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Research Methods and Statistics Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a standardised way of making observations, collecting information, creating theories, testing those theories, and interpreting results?

A

The scientific method

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2
Q

What do psychologists use to conduct research to investigate and explain human behaviour?

A

Scientific method

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3
Q

What does every experiment begin with?

A

A hypothesis

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4
Q

What does a hypothesis attempt to do?

A

Explain the phenomenon on or how separate facts or occurrences are related

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5
Q

Hypothesises must possess what two characteristics?

A

Testable and falsifiable

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6
Q

What two characteristics must a hypothesis have to account for the entire range of relevant phenomena?

A

Precise and proper scope

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7
Q

What do precision and operational definitions do to allow research to be replicated in the future?

A

Eliminate ambiguity

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8
Q

What is the hypothesis principle that the fewest assumptions is always the strongest?

A

Parsimonious

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9
Q

A successful hypothesis must be able to ____ and ____ future phenomena.

A

Explain and predict

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10
Q

Since no hypothesis is ever proven to be true, what can be said about hypotheses?

A

They are supported by evidence or falsified

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11
Q

What is an alternative hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis compared to a null hypothesis

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12
Q

What is compared to a null hypothesis?

A

Alternative hypothesis

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13
Q

What does the symbol H1 mean?

A

Alternative hypothesis

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14
Q

What does the symbol H0 mean?

A

Null hypothesis

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15
Q

What is a null hypothesis?

A

A counter-hypothesis that states that there is no relationship between the phenomena under the proposed scope

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16
Q

What do researchers try to do to the null hypothesis? What do researchers try to do to the alternative hypothesis?

A

Researchers tried to reject the null hypothesis rather than trying to prove the alternate hypothesis

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17
Q

What are variables?

A

Any behaviours, characteristics, conditions, or occurrences that researchers study

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18
Q

What are the two types of variables?

A

Independent variables and dependent variables

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19
Q

What are independent variable is also referred to as?

A

The treatment

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20
Q

What is the independent variable?

A

The variable that is somehow manipulated by the researcher

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21
Q

What is the dependent variable?

A

The variable that is hypothesised to be affected by the independent variable and is measured by the researcher

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22
Q

Before conducting any research, it is crucial to establish concrete ______ _______.

A

Operational definitions

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23
Q

What are operational definitions?

A

Rules that describe exactly what the variables are in the specific methods used to manipulate and measure them

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24
Q

Scientist describe the medium through which they measure and compare variables in terms of what five things?

A

1) subject
2) population
3) sample
4) control group
5) experimental group

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25
Q

What is a subject in the experiment?

A

The human, animal, or thing the researcher studies

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26
Q

What is population experimental design?

A

The entire collection of subjects from which researchers draw data and hope to draw conclusions about

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27
Q

What is a sample and experimental design?

A

The collection of subjects drawn from the population and actually used in the study or experiment

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28
Q

A sample must have what two characteristics?

A

1) be representative of the population

2) sufficiently large in order for any experimental results to be generalisable to the population

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29
Q

What is the control group in experimental design?

A

The randomly assigned a group of subjects who are not exposed to any experimental conditions

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30
Q

What is the experimental group of experimental design?

A

The randomly assigned groups of subjects who are exposed to the experimental conditions

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31
Q

What are the three main types of experimental designs allowed researchers to study subjects and compare variables?

A

1) between subjects design
2) within subjects design
3) mixed factorial design

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32
Q

What groups do subjects participate in in the between – subjects design?

A

Each subject participates in only one group, either the control group or the experimental group, but not both

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33
Q

What does the between subjects design prevent?

A

Prevents the likelihood of subjects performing better on tasks due to practice, subject to performing worse due to tiredness, and the likelihood of results been contaminated from the effects of the first treatment

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34
Q

In experimental design, what is the practice/learning affect?

A

Subjects performing better on tasks due to practice

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35
Q

In experimental design, what is the fatigue effect?

A

Subjects performing worse due to tiredness, boredom, or distraction

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36
Q

In experimental design, what is the carryover effect?

A

The likelihood of results being contaminated from the effects of the first treatment influencing the subsequent treatment

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37
Q

What is another term for the within subjects design?

A

Repeated measures design

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38
Q

What groups do the subjects participate in In the within subjects design?

A

Each subject participates in every group, is exposed to each treatment, and therefore serves as his or her own control

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39
Q

In that within subjects design, the experiment is more prone to the practice/learning affect, fatigue affects, and carryover effect. How can these negative effects be minimised?

A

Counterbalanced measures

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40
Q

What are counterbalance measures? In which experimental design are they used?

