Research Terms

Question 1

Case studies

Answer 1

Observes the behavior of an individual or small group of people in a unique situation

Question 2

Naturalistic observation

Answer 2

Watching people in their natural environment

Question 3

Laboratory observation

Answer 3

Watching people in a lab

Question 4

Psychological tests

Answer 4

personality, disposition, etc

Question 5

Experiments

Answer 5

Using a tightly controlled environment to establish a cause and effect relationship between two variables

Question 6

Inductive apporach

Answer 6

Begin with observation and then form a theory

Question 7

Non participant observation

Answer 7

The researcher is not part of the group

Question 8

Overt participation/Participant observation

Answer 8

The researcher becomes part of the group

Question 9

Covert participation

Answer 9

Participants do not know they are being researched

Question 10

Reactivity

Answer 10

Participants change their behavior in reaction to being observed

Question 11

Inter-observer reliabilty

Answer 11

Multiple researchers compare notes to ensure something really happened

Question 12

Surveys

Answer 12

A way of collecting information from a large and dispersed group of people

Question 13

Structured interviews

Answer 13

Highly controlled and interview schedule is set

Question 14

Semi-structured interviews

Answer 14

Informal but does follow a schedule; open and closed questions

Question 15

Unstructured interview

Answer 15

Interview schedule specifies time and topic only

Question 16

Social desirability bias

Answer 16

People try to present a positive picture of themselves, may not always tell the truth

Question 17

Participant bias

Answer 17

When people adjust their answers to what they think is appropriate for the interviewer

Question 18

Interviewer effects

Answer 18

Responses to sex, age or ethnicity of interviewer

Question 19

Aim

Answer 19

Purpose of the study

Question 20

Procedure

Answer 20

Step by step process used by the researcher

Question 21

Findings

Answer 21

How the researcher interpreted the data

Question 22

Ecological validity

Answer 22

The study represents what happened in real life

Question 23

Cross-cultural validity

Answer 23

the research is relevant to other cultures and not just based on the values and beliefs of one culture

Question 24

Reliability

Answer 24

The study is reliable if the results can be replicated

Question 25

Target population

Answer 25

The specific group of people the psychologists are interested in studying

Question 26

Sample

Answer 26

The group of actual participants in the study

Question 27

Representative sample

Answer 27

A research sample that accurately represents the target population

Question 28

Participant variability

Answer 28

The extent to which the participants may share a common trait that can bias the outcome of the study

Question 29

Sampling bias

Answer 29

A variable in the sample group that can impact the outcome of the study

Question 30

Opportunity sampling

Answer 30

Finding the most easily available and willing participants

Question 31

Self-selected sampling

Answer 31

A group of participants who volunteered

Question 32

Snowball sampling

Answer 32

Participants recruit other participants like friends and family

Question 33

Random sampling

Answer 33

Every member of the target group has an equal chance of participating in the study

Question 34

Stratified sampling

Answer 34

Drawing random samples from each subpopulation within the target population

Question 35

Corrolational studies

Answer 35

Data collected to show a relationship between two variables

Question 36

Independent variable

Answer 36

The manipulated variable

Question 37

Dependent variable

Answer 37

The affected variable

Question 38

Operationalized

Answer 38

When the dependent and independent variable are defined

Question 39

Experimental hypothesis

Answer 39

A prediction of how the manipulation of the independent variable is expected to affect the dependent variable

Question 40

Experimental condition

Answer 40

The group where the independent variable is manipulated

Question 41

Control condition

Answer 41

The group where the independent variable is not manipulated

Question 42

Null hypothesis

Answer 42

States that the independent variable will have no effect on the dependent variable

Question 43

Field experiments

Answer 43

Take place in a natural environment but the variables are still manipulated

Question 44

Natural experiments

Answer 44

Researchers have no control over the variables, but the variables are already there

Question 45

Confounding variables

Answer 45

Undesirable variables that influence the relationship between the independent and dependent variables

Question 46

Demand characteristics/Hawthorne effects

Answer 46

This is when participants act differently because they know they are part of an experiment

Question 47

Single-blind control

Answer 47

The participants don't know what the aim of the study is

Question 48

Artificiality

Answer 48

When the situation is set up to be so unlikely that one has to wonder about ecological validity

Question 49

Researcher bias

Answer 49

The expectations of the researcher influence him/her subconsciously or consciously in a way that she/he sees what she/he is looking for

Question 50

Double-blind control

Answer 50

The participants do not know whether they are in the control or experimental group, neither do the researchers

Question 51

Deductive approach

Answer 51

Begin with a theory and then test it with observations

Question 52

Negative correlation

Answer 52

When one thing increases, the other decreases

Question 53

Quantitative research

Answer 53

Based on quantity and measurable data

Question 54

Qaulitative research

Answer 54

The value of the individual information

Question 55

Theory

Answer 55

General principal offered to explain a phenomena

Question 56

Triangulation

Answer 56

Using multiple research methods to investigate the same idea/theory

Question 57

ethnocentric

Answer 57

Evaluating other people and other cultures according to the standards of one's own culture