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PSYCH Research Methods > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

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1
Q

Tenacity

A
  • Superstition/habit

- Info may not be accurate/No method for correcting

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2
Q

Authority

A
  • Find answers by seeking out an authority on the subject
  • Quickest/easiest way to obtain answers
  • (doctors, parents, lawyers)
  • not all “experts” are experts, personal opinion/biases
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3
Q

Rationalism

A
  • Logical reasoning
  • Begin with set of known facts/assumptions
  • Even if logic is sound, the conclusion may not be true
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4
Q

Empiricism

A
  • Direct observation or personal experience
  • Too much confidence in observations
  • Perceptions can drastically alter by prior knowledge, expectations, feelings, or beliefs
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5
Q

Inductive vs. deductive logic

A
  • Inductive: small set of specific observations used for forming a general statement about a larger set of possible events.
  • Deductive: General statement or set of statements as the basis for reaching a conclusion about specific examples
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6
Q

Steps in the research process

A
  1. Observe
  2. General Hypothesis
  3. Research Hypothesis
  4. Evaluate
  5. Support, refute, or refine
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7
Q

Applied research

A

Research studies that are intended to answer practical questions or solve practical problems.

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8
Q

Basic research

A

Research studies that are intended to answer theoretical questions or gather knowledge simply for the sake of new knowledge.

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9
Q

Testable hypothesis

A
  • possible to observe and measure all variables involved
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10
Q

Refutable hypothesis

A
  • contrary results must be possible

- in other words, the hypothesis must be falsifiable

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11
Q

Informed consent

A

The ethical principle requiring the investigator to provide all available information about a study so that a participant can make a rational, informed decision regarding whether to participate in the study.

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12
Q

Active deception

A
  • misleading participants about the specific purpose of the study.
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13
Q

Passive deception

A
  • information is withheld from a participant.
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14
Q

Anonymity

A

the condition of being anonymous.

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15
Q

Confidentiality

A

the state of keeping or being kept secret or private.

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16
Q

Concurrent validity

A

The type of validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a new measure are directly related to scores obtained from more established measure of the same variable.

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17
Q

Divergent validity

A
  • Two different methods to measure two different constructs.
  • Convergent validity must be shown for each of the two constructs.
  • There should be little to no relationship between the scores obtained for the two different constructs when they are measured by the same method.
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18
Q

Convergent validity

A
  • Strong relationship between the scores obtained from two different methods of measuring the same construct.
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19
Q

Ratio

A
  • The scale must have a true 0 point and ratios must be calculable
  • E.g., height, weight, reaction time
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20
Q

Interval

A
  • Scale must have equally-spaced units (distance along intervals equal)
  • Zero is just a point on the scale (not absence of the construct)
  • E.g., temperature, clock hour, psychological sclaes
  • 1(strongly disagree) - 7(strongly agree)
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21
Q

Predictive validity

A
  • Does my measure accurately predict behaviour?
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22
Q

Operational definitions

A
  • A procedure for indirectly measuring and defining a variable that cannot be observed or measured directly.
  • Specifies a measurement procedure (a set of operations) for measuring an external, observable behaviour and uses the resulting measurements as a definition and a measurement of the hypothetical construct.
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23
Q

Mean

A

A measure of central tendency obtained by adding the individual scores, then dividing the sum of the number of scores. The mean is the arithmetic average.

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24
Q

Test-retest

A

Successive measurements

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25
Q

Inter-rater

A

Simultaneous measurements

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26
Q

Split-half

A

Internal consistency

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27
Q

Developmental research design (Non-experimental & Quasi-experimental)

A
  • Cross-sectional developmental

- Longitudinal developmental research design

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28
Q

Question types

A
  • Open-ended

- Rating scale

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29
Q

Ordinal

A
  • Order of cases important
  • Data arranged in a rank position
  • Can determine direction, but not magnitude, of differences; distances b/w ranks NOT equal
  • Ex; Sales rep position (junior, middle, senior)
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30
Q

Nominal

A
  • Not really a “scale” at all
  • Categories of people, things; anything that can be grouped, and groups have no rank order
  • No one can exist “between categories” (they are mutually exclusive)
  • E.g., place of birth, occupation (when no status difference), colour preference, favourite TV show, Teams A vs. B vs. C etc.
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31
Q

Sample

A

relatively smaller group of individuals who participate in the study

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32
Q

Simple random sampling (Random)

