Unit 2 (Research Methods) Flashcards
Science
An organized body of knowledge gained through the application of scientific methods
Scientific Method
Way of acquiring knowledge through observation, formulating hypotheses, further observing and experimenting, and refining and re-testing hypothesis
Hindsight bias
20/20, I knew it all along, I would have predicted that
Confirmation bias
We look for info which confirms/supports an already held belief (we are not seeking evidence in opposition to our belief)
Overconfidence
The idea that you think you know more than you actually do
Scientific Research
1) Develop a research question
2) Form a hypothesis
3) Gather evidence
4) Draw conclusions
Hypothesis
A tentative explanation that can either be supported or rejected
Operational definitions
Define concepts in terms of procedures used to measure or create them
Survey
Involves systematically asking a large number of persons the same set of questions on a particular topic
Experiments
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.
Independent variable
I, as the experimenter, and manipulating, and will be the “cause”
dependent variable
the “effect”
Within groups design
each subject serves as their own control
between groups design
two totally different sets of subjects (one control and one experimental
confounding variables (third variables / extraneous variables)
some examples are the environment, expectations, and individual differences
environment
keep it as consistent as possible (so it’s not a variable)
Expectations
Utilize a blind procedure (so no one knows what to expect)
double binding
subject and data collector are blind to the procedure
individual differences
randomly assign subjects to groups (so the differences have the same average impact on each group)
Random sampling
To select participants from the population. This allows you to generalize results. (Who’s in the sampling)
Random Assignment
Dividing participants into groups. This controls individual differences in confounding variables (who gets into which group)
Statistically significant
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)
Effect size
how much of an impact something had
preliminary
non replicated results
Correlational research
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
Correlation coefficient
represented by ‘r’, it falls between -1 and 1
Correlation Coefficients
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)
Drawing conclusions
Conclusions are made based on the data collected (data either supports or refutes hypothesis).
Guideline principles
Our focus will be conceptual, not computational. Statistics are necessary to understand the meaning of a set of numbers
Descriptive Statistics
Involves techniques for describing data (frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of variance)
Inferential statistics
used to make predictions or inferences from data (t-test, chi square, ANOVA, Cohen’s d)
Frequency distributions
Putting scores in order adds meaning (bar graphs (histograms))
Positively skewed
Contains extreme high scores with low frequency
Normal distribution
Symmetrical with highest frequency in the middle
Negatively skewed
Contains extreme low scores with low frequency
mean
arithmetic average
median
middle score of a rank ordered distribution
mode
most frequent score
measures of variance
how spread out are the data ( little variance helps to gain statistical significance)
range
the spread between the highest and lowest score (reported as a positive number)
standard deviation
measure of how much scores vary around the mean
APA guidelines for ethical treatment of human participants
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)
The three R’s of humane animal experimentation
Replace, reduce, refine
Replace
the use of animals with alternative techniques
reduce
the number of animals used to a minimum
Refine
the way experiments are carried out, to make sure animals suffer as little as possible
