Psychology/Sociology Chapter 1: Experimental Designs and Methods

Question 1

Negative control vs positive control

Answer 1

A negative control ensures NO response occurs to rule out external influences,

while a positive control produces a KNOWN response to confirm the experimental setup works correctly.

Question 2

ecological study

Answer 2

health factors that affect a population in a defined geographic location

Question 3

Difference between moderating and meditating variables

Answer 3

Moderating = influences the STRENGTH of the relationship between the independent and dependent variable whereas

Meditating = explains the relationship between the independent and dependent variable

Question 4

external validity

Answer 4

describes the degree to which the findings of a study are generalizable to a population as a whole. Typically, this involves issues regarding the size and representativeness of the sample.

Question 5

Face validity

Answer 5

describes the extent to which a measure appears to assess what it is intended to assess—that is, more or less, the degree to which it “seems right” to participants and researchers

Question 6

Internal validity

Answer 6

refers to the degree to which causal conclusions can be drawn from a study, which can include accounting for potential confounding variables.

Question 7

content validity

Answer 7

refers to whether a measure assesses what researchers intend for it to assess.