Research Flashcards
Internal validity
How well a study is done - whether it avoids confounding variables
Factors that influence internal validity -
Baseline effect Low statistical power Testing effect History effect Instrumentation effect Stat regression to mean Maturation effect Experimental attrition Diffusion of tx Contamination Assignment of groups Selection bias Compensatory rivalry Compensatory equalization Ambiguity of direction of causal influence
Construct validity
How well can inferences be made from it
Validity of the measurement tool
Factors that influence construct validity
Multiple tx interferance Order effect Hawthorne effect Experimenter effect Novelty and disruption effect Pre or post test sensitization
IV vs. DV
IV = the thing that is changed or controlled DV = depends on the IV (usually a measure)
Ex - Measure mile run times in Jim while drunk - Ind and Dep =
Ind = alcohol Dep = mile time
Scales of measurement - Nominal
Identity or classification Yes/No M/F Race Type of arthritis
Scales of measurement - Ordinal
Rank without equal distance between items
Scale 0-10
Rank favorite foods
MMT
Scales of measurement - Interval
Equal distance between numbers, NO absolute zero
Temp
Scales of measurement - Ratio
Equal distance between numbers, YES absolute zero
Weight
Height
Quartiles - Q1, Q2, Q3
Q1 = 25th (below median) Q2 = 50th (median) Q3 = 75th (above median)
Variance
Variability for the average squared distance that scores deviate from their mean
(sum of squared SD/# of scores - 1)
Standard deviation
Square root of variance 1 SD = 68% 2 SD = 95% 3 SD = 99% Summarizes variability in a set of data
Negatively skewed
Mean is less than median and mode
Bigger hump to the R
Positively skewed
Mean is greater than median and mode
Bigger hump to the L
Null hypothesis
No difference between the control and the experimental groups
Alternative hypothesis (H1)
Contradicts the null
Can be non directional (2 tailed) or Unidirectional (1 tailed)
Level of significance is usually set at
5%
P < 0.05
Z score is what
Standard score
Z of -1.0 means that the raw score is 1 SD below the mean
Z score and p value
Inversely related
If the z score is high, indicates that the test statistic is outside 2 SDs - so need to reject null
If the z score is low, it is within 2 SDs so we retain the null
Beta =
Probability of type II error
Retain the null (fail to reject it) when it is false
Alpha =
Probability of type I error
Reject the null when the null is true
Relationship of Beta and Alpha
The smaller you make alpha, the bigger beta is
If p value is less than alpha - what should you do
reject the null (there is a stat sig diff)
p value is what
Probability of getting data as extreme as you did by chance alone (if null is true)
P value of less than 0.5 means that there was less than 5% chance that the observed result was a fluke