Vocab CH 4

Question 1

Three horned dilemma

Answer 1

Three kinds: precision, situation generalizability, people generalizability. The dilemma lies in the fact that any attempt to maximize one of these qualities through a particular design will result in the reduction of the other two.

Question 2

Dilemmatic approach

Answer 2

viewing it as a series of negotiations and interlocking choices among multiple research designs

Question 3

Four designs most commonly used by applied social psychologists:

Answer 3

1. true experiments
2. correlational studies
3. quasi-experiments
4. surveys

Question 4

True experiment

Answer 4

• has two components that allow it to test a causal relationship between two or more variables
o manipulation
o random assignment

Question 5

Manipulation

Answer 5

occurs when the experimenter systematically varies the level of one or more variables holding constant other variables that may have an effect

Question 6

Independent variable

Answer 6

manipulated variables

Question 7

Dependent variable

Answer 7

outcome variable

Question 8

Random assignment

Answer 8

assigning groups on an arbitrary basis

Question 9

Confounds

Answer 9

• an additional variable that systematically varies with the independent variable

• person confound
• procedural confounds

Question 10

Person confound

Answer 10

when the presence of an individual difference influences the outcome variable

Question 11

Procedural confound

Answer 11

when the experimenter unwillingly varies two or more variables at once

Question 12

Noise

Answer 12

refers to variables that influence the dependent variable, but unlike confounds, they are evenly distributed across conditions

Question 13

Interactions

Answer 13

indicate that the effect than one or more independent variables have on the dependent variable depends on an additional independent variable

Question 14

2 x 2 factorial design

Answer 14

the investigator is interests in studying the independent and combined effects of two independent variables each with two levels

Question 15

Boundary conditions

Answer 15

conditions that demarcate when a theory does or does not apply

Question 16

Mundane realism

Answer 16

that the physical setting of the study is similar to the real-world setting in which the phenomenon occurs

Question 17

Experimental/Psychological realism

Answer 17

maximized not by asking id a study ‘looks’ realistic on observable dimensions, but rather by asking if it “feels: realistic on psychological dimensions

Question 18

Correlational research

Answer 18

investigates the relationship between different measured variables, typically with an interest in determining how these variables interrelate in naturally occurring situations

Question 19

The correlation coefficient

Answer 19

o ranges from -1 to 1

o absolute numerical value indicating magnitude of relation between the variables

Question 20

A positive correlation

Answer 20

indicates that as the value of one variables increases, so does the other

Question 21

A negative correlation

Answer 21

indicates that as the value of one variable increases, the other variable decreases

Question 22

issue of reversed causality

Answer 22

there are multiple ways to interpret a significant correlation between two variables. The direction of the relationship is not clear.

Question 23

third variable problem

Answer 23

additional variable is responsible for the observed relation

Question 24

covariates

Answer 24

allow experimenters statistically to remove the influence of variables

Question 25

longitudinal designs

Answer 25

the variables of interest are measured at two or more time period and then the correlations between these variables are analyzed between and across time

Question 26

Quasi-experimental design

Answer 26

researcher only has partial control over the IV, because random assignment is impossible: participants are assigned to groups based on some other naturally occurring criterion

Question 27

Person-by-treatment quasi-experiment

Answer 27

one of the Independent variables is manipulates ( treatment variables) and one is measured ( person variables)

Question 28

Survey research

Answer 28

the process of collecting information from a sample of people who have been systematically selected to represent a larger population

Question 29

Random sampling

Answer 29

equally likely chance of being selected

Question 30

Cluster sampling

Answer 30

alternative to random sampling

Question 31

Sampling error

Answer 31

the likely discrepancy between the results obtained in a representative sample and the results one would have obtained if everyone in the population of interest had been studied