Unit 0 VOCAB Flashcards
Independent Variable
Factor manipulated in experiment
Dependent Variable
what is measured in experiment
Experiment vs. Non-experimental
E) researcher has control over experiment
NE). researcher is just observing
Naturalistic Observation
observation naturally recorded w/out manipulation
Meta-analysis
statistically combined research
Confounding Variable
3rd Variable; influenced study and both independent and dependent variable (ex: biological diff)
Random assignment
assigning groups to minimize differences in groups
Population
group being studied
Sample
selecting participant of pop.to research and study
Random Sampling
random to represent it the pop. better b/c every participant has and equal chance
Convenience Samples
Samples selected b/c they are easy to study
Sampling Bias
B/c a specific participant is more liked they are a larger part of the study which results in an unrepresentative sample
Representative sample
group that closely matches the characteristics of majority of pop.
Generalizability
samples observation can be generalized for broader pop.
Experimental Group
group exposed to independent variable
Controlled Group
group not exposed to independent variable
Placebo group
a group receives an inert substance (placebo) instead of active drug
Placebo effect
participants react diff. b/c they know of treatment
Single-Blind Procedure
Subject of experiment doesn’t know what treatment group they are in
Double-Blind Procedure
Both researcher and subject don’t know what treatment group they’re in
Experimental Bias
Influence of researcher/experimenter on an experiment/study
Case Study
Technique w/ individual or group
Correlation
Studying how 2 factors effect and influence another
Positive Correlation
when the two variables move in the same direction
Negative correlation
value of 1 variable increases as the value of the other decreases
Directionality problem
2 variables are related cause & effect is undetermined
Third Variable Problem
third variable leads to mistaken causal relationship between 2 other variables
Scatterplots
graphed cluster of dots which shows relationships b/w 2 variable
Correlation Coefficient
statistical index relationship b/w 2 things (from -1.00 to 1.00)
Qualatitative measures
rating scale; measures/surveys participants’ opinions, attitudes, motivations, and more.
Quanitative measures (e.g. structured interviews)
data taken from obs, interview, or open-ended question
Surveys
self reported data of a participant through q&a’s
Framing
how a situation is posed; how a question is worded influenced result/data
Social desirability bias
participants change answers to appeal to others (inconclusive data)
Self-Report Bias
self report characteristic v. obs from researchers (may lead to inconclusive data)
Hypothesis
testable prediction, often a theory
Falsifiability
assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment
Operational definitions
exact statement of procedures/operations
Replication and Peer review
repeating study usually w/ diff participants (to find trends)
Ethical guidelines
safely and responsibly conduct a research study or provide treatments to clients
Institutional review board
protect rights of pop. in research activities being conducted under its authority
Informed consent
giving info to participants so they know if they want to participant
Informed assent
process in which minors can choose to participate
Protection From Harm
researcher must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm participants
Confidentiality of participants
prevent the identities of participants from being revealed
Minimal deception
if participants are deceived is must not be so extreme as to invalidate the informed consent
Confederates
individuals who seem to be participants but are part of research team
Debriefing
post-experiment explanation of study
Central tendency
stat that identifies single value as rep. of the entire distribution of data
Measures of variation
range, interquartile range, variance, and standard deviation
Normal curve
bell shaped curve that describes distribution of many diff data
Positive and negative skews
Bimodal distributions
2 diff groups are visible in a histogram
Regression toward the mean
variables much higher or lower than the mean are often much closer to the mean when measured a second time
Statistical significance
result from data generated is likely to be attributable to a specific cause
Effect sizes
tells how meaningful relationship between groups and variable are
Cognitive biases
human thinking and reasoning that often do not comply with study values
Confirmation bias
tendency to search for info that supports preconceptions (distorted contradictory evidence)
