methodological concepts: key terms Flashcards
hypothesis
a testable statement based on the aims of an investigation
alternative hypothesis
the testable statement predicting a difference in the DV between levels of the independent variable in an experiment (or a relationship between variables in a correlation)
sampling technique
the method used to obtain the participants for a study from the population
ethical guidelines
pieces of advice that guide psychologists to consider the welfare of participants and wider society
debriefing
giving participants full explanation of the aims and potential consequences of the study at the end of a study so that they leave in at least as positive a condition as they arrived
ethnocentric bias
foregrounds and prioritizes one’s own culture, judging all other groups by one’s own cultural standards even when such a judgment is inappropriate- psychologists must never assume an item or task in a psychological instrument to have the same meaning cross-culturally
experimental validity
the extent to which research has internal validity and external validity
because it concerns what goes on inside and outside the experiment
cost-benefit analysis (CBA)
a widely used method of evaluating the pros and cons of different alternatives in order to make optimal decisions
Cross-cultural psychology attempts to reduce the ethnocentrism of psychology in one important sense:
by recognizing the limitations of our current knowledge and by seeking to extend our data and theory through the inclusion of other cultures, we can reduce the culture-bound nature of the
discipline.
ethnocentric bias
judging other cultures and ways of life as intrinsically inferior to your own.
reductionism
process of understanding complex things by breaking them down to their most basic parts
cost-benefit analysis
in a wider sense, whether the method of research is worth the knowledge/insight gained as a result of it - do the ends justify the means
