unit 2- research and statistics Flashcards
basic research
builds psychology’s knowledge
applied research
application of existing knowledge in the real world
theories
organized sets of concepts that explain phenomenon
hypothesis
prediction of how 2 or more factors are likely to be related
replication
repetition of the methods used in a previous experiment to see whether the same methods will yield the same results
reliability
consistency or repeatability of results
validity
extent to which an instrument measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure or predict
case study
examine one person or group in depth
naturalistic observation
describes behavior in its most natural state without interference or intervention
survey
self-report data, questions influenced by wording
Random sampling
gives every member of a population, an equal chance of being selected from the sample
double blind procedure
when neither the participant or researcher knows who receives the treatment or placebo
single blind procedure
when participants, don’t know if they get the treatment or placebo
descriptive statistics
describe sets of data
Inferential statistics
draw conclusions about the sets of data
mean
average value
median
middle value
Mode
occurs most
Range
difference between largest score and smallest score
Standard deviation
how scores very around the mean score
statistical significance
how likely that a result occurred by chance (p value less than 0.05)
Ethics
American psychological association establishes ethical codes
institutional review board (irb)
review proposals for research, approval needed for experiment
institutional animal care and use committee
ensures that highest animal welfare standards are maintained
informed consent
all subjects given necessary information to decide to participate in study or not
debriefing
experimenter tells the subject more information about the studies, purpose and procedures, after the study is completed
independent variable
The factor the researcher manipulates in a controlled experiment
dependent variable
The behavior or mental process that is measured in an experiment
Population
all of the individuals in the group to which the study applies
experimental group
the treatment group
control group
the comparison group
random assignment
randomly assigning participants to the control group or experimental group to help establish cause-and-effect. It would eliminate or reduce the impact of specific individual differences/confounding variables in a study.
confounding variable
A factor, other than the factor being studied that might influence the studies results
operational
A description of the specific procedure used to determine the presence of a variable
experimenter bias
researchers expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained
Placebo effect
seems to be a “real” medical treatment, but isn’t
Positive correlation
variables move in the same direction if one increases, so does the other
negative correlation
variables move in opposite directions, if one increases the other decreases
experiment
manipulation of an independent variable, under controlled conditions, and measurements of its affects on a dependent variable
quasi experiment
measurement of a dependent variable, when random assignment to groups is not possible
naturalistic observation
careful observations of humans or animals in real life situations
