research methods (modules 4-8) Flashcards
hindsight bias
- the tendency to believe after learning outcome, it had been forseen by one
- (i knew it all along)
when people can easily imagine something as common sense…
their hindsight bias allows them to believe the statement’s true
over confidence
when you think you know more than you do
hindsight bias, overconfidence, and our tendency to find patterns
leaves us vulnerable to overestimating “common sense”
theories explain behavior or events by…
offering ideas that organize observations
scientific method
a self-correcting process for evaluating and analyzing theories
1. develop a hypothesis
2. perform controlled test
3. gather objective data (direct observation)
4. analyze results
5. publish, criticize, replicate results
hypothesis
testable predictions that specify what supports the theory and what doesn’t
operational definition
carefully worded statement of exact procedures used in research study
a theory is useful if it…
-organizes observations
-implies predictions
-stimulates further research
3 categories of research methods
descriptive methods, correlation methods, experimental methods
descriptive methods
behavior is described through case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation
correlational methods
associate different factors and variables
experimental methods
manipulation variables to discover their effects
case study
in depth study and analyses of individuals or groups with the goal of revealing a universal truth
naturalistic observations
recording the natural behavior of many individuals without trying to manipulate the situation
surveys
questioning a representative and random sample of the group to obtain self reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group
naturalistic observations and case studies cannot…
explain behavior but they can describe it
sampling bias
a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample
population
all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
random sample
a sample that fairy represents a population because each member has an equal change of inclusion
wording effects
even subtle changes in the order or wording can have major effects on how participants will answer questions
correlation
a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
correlation coefficient
a statistical measure of the relationship between two things from -1.00 to +1.00
variable
anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure
scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables]
perfect negative correlation
r = -1.00
no correlation/relationship
r = 0.00
perfect positive correlation
r = +1.00
the closer a score is to +1 or -1…
the stronger the correlation
correlation does NOT…
prove causation
illusory correlation
perceiving a relation where none exists, or perceiving a stronger than actual relationship
regression toward the mean
the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average
when fluctuating behavior returns to normal…
regression to the mean is probably at work
experiment
research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental processes
experimental group
the group that is exposed to the treatment
control group
the group that is NOT exposed to the treatment and serves as a base level for comparison
random assignment
assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, therefore minimizing pre-existing differences between the different groups
random sampling/selection is to a well done survey as..
random assignment is to a well done experiment
double blind procedure
am experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or placebo
placebo effect
experimental results caused by expectations alone
independent variable
the factor that is being manipulated in the experiment
confounding variable
outside factors that aren’t being studied that may influence a study’s results
dependent variable
the measurable outcome of an experiment
validity
the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to
weakness of experimental research methods
-sometimes unfeasible
-results may not generalize to other contexts
-not ethical to manipulate certain variables
weakness of correlational methods
they cannot specify cause and effect
weakness of descriptive methods
-no control of variables
-single cases may be misleading
informed consent
giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
debrief
the post experimental explanation of the study including its purpose and any deceptions to its participants
ethics code of APA
-obtain informed consent from potential participants
-protect participants from greater than usual harm
-keep information about participants confidential
-fully debrief participants
descriptive statistics
numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups
-measures of central tendency
-measures of variation
histogram
a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution
mode
the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution
mean
the arithmeti average of a dsitribution obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores
median
the middle score in a distribution, half the scores are above it and half are below it
skewed distribution
a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value
range
the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
standard deviation
a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
normal curve
a symmetrical bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data
inferential statistics
numerical data that allows one to generalize and infer from sample data (make predictions)
statistical significance
a statistical statement of how likely it is than an obtained result occurred by change
if you have a p-value of 0.05 or less
then the data is statistically significant and can be applied to general populations
statistical significance indicates…
the likelihood that a result could have happened by chance but it has no effect on the importance of the result.
informed assent
when minors agree to participate in clinical trials.
This is different from informed consent, because minors cannot provide consent in the full meaning of the word
4 hallmarks of ethics
The four hallmarks of ethics are:
-Informed Consent
-Protection from harm
-Confidentiality
-Debriefing
Percentile Rank
the percentage of scores in its frequency distribution that are equal to or lower than it.
institutional review board (IRB) guidelines
they review studies done by psychologists
- it needs to be clear that participants had informed consent and understood the risks
- they make sure the research is not unnecessarily risky
-no harm done to patients
- the risks must be outweighed by the benefits
-they will reject studies that violate these guidelines
Institutional Animal Care and use committee (IACUC) guidelines
- researchers must have ethical studies
- positive environment for participants and that participants trust the researcher
- the study must have integrity and be transparent to participants
