Research Methods Flashcards
Steps of the Scientific method
- Study existing collection of information
- Create a Theory
- Create a hypothesis based on the theory
- Select a research method
- report findings to others in formal presentations
- Revise Theory
Def: Theory
A general set of ideas about the way the world works
Def: Hypothesis
A statement which makes a specific prediction about the relationship between variables involved in the theory
Def: Paradigm Shift
Particularly dramatic change in our way of thinking
Def: Anecdotal Evidence
Evidence gathered from others’ or one’s own experience
Def: Experiment
Scientific tool used to measure the effect of one variable on another
Def: Experiment Group
Group receiving a manipulation of the independent variable
Def: Control Group
Receives no manipulation of the independent variable
Def: Within-participants experimental Design
Manipulating the IV within each participant to minimize the effects of participant differences on the dependent measure
Disadvantages to a within-participant design
Time consuming, costly, participants may change in important ways throughout the experiment, practice effect
Def: Between-participants experimental design
one group of participants receive the experimental manipulation while the other acts as the control
Def: Confounding variable
any variable associated with the independent variable that complicates the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable
Def: Population
The general group of people we are trying to learn about
Def: Sample
The selected members of the population that we actually collect data from - must accurately reflect the population itself in order for the results to be generalizable
Def: Random assignment
Participants are randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group
Def: Placebo Effect
When an individual exhibits a response to a treatment that in reality has no related therapeutic effect
Def: Participant Bias
How participants expectations about experimental manipulation could influence the results of the experiment
Def: Blinding
When participants do not know whether they belong to the experimental or control group, or what treatment they are receiving
Def: Experimenter Bias
actions made by the experimenter, intentionally or not, that influence the outcome of the experiment
Def: Double-blind
an experiment where neither the experimenter nor the participants know which group each participant belongs to
Def: Case Study
an in-depth investigation of an individual person or a small group of people, often over an extended period of time
Def: Constant
a feature or quality that always takes the same value across all situations
Def: Construct Validity
The extent to which there is evidence that a test measures particular hypothetical construct
Def: Correlation
A measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables
