Research methods definitions Flashcards

1
Q

Experimental

A

An independent variable is changed and the effect on the dependant variable is observed

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2
Q

Non experimental

A

No variables are changed, the relationship between them is observed

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3
Q

Hypothesis

A

A scientific prediction of the relationship between two variables

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4
Q

Independent variable

A

The changed variable

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5
Q

Dependent variable

A

The variable effected by the dependant variable

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6
Q

Controlled variables

A

Variables that are controlled so they don’t influence the results

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7
Q

Extraneous variables

A

Extraneous Variables are undesirable variables that influence the relationship between the variables that an experimenter is examining.

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8
Q

Confounding variables

A

Confounding variables are variables that the researcher failed to control, or eliminate, damaging the internal validity of an experiment.

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9
Q

Correlation

A

An association between two variables

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10
Q

Correlational studies

A

Observation of the association between two variables

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11
Q

Archival research

A

Analyzing studies conducted by other researchers or by looking at historical patient records

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12
Q

Case studies

A

One type of observational data collection technique in which one individual is studied in-depth in order to identify behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive qualities that are universally true, on average, of others

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13
Q

Qualitative

A

Refers to a study in which the scientist collects non-numerical data

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14
Q

Quantitative

A

numerical type of data that can manipulated and presented in graph form

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15
Q

Subjective

A

Subjective tests are inventories which assess your personality or various abilities in a biased manner

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16
Q

Objective

A

Objective tests are inventories which assess your personality or various abilities in an unbiased manner.

17
Q

Descriptive statistics

A

Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide simple summaries about the sample and the measures.

18
Q

Mean

A

A measure of central tendency which is more commonly known as an “average.”
The average or mean is calculated by adding all scores and then dividing by the number of scores.

19
Q

Mode

A

A measure of central tendency which is defined by the most common number in an array.

20
Q

Median

A

A measure of central tendency that is defined as the midpoint in an array of numbers. If the array has an uneven number of scores, the midpoint is the average of the two numbers closest to the middle.

21
Q

Range

A

A statistical measure of variance. It is calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score and then adding one (i.e., range = (highest score - lowest score) +1).

22
Q

Population

A

Everyone who could possibly be a participant in the study is part of the population

23
Q

Sample

A

A relatively small number of participants drawn from a population

24
Q

Representative

A

when your participants closely match the characteristics of the population, which helps you generalize your results from your small group of people to large groups of people

25
Random sampling
Everyone in the entire population has an equal chance of being selected.
26
Stratified sampling
The researcher identifies the different types of people that make up the target population and work out of the proportions needed for the sample to be representative
27
Opportunity sampling
Uses people from target population available at the time and willing to take part, based on convenience
28
Systematic sampling
Chooses subjects in a systematic way from the target population, like every nth person on a list of names
29
Probability
The expected relative frequency of a particular outcome.
30
Statistical significance
Technically, statistical significance is the probability of some result from a statistical test occurring by chance. Most often, psychologists look for a probability of 5% or less that the results are do to chance
31
Standard deviation
Standard Deviation is a measure of variation (or variability) that indicates the typical distance between the scores of a distribution and the mean. Tells us the average amount by which each score differs from the mean.
32
Variance
Tells us how spread out the scores are around the mean.
33
Reliability
The extent to which a test in consistent in its results
34
Inter-rater reliability
The degree to which different raters give consistent estimates of the same phenomenon
35
Internal consistency
Within the test the results should be consistent
36
Test-rest reliability
If the test is taken more than once the results should be consistent
37
Validity
The extent to which a test measures what it intends to measure
38
Internal validity
The extent to which only the independent