Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What is a scientific theory?

A

An explanation for a phenomenon that can be falsified and that involves entities that cannot be directly observed

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2
Q

What does it mean for a scientific theory to be falsifiable?

A

There must be some hypothetical facts that would prove the theory false

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3
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A prediction about observable events

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4
Q

What is a case study?

A

A description of the behavior or abilities of a single individual

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5
Q

What school of Psychology used case studies as their primary research technique?

A

Psychoanalysts

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6
Q

What research technique in Psychology is most subject to the problem of confirmation bias?

A

Case studies

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7
Q

What is naturalistic observation?

A

When a researcher observes and describes behavior

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8
Q

What research technique did Jane Goodall use to study the chimpanzees?

A

Naturalistic observation

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9
Q

What are naturalistic observations good for?

A

Answering simple questions

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10
Q

What is the correlational approach?

A

Attempts to determine the relationship between variables without manipulating them

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11
Q

What are the two circumstances when a Psychologist would use the correlational approach?

A

When manipulating the variables being studied would be:

 a) impossible/very difficult
 b) unethical
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12
Q

What is causation?

A

A change in one variable results in a change in the other

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13
Q

Can the correlational approach be used to determine if two variables have a causal relationship?

A

No

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14
Q

If two variables have a perfect positive relationship, what would be the value of the correlation co-efficent for those variables?

A

+1

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15
Q

What does it mean if the correlation co-efficient between two variables is near 0?

A

It is a weak relationship

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16
Q

What two characteristics must an experiment possess?

A

Independent/Dependent Variables and Random Assignment

17
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

Manipulated variable

18
Q

What is a dependent variable?

A

Measured variable

19
Q

What is random assignment?

A

Every person in the experiment has an equally likely chance of being assigned to each level of the independent variable

20
Q

In contrast to all other research techniques, what does an experiment allow a researcher to do?

A

Find a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables

21
Q

What is an operational definition?

A

A concept is defined in terms of the variables used to measure it
(e.g., hunger could be defined as “hours without food”)