Module 2 - Research strategies

Question 1

Hypothesis

Answer 1

testable prediction regarding the research question

Question 2

what does it mean to study something empirically

Answer 2

using all observable evidence

Question 3

6 steps of the scientific method

Answer 3

1. form a research question
2. form a hypothesis
3. design and conduct a study to examine the hypothesis
4. Analyze the results of the study
5. report the findings
6. replicate the study to confirm and refine the findings

Question 4

Confirmation bias

Answer 4

the tendency to seek and notice evidence supporting what you already believe, while failing to seek or notice counterevidence

Question 5

what is a variable

Answer 5

• something that can take on different categories or values (age, height, music preference, etc.)
• can vary over time, between groups, between individuals, etc.

Question 6

continuous variable (def and examples)

Answer 6

• infinite possible values between any two points on a continuum
• measurements are measured to a certain level of precision (not exact)
• ex: height, weight, heart rate

Question 7

discrete variable (def and examples)

Answer 7

• can be categorical
• can be quantitative but only allow certain specific values
• ex: favorite movie, whole numbers, number of people

Question 8

Construct (def and examples)

Answer 8

variable that we can conceptualize but cant measure directly
- happiness, conservatism, intelligence, shyness

Question 9

what does it mean to operationalize a construct

Answer 9

• use a variable that we can measure that we believe reflects the construct we’re studying
• operationalization never perfectly captures the construct
  ex:
• happiness –> “happiness scale”
• intelligence –> IQ test

Question 10

Two types of studies

Answer 10

• experiments
• observational/ descriptive studies

Question 11

3 variables of experiments

Answer 11

1. independent variable
   - variable manipulated by the experimenter (ex: type of drug)
2. dependent variable
   - outcome that is measured
3. confounding variable
   - another variable that varies throughout groups that you aren’t measuring
   - avoid by random assignment

Question 12

random assignment

Answer 12

• assigning participants to groups purely at random, so only the systemic difference between groups is the IV

Question 13

observational studies (def and 3 types)

Answer 13

researcher doesn’t manipulate anything
1. Naturalistic observation
- observing subjects in their natural state without interfering
2. Correlational study
- measure two variables to see if they are related
- positive vs negative correlations
3. Case study
- study one or a few unique individuals

Question 14

population vs sample

Answer 14

• population - everyone the research question is about
• sample - small subset of the population that we actually observe in our study
• ideally random and unbiased, so it truly representative of the population as a whole
• many studies use convenience samples