Unit 2 (Research Methods)

Question 1

Science

Answer 1

An organized body of knowledge gained through the application of scientific methods

Question 2

Scientific Method

Answer 2

Way of acquiring knowledge through observation, formulating hypotheses, further observing and experimenting, and refining and re-testing hypothesis

Question 3

Hindsight bias

Answer 3

20/20, I knew it all along, I would have predicted that

Question 4

Confirmation bias

Answer 4

We look for info which confirms/supports an already held belief (we are not seeking evidence in opposition to our belief)

Question 5

Overconfidence

Answer 5

The idea that you think you know more than you actually do

Question 6

Scientific Research

Answer 6

1) Develop a research question
2) Form a hypothesis
3) Gather evidence
4) Draw conclusions

Question 7

Hypothesis

Answer 7

A tentative explanation that can either be supported or rejected

Question 8

Operational definitions

Answer 8

Define concepts in terms of procedures used to measure or create them

Question 9

Survey

Answer 9

Involves systematically asking a large number of persons the same set of questions on a particular topic

Question 10

Experiments

Answer 10

involves the manipulation of one or more variables to determine their effects on one or more measured variables. Conducted to establish cause and effect relationships between variables. One of the bigger complications is the artificiality. Careful control is needed when designing experiments to not compromise the results.

Question 11

Independent variable

Answer 11

I, as the experimenter, and manipulating, and will be the “cause”

Question 12

dependent variable

Answer 12

the “effect”

Question 13

Within groups design

Answer 13

each subject serves as their own control

Question 14

between groups design

Answer 14

two totally different sets of subjects (one control and one experimental

Question 15

confounding variables (third variables / extraneous variables)

Answer 15

some examples are the environment, expectations, and individual differences

Question 16

environment

Answer 16

keep it as consistent as possible (so it’s not a variable)

Question 17

Expectations

Answer 17

Utilize a blind procedure (so no one knows what to expect)

Question 18

double binding

Answer 18

subject and data collector are blind to the procedure

Question 19

individual differences

Answer 19

randomly assign subjects to groups (so the differences have the same average impact on each group)

Question 20

Random sampling

Answer 20

To select participants from the population. This allows you to generalize results. (Who’s in the sampling)

Question 21

Random Assignment

Answer 21

Dividing participants into groups. This controls individual differences in confounding variables (who gets into which group)

Question 22

Statistically significant

Answer 22

how likely is observed difference due to chance (p value will be given as p < 0.05. The lower the p value, the more significant. The number is stating the possibility that results could be due to chance)

Question 23

Effect size

Answer 23

how much of an impact something had

Question 24

preliminary

Answer 24

non replicated results

Question 25

Correlational research

Answer 25

Involves the use of statistical methods to reveal and describe the relationship between two variables. The degree to which variables are statistically associated is expressed as a correlation coefficient

Question 26

Correlation coefficient

Answer 26

represented by ‘r’, it falls between -1 and 1

Question 27

Correlation Coefficients

Answer 27

Represents the degree to which variables are statistically associated (as the value gets closer to -1 or +1, the stronger the relationship between variables) (If the value is near zero, there is little or no relationship between the variables) (If the value is positive, then as one variable increases, so does the other) (If the value is negative, then as one variable increases, the other decreases)

Question 28

Drawing conclusions

Answer 28

Conclusions are made based on the data collected (data either supports or refutes hypothesis).

Question 29

Guideline principles

Answer 29

Our focus will be conceptual, not computational. Statistics are necessary to understand the meaning of a set of numbers

Question 30

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 30

Involves techniques for describing data (frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of variance)

Question 31

Inferential statistics

Answer 31

used to make predictions or inferences from data (t-test, chi square, ANOVA, Cohen’s d)

Question 32

Frequency distributions

Answer 32

Putting scores in order adds meaning (bar graphs (histograms))

Question 33

Positively skewed

Answer 33

Contains extreme high scores with low frequency

Question 34

Normal distribution

Answer 34

Symmetrical with highest frequency in the middle

Question 35

Negatively skewed

Answer 35

Contains extreme low scores with low frequency

Question 36

mean

Answer 36

arithmetic average

Question 37

median

Answer 37

middle score of a rank ordered distribution

Question 38

mode

Answer 38

most frequent score

Question 39

measures of variance

Answer 39

how spread out are the data ( little variance helps to gain statistical significance)

Question 40

range

Answer 40

the spread between the highest and lowest score (reported as a positive number)

Question 41

standard deviation

Answer 41

measure of how much scores vary around the mean

Question 42

APA guidelines for ethical treatment of human participants

Answer 42

Confidentiality must be guaranteed
Participation must be voluntary (this gets tricky)
Must give informed consent
Debriefed after experiment
(additional guidelines apply if children or other specialized populations are used)

Question 43

The three R’s of humane animal experimentation

Answer 43

Replace, reduce, refine

Question 44

Replace

Answer 44

the use of animals with alternative techniques

Question 45

reduce

Answer 45

the number of animals used to a minimum

Question 46

Refine

Answer 46

the way experiments are carried out, to make sure animals suffer as little as possible