exam 2 Flashcards
survey research
a quantitative and qualitative method with two important characteristics: measuring using self-reports and sampling
respondents
participants
large random samples are preferred because…
they provide the most accurate estimates of what is true in the population
most survey research…
is non-experimental, used to describe single variables and assess statistical relationships between variables BUT can be experimental
Model of the cognitive processes involved in responding to a survey item
question interpretation -> information retrieval -> judgment formation -> response formatting -> response editing
context effects
unintended influences on respondents’ answers - are not related to the content of the item but to the context in which the item appears: i.e. response options, item-order effect, type of questions, etc
item-order effect
when the order in which the items are presented affects people’s responses
open-ended items
ask questions and allow participants to answer in whatever way they choose
close-ended items
ask a question and provide a set of response options for participants to choose from
rating scale
an ordered set of response options on a typical rating scale ranges from 3 - 11, although five and seven are probably most common
likert scale
strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree
BRUSO
brief, relevant, unambiguous, specific, and objective
introduction serves two basic functions
encourage participants to participate in the survey, and establish informed consent
probability samples
occurs when a research can specify the probability that each member of the population will be selected for the sample
non-probability sampling
occurs when the research cannot specify these probabilities
convenience samples
studying individuals who happen to be nearby and willing to participate
snowball sampling
in which existing research participants help recruit additional participants for the study
quota samples
subgroups in the sample are recruited to be proportional to those subgroups in the population
self-selection samples
in which individuals choose to take part in the research on their own accord, without being approached by the researcher directly
sampling frame
essentially a list of all the members of the population form which to select the respondents
simple random sampling
each individual in the population ahs an equal probability of being selected for the sample
stratified random sampling
the population is divided into different subgroups or “strata” and then random sample is taken from each sub
proportionate stratified random sampling
select a sample in which the proportion of respondents in each of various subgroups matches the proportion in the population
disproportionate stratified random sampling
can be used to sample extra respondents from particularly small subgroups
cluster sampling
larger clusters of individuals are randomly sampled and then individuals within each cluster are randomly sampled
how large does a survey need to be?
depends on level of confidence wanted and the practical constraint
sampling bias
when a sample is selected in such a way that it is not representative of the entire population and therefore produces inaccurate results
non-response bias
if survey non-responders differ from survey responders in systematic ways
use verbal labels instead of
numerical labels
non-experimental research
research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable - simply measuring variable as they naturally occur
used for description or prediction/correlation
correlational research
measuring two variables with little or no attempt to control extraneous variables and then assess the relationship between them
observational research
focuses on making observations of behavior in a natural or laboratory setting without manipulating anything
cross-sectional studies
comparing two or more pre-existing groups of people
longitudinal studies
one group of people is followed over time as they age
cross-sequential studies
combines elements of both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
smaller period of time during which they follow people in different age groups\
correlation is used when…
when the relationship is thought to not be causal, when it can not be studied as causal, to establish reliability and validity of measurement and if higher external validity is more important.
scatterplots can have
a positive or negative relationship
Pearson’s r
correlation coefficient; -1.00 - 1.00
.1 = small, .3 = medium, .5 = large
only good for linear relationships
restriction of range
Pearson’s r can be misleading when one or both of the variables have a limited range in the sample relative to the population
directionality problem
two variables can be statistically related because X causes Y or because Y causes X
third-variable problem
two variables might be related because a third variable causes both X and Y
spurious correlation
correlations that are a result of a third-variable are referred to as this
correlation matrix
showing the correlation between every possible pair of variables in the study
factor analysis
organizes the variables into a smaller number of clusters, such that they are strongly correlated within each cluster but weakly correlated between clusters - each cluster is then interpreted as multiple measures of the same underlying construct
statistical control of potential third variables
instead of controlling these variables through random assignment or by holding them constant as in an experiment the researcher measures them and includes them in the statistical analysis caused partial correlation
regression
a statistical technique that allows researchers to predict one variable given another
can also be used to describe more complex relationship between more than two variables
predictor vairable
variable that is used to make the prediction
outcome or criterion variable
variable being predicted
interviews
can be unstructured or structuredf
focus groups
small groups of people who participate together in interviews focused on a particular topic/issue
grounded theory
researchers start with the data and develop a theory or an interpretation that is “grounded in” those data
theoretical narrativce
an interpretation of the data in terms of the themes that they have identified
mixed methods research
combining quantitative and qualitative
qualitative research for hypothesis generation and quantitative for hypothesis testing
triangulation
use both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to study the same general questions and to compare the results
observational research
used to refer to several different types of non-experimental studies in which behavior is systematically observed and recorded
naturalistic observation
an observational method that involved observing peoples behavior in the environment in which it typically occurs
disgusting naturalistic observation
make their observations as unobtrusively as possible so participants are not aware they are being studies
undisguised naturalistic observation
participants are made aware of hte researcher presence and monitoring of htei rbehavior
reactivity
when a measure changes participants’ behavior
hawthorne effect
when people know they are being observed and studied, they may act differently than they normally would
