Exam 3 Flashcards
bivariate association
aka bivariate correlation; an association that involves exactly two variables
directionality problem
a situation in which it is unclear which variable in an association came first
moderator
a third variable that, depending on its level, changes the relationship between two other variables
outlier
one or a few cases that stand out as either much higher or much lower than most of the other scores in a sample
phi coefficient
a statistical test designed to evaluate the association between two categorical variables
point-biserial correlation
a statistical test used for evaluating the association between one categorical variable and one quantitative variable
spurious
an association that is attributable only to systematic mean differences on subgroups within the sample
statistically significant
aka statistical conclusion validity; the extent to which statistical conclusions derived from a study are accurate and reasonanble
t test
a statistical test used to evaluate the size and significance of the difference between two means
third-variable problem
a situation in which plausible alternative explanations exist for the association between two variables
between-subjects designs
an experimental design in which different groups pf participants are exposed to different levels of the independent variable such that each participant experiences only one level of the independent variable
carryover effects
a threat to internal validity that occurs when being exposed to one condition changes how people react to a later condition
concurrent-measures designs
an experiment using a within-groups design in which participants are exposed to all the levels of an independent variable at roughly the same time, and a single attitudinal or behavioral preference is the dependent variable
condition
one of the levels of the independent variable in an experiment
confounds
a potential alternative explanation for a research finding (a threat to internal validity)
control group
a level of an independent variable that is intended to represent “no treatment” or a neutral condition
control variable
a potential variable that an experimenter holds constant on purpose
counterbalancing
presenting the levels of the independent variable to participants in different orders to control for order effects
demand characteristics
cues that lead participants to guess a study’s hypotheses or goals
dependent variable
in an experiment, the variable that is measured, or the outcome variable
design confound
a second variable that happens to vary systematically along with the independent variable and therefore is an alternative explanation for the results
independent variable
a variable that is manipulated in an experiment