
reliability
reliability
is the stability or consistency of the measurement
-variable is stable/constant
sources of error
observer error, environmental changes (time,temp,) , participant changes
test-retest reliability
is established by comparing the scores obtained from two successive measurements of the same individuals and calculating a correlation between the two sets of scores
inter-rater reliability
the degree of agreement between two observers who simultaneously record measurements of the behaviors
split half reliability
obtained by splitting the items on a questionnaire or test in half, computing a separate score for each half, and then calculating the degree of consistency between the two scores fora group of participants
nominal scale
represent qualitatively differences in the variable measured
-groups
ordinal scale
series of ranks, measurements
interval and ratio
time in seconds, weight in pounds, temp.
interval has
no 0 point
ratio has a
0 point
after measuring a set of individuals, a researcher finds that bobs score is three times greater than jane’s. What scale of measurement is being used
ratio
what additional information is obtained by measuring on an interval scale compared to an ordinal scale
the size differences
ceiling effect
clustering of scores at the high end of a measurement scale, allowing little or no possibility in value
floor effect
clustering of scores at the low end of a measurement scale, allowing little or no possibility of decreases in value
artifact
external factors that may influence or distort the measurements
good subject role
participants have identified the hypothesis of the study and are trying to produce responses that support the investigator’s hypothesis
negative subject role
participants have identified the hypothesis of the study and are trying to act contrary to the investigator’s hypothesis
apprehensive subjet role
participants are concerned with their performance in the study
research ethics
concerns of the responsibility of researchers to be honest and respectful to all individuals who are affected by their research studies of their reports of the studies
numerberg code
a set of 10 guidelines for the ethical treatment of human participants in research
Belmont report
basic ethical principles identified by the national commission to protect human participants
principle of beneficence
requires that the researcher does not harm the participants minimizes risks
principle of respect for persons (autonomy)
requires that individuals should consent to participate in studies
principle of justice
requires fair and nonexploitative procedures for the selection and treatment of participants so that the cost and benefits are distributed equally
informed consent
human participants should be given complete information about the research and their roles in it before agreeing to participate
informed consent consists of
information, understanding, voluntary partcipation
deception
occurs when a researcher purposefully withholds information or misleads participants with regard to information about a study
passive deception (omission)
is the withholding information: the research intentionally does not tell participants info about the study
active deception
presenting misinformation about the study to the participant
debriefing
post experimental explanation of the purpose of a study that is given to a participant, especially if deception was used
confidentiality
practice of keeping strictly secrete info or measurements from the study
anonymity
individuals name is not directly associated with the information
institutional review board
committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment of human participants
institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC)
a committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment of the nonhuman subject
fraud
the explicit effort of a researcher to falsify or misrepresent data
replication
repetition of a research study using the same basic procedures used in the original
plagiarism
the unethical representation of someone elses ideas
population
all the individuals of interest
sample
the specific set of individuals who participate in the research study (usually a small set from the population)
target population
group defined by the researcher’s specific interests
representativeness
sample refers to the extent to which the characteristics of the sample accurately reflect the characteristics of the population
representative sample
a sample with the same characteristics as the population
biased sample
sample with different characteristics from those of the population
selection bias (sampling bias)
occurs when participants or subjects are selected in a manner that increases the probability of obtaining a biased sample
law of large numbers
states that the larger the sample size, the more likely it is that values obtained from the sample are similar to the population
sampling
process of selecting individuals to participate in a research study
probability sampling
the entire population is known, and sampling occurs by a random process based on the probabilities
random process
random outcome
nonprobability sampling
the odds of selecting a particular individual are not known because the researcher does not know the size of population
simple random sampling
each individual has an equal chance of being picked
systemic sampling
researchers select members of the population at a regular interval
stratified random sampling
researchers divide subjects into subgroups called strata based on characteristics that they share (e.g., race, gender, educational attainment)
cluster sampling
researchers divide a population into smaller groups known as clusters. They then randomly select among these clusters to form a sample.
convenience sampling
stopping people at random, which means that not everyone has an equal chance of being selected depending on the place, time, or day you are collecting your data.
quota sampling
sample is obtained by identifying subgroups to be included and then establishing quotas for individuals to be selected through convenience from each subgroup
