Research Methods and Statistics

Question 1

empirical investigation

Answer 1

An approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data.

Question 2

theory

Answer 2

A testable explanation for a set of facts or observations. In science, a theory is NOT just speculation or a guess.

Question 3

population

Answer 3

A population is different from a sample because a population includes all of the people in which the research is investigating, whereas a sample is a relatively small number of participants drawn from the population.

Question 4

hindsight bias

Answer 4

knew-it-all-along effect

refers to the tendency people have to view events as more predictable than they really are.

After an event, people often believe that they knew the outcome of the event before it actually happened.

Question 5

personal bias

Answer 5

The researcher allowing personal beliefs to affect the outcome of a study.

Question 6

expectancy bias

Answer 6

The researcher allowing his or her expectations to affect the outcome of a study.

Question 7

experiment

Answer 7

A kind of research in which the researcher controls all the conditions and directly manipulates the conditions, including the independent variable

cause and effect

Question 8

double-blind procedure

Answer 8

neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are receiving drugs and which are receiving placebos

Question 9

placebo effect

Answer 9

changes in behavior caused by belief that one has taken a drug

Question 10

experimental group

Answer 10

consists of subjects exposed to the independent variable

Question 11

control condition/group

Answer 11

exposed to all conditions except the independent variable

Question 12

random assignment

Answer 12

assigning your random sampling to groups but making sure that you equalize the amount of differences

a subject has an equal chance of being a member of either the experimental group or the control group

Question 13

independent variable

Answer 13

the conditions altered or varied by the experimenter

Question 14

dependent variable

Answer 14

measure the results of the experiment

Question 15

confounding variable

Answer 15

Confounding variables are factors other than the independent variable that may cause a result.

In your caffeine study, for example, it is possible that the students who received caffeine also had more sleep than the control group.

Question 16

validity

Answer 16

a test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure

For example a test of intelligence should measure intelligence and not something else (such as memory).

Question 17

correlation

Answer 17

linked together in an orderly way

Question 18

illusory correlation

Answer 18

perception of a relationship between two variables when only a minor or absolutely no relationship actually exists

For example, let’s suppose that a man holds a mistaken belief that all people from small towns are extremely kind. When the individual meets a very kind person, his immediate assumption might be that the person is from a small town, despite the fact that kindness is not related to city population.

Question 19

false consensus effect

Answer 19

the tendency of people to overestimate the level to which other people share their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors

This is a great example of the false consensus effect at work. Because you would prefer to volunteer your time to a worthy cause instead of writing a paper, you assume that the vast majority of other people also feel the same way you do.

Question 20

cross-sectional study

Answer 20

type of observational study that involves the analysis of data collected from a population, or a representative subset, at one specific point in time

middle school graphs

Question 21

naturalistic observation

Answer 21

observe behavior as it unfolds in a natural setting

Question 22

survey

Answer 22

use questionnaires and surveys to poll large groups of people

Question 23

case study/longitudinal study

Answer 23

OBSERVED

descriptive research approach to obtain an in-depth analysis of a person, group, or phenomenon.

A variety of techniques may be employed including personal interviews, direct-observation, psychometric tests, and archival records.

Question 24

descriptive study

Answer 24

he researcher wants to describe specific behavior as it occurs in the environment.

observation, case studies, and surveys

Question 25

correlational study

Answer 25

A correlation refers to a relationship between two variables.

Question 26

experimental study

Answer 26

cause and effect

controlled

Question 27

frequency distribution

Answer 27

A summary chart, showing how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occurs.

Question 28

descriptive statistics

Answer 28

Measures of central tendency and dispersion.

Question 29

measure of central tendency

Answer 29

a single value that describes the way in which a group of data cluster around a central value. To put in other words, it is a way to describe the center of a data set

Question 30

standard deviation

Answer 30

a measure that is used to quantify the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of data values.

The Standard Deviation is a measure of how spread out numbers are.

Question 31

inferential statistics

Answer 31

the probability that an observed difference between groups

Question 32

random sample

Answer 32

people you randomly pull out of a population to test on them

Question 33

representative sample

Answer 33

a selected segment of a group that closely parallels the population as a whole in terms of the key variables and characteristics that are under examination.

For example, if roughly half of the total population of interest is female, a sample should made up of approximately 50 percent women in order to be representative.

Question 34

statistical significance***

Answer 34

given correlation is likely significant if the sample size is larger

Question 35

single-blind effect

Answer 35

subjects do not know if they are receiving a real drug or a placebo

Question 36

correlational study

Answer 36

strength and direction of a relationship