Key science skills Flashcards
Research methods, data, experiment
What is population?
Refer to the entre group of research interest from which a sample is drawn and to which the researcher will seek to generalise (apply) the results of the investigation.
What is a sample?
A sample is a subset or part of the population that is selected for research purposes.
What is random sampling?
Random sampling is a sampling technique that ensures every member of the population of research interest has an equal change of being selected to be part of the sample.
What is random allocation?
When every member of the sample has an equal chance of being assigned to each condition in the experiment.
What is an independent variable? (IV)
The IV is the variable that is being changed.
What is the dependant variable? (DV)
The DV is the variable that is being measured.
What is a hypothesis? And what does it include?
A hypothesis is a prediction about what will happen in an experiment.
It includes the IV, DV, population and a direction.
What is a case study? Name a limitation.
A case study is an in-depth investigation of some behaviour activity, event or problem of interest in a single individual.
A limitation is:
- small sample size
- you cannot generalise a case study to a population
What is a correlation study?
It is a study that is used to investigate the relationship that exists between variables without any control over the setting in which the relationship occurs or any manipulation by the researcher.
What is quntitative data?
Give an example.
Information that is expressed numerically. (involves numbers).
EG. Age, height, weight
What is qualitative data? Give an example.
Is information that is not expressed numerically. It uses category’s. EG. gender, religion
What is the scientific mehtod?
- Question
- Research
- Hypothesis
- Experiment
- Data analysis
- Conclusion
- Communication
What is a control group?
The group that is not exposed to the independent variable.
Controlled variable?
Factors that are kept constant to ensure that only one variable (IV) causes an effect.
What are the two types of validity?
Internal and external validity.
Internal validity examines whether the study design, conduct, and analysis answer the research questions without bias.
External validity examines whether the study findings can be generalized to other contexts.
What is a random error?
Random errors affect the precision of a measurement. Happens in the measuring process.
What is systematic errors?
Errors that affect the accuracy of a measurement. It causes readings to differ each tie by a consistent amount.
What is a extraneous variable?
An extraneous variable is any factor that is not the independent variable that can affect an experiment’s dependent variables.
What is primary data? What is secondary data?
Primary data is information collected directly by the researcher (or through others) for their own purpose.
Where as secondary data is information that was not collected directly by the current researcher but was collected at an earlier time by someone else.
What does beneficence mean?
beneficence is the commitment to maximising benefits and minimising the risks and harms involved in taking a particular position or course of action.
