quiz 2 Flashcards
population
total group of individuals or subjects to be studied
sample
a portion of the total to be used in research
random sample
each person has an equal chance
naturalistic pros and cons
pro: able to observe them in their natural habitat (not changed/manipulated)
con: tells us what not why, very time consuming, observer does not have a lot of control over participants, observer bias
case study pros and cons
pro: great info, lots of conclusions about the person
con: may not generalize to a large group, confabulation (honest lying) and hindsight bias
survey method pros and cons
pro: great deal of info
con: only skins the surface, low response rate, wording effect is a concern, social desirability, and sample itself can be an issue
correlation
statistical relationship between two variables
positive correlation
both variables go in the same direction… both go up or both go down ex. income and tax, calories and weight gain
negative correlation
one variable goes up while the other goes down and vice versa ex. rainfall and plant watering time, temperature and clothing layers
correlation is not…
…causation; just because the data correlates doesn’t mean one variable causes the other. third variable could exist
a correlation of .04 is
weak
a correlation of .80 is
strong
experimental method
can demonstrate cause and effect,manipulates the factors of interest, holds constant other factors
independent variable
the experimental factor that is manipulated, the treatment itself (drug)
dependent variable
the behavior measured; the factor that might be impacted by changes on the independent variable
extraneous variables
environmental or participant factors that can affect the outcome (temp of room, lighting, time of day, etc.
confounding variables
a type of extraneous variables that changes with the independent variable making it difficult to determine what is causing the change in the dependent variable
placebo
sugar pill or false treatment (placebo affect)
placebo affect
believing a fake pill is having the same effect as the real medication due to psychological deception; ex. if you tell a person that a headache is a common side effect of a particular medication, that person is more likely to report headaches even if they are actually taking a placebo
blind experiment
when the subjects don’t know which group they are in
double blind experiment
when both subjects and research assistants don’t know which group participants are in; cuts down bias
reliability
consistency/stability of a measure; yields consistent results across time
validity
did the study measure what it was supposed to measure?
internal validity- measured what it intended to measure
external validity- findings that can be generalized to the population of interest
research ethics
written guidelines for ethical treatment of research participants; studies involving people/animals must be approved by IRB (institute review board)
informed consent
right to be informed of risks and ability to withdraw at any time
deception
is acceptable if not harmful to individual
debriefing is a…
… must; used during an experiment whereby the researchers had to use some form of deception for the purpose of the study
confidentiality
the state of keeping or being kept secret or private
identify parts: A researcher wants to study the impact of meditation on anxiety levels in teens. Group A (50 teens) will participate in teacher-led meditation techniques for 45 minutes in one room while Group B (50 teens) will be allowed to spend that 45 minutes in unstructured activities in another room. Both groups will then perform online tasks during which their heart rates and salivary cortisol will be measured for levels of anxiety.
Population- teens
Representative Sample- 100 teens
Dependent Variable- anxiety levels in teens
Independent Variable- impact of meditation
Experimental Group- Group A (50 teens) will participate in teacher-led meditation techniques for 45 minutes in one room
Control Group- Group B (50 teens) will be allowed to spend that 45 minutes in unstructured activities in another room
Extraneous Variable- anxiety disorder, external challenges with family, friends, or life
