Module 5 Flashcards
What is scientific rigor?
Internal precision of the exact-ness of the research study
What is the difference between a nondirectional and a directional hypothesis?
Nondirectional hypotheses state the existence of a relationship between variables, a directional hypotheses states the existence, direction, and magnitude of a relationship between variables
The statistical hypothesis is also known as the ______ .
Null
What is a null hypothesis?
A hypothesis that states that there is no relationship between variables. The goal of a research study is to accept or reject the null
Extraneous variables are also known as what type of variable?
Confounding
What is research validity?
The approximate truth of an inference
What are the four major types of validity?
- Internal
- External
- Statistical conculsion
- Construct
How can internal validity be described?
The degree to which it can be inferred that a study’s independent (predictor) variable actually caused the dependent (outcome) variable and that it was not a result of an extraneous (confounding) variable(s)
Which validity improves our ability to infer cause-and-effect relationships and improves control of extraneous factors?
Internal validity
What are examples of threats to internal validity?(6)
- History
- Maturation
- Mortality
- Selection bias
- Testing
- Instrumentation
Which type of internal validity threat can be described as the occurrence of external events that take place concurrently with the independent variable and that can affect the outcome variable?
History
Ex- 9/11, election
Which type of threat to internal validity refers to processes occurring within participants during the course of the study as a result of the passage of time rather than as a result of the independent variable?
Maturation
Which type of threat to internal validity arises when participants drop out, pass away, etc during the course of a study?
Mortality (also known as Attrition)
What does the threat to internal validity, selection bias, refer to?
Also known as Selection. Refers to biases resulting from preexisting differences between groups. When participants are not randomized to groups there is a great risk for this
What does the threat to internal validity, testing, refer to?
Testing refers to the effects of taking a pretest on people’s performance on a posttest. The initial test may sensitize participants