Research Strategies and Validity Flashcards
What is a research strategy?
A general approach to research determined by the type of question that the research hopes to answer
How is the descriptive research strategy different from other research strategies?
It’s the only strategy that focuses on individual variables
What is the main goal of the descriptive research strategy?
To obtain a description of specific characteristics of a specific group of individuals
What is the difference between linear relationships and curvilinear relationships?
Linear - a pattern where data points on a graph cluster to appear as a straight line
Curvilinear - a pattern where data points on a graph cluster to appear as a curved line
What does the correlational study try to do? What does it NOT do?
Attempts to describe the relationship between two variables, NOT explaining the relationship
What is the experimental research strategy intended for?
To answer cause and effect questions about the relationship between 2 variables
How is the quasi-experimental research strategy different from an experimental research strategy?
It can never produce an unambiguous explanation
What particular research strategy demonstrates a relationship between variables, but doesn’t explain the relationship?
Nonexperimental research strategy
What is the main difference between a correlational research strategy and a nonexperimental research strategy?
Correlational - uses one group of participants and measures two variables per individual
Nonexperimental - compares two or more groups of scores, measuring only one variable per individual
What do correlational research strategies and nonexperimental research strategies have in common?
While they use different data, they have the same purpose and produce the same kind of conclusion
Determining a research design requires three basic aspects of the research study - what are they?
- Group vs. individual - will the study examine and describe a group or will it focus on one sole individual?
- Same vs. different individuals - will the study examine changes in the same group or examine differences in different groups?
- Number of variables included - how many variables will be observed, manipulated, or regulated?
What is a research design?
A general plan for implementing a research strategy
What is the research procedure?
The exact, step-by-step description of a specific research study
What is external validity?
The extent to which one can generalize the results of a study to people and other variables other than those used within the study
What is a threat to external validity?
Any characteristic of a study that limits the ability to generalize the results from a research study
What is internal validity?
The extent to which a study produces a single, unambiguous explanation for the relationship between the two variables
What are 3 kinds of generalization and how might they involve threats to external validity?
- From a sample to the general population - the sample is representative to the general population
- From one study to another - the results obtained from one study will be similarly if not exactly to another
- From a study to a real-world situation - will the results in a research environment be replicated in a real-world environment?
What would a threat to internal validity look like?
Any factor that would allow for an alternate explanation
Why is volunteer bias a threat to external validity?
Volunteers for a study are not perfectly representative of the general population
What threat to external validity occurs when individuals participating in a research study perceive and respond differently compared to how they would in the real world?
The novelty effect
The potential influence of experience in earlier treatments that poses a threat to external validity is called what?
Multiple treatment interference
Sensitization alters participants so they react differently to treatment without assessment. Why is it a threat to external validity?
The results may be limited to individuals who have experienced a pretest
What are extraneous variables?
Any variables in a research study other than the specific variable(s) being studied and investigated
About how many extraneous variables do every research study have?
In the thousands
What is a confounding variable?
An extraneous variable that changes systematically along with the two variables being studied; a threat to internal validity as it provides an alternate explanation for the observed relationship
What are individual differences?
Personal characteristics that differ from one individual from another
What are cues given to participants about how they are meant to behave?
Demand characteristics
Experimental research studies have how much internal and external validity?
High internal, low external
