Unit 2: Research Methods Flashcards
In an experiment, the one thing that is different in all of your conditions
Independent Variable
In your experiment, how you measure your groups’ results
Dependent Variable
In your experiment, the group that does not have the thing that you are studying applied to them.
Control Group
(e.g. in a caffeine study, decaffeinated coffee would be the control, since you are studying the effects of caffeine)
In your experiment, the group(s) that do have the thing that you are studying applied to them.
Experimental Group / Treatment Group
(e.g. in a caffeine study, caffeinated coffee would be the experimental condition, since you are studying the effects of caffeine)
A study where the subjects do not know which condition they are in or the purpose of the experiment, but the experimenter does
Single Blind
An “accidentally introduced” variable other than the independent variable that can influence the results of your study
Confound
(e.g. placing all girls in one group and all boys in another group would introduce a gender confound)
The mathematical measure of the likelihood that the results of your experiment were found due to your experimental manipulation than due to chance
Statistical Significance
A finding is officially “significant” when the “p” value is less than what number?
.05
(e.g. .02 is significant, whereas .1 is not)
Also known as “average” - You get this number by adding up all numbers in a set and dividing by the amount of numbers in the set.
Mean
After arranging a set of numbers from smallest to largest, the middle number in the set.
Median
The number in a data set that appears most frequently
Mode
The difference between the largest and smallest number in a data set
Range
What is the Mean, Median, Mode, and Range of the following set of numbers?
1 3 5 5 6
Mean: (20 / 5) 4
Median: (Middle) 5
Mode: (Most frequent) 5
Range: (largest - smallest) 5
A measure of the average difference between numbers in your data set
Standard Deviation
(4, 3, 6, 5, 4, 3, 4) <– Small Standard Deviation
(10, 1, 4, 9, 3, 0, 15) <– Larger Standard Deviation
A measure of the relationship between two sets of variables
(e.g. the relationship between alcohol consumption and reaction time)
Correlation
CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION
(just because two sets of numbers are correlated does not mean that one caused the other - only an experiment can show causation)
CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION
(just because two sets of numbers are correlated does not mean that one caused the other - only an experiment can show causation)
Identify the following with type of correlation
(e.g. “positive” - “negative” - “no relationship”)
- Alcohol consumption and reaction time
- Gender and intelligence
- Time spent studying and test score
Alcohol consumption and reaction time - NEGATIVE
Gender and intelligence - NO RELATIONSHIP
Time spent studying and test score - POSITIVE
The phenomenon that causes things to appear obvious once you know the results.
(e. g. “Studies have shown that opposites attract” - DUH!)
(e. g. “Studies have shown that people that are similar to one another become attracted to one another” - DUH!)
Hindsight Bias
A tested set of ideas designed to explain a phenomenon
Theory
An “educated guess” typically stated before an experiment is conducted.
Hypothesis
The process of making what you plan to study measurable and quantifiable for the purpose of experimentation
Aggression –> Number of times a person yells
Excitedness –> Heart rate
Intelligence –> Score on the February ACT
Operational Definition
The process of repeating an experiment in order to ensure that the results of an experiment were not due to chance or experimenter bias/error.
Replication
A type of study in which only one individual (or a small number) are studied
Case Study
A type of study in which groups of people are watched in their natural environment, rather than in a formal experimental setting
Naturalistic Observation
(e.g. watching children in a playground to study aggression)
