Unit 1; Research Methods

Question 1

What are the steps of the scientific method (7)

Answer 1

1. Theory
2. Hypothesis
3. Research method
4. Collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Report findings
7. Revise theory

Question 2

Why to use the scientific method

Answer 2

Standardizes research procedure
Reduces bias

Question 3

Anecdotal evidence

Answer 3

Evidence gathered from others’ or ones own experiences

Question 4

What are some issues with the use of anecdotal evidence (3)

Answer 4

• Single experience may not be the same for subsequent experiences
• Personal experiences may differ from others’ experiences
• Correlation =/= causation

Question 5

Independent variable

Answer 5

Manipulated by researcher

Question 6

Dependent variable

Answer 6

Observed by researcher

Question 7

Control group

Answer 7

No changes to independent variable

Question 8

Within-participants study

Answer 8

Manipulate ind. vari. within each participant

ex. you take a test with and without caffeine

Question 9

What is the benefit of within-participants design

Answer 9

Minimize effects of participants differences

Question 10

What are the downsides of within-participants design (4)

Answer 10

• expensive
• time consuming
• test difficulty may change
• improvement over time

Question 11

What is the practice effect

Answer 11

Performance improvement due to more experience (not due to the ind. vari.)

Question 12

Confounding/extraneous variable

Answer 12

Obscures the effects of the ind. vari. = can’t draw conclusions

ex. everyone in the control group just happens to be vegan

Question 13

Placebo effect

Answer 13

Exhibiting a response to treatment that’s not due to the real therapeutic effects

Question 14

Participant bias

Answer 14

Consciously/unconsciously acting the way they think the researcher wants them to

Question 15

Blinding

participants

Answer 15

Participants don’t know which group they’re in (control vs experimental) or what treatment they’re receiving

Question 16

Experimenter bias

Answer 16

Promoting the results they want to achieve = influence outcome

Question 17

Double-blind study

Answer 17

Neither the experimenter nor participants know what group the participants are in

Question 18

Histogram graph

Answer 18

of times groups of values appear in a data set

Question 19

Frequency distribution

Answer 19

Basically the trend line on a histogram graph

Question 20

Normal distribution

Answer 20

Smooth
Bell curved with one peak
Symmetrical

Question 21

Mean

Answer 21

Average
Susceptible to outliers

Question 22

Mode

Answer 22

Most typical response
Doesn’t have to be numerical

Question 23

Median

Answer 23

Center value
Not affected by outliers

Question 24

Standard deviation

Answer 24

Deviation from the mean

Question 25

Inferential statistics

Answer 25

Stats that let us make inferences about the overall, underlying pop. from sample data

Question 26

Descriptive statistics

Answer 26

Mean, median, mode

Question 27

T-test

Answer 27

Test to determine if two samples are from the same population

Question 28

P-value

Answer 28

Probability (0-1) that difference is due to chance (not due to manipulation of ind. vari.)

Question 29

When is the p-value statistically significant

Answer 29

less than 0.05 or 5%

Question 30

Type 1 error

Answer 30

Believing a difference where there isn’t one
“False alarm”

Question 31

Type 2 error

Answer 31

Failing to see a difference where there is one
“Miss”

Question 32

Observational study

Answer 32

Observe results without controlling the ind. vari

Question 33

Correlation and meaning

Answer 33

Strength of relationship between variables

Strong correlation = all/most dots ON the trend line

Question 34

Correlation coefficient

Answer 34

“r”

can be positive/negative, closer to +-1 = stronger correlation

Question 35

Parsimony

Answer 35

Favour the simpler explanation with the most explanatory power

Question 36

Natural order

Answer 36

We attribute the same effects to the same causes

ex. smiling = happiness

Question 37

Generalizability

Answer 37

Generalizing lab results to the “real world”

Question 38

Conservatism

Answer 38

Conserve current explanations until new theories have undeniable evidence

Question 39

Empiricism

Answer 39

The idea that knowledge should be gained through observation and testing rather than logic and reasoning

Question 40

What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis

Answer 40

Theory: more broad / general
Hypothesis: Specific this causes this

Question 41

Social desirability bias

Answer 41

People answer questions in a way that will make them look good

Question 42

Response sets

type of response

Answer 42

Participants respond in a way unrelated to the question content - often to reduce mental effort

ex. only picking “c” on multiple choice, randomly clicking through a long survey

Question 43

Pros and cons of the research technique… Case study

Answer 43

Pros:
- in-depth info
- direct evidence of theory

Cons:
- not generalizable
- researcher bias

Question 44

Pros and cons of the research technique… Direct observation

Answer 44

Pros:
- less artificiality
- long periods of data collection
- good for when little is known about the subject / phenomenon

Cons:
- intrusive = participant bias
- observations =/= internal reasoning
- researcher bias as observations are subjective

Question 45

Pros and cons of the research technique… Experiment

Answer 45

Pros:
- high cause / effect accuracy

Cons:
- artificial
- ethical / moral constraints mean not all experiments can be done

Question 46

Pros and cons of the research technique… Interviews

Answer 46

Pros:
- opportunity to clarify answers / assess honesty
- good for hard-to-observe behaviours

Cons:
- interviewee dishonesty, social desirability bias, memory lapses, uncomfortable

Question 47

Pros and cons of the research technique… Questionnaire

Answer 47

Pros:
- large sample size
- good for hard-to-observe behaviours

Cons:
- social desirability bias
- not truthful