participant observation
researchers become active participants in the group or situation they are studying
disguised participant observation
researchers pretend to be members of the social group they are observing and conceal their true identity as researchers
undisguised participant observation
researchers become a part of the group they are studying and they disclose their true identity as researchers to the group under investigation
structured observation
making careful observations of one or more specific behaviors in a particular setting that is more structures than the setting used in naturalistic or participant observation
coding
clearly defining a set of target behaviors
ase study
an in-depth examination of individual - sometimes completed on social units and events
archival research
analyzing archival data that have already been collected for some other purpose
content analysis
a family of systematic approaches to measurement using complex archival data
internal vs. external validity
experimental research = high in internal validity, quasi-experimental research = middle, correlational = low
descriptive stats
to characterize or describe the characteristics of a sample
help summarize and display the data from a sample
inferential stats
using sample data to make inferences or predictions about a population
distribution
the way the scores are distributed across the levels of that variable
frequency table
one way to display the distribution of a variable; can be using for quantitative or categorical data
histogram
graphical display of a distribution; has shape; variables are listen in the ‘X’ axis and the frequency in the ‘Y’ axis
unimodal
one peak
bimodal
two distinct peaks
shape can be
symmetrical or skewed
negative skew
the ‘tail’ is pointing to the left
positive skew
the ‘tail’ is pointing to the right
outlier
an extreme score that is much higher or lower than the rest of the scores in the distribution - have to examine
central tendency
its middle - mean, median, and mode
variability
is the extent to which the scores vary around their central tendency
standard deviation is
describes the average distance between the scores and the mean
variance
mean of the squared differences; SD^2
percentile rank
the percentage of scores in the distribution that are lower than that score
z-score
the difference between that individual’s score and the mean of the distribution
cohen’s d
the difference between the two means divided by the standard deviation
often referred to as a measure of effect size
0.80 = strong, 0.50 - medium, 0.20 = weak
nonlinear relationship
a statistical relationship in which , as teh X variable increases, the Y variable does not increase or decrease at a constant rate
restriction of range
when the data used to assess a statistical relationship includes a limited range of scores on either the X or Y variable, relative to the range of scores in the population - makes the relationship appear weaker than it actually is
error bars
in bars and graphs and line graphs, vertical lines that show the amount of variability around the mean in each group or condition - typically extend upward and downward one standard error from the top of each bar or point
standard error
the standard deviation divided by the square root of the sample size - often used for error bars
APA style
has rules for graphs, tables and text
smaller/simple results = text
bigger/complex results = graph
line graph
a graph used to show the relationship between two quantitative variables. for each level of the X variable, there is a point representing the mean of the Y variable - the points are connected by lines
scatterplot
a graph used to show the correlation between two quantitative variables. for each individual there is a point representing that individuals score on both variables
correlation matrix
a table that shows the correlations among several variables
raw data
data you collect that are not yet organized or analyzed
data file
a computer file that contains data formatted for statistical analysis
when preparing raw data
examine for error, organize, enter into spreadsheet program, check the reliability of the measures and effectiveness of manipulations, examine distributions and outliers.
APA style
a set of guidelines for writing psychology and related fields
set by Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association
title page
presents the article title and author names and affiliations
abstract
summarizes the research; usually limited to 200 words, first line is not indented
intro
describes previous research the rational for current study
three subsections; introduces the research question and why interesting, literature review, and closing restates question and comments on methods used to answer it
method
describes how the study was conducted
participants subsection, a design and procedure subsection
results
describes the results of the study
discussion
summarized the study and discusses its implications
references
lists the references cited throughout the article
high-level style
second level of APA style - guidelines for the clear expression of ideas
needs to be formal and straightforward, avoid bias and offending
low-level style
third level
all specific guidelines pertaining to spelling, grammar, references, and reference citations, numbers, etc.
reference citation
to the work that idea originally appeared and a full reference to that work in the reference list
when two authors - no comma, when more there is a comma
Last name (year) - treat as names of people not as things
or (Last name, year)
empirical research report
an article that presents the results of one or more new studies
opening
a paragraph or two, introduces research question and explains why it is interesting
literature review
describes relevant previous research on the topic and can several paragraph or pages
constitutes a kind of argument for why the research question is worth addressing
closing
final paragraph or two
clear statement of main research and hypothesis and a brief overview of the method and some comment on its appropriateness
methods
describe how you conducted your study and enough detail to replicate it
results
present the main results of the study - does not include raw data - individual participants responses or scores but those should be saved
should be logically organized
discussion
summary of research, theoretical implication, practical implications, limitations, suggestions for future research
appendix
appropriate for supplemental material that would interrupt the flow of the research report if it were presented within any of the major sections
review articles
summarize research on a particular topic without presenting new empirical results
theoretical articles
review articles that present a new theory
final manuscripts
prepared by the author in their final form with no intention of submitting them for publication elsewhere
might be formatted so easier to read and understand
professional conferences
researchers in psychology share their research with each other
oral presentations
10 - 20 minutes with time for questions, slides as visual aid, less formal than paper but still formal
poster
presented during a one or two hour poster session that takes place in a large room at the conference site
as clear and simple as possible
