Scientific Methods in Psychology Flashcards
What separates psychology from philosophy?
scientific methods
What do scientific methods provide for psychology?
systematic ways for evaluating ideas
What is confirmation bias? Give an example.
The tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.
- For ex: politicians evaluated data on public services effectiveness evaluation accuracy depended on their prior personal beliefs
What are the goals of phycological research and psychology?
To describe, predict, explain, and control
What is the scientific method?
A systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena
What are the different parts of the scientific method?
theory, hypothesis, research, evaluation
What are scientific laws? Give an example.
Descriptions of phenomenon
- For ex: law of gravitation
What is a Variable?
something measured and/ or manipulated
What are operational definitions?
descriptions of a variable and how it’s quantified
What are population studies?
Give an example of one.
What are some difficulties with them?
- A study where everyone from a given study is studied
- Ex: the census is a population study of the US
- Getting data from an entire population is difficult
What is sampling? What can it do to data?
- selecting a subgroup of people at hand
- it can shape data in subtle ways
What is random sampling? What group of people should it represent? What are some challenges that come with this technique?
- a part of the sampling technique in which each sample has an equal probability of being chosen.
- the whole population should be equally represented (if sample is truly random and large enough
- it is expensive and nearly impossible
What is the best technique/ way to go about a study?
random sampling
What is convenience sampling?
Give an example.
How can it shape data?
- sampling from people at hand
- ex: exit polling only measures those who will talk to you
- can shape data subtly
What are the 3 broad types of psychological studies?
Descriptive, correlative, experimental
What is the aim of descriptive studies?
to describe and potentially predict behaviors
What are the 3 types of descriptive studies?
case studies, observational studies, self-report and interviews
What is a case study?
When do case studies usually take place? (in relation to the study “entity”)
- focused observations on one individual or entity
- when the entity or individual is doing something very well or very bad
What are the 2 types of observational studies? Describe them.
- Participant observation - the researcher is involved in what they’re observing
- Naturalistic observation - the researcher passively observed without attempting to alter behaviors
What are self-report studies and interviews?
How is each of them beneficial?
- self-report - usually a survey or questionnaire on the topic of interest. This allows for quick and easy recruitment of many people
- Interviews - participants are interviewed by a trained interviewer. This is useful for those who can’t complete surveys and allows for follow-up of themes and content
What are correlative studies? What do they look for? How can they be helpful?
- studies that establish and look for relationships between 2 or more variables
- they can help predict behaviors
What is the 3rd body problem associated with correlation studies?
- unmeasured variables could always be at play in the relationship between the two measured variables
- Variable “z” may cause both x and y
Why aren’t experiments always conducted for correlation studies?
- ethical concerns
- experiments may not be realistic or possible
- we might not know enough about topic to propose an experiment
What are the purposes of experimental studies?
- to establish behaviors and casual relationships through manipulation and control
What is the difference between the independent and dependent variable
- Independent variable - the variable we change and manipulate
- Dependent variable - the variable of interest which is dependent upon the independent variable
What entails demand characteristics within study bias?
- Reactivity - the act of being observed changes how people behave
- The Hawthorne effect - positive reactivity where individuals perform better b/c of observation
What is observer expectancy?
observer expectations can change observations
(bias interpretations to be in line with the expectations and change behavior of those they’re observing)
