Unit 2 - Research Methods

Question 1

Hindsight Bias

Answer 1

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

“I knew it all along . . .”

after an event occurs, it is relatively easy to explain why it happened

scientific research should predict what will happen in advance

Question 2

Applied Research

Answer 2

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

research that has clear, practical applications

Question 3

Basic Research

Answer 3

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

explores interesting questions but does not have immediate, real-world applications

Question 4

Hypothesis

Answer 4

a statement that expresses a relationship between two variables

Question 5

Theory

Answer 5

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

aims to explain some phenomenon and allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses to collect data that supports their theory

Question 6

Operational Definition

Answer 6

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables

an explanation of how variables are measured

Question 7

Validity

Answer 7

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

good research is both valid and reliable

**valid **- when it measures what the researcher set out to measure (accurate)

reliable - when it can be replicated (consistent)

Question 8

Reliability

Answer 8

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on more than one testing of the experiment

Question 9

Replication

Answer 9

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Question 10

Sampling

Answer 10

the process by which participants are selected

the individuals on whom the research is conducted are called participants (or subjects)

Question 11

Population

Answer 11

the group from which a sample is selected

the population includes anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample

Question 12

Random Selection

Answer 12

a method of selecting a sample from a population

every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected

increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population and that one can generalize the findings to the larger population

Question 13

Stratified Sampling

Answer 13

a process that allows a researcher to ensure that the sample represents the population on some critera, such as age or race

Question 14

Experiment

Answer 14

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors - independent variables - to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process - the dependent variable

experiments compare at least two groups: an experimental group and a control group that differ based on the independent variable

Question 15

Confounding Variable

Answer 15

any difference between the experimental and control conditions (such as time of day)

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Question 16

Assignment

Answer 16

the process by which participants are into either an experimental or a control group

Question 17

Experimenter Bias

Answer 17

the unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis

experimenter bias is not a conscious act - if researchers purposely distort their data, it is called fraud, not experimenter bias

Question 18

Double-Blind Procedure

Answer 18

method followed such that neither the participants nor the researcher are aware of who is in the experimental or control groups while the experiment is going on

a method used to eliminate experimenter bias

Question 19

Participation (Response) Bias

Answer 19

tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways based on their perception of an experiment

Question 20

Single-Blind Procedure

Answer 20

participants do not know whether they are assigned to an experimental or control group

a method used to eliminate participation** (response) bias**

Question 21

Hawthorne Effect

Answer 21

being selected to be in a group of people to participate in an experiment will affect the performance of that group, regardless of what is done to those individuals

selecting a sample of people will affect performance as the chosen individuals will try to please the researcher

Question 22

Correlation

Answer 22

a statistical measure of a relationship between two variables

“correlation does not imply causation”

Question 23

Causation

Answer 23

the act of causing something

Question 24

Scatter Plot

Answer 24

a graph of correlated data

the closer the points come to falling on a straight line, the stronger the correlation

a line that slopes upward, from left to right, indicates a positive correction - a downward slope evidences a negative correlation

Question 25

Survey Method

Answer 25

asks people to fill out surveys

used to gather opinions or attitudes and for correlational research

Question 26

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 26

research method that involves observing participants in their natural habitats without interacting with them

the goal is to get a realistic picture of a participants’ behavior

cannot establish cause and effect relationships between variables

Question 27

Case Study

Answer 27

a research method used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants

the focus means that the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population

Question 28

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 28

ways of describing a set of data

common measures: mean, median, and mode

Question 29

Measures of Variability

Answer 29

a type of descriptive statistical measure that attempts to depict the diversity of the distribution

range, variance, and standard deviation are measures of variability

Question 30

Range

Answer 30

the distance between the highest and lowest score in a distribution

Question 31

Variance

Answer 31

random variable - a measure of its statistical dispersion, indicating how far from the expected value its values typically are

real-valued random variable - its second central moment, and it also happens to be its second cumulant

random variable - the square of its standard deviation.

Question 32

Standard Deviation

Answer 32

the square root of the variance

essential relate the average distance of any score in the distribution from the mean

Question 33

Normal Curve

Answer 33

a bell-shaped curve that represents a distribution of scores that is normally distributed

intelligence quotient (IQ) has a normalized distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15

Question 34

Inferential Statistics

Answer 34

statistics that can determine whether or not findings can be applied to a larger population from which the sample was selected

used to determine whether results are statistically significant

Question 35

Statistical Significance

Answer 35

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

5 percent (0.05 %) is the cutoff for statistically significant results

researchers use inferential statistics to determine whether results are statistically significant

Question 36

APA Ethical Guidelines for Human Research

Answer 36

Guidelines for human research:

• Coercion
• Informed consent
• Anonymity/Confidentiality
• Lack of risk
• Debriefing procedures

academic research must first propose the study to the ethics board or institutional review board (IRB) at the institution

Question 37

APA Ethical Guidelines for Animal Research

Answer 37

Guidelines for animal research:

• Have a clear scientific purpose
• Care for and house animals in a humane way
• Acquire animal subjects legally
• Design experimental procedures that employ the least amount of suffering feasible