A

A design that includes all possible treatment orders, effectively accounting for every situation; with in subject design

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41
Q

What does the mixed factorial design experimental design do?

A

Combines aspects of the between subjects design and the within subjects design

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42
Q

Describe the variables of the mixed factorial design.

A

It involves two independent variables, one variable that is measured between subjects and one that is measured within subjects

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43
Q

How are the subjects assigned in the mixed factorial design?

A

Each subject is randomly assigned to one group and then cycles through the remaining groups

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44
Q

What is the overall goal of an experiment?

A

To compare measurements of the dependent variable between the control and experimental groups to see whether exposure to the independent variable as an effect on the dependent variable

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45
Q

What are confounding variables?

A

Certain extraneous variables that cannot be controlled for; they can adversely affect the independent variable–dependent variable relationship, making it difficult to determine the true relationship

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46
Q

What are biases?

A

Systematic errors in experimental design, execution, or analysis that result in misinterpretations of the relationship between phenomena

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47
Q

What do biases do to research validity?

A

Decrease research validity

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48
Q

What are the three main types of research bias?

A

1) selection bias
2) subject bias
3) experimenter bias

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49
Q

When does selection bias occur?

A

Occurs when the selection of subjects is not properly randomised

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50
Q

What does selection bias result in?

A

Results in a sample that is not representative of the population, thus making any results invalid for generalisation

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51
Q

What is subject bias?

A

Describes how a subjects expectations and beliefs about the study will affect his or her performance or behaviour

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52
Q

What are the three types of subject bias’s?

A

1) placebo effect
2) social desireability
3) demand characteristics

53
Q

What is the placebo effect?

A

The phenomenon in which people expect a treatment to work, so it does to some degree, even though they received a fake treatment

54
Q

What is social desirability?

A

The tendency for people to describe themselves or report information that is perceived is socially acceptable

55
Q

What is the effect of demand characteristics?

A

The tendency for subjects to modify their behaviour to conform to the expectations of the researcher

56
Q

What is experimenter bias?

A

Occurs when the objectivity of the experimenter is compromised; experimenters expectations for the study may influence his or her behaviour with the subjects; leading to conclusions that aren’t necessarily supported

57
Q

What are three ways to reduce bias from an experiment?

A

1) random assignment
2) blind study
3) double blind study

58
Q

What is random assignment?

A

Dividing subjects into groups based purely on chance instead of human decision

59
Q

What is a blind study?

A

A study in which all subjects are unaware of what treatment they are receiving

60
Q

What is a double-blind study?

A

A study in which neither the subject nor the experimenters are aware of the treatment being administered

61
Q

What is observational research?

A

Observational studies involve systematic observation of subjects where researchers look to find important patterns

62
Q

Does observational research consists of methods that manipulate variables or conduct any experiment?

A

No variable manipulation or conduction of experiments

63
Q

In what types of environments is observational research conducted?

A

Natural or laboratory settings

64
Q

What is archival research?

A

Consists of unobtrusive methods were one gathers and analyses existing data or historical records to identify patterns

65
Q

What are correlational studies?

A

Include many types of research such as observational or archival, but simply look for potential relationships between variables

66
Q

What are two types of correlational studies?

A

Observational or archival

67
Q

What type of studies gather information to determine the strength and direction of an association?

A

Correlational studies

68
Q

What is defines the strength and direction of an association?

A

Correlation coefficient

69
Q

Does correlation imply causation?

A

Correlation does NOT imply causation

70
Q

What are case studies?

A

Detailed investigations of an individual, group or event

71
Q

What are two types of case studies?

A

Prospective and retrospective

72
Q

What are prospective case studies?

A

A case is observed in order to determine a possible outcome

73
Q

What is a retrospective case study?

A

A case’s history is thoroughly analysed in order to determine a particular sequence of events

74
Q

In general, are case studies representative of the population?

A

No, they tend to focus on detailed, qualitative information of rare occurrences

75
Q

What is cross-sectional research?

A

Research that occurs at a single point in time and examines one variable between different groups that are similar in all other aspects

76
Q

What is longitudinal research?

A

It involves collecting data at the beginning of the study and repeatedly throughout its duration

77
Q

What are two types of statistics that psychologists and other scientists use together to make sense of their research?

A

Descriptive statistics

Inferential statistics

78
Q

What are descriptive statistics?

A

Encompass the procedures used to describe a collection of information quantitatively

79
Q

What are the three essential components of descriptive statistics?

A

1) measures of central tendency
2) measures of variability
3) measures of correlation

80
Q

What are the three main measures of central tendency?

A

Mean, median, mode

81
Q

What is the mean?

