Research Methods

Question 1

Theory

Answer 1

General set of ideas about the way the world works

Question 2

Hypothesis

Answer 2

Specific prediction about the relationship between the variables involved in the theory

Question 3

Research method

Answer 3

Determines the way in which the hypothesis will be measured

Question 4

Collecting data

Answer 4

Take measurements of the outcomes of tests

Question 5

Analyze data

Answer 5

Understand the data and discover trends or relationships between the variables

Question 6

Report findings

Answer 6

Publish articles in scholarly journals

Question 7

Revise theories

Answer 7

Incorporate new info into our understanding of the world

Question 8

Anecdotal evidence

Answer 8

Evidence gathered from self experience or others

Question 9

Experiment

Answer 9

Scientific tool used to measure the effect of one variable on another

Question 10

Independent variable

Answer 10

Variable being manipulated by scientist

Question 11

Dependent variable

Answer 11

Variable being observed by scientist

Question 12

Confounding variable

Answer 12

Variable other than the independent variable that has effect on the results

Question 13

Within subjects design

Answer 13

One person acts as the control group and the experimental group

This can be time consuming, costly and practice effects may occur

Question 14

Between subjects design

Answer 14

One group acts as control group and one acts as experimental

Question 15

Double blind

Answer 15

Participants and experimenters don’t know which group is which

Question 16

Subject bias

Answer 16

Participants actions in an experiment influence the results outside of the manipulations of the experimenter

Question 17

Blinding

Answer 17

Participants don’t know which group they are in

Question 18

Experimenter bias

Answer 18

Actions made by the experimenter intentionally or not to promote the result they want

Question 19

Descriptive stats

Answer 19

Present info about data at a glance to give you an overall idea of the results of an experiment

Question 20

Frequency distribution

Answer 20

Type of graph illustrating the distribution of how frequently values appear in the data set

Question 21

Normal distribution

Answer 21

Distribution with characteristic smooth symmetrical bell shaped curve containing single peak

Question 22

Inferential statistics

Answer 22

Stats that allow us to use results from samples to make inferences about overall underlying populations

Question 23

T test

Answer 23

Statistical test that considers each data point from both groups to calculate the probability that two samples were drawn from the same population

Question 24

P value

Answer 24

Value expressing the probability calculated by t test

Question 25

Statistical significance

Answer 25

Number that represents the differences between the groups don’t happen by chance to

Question 26

Observational studies

Answer 26

Studies used to observe the effect of variables they are interested in without performing manipulation on the subjects

Question 27

Empiricism

Answer 27

perspective that states that knowledge should be gained by observation instead of rational perspectives

Question 28

Paradigm

Answer 28

Set of assumptions and ideas about what kind of research questions can be asked and how they can be answered

Question 29

Random assignment

Answer 29

Assigning participants to either experimental or control group at random to avoid any biases that may cause differences between the groups of subjects

Question 30

Random sample

Answer 30

Choosing a set of subjects at random from the population being studied

Question 31

Sampling bias

Answer 31

Problem that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn

Question 32

Social desirability bias

Answer 32

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about themselves

Question 33

Response set

Answer 33

Tendency of research participants to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions