Methods Flashcards
Hindsight bias
The tendency of people upon hearing about research findings or information that they ‘knew it all along’.
Applied research
Explores questions that have clear, practical applications.
Basic research
Explores questions that are of interest but are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications.
Hypothesis
Explains a relationship between two variables.
Dependent variable
Change in the dependent variable depends on change in the independent variable; measured for results.
Independent variable
Change in the independent variable produces change in the dependent variable.
Theory
Aims to explain some phenomenon and allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses in order to collect data that support the theory.
Operational definition
Explains how a variable will be measured; defines the measures of a variable.
Valid
Research is valid when it measures what the researcher set out to measure.
Reliable
Research is reliable when it is consistent and can be replicated to get similar results.
Sampling
Process by which participants in an experiment are selected. Sample must be:
1) Random
2) Large population
3) Representative of population wanted
Confounding variable
Any difference between the experimental and control conditions besides the independent variable that might affect the dependent variable.
Experimenter bias
A type of confounding variable in which researchers treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis.
Double-blind procedure
Occurs when neither participants nor the researcher are able to affect the outcome of the research; can eliminate experimenter bias.
Single-blind procedure
Occurs when only the participants do not know which group they have been assigned; can lemonade response/participant bias.