A

Arithmetic average

82
Q

What are outliers?

A

Values that are unusually small or a large compare to the rest of the dataset

83
Q

For a dataset that contains outliers, it is the best measure of central tendency to use?

A

The median

84
Q

What is the median?

A

The middle value in a data set when all the values have been arranged in numerical order

85
Q

What is the mode?

A

The most frequently occurring value

86
Q

What are the three types of modes?

A

Unimodal, bimodal, or multimodal

87
Q

Where are the important measures of variability?

A

Range, standard deviation, and normal distribution

88
Q

What is the range?

A

The difference between the highest and lowest values

89
Q

What is standard deviation? (SD, sigma)

A

Describes the degree to which a value varies from the average

90
Q

What does a high standard deviation indicate?

A

Indicates that the data points are spread over a large range

91
Q

What does a low standard deviation indicate?

A

The value points are spread over a small range and are located more closely to the average

92
Q

What is the normal distribution?

A

A commonly occurring bell shaped probability distribution that describes the spread of data

93
Q

What percentage of values are found within one standard deviation of the mean?

A

68%

94
Q

What percentage of values are found within two standard deviations of the mean?

A

95%

95
Q

What percentage of values are found within three standard deviations of the mean?

A

99.7%

96
Q

What is the correlation coefficient (r)?

A

A statistical measure that indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables

97
Q

What is the range of correlation coefficient values?

A

+1 to -1

98
Q

Positive values indicate what type of correlation coefficient?

A

Positive coefficient

99
Q

What does a positive correlation mean?

A

As one variable increases, the other will increase as well

100
Q

Negative values indicate what type of correlation coefficient?

A

Negative correlation

101
Q

What is a negative correlation mean?

A

As one variable increases, the other will decrease

102
Q

When r=+1, what is the term for the correlation coefficient?

A

Perfect and positive

103
Q

When r=-1, what is the term for the correlation coefficient?

A

Perfect and negative

104
Q

What does an r=0 value indicate about the values and correlation ?

A

The variables are totally independent of one another; there is no correlation

105
Q

What do you descriptive statistics allow researchers to describe ?

A

Describe quantitatively the data they have collected

106
Q

Can descriptive statistics apply to the rest of the population?

A

No, descriptive statistics apply only to the sample that was acquired and cannot be generalised to the population

107
Q

What type of statistics allow researchers to determine how reliable and significant their data are?

A

Inferential statistics

108
Q

What are the two major components of inferential statistics?

A

Statistical significance and statistical power

109
Q

If an experiment or study has statistical significance, what does this mean?

A

There is an excepted little low probability that the results occurred due to chance

110
Q

the boundary between statistical significance and the insignificance is based on a_______.

A

Pre-specified significance level (alpha level)

111
Q

What does the Alpha level indicate the probability of?

A

Committing a type 1 error

112
Q

What is a type 1 error?

A

Rejecting the null hypothesis when it is actually true

113
Q

What is the most commonly used alpha level? What does this mean?

A

Alpha= 0.05; means that over time, a true null hypothesis will be wrong fully rejected one out of every 20 times

114
Q

As the Alpha level become smaller, the test for significance becomes……

A

More stringent

115
Q

Once an alpha level has been set researchers obtain what value?

A

P value

116
Q

What is the P – value?

A

The value that describes the likelihood of observing a particular outcome due to chance, given for the data’s distribution

117
Q

What happens if a P value is less than or equal to the Alpha level?

A

We reject the null hypothesis

118
Q

What does it mean to reject the null hypothesis?

A

Our results are statistically significant

119
Q

What happens if the P value is greater than the alpha level?

A

We fail to reject the null hypothesis

120
Q

If we reject our null hypothesis, does this mean we accept our alternative hypothesis?

A

No, our results only support the alternative hypothesis

121
Q

If we fail to reject the no hypothesis what does this mean about our results?

A

Our results are statistically insignificant

122
Q

What does statistical power reveal?

A

Reveals how large the sample needs to be to ensure that statistical tests, such as determining statistical significance, are both accurate and reliable

123
Q

According to statistical power, what happens if the sample size is too small?

A

Any results will not be precise enough to yield any meaningful information

124
Q

What happens if the sample size is larger than required?

A

Statistical tests become more accurate and reliable

125
Q

What is another term for statistical power?

A

Sensitivity

126
Q

What does statistical power represent?

A

The probability that a statistical test, such as determining the statistical significance, will correctly reject the null hypothesis

127
Q

What does statistical power try to avoid committing?

A

Type II error (beta)

128
Q

What is a type II error?

A

Failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is actually false

Psychology (8 decks)

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