Unit 2- research methods Flashcards
Explain hindsight bias?
The tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted an outcome after knowing it occurred.
Describe Diffusion of responsibility (1968)
An observation made by Latane’ and Darley in 1968 were 38 people failed to call police during the murder of Kitty Genovese out of assumption that someone else had already called the police.
What is the observational method of data collection?
The technique where a researcher observes people and systematically records measurements and impressions of their behavior
What method is best for trying to describe a particular group of people or type of behavior?
Observational method
Describe Interjudge (Interrator) reliability
The level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data
What is archival analysis?
A form of the observational method in which the researcher examines accumulated documents (diaries, magazines, newspapers)
What is a survey?
Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behaviors
What is random selection?
A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample
What are some advantages of surveys?
- Researchers can judge the relationship between variables that are difficult to observe, such as how often people engage in safer sex
- The ability to sample representative segments of the population
What is the purpose of meta-analysis?
Used to summarize previous work. primary studies almost always use correlational or experimental design
What is the correlational method?
The technique whereby two or more variables are systematically measured and the relationship between them (how much one can be predicted from the other)
What Is positive correlation?
Increases in the value of one variable are associated with the increases in the value of another variable (height and weight; the taller people are, the more they tend to weigh)
What is negative correlation?
Increases in the value of one variable are associated in the decreases in the value of the other variable (the happier you are, the more likely you are to stay at your current job)
Correlation coefficients- describe what 1.00, 0, and -1.00 mean
1.00- that two variables are perfectly correlated in a positive direction
0- two variables are not correlated
-1.00- two variables are perfectly correlated in a negative direction
Limits of the correlational method?
It only tells us that two variables are related. The goal of social psychologists is to identify the causes of social behavior. (we want to be able to say A causes B, not just A and B are correlated
Limits of the correlational method continued
If two variables are correlated, there are three possible casual relationships;
1. violence makes the viewer become violent
2. maybe kids who are already violent are more likely to watch violent TV
3. maybe both are cause by something like parental neglect
What is the only way to determine causality?
To use the experimental method
