Unit 1 - Vocab Types of Research Flashcards
What is descriptive research?
Purpose to observe and record some phenomena; nothing is manipulated
What is a case study?
To study one or more individuals in great depth; generalization about behavior are made (bias).
What is naturalistic observation?
Observing and recording behavior without trying to manipulate the situation; flaw does not explain behavior.
What is a survey?
Ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people by questioning a sample of the population.
What are wording effects?
In a survey, word choice or the way the question is framed can affect or change the results of a survey.
What is sampling bias?
Flawed sampling process; produces an unrepresentative sample.
What is a population?
All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study.
What is a random sample?
A sample of the population that closely parallels the population.
What is random selection/assignment?
Every member of larger group has equal chance of being selected (unbiased); helps avoid false results.
What is correlational research?
Research that examines the relationship between variables (How well does A predict B?); Studies or tests how two variables change together; No manipulation of variables; Cannot imply a cause and effect relationship.
What is a correlation coefficient?
A statistical measure of the relationship between two variables; Range is from -1 to +1; correlation gets weaker as you get closer to zero.
What is a scatterplot?
A graph that depicts the strength of a relationship between two variables.
What is a positive correlation?
When variables vary systematically in the SAME direction (positive slope).
What is a negative correlation?
When variables vary systematically in OPPOSITE directions (negative slope; as one variable increases the other decreases).
What is an illusory correlation?
Perception of relationship where no relationship actually exists; correlation does not mean causation. Ex. superstitions > a black cat brings bad luck; picking up a penny makes you lucky; etc.
What is experimental research?
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process; isolate cause and effect.
What is an experimental condition/group?
The group of participants that are exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.
What is a control condition/group?
A group of participants that contrasts with the experimental treatment (receives a placebo, not the treatment); serves as a comparison.
What is random assignment?
Participants that are randomly places into two groups. This helps control for confounding variables; creates multiple study groups that include participants with similar characteristics so that the groups are equivalent at the beginning of the study.
What is a double-blind procedure?
Both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo.
What is a placebo/placebo effect?
Inert substance or condition administered instead of a presumed active agent to see if it triggers the effect; can sometimes improve a patient’s condition because the person has believed that they have the real substance.
What is a placebo/placebo effect?
Inert substance or condition administered instead of a presumed active agent to see if it triggers the effect; can sometimes improve a patient’s condition because the person has believed that they have the real substance.
What is an independent variable?
The experimental factor that is manipulated; variable whose effect is being studied; IV changes DV; “If…then”
What is a confounding variable?
Extraneous variable; presence affects the results; does not reflect the actual relationship between the variables; explains “correlation does not mean causation”.
What is a dependent variable?
Experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable; usually a behavior or mental process.
What is validity?
Extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to do; key to experimental design
What is generalizability?
Extent to which results or finding from a particular experiment can be said to be true of the larger population.
What are descriptive statistics?
Describes or displays sets of data.
What is a histogram?
A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution.
What are the measures of central tendency?
Mean (average), median (middle), and mode (most); extreme scores or outliers can distort the mean.
What is a skewed distribution?
Extreme score has greatest effect on the mean - Positive skew (contains more low scores; few extreme high) positive: mean > median; leaning to the left Negative skew (contains more high scores; few extreme low) negative: mean < median.; leaning to the right
What is a normal distribution?
Mean, median, and mode are all the same; 68-95-99
What is a percentile rank?
The percentage of scores in a normally distributed frequency distribution that are at or below the score you are looking at.
What is range?
The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.
What is standard deviation?
Computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean; 68-95-99; the higher the variance or SD, the more spread out the distribution is.
What are inferential statistics?
Numerical data that allow one to generalize- to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population. Ex. measuring sampling error, draw conclusions from data, and test hypothesis.
What is statistical significance?
Differences in results between the experimental and control groups could have occurred by chance is no more than 5% (Calculated by comparing the mean of the control and experimental groups); At least 95% certain the differences between the groups is due to the independent variable. P-value is less than .05 (p<.05)
What is a null hypothesis?
The assumption that there is no difference between the groups being studied; when a hypothesis is false or not proven.
What is informed consent?
Research participants are told enough to enable them to choose whether or not they want to participate in the study/experiment.
What is debriefing?
Post-experimental explanation of a study; must also maintain confidentiality.
What are the APA/IRB/IACUC organizations?
APA > The American Psychological Association; scientific and professional organization
IRB > Institutional Review Board; type of committee that applies research ethics for research
IACUC > Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees; applying laws about animal research
