PSYC33 Chapter 3-6 vocab Flashcards
Constructs
are hypothetical attributes or mechanisms that help explain and predict behavior in a theory.
Operational definition
is a procedure for measuring and defining a construct.
Validity
the validity of a measurement procedure is the degree to which the measurement process measures the variable that it claims to measure.
Face Validity
is an unscientific form of validity demonstrated when a measurement procedure superficially appears to measure what it claims to measure.
Concurrent Validity
the type of validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a new measure are directly related to scores obtained from a more established measure of the same variable.
Predictive validity
is demonstrated when scores obtained from a measure accurately predict behavior according to a theory.
Construct Validity
requires that the scores obtained from a measurement procedure behave exactly the same as the variable itself.
convergent Validity
is demonstrated by a strong relationship between the scores obtained form two different methods of measuring the same construct.
Divergent Validity
is demonstrated by using two different methods to measure two different constructs.
reliability
The reliability of a measurement procedure is the stability or consistency of the measurement.
Test-retest reliability
is established by comparing the scores obtained from two successive measurements of the same individuals and calculating a correlation between the two sets of scores.
Parallel forms reliability
if alternative versions of the measuring instrument are used for the two measurements
inter rater reliability
is the degree of agreement between two observers who simultaneously record measurements of the behaviors.
split half reliability
is obtained by splitting the items on a questionnaire or test in half, computing a separate score for each half, and then calculating the degree of consistency between the two scores.
ceiling effect
is the clustering of scores at the high end of a measurement scale
floor effect
is the clustering of scores at the low end of a measurement scale.
demand characteristics
refers to any of the potential cues or features of a study that suggest to the participants what the purpose and hypothesis is and influence the participants to respond or behave in a certain way.
reactivity
occurs when participants modify their natural behavior in response to the fact that they are participating in a research study or the knowledge that they are being measured.
informed consent
requires the investigator to provide all available information about the study so that an individual can make a rational, informed decision to participate in the study.
deception
occurs when a researcher purposefully withholds information or misleads participants with regard to information about a study.
passive deception
is the withholding or omitting of information; the researcher intentionally does not tell participants some information about the study.
active deception
is the presenting of misinformation about the study to participants.
debriefing
is a post experimental explanation of the purpose of a study that is given to a participant, especially if deception was used.
confidentiality
is the practice of keeping strictly secret and private the information or measurements obtained from an individual during a research study.
anonymity
is the practice of ensuring that an individual’s name is not directly associated with the information or measurements obtained from that individual.
IRB
Institutional Review Board, is a committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment of human participants.
IACUC
Institutional animal care and use committee.
fraud
is the explicit effort of a researcher to falsify or misrepresent data
replication
is repetition of a research study using the same basic procedures used in the original.
plagiarism
is the representation of someone else’s ideas or words as one’s own, and it is unethical.
population
is the entire set of individuals of interest to a researcher
sample
is a set of individuals selected from a population and usually is intended to represent the population in a research study.
representativeness
of a sample refers to the extent to which the characteristics of the sample accurately reflect the characteristics of the population
biased sample
is a sample with different characteristics from those of the population
selection bias or sampling bias
occurs when participants or subjects are selected in a manner that increases the probability of obtaining a biased sample.
Sampling
is the process of selecting individuals to participate in a research study.
probability sampling
the entire population is known, each individual in the population has specifiable probability of selection, and sampling occurs by a random process based on the probabilities
random process
is a procedure that produces one outcome from a set of possible outcomes.
non probability sampling
the population is not completely known, individual probabilities cannot be known, and the sampling method is based on factors such as common sense or ease, with an effort to maintain representativeness and avoid bias.
Quantitative research
is based on measuring variables for individual participants to obtain scores, usually numerical values, that are submitted to statistical analysis for summary and interpretation.
Qualitative research
is based on making observations that are summarized and interpreted in a narrative report.
research strategy
is a general approach to research determined by the kind of question that the research study hopes to answer
validity
of a research study is the degree to which the study accurately answers the question it was intended to answer
external validity
refers to the extent to which we can generalize the results of a research study to people, settings, times, measures, and characteristics other than those used in that study.
internal validity
a research study has internal validity if it produces a single, unambiguous explanation of the relationship between two variables.
extraneous variable
any variable in a research study other than the specific variables being studied is an extraneous variable.
confounding variable
is an extraneous variable that changes systematically along with the two variables being studied.
assignment bias
occurs when the process used to assign different participants to different treatments produces groups of individuals with noticeably different characteristics.
maturation
When a group of individuals is being tested in a series of treatment condition, any physiological or psychological changes that occurs in participants during the study and influences the participants scores.
testing effects or order effects
occur when the experience of being tested in one treatment condition has an influence on the participants’ scores in a later treatment condition.
statistical regression or regression toward the mean
is a mathematical phenomenon in which extreme scores (high or low) on one measurement tend to be less extreme on a second measurement.
research design
is a general plan for implementing a research strategy.
