Research Strategies

Question 1

hypothesis

Answer 1

prediction drawn from a theory

Question 2

naturalistic observation

Answer 2

go into the field / natural environment and record the behavior of interest

Question 3

structured observations

Answer 3

investigator sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has an equal opportunity to display the response

Question 4

event sampling

Answer 4

observer records all instances of a particular behavior during a specified time period

Question 5

time sampling

Answer 5

the researcher records whether certain behaviors occur during a sample of short intervals

Question 6

observer influence

Answer 6

effects of the observer on the behavior studied

Question 7

observer bias

Answer 7

when observers are aware of the purposes of the study, they may see and record what they expect to see rather than what participants actually do

Question 8

clinical interview

Answer 8

researchers use a flexible, conversational style to probe for the participant’s point of view

Question 9

structured interview

Answer 9

each individual is asked the same set of questions in the same way

Question 10

neurobiological methods

Answer 10

which measure the relationship between nervous system processes and behavior

Question 11

clinical / case study method

Answer 11

brings together wide range of information on the child–interviews, observations, test scores and neurobiological measures

Question 12

ethnography

Answer 12

descriptive, qualitative technique aimed to understand a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation

Question 13

reliability

Answer 13

consistency or repeatability of measures of behavior

Question 14

validity

Answer 14

accurately measure characteristics that the researcher set out to measure

Question 15

internal validity

Answer 15

degree to which conditions internal to the design of the study permits an accurate test of the researcher’s hypothesis or question

Question 16

external validity

Answer 16

degree to which their findings generalize to settings and participants outside the original study

Question 17

correlational design

Answer 17

researchers gather information on individuals, gerneally in natural life circumstances and make no effort to alter their experiences; they look at relationships between participants’ characteristics and their behavior or development

Question 18

correlation coefficient

Answer 18

number that describes how two measures, or variables, are associated with each other

Question 19

experimental design

Answer 19

permits inferences about cause and effect because researchers use an evenhanded procedure to assign people ot two or more treatment conditions

Question 20

independent variable

Answer 20

variable research expects to cause changes in another variable

Question 21

dependent variable

Answer 21

variable research expects to be influenced by the independent variable

Question 22

confounding variable

Answer 22

variables so closely associated that their effects on an outocme cannot be distinguished

Question 23

random assignment

Answer 23

by using an unbiased procedure, researchers increase chances that participants’ characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment groups

Question 24

matching

Answer 24

participants are measured ahead of time on the factor in question; then children high and low on that factor are assigned in equal numbers to each treatment condition

Question 25

field experiments

Answer 25

researchers capitalize on opportunities to randomly assign participants to treatment conditions in natural settings

Question 26

natural experiments

Answer 26

treatments that already exist are compared; difference from correlational study is that groups here are carefully chosen

Question 27

longitudinal design

Answer 27

participants are studied repeatedly at different ages and changes are noted as they get older

Question 28

biased sampling

Answer 28

failure to enlist participants who represent the population of interest

Question 29

selective attrition

Answer 29

participants may move away or drop out for other reasons, and those who continue are likely to differ in important ways from those who drop out

Question 30

practice effects

Answer 30

better test-taking skills and increased familiarity with the test, not because of factors commonly associated with development

Question 31

cohort effects

Answer 31

children developing in the same time period who are influenced by particular cultural and historical conditions

Question 32

cross-sectional design

Answer 32

groups of people differing in age are studied at the same point in time

Question 33

sequential design

Answer 33

several cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations are studied

Question 34

microgenetic design

Answer 34

presents children with a novel taks and follows their mastery over a series of closely spaced sessions

Question 35

risks-versus-benefits ratio

Answer 35

weighing the costs to participants in terms of inconvenience and possible psychological or physical injury against the study’s value for advancing knowledge and improving conditions of life

Question 36

protection from harm

Answer 36

if there are any risks to the safety and welfare of particiaptns that the research does not justify, then preference is always given to the research participants

Question 37

informed consent

Answer 37

people’s right to have all aspects of a study explained to them that might affect their willingness to participate

Question 38

debriefing

Answer 38

researcher provides a full account and justification of the activities