stats Flashcards
how is psychology a science
scientists use empirical methods
research is based on data
uses observations to base their conclusions
scientists test theories
what is the research process
research question theory generate hypotheses design a study ethical approval collect data analyse data write up your study as a research report
what are features of good scientific theories
supported by data
falsifiable
parsimony
when can we infer causality from an experiment
when we vary the independent variable
changes in dv must be caused by changed in the iv
what is an quasi experiment
cannot randomly allocate ppts as
iv cannot be manipulated
may be problems with confounding variables
what is a correlational design
looking at relationship between different variables
no manipulation
measure two or more variables and determine the extent to which they are related to eachother
cannot infer causality - cant say A has caused B
independent variable
can be manipulated
each iv can have 2 or more levels
ie iv is food type levels is apples or chocolate
state the levels and iv in this study
test ppts memory after 1,2,3 cups of coffee, with or without music on
IV 1 amount of coffee with 3 levels (1,2,3 cups of coffee)
IV 2 presence of music with two levels on/off
dependent variable
what we are measuring
what are the types of measurement scales
nominal
interval
ordinal
ratio
nominal data
aka categorical data
different classes/groups
ordinal data
rank in a list
rank is meaningful but not at equal intervals
interval data
distance between the numbers is the same/ meaningful
ratio data
value of zero means nothing
equal steps are meaningful
confounding variables
variables that confound the results of an experiment
occurs when some aspects of the experimental situation varies systematically with the iV