A
  • Randomly select participants from list containing total population
  • Each individual has equal and independent chance of selection
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33
Q

Systematic sampling (Random)

A
  • Select every nth participant from list containing total population after random start
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34
Q

Stratified random sampling (Random)

A
  • Divide population into subgroups and randomly select equal numbers from each subgroup
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35
Q

Proportionate stratified random sampling (Random)

A
  • Divide population into subgroups and randomly select from each subgroup so proportions in sample correspond to proportions in population
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36
Q

Cluster sampling (Random)

A
  • Randomly select clusters from a list of all the clusters in the population
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37
Q

Convenience sampling (Nonrandom)

A
  • Select individual participants who are easy to get
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38
Q

Quota sampling (Nonrandom)

A
  • Identify subgroups to be included, then establish quotas for individuals to be selected through convenience
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39
Q

Range

A

Range = maximum value - minimum value

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40
Q

Standard deviation

A
  • Used whenever mean is used as measure of central tendency
  • Measures distance between each score and the mean
  • To calculate, you need to first calculate the variance.
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41
Q

Variance

A
  • Average squared distance from the mean.
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42
Q

Quasi-experimental (Strategies)

A
  • Attempts to answer cause-effect questions about relationship between two variables, but answers tend to be ambiguous.
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43
Q

What is a z-score?

A
  • A z-score is the number of standard deviations a score is from the mean.
  • Any raw score can be turned into a z-score.
  • When ALL of your raw scores are turned into z-scores, the mean of those scores will be 0, and the SD will equal 1.
  • Two uses of the z-score:
    1. Assessing the relative position of a score in a distribution
    2. Assessing the probability of attaining a score or mean at or below, or higher, than that score or mean in the population.
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44
Q

Experimenter bias (Threats to validity)

A
  • the findings of the of a study are influenced by the experimenter’s expectations or personal beliefs about the study’s outcome.
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45
Q

Reactivity (Threats to validity)

A
  • participants modify their natural behaviour in response to the fact that they are aware they are being studied
  • behaviour can change by being overly cooperative or defensive/uncooperative.
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46
Q

Confounding variable (Threats to validity)

A
  • extraneous variable (usually unmonitored)
  • changes systematically along with the two variables being studied.
  • alternative explanation for observed relationships between the two variables.
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47
Q

Assignment bias (Threats to validity)

A

Occurs when the process used to assign different participants to different treatments produces groups of individuals with noticeably different characteristics

48
Q

Selection bias (Threats to validity)

A
  • Sampling procedure favours the selection of some individuals over others.
  • If the sample doesn’t accurately represent the population, the results will not generalize to the population
49
Q

External validity

A
  • The extent to which the results obtained in a research study can hold true outside that specific study.
50
Q

Internal validity

A
  • Changes in one variable are followed by changes in another variable and no other variable provides an alternative explanation for the results.
51
Q

Manipulation

A

Manipulate one variable to create two different treatment conditions.

52
Q

Measure

A

Measure a second variable to obtain a set of scores in each treatment condition

53
Q

Comparison

A

Compare the scores in treatment A with the scores in treatment B

54
Q

Control

A
  • The second distinguishing characteristic of an experiment is control of extraneous variables
  • Ensure observed relationship is not contaminated by the influence of other variables.
55
Q

Threats to validity (experimental)

A
  • Assignment bias (different participants to different treatment groups with noticeably different characteristics)
56
Q

Mitigating threats to validity (experimental)

A

Holding variables constant:
- making variables the same for every observation
- environmental variables: standardize the environment and procedures
- individual differences variables: hold demographic variables constant
Matching:
- balance variables in each treatment condition
Random assignment:
- passive control technique
- disrupting systematic relation
- unpredictable and unbiased procedure to distribute different values of each extraneous variable across the treatment conditions

57
Q

Manipulation check

A
  • included in the study to measure whether the independent variable had the intended effect on the participant
58
Q

Placebo effect

A

Believed to be psychosomatic: the mind (psyche) has an effect on the body (somatic)
- the individual thinking/believing it’s effective, causes a response to the medication

59
Q

What is a between subjects design?

