Midterm Flashcards
What does it mean to be a producer of research?
Generating works using the empirical method in academia or as a student
What does it mean to be a consumer of research?
Reading the product of research that you did not produce (daily life, future careers)
What is empiricism?
The empirical method and empirical research have the goal of gaining knowledge through direct observation and empirical questioning.
Why is psychology an empirical science?
Psychology is an empirical science because it employs the empirical method.
What is inductive reasoning?
Bottom-up reasoning, observational studies
What is deductive reasoning?
Top-down reasoning, experimental studies
What are the three types of research and what are their respective goals?
Basic research: Enhances a general body of knowledge for its own sake
Translational research: The development of the interventions/protocols used in the applied setting
Applied research: Study seeks to solve a real-world problem
Describe the differences between scientific journals and journalism.
Journalists…
1. Need catchy headlines
2. Need to summarize
3. Need to use lay terms
4. May not understand the study they are summarizing
5. May be biased
6. Not subjected to peer review
Scientific journals…
1. Need descriptive titles
2. Must be detailed
3. Use scientific terms
4. Have conducted the research they are describing
5. Must be objective
6. Subjected to peer review
What are the five steps to critical thinking?
- What is the question?
- Are you making assumptions?
- What evidence supports a conclusion?
- How can the evidence be interpreted?
- What other evidence is needed?
What are the warning signs of uncritical thinking?
Using heuristics
Gut feelings
Avoiding the review of mistakes
Rebelling against criticism
What are the three non-empirical ways of knowing?
Experience, intuition, authority
Name and describe the main biases.
Present/present bias: Failing to think about what we don’t see (surgery example)
Confirmation bias: Focusing on evidence that fits our preexisting ideas
Bias blind spot: Believing we are unbiased
Name and describe the main heuristics.
Good story: Accepting a conclusion because it “sounds good” or “makes sense”
Availability heuristic: Persuaded by what easily comes to mind
When this card pops up, study the sources of information flow chart.
N/A
Name, in order, the components of a scientific paper and their purposes.
- Title: Briefly describe the study
- Introduction: Review of prior research, current research rationale and hypothesis
- Methods: Participants/subjects, study design, materials, procedures
- Results: Statistical analyses, tables, figures
- Discussion: Explanation of the findings, evaluation of the study, suggestions for the future
- References: List of all outside sources used in the article
Name the four goals of research and what they refer to.
Description: Simplest form of research, important for defining what it is we’re observing
Explanation: Connections between variables
Prediction: What conditions give rise to a behaviour/outcome
Application: Using what was learned in a real-world situation
What is a variable?
A variable is an aspect of a study that changes or can change
What is a constant?
A constant is an aspect of a study that doesn’t change
What is a measured variable?
A measured variable is observed and recorded
What is a manipulated variable?
A manipulated variable is controlled by the experimenter
What is a conceptual definition?
A theoretical definition of a construct
What is an operational definition?
How a construct is measured or manipulated in a study
What are the three claims and what do they refer to?
Frequency claims: Describes a particular level/degree of a single variable
Association claims: Argues that one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable
Causal claims: Argues that one variable causes changes in the level of another variable
What are the four validities and what do they refer to?
Construct validity: How well the variables in a study are measured or manipulated
External validity: The extent to which the results of a study generalize to a larger population
Statistical validity: How well the numbers/data support the claim
Internal validity: The extent to which a variable is responsible for changes in another variable as opposed to a confound
Relate the three claims to the four validities
Construct validity: Relevant to all claims
Statistical validity: Relevant to all claims
Internal validity: Only relevant to causal claims
External validity: Relevant to all claims
How do the four validities impact each other?
Internal and external validity have an inverse relationship (the greater one is, the less the other)
When this card pops up, study the claims and validities table.
N/A
What are the three principles of the Belmont Report and what do they refer to?
Respect for persons: Participants as “autonomous agents” and protection for vulnerable
populations
Beneficence: Do no harm, maximize benefits for participants and minimize risks
Justice: Distribute benefits and burdens fairly, avoid exploitation of vulnerable populations
What are the core principles of the TCPS and what do they refer to?
