Research Designs Vocabulary

Question 1

Confounds

Answer 1

Factors that undermine the ability to draw causal inferences from an experiment.

Question 2

Correlation?

Answer 2

Measures the association between two variables, or how they go together.

Question 3

Dependent variable

Answer 3

The variable the researcher measures but does not manipulate in an experiment.

Question 4

Experimenter expectations

Answer 4

When the experimenter’s expectations influence the outcome of a study.

Question 5

Independent variable

Answer 5

The variable the researcher manipulates and controls in an experiment.

Question 6

Longitudinal study

Answer 6

A study that follows the same group of individuals over time.

Question 7

Operational definition

Answer 7

How researchers specifically measure a concept.

Question 8

Participant demand

Answer 8

When participants behave in a way that they think the experimenter wants them to behave.

Question 9

Placebo effect

Answer 9

When receiving special treatment or something new affects human behavior.

Question 10

Random assignment

Answer 10

Assigning participants to receive different conditions of an experiment by chance.

Question 10

Quasi-experiment design

Answer 10

An experiment that does not require random assignment to conditions.