A
  • obtain each of the different groups of scores from a separate group of participants
  • comparing different groups of individuals
  • individual scores
60
Q

Between subjects design advantages

A
  • Each individual score is independent from the other scores

- Can be used for a wide variety of research questions

61
Q

Between subjects design disadvantages

A
  • Require a relatively large number of participants

- Individual differences

62
Q

Specific threats to validity (Between subjects design)

A
  • Differential attrition
  • Communication
  • Differential attrition: when participants withdrawal from a study before it’s completed
  • Communication: when participants from different conditions talk to each other…
    (Diffusion) - treatment effect spread between groups
    (Compensatory equalization) - untreated groups demand equal treatment
    (Compensatory rivalry) - untreated group works hard to show they can perform just as good
    (Resentful demoralization) - untreated group becomes less productive and motivated
63
Q

What does the t-statistic represent? (Between subjects design)

A

measures the size of the difference relative to the variation in your sample data

64
Q

What is a within-subjects design?

A
  • uses a single group of participants and tests or observes each individual in each treatment group
65
Q

Order effects/testing effects (Within-subjects design)

A

Factors related to experience within the research study.

66
Q

Carryover effects (Within-subjects design)

A

Changes in a participant that can be attributed directly to lingering aftereffects of earlier treatments.

  • Drug that lingers in system
  • Skills that can’t be forgotten
67
Q

Progressive error (Within-subjects design)

A

Changes in participant that can be attributed to general experience rather than specific treatment.

  • Practice effects (improvement in performance)
  • Fatigue effects (decline in performance)
68
Q

History (Within-subjects design)

A

Environmental events that change outside the study.

69
Q

Maturation (Within-subjects design)

A

Physiological or psychological characteristics in participants

70
Q

Instrumentation (Within-subjects design)

A

Measurement instrument may change (terms may be obsolete)

71
Q

Regression toward the mean (Within-subjects design)

A

Extreme scores become less extreme due to statistical regression.

72
Q

Counterbalancing (Within-subjects design)

A

The process of matching treatment with respect to time.

73
Q

Matched-subjects design (Within-subjects design)

A

An experiment in which different groups of people are exposed to the different manipulations of the IV, but within the separate groups, people are matched and compared with a partner who is very similar on an important participant variable.
- An ideal “matched pair” would be identical twins.

74
Q

Basic assumptions (Dependent samples t-test)

A
  • Dependent samples
  • The dependent variable involves an interval or ratio scale.
  • The samples come from populations with normal distributions.
  • Homogeneity of variance (variances of samples approx. equal)
  • Compare 2 treatment conditions.
75
Q

State the null & alternative hypothesis (Dependent samples t-test)

A
  • Null: The IV has no effect on the DV

- Alternative: The IV has an effect on the DV

76
Q

Degrees of freedom (Dependent samples t-test)

A

(df) number of pairs minus 1

77
Q

Question types (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Open-ended:
- Introduce a topic to participants and let them answer in their own words. (Describe your ideal date?)
Rating scale:
- participants respond by selecting numerical value on a predetermined scale (Likert scale)
Restricted:
- multiple choice

78
Q

Correlational research strategy

- Strengths/Weaknesses

A
  • to examine/describe the associations and relationships between variables.
  • data consists of two or more measurements, one for each of the variables being examined.
  • high external validity, low internal validity
79
Q

Debriefing

A

A post-experimental explanation of the purpose of the study. A debriefing is given after a participant completes a study, especially if deception was used.

80
Q

Fraud

A

The explicit efforts of a researcher to falsify and misrepresent data. Fraud is unethical.

81
Q

Plagiarism

A

Presenting someone else’s ideas or words as one’s own. Plagiarism is unethical.

82
Q

Face Validity

A

An unscientific form of validity that concerns whether a measure superficially appears to measure what it claims to measure.

83
Q

Measurement sensitivity

A

an absolute quantity, the smallest absolute amount of change that can be detected by a measurement.

84
Q

Floor effect

A

when measurements of the dependent variable result in very low scores on the measurement scale.

85
Q

Ceiling effect

A
  • when a variable is no longer measured or estimated at a certain point. (65 and over)
  • the level at which an independent variable no longer has an effect on a dependent variable
86
Q

How to calculate a z-score

A
  • A z-score is the number of standard deviations a score is from the mean
    Uses: 1. Assessing the relative position of a score in a distribution. 2. Assessing the probability of attaining a score or mean at or below, or higher, than that score or mean in the population
87
Q

Target population

A

defined by researcher’s specific interests

88
Q

Accessible population

A

Portion of population who are accessible to be recruited for the study

89
Q

Descriptive (Research strategies)

A

Intended to answer questions about the current state of individual variables for a specific group of individuals. (Describe specific characteristics of a specific group of individuals)

