psychology 201: midterm 1, chapter 2 Flashcards
scientific method
systematic procedure that begins with the observation of a phenomenon and the question of why that phenomenon occurred
theory
explanation or model of how a phenomenon works
hypothesis
specific, testable, prediction, narrower than the theory it is based on
research
the careful collection, analysis, and interpretation of data
data
measurements gathered during the research process
replication
involves repeating a study to see if the results are similar
HARKing
“hypothesizing after the results are known” instead of generating a theory before running the study and analyzing the results
small samples
a larger sample is required to achieve an accurate estimation of the population effects
p-hacking
testing the same hypothesis using statistical tests in different variations until one produces a statistically significant result
underreporting null effects
can cause readers to draw invalid inferences because entire studies or hypothesis tests are missing from the study
pre-registration
documenting a study’s hypotheses, methods, and analysis plan ahead of time and publishing it on a time-stamped website
descriptive studies
research methods that involve observing behavior to describe that behavior objectively and systematically
case studies
intensive observation, recording, and description of an atypical person or organization
participant observation
a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is involved in the situation
reactivity
the phenomenon that occurs when knowledge that one being observed alters the behavior being observed
observer bias
when a researcher’s expectations, opinions, or biases influence what they perceive or record in a study
experimenter expectancy effect
actual change in the behavior of the people/nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer
self report methods
surveys or questionnaires, can be used to gather data from a large number of people in a short time
-can be hard to gather data from children or data free from personal bias
correlational studies
examine how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or conclude that one variable causes the other
positive correlation coefficient
higher values on one variable predicts higher values on the other
negative correlation coefficient
higher values on one variable predicts lower values on the other
directionality problem
a problem encountered in correlational studies, the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable
third variable problem
a problem that occurs when the researcher cannot directly manipulate variables, as a result, the researcher cant be confident that another unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of the differences in the variables of interest
experiment
the researcher manipulates one variable to measure the effect on a second variable
control group
consists of similar participants who experience everything the experimental group receives except for the treatment
experimental group
the group of study participants who receive the treatment
independent variable
the variable that is manipulated in a research study
dependent variable
the variable that is measured in a research study
population
everyone in the group the experimenter is interested in
random sample
gives each member of the population an equal chance of being chosen to participate in the study
convenience sample
people who are conveniently available for the study, this sample is almost certainly biased
selection bias
unintended differences between the participants in different groups, it could be caused by nonrandom assignment to groups
informed consent
experiment participants are aware of a study’s procedure without giving away the purpose
debriefing
must take place after a study’s completion if deception is used, researchers inform the participants of the study’s goals
confidentiality
personal, identifying information about participants cannot be shared with others
beneficence
researchers have an ethical obligation to weight the potential benefits of a study against its risks and to minimize risks as much as possible
construct validity
the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure
external validity
the degree to which the findings of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations
internal validity
the degree to which the effects observed in an experiment are due to the independent variable and no to confounds
reliability vs accuracy
reliability- the stability and consistency of a measure over time
accuracy- the degree to which the measure is error free
descriptive statistics
statistics that summarize the data collected in a study
central tendency
a measure that represents the typical response or the behavior of a group as a whole
mean
average of a set of numbers
median
the value that falls exactly halfway between the lowest and highest set of values
mode
most frequent score or value in a set of numbers
variability
in a set of numbers, how widely dispersed the values are from each other and from the mean
range
the distance between the largest and smallest values
standard deviation
a statistical measure of how far away each value is, on average, from the mean
correlation
measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables
causation
one variable is the reason another happens/occurs
confound
anything that affects a dependent variable and that might unintentionally vary between the study’s different experimental conditions
inferential statistics
a set of procedures that enables researchers to decide whether differences between or more groups are probably just chance variations or whether they reflect true differences in the populations being compared
naturalistic observation
a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, separated from the situation and making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior
random assignment
placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in such a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level of the independent variable