Respect for Persons: Recognizing individuals as autonomous beings, informed consent
Concern for Welfare: Mental, physical and spiritual health
Justice: No unfair burden or benefit, no unfair exclusion
Relate the principles of the TCPS to the principles of the Belmont report.
Both include respect for persons and justice
Beneficence is synonymous with concern for welfare
Name and describe key pieces of historical research that influenced the development of current ethical guidelines.
The Tuskegee Study: Participants were not told about having syphilis, treatment was withheld and the study targeted poor, uneducated and marginalized participants
Residential schools nutrition experiments: Study the effects of malnutrition and tooth decay, despite the fact that how to treat malnutrition was widely known, causing extreme harm to unknowing, vulnerable and marginalized participants
Milgram obedience study: Participants experienced distress because they believed someone was being harmed and deception was used
What are some key considerations of informed consent?
Readability and cultural norms
Parental consent/minor assent
Deception/debriefing
Documentation
What is the role of an IRB or REB?
Tasked with reviewing research for compliance with ethical standards
Who makes up an REB?
At least 5 members:
2 with expertise in relevant research disciplines
1 knowledgeable in ethics
1 knowledgeable in the relevant law (advisable, not mandatory)
1 community member with no affiliation to the institution
What are the 3 Rs of animal ethics?
Reduce the number of animals used
Replace animals with other options when possible
Refine procedures to be as humane as possible
What is fraud?
Intentionally falsifying or misrepresenting data
What is plagiarism?
Presenting someone else’s work as your own or reusing your own work in a different academic context
What are some characteristics of scientific measurement?
Researchers systematically measure what they’re interested in with an emphasis on accuracy
Measurement requires quantification rules so that it’s systematic, consistent, and transparent
Identical characteristics or attributes are quantified and interpreted in the same way
Name the four scales of measurement and their characteristics.
Nominal: Distinctive (categorization and classification)
Ordinal: Distinctive, ordered in magnitude (Ranking and ordering)
Interval: Distinctive, ordered in magnitude, equal intervals (Describing differences among individuals, can be negative)
Ratio: Distinctive, ordered in magnitude, equal intervals, absolute zero (Describing amount of a given characteristic, cannot be negative)
Name the types of reliability and what they are.
Test-retest reliability: Multiple trials of the same test
Interrater reliability: Degree of agreement among independent observers
Internal reliability: How well a study measures what you want it to measure
What does Cronbach’s alpha describe and which reliability is it associated with?
Cronbach’s alpha measures he degree of relation between items (internal reliability)
What are the five types of construct validities and what do they refer to?
Face validity: It looks like what you want to measure (subjective)
Content validity: The measure contains all the parts that your theory says it should contain (subjective)
Criterion validity: Does it correlate with key behaviours
Convergent validity: Measures that measure the same thing should converge
Discriminant validity: Measures that measure different things should discriminate
What is the relationship between reliability and validity?
A measure can be less valid than it is reliable, but it cannot be more valid than it is reliable
A measure can be reliable but not valid, but cannot be valid and not reliable
When this pops up, study the validities flow chart.
N/A
Which ethical principles were most clearly violated by the Tuskegee study?
Not treated respectfully, were harmed, were a targeted, disadvantaged social group, were not fully informed, and were coerced
Which ethical principles were most clearly violated by the residential school malnutrition study?
Participants were not informed, were harmed and were a vulnerable population
Which ethical principle was most clearly violated by the Milgram obedience study?
Participants were harmed and were deceived
Why is research better than experience?
Experience doesn’t have a comparison group and is confounded
Research is probabilistic
Why is research better than intuition?
Mistakes can be made due to biases and heuristics
Why is research better than authority?
The authority may not actually be an expert
What are the conditions required to make a causal claim?
Must be an association between variables (covariance)
Must be temporal precedence
(One variable must come first)
Internal validity (control for confounds)