90
Q

Experimental (Research strategies)

A
  • Intended to answer cause-effect questions about the relationship between variables
  • rigorous control to help ensure an unambiguous demonstration of the cause-effect relationship
91
Q

Quasi-experimental (Research strategies)

A
  • Attempts to answer cause-effect questions about relationship between two variables, but answers tend to be ambiguous.
92
Q

Non-experimental (Research strategies)

A
  • Demonstrates relationship between variables without explaining relationship.
  • Does not use rigour and control or produce cause-effect explanations.
93
Q

State the null hypothesis & alternative hypothesis (Independent samples t-test)

A
  • There is no effect, no change, no relationship
  • Any differences between the sample and the population occurred due to chance
    vs.
  • The hypothesis of our predicted effect (Corresponds to Research Hypothesis)
94
Q

Positive Relationship (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Variables change in the same direction

95
Q

Negative relationship (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Variables change in opposite directions

96
Q

Third variable

A

A type of confounding in which a third variable leads to a mistaken causal relationship between two others.

97
Q

Directionality

A
  • the word “directionality” refers to directionality of inference. The program can either have a forward or backward direction.
98
Q

Control group

A

The group in an experiment or study that does not receive treatment by the researchers and is then used as a benchmark to measure how the other tested subjects do.

99
Q

Placebo control group

A

A separate control group receives a sham “placebo” treatment which is specifically designed to have no real effect.

100
Q

Basic assumptions (Independent samples t-test)

A
  • 2 groups
  • Populations from which samples are drawn are normally distributed
  • Observations within each sample must be independent.
  • Ratio or interval measurement for DV
  • Homogeneity of variance (variances of samples approximately equal)
101
Q

Differential research design

A
  • Sometimes, individual differences are the primary interest (gender, age, IQ, race, etc)
  • Researcher creates separate groups of participants based on individual difference of interest, then compares these groups.
  • No manipulation of an independent variable and no control over the assignment of participants to groups - not a true experiment.
102
Q

Degrees of freedom (Independent samples t-test)

A

df = (n - 1) + (n-1)

103
Q

Critical-T (Independent samples t-test)

A
  • Compares the means of two independent groups in order to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated population means are significantly different.
104
Q
  • Longitudinal developmental research design
A

An observational research method in which data is gathered for the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time.

105
Q

Critical T (Dependent samples t-test)

A
  • Used to compare two means for situations in which every participant is in both samples
106
Q

Response sets (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A
  • Whenever questions in a series have the same choices for responding, participants tend to use the same choices for responding.
  • To deal with this, include positive and negative statements, including alternate phrasing of same item.
107
Q

Pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design

A
  • Stronger version of nonequivalent control group design
    1. Observe/measure both groups.
    2. Apply treatment to one group.
    3. Observe/measure both groups again.
  • Adding the pretest measure allows researchers to address assignment bias.
  • O X O (treatment group)
  • O O (non-equivalent control group)
108
Q

One-group pretest-posttest design

A
  • The simplest version of the pre-post design consists of one observation for each participant made before the treatment or event and one observation made after it.
  • Non-experimental - cannot make any conclusions about cause-and-effect.
  • O X O
109
Q

Time-series

A
  • A series of observations for each participant before and after a treatment or event.
  • The intervening treatment may or may not be manipulated by the researcher.
  • O O O X O O O
110
Q

Developmental research Design

A
  • Non-experimental designs that can be used to study changes in behaviour that relate to age.
  • Cross-sectional
  • Longitudinal
111
Q
  • Cross-sectional developmental research design
A
  • Used to examine changes in similar groups at different ages.
  • Between-subjects design that uses separate group of participants for each of the ages being compared.
  • Dependent variable is measured for the individuals in each group and the groups are compared to determine whether there are age differences.
112
Q
  • Longitudinal developmental research design
A
  • An observational research method in which data is gathered for the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time.
  • Within-subjects nonexperimental design - a one-group pretest-posttest design.
113
Q

Predictor variable (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Comparable to an independent variable and is used to predict an outcome (the criterion variable)

114
Q

Criterion variable (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Another name for a dependent variable only used in non-experimental situations.

115
Q

Non-response bias (Correlational/Descriptive Research Strategy)

A

Nonresponse bias is the bias that results when respondents differ in meaningful ways from nonrespondents.

PSYCH Research Methods (3 decks)

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