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.
Response/participant bias
The tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways.
Social Desirability
A type of response bias where there is a tendency to try to give answers that well reflect well upon them.
Experimental group
The group that receives the treatment operationalized in the independent variable.
Control group
The group that does not get the treatment of the independent variable.
Hawthorne effect
A group’s performance is affected regardless of what is done to those individuals.
Barnum effect
The tendency for people to accept very general or vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate.
Placebo method
A method that allows researches to separate the physiological effects of the drug from the psychological effects of people thinking they took a drug.
Within Subjects Design
Using participants as their own control group; can cause order effects.
Order effects
Participants may do better on the second test due to have taken the first test.
Counterbalancing
Can solve order effects; half of the participants do the first part of the test and the other half of participants start with the second half of the test.
Correlation
Expresses a relationship between two variables without ascribing cause; can be positive or negative.
Positive correlation
The presence of one thing predicts the presence of the other.
Negative correlation
A presence of one thing predicts the absence of another.
Ex post facto study
All aspects of the research process are controlled; we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition.
Survey method
Can be used to investigate a relationship between two variables; neither variable is manipulated; while there are two variables, there is no independent or dependent variable.
Naturalistic observation
Unobtrusive observation in which participate are observed in their natural habitats. Researchers do not impact the behaviors of the participants at all.
Case study method
Used to get full, detailed picture of one participant or small group of participants. Case studies allow researchers to get richest picture of what they are studying; findings cannot be generalized to a larger population.
International Review Board (IRB)
Research must be proposed to ethics board; reviews for ethical violations.
