Unit 2: Scientific practices Flashcards

1
Q

What is hindsight bias?

A

The “I knew it all along phenomena”

The tendency to believe or successfully predict the outcome of something after the fact.

Ex.: Saying “I knew they would win the game!” after the game is over.

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2
Q

What is critical thinking?

A

Do not blindly accept arguments and conclusions.

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3
Q

What is a theory?

A

Explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize what we have observed

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4
Q

What is a hypotheses?

A

A testable prediction often implied by a theory

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5
Q

What are operational definitions?

A

Exactly defined variables or procedures used in a research study

These definitions will allow others to replicate the research.

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6
Q

What is a case study?

A

One individual or group is studied in hope of revealing a truth relevant to all of us.

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7
Q

What is naturalistic observation?

A

Observing and recording behavior in a naturally occurring environment without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

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8
Q

What is a survey?

A

Able to test a large amount of people, researchers do surveys when they want an estimate, random sample of people

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9
Q

What is sampling bias?

A

A flawed sampling process that produces and unrepresentative sample

Ex.: Asking a group of 9th graders what they think the speed limit should be on a highway

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10
Q

What is a population?

A

All those in a group being studied, which samples can be drawn.

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11
Q

What is a random sample?

A

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance at inclusion/participating.

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12
Q

What is a correlation coefficient?

A

A statistical measure that helps us conclude how closely two things vary together and how well either one predicts the other.

Measured from -1.0 to +1.0

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13
Q

What is an illusory correlation?

A

The perception of a relationship where none exists

Ex.: A person who was robbed on the west side of town assumes all people from the west side of town are thieves

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14
Q

What is an experiment?

A

Allow researchers to manipulate or isolate the effects of variable and control, or hold constant, other variables.

Random assignment of participants

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15
Q

What is the experimental group?

A

The group exposed to the treatment

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16
Q

What is the control group?

A

The group that does not receive treatment

17
Q

What is random assignment?

A

Researchers assign participants to experimental and control groups by chance to minimize the preexisting differences between the different groups

18
Q

What is a double blind procedure?

A

Both the researchers and participants are blind to who gets treatment

19
Q

What is the placebo effect?

A

When you think you are getting the treatment but you actually aren’t, affects behavior

20
Q

What is the independent variable?

A

The variable that is being manipulated

The variable I change

21
Q

What is the confounding variable?

A

A factor other than the independent variable that can produce an effect on the experiment.

22
Q

What is the dependent variable?

A

The outcome factor

The result of the independent variable

23
Q

What is validity?

A

To see if a test actually measures or predicts what it promises.

24
Q

What are the three different research methods?

A

Descriptive- to observe and record behavior

Correlational- to detect naturally occurring relationships, assessing how well one variable predicts the other

Experimental- to explore cause & effect

25
Q

Scatterplots help us to see what?

A

Correlation

26
Q

Random assignment helps to reduce _________ __________.

A

Confounding variables

27
Q

There are three measures of central tendency; What is mean, median, and mode?

A

Mean- the average

median- the number in the middle when put in order

mode- the most occurring number

28
Q

Measures of variation tell us how diverse our data is; What is range and standard deviation?

A

Range- the gap between the highest and the lowest score

Standard Deviation- How scores vary compared to the mean/average

29
Q

What are 3 things that can ensure we generalize an observed difference to other populations?

A

-the sample studied was representative of the larger population being studied
-there was low variability
-the difference was statistically significant

30
Q

What is statistical significance?

A

The likelihood if a result was achieved by chance

31
Q

What is the difference between descriptive statistics and inferential statistics?

A

descriptive- use numerical data, describe & measure characteristics of a group, includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation

inferential- use numerical data, allows one to generalize, see if it is applicable to a larger population.

32
Q

What is informed consent?

A

An ethical principle where participants must be informed enough about the research to help them decide whether to participate or not.

33
Q

What does debrief mean?

A

Post-experimental explanation of the study (explain the research afterwards)