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Pyb210 - Statistics > WEEk 1 - introduction > Flashcards

WEEk 1 - introduction Flashcards

1
Q

What is research?

A

Research is the generation of new knowledge or the use of existing knowledge in new ways to generate new concepts, methodologies, interventions or understandings

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2
Q

What are the objectives of psychological research

A
  1. Describe
  2. Explain
  3. Predict
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3
Q

In the objectives of psychological research - what does ‘describe’ mean?

A

To portray the phenomenon accurately

Example, Piaget theory on child development arose from his observations of his son.

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4
Q

In the objectives of psychological research - what does ‘explain’ mean?

A

To identify the causes of the phenomenon

Example: social connection and depression

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5
Q

In the objectives of psychological research - what does ‘predict’ mean?

A

Identifying risk factors of a phenomenon can help you predict what might happen

Example: what factors may predict academic outcome the best

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6
Q

What are the two broad approaches?

A

Inductive
Deductive

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7
Q

What is the inductive approach

A

Aims to generate new theories or ideas

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8
Q

What are deductive methods?

A

Aims to test theories and to test weather they are valid or not

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9
Q

What is the empirical method? (hypotheticodeductive method)

A

When we take a theory and come up with a testable hypothesis from it

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10
Q

What is a theory?

A
  • A theory is a broad statement about what is true in the universe -> a statement about reality
  • Any theory is a statement of cause and effect
  • A statement about the relationship between two variables
  • A theory states that a change in the independent variable will cause a change in the dependent variable
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11
Q

What are independent and depended variables?

A
  • A independent variable is the ‘causes’ (what you manipulate)
  • A dependent variable is the effect (the thing that is being measured)
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12
Q

How do we test a theory?

A
  • we can never actually fully test a theory because it is a statement about the whole of the universe (reality) and we will never be able to test out every scenario.
  • So instead we test a hypothesis that should be true if the theory was true
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13
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis is something we can actually measure or test. It cant be something we already know - it has to be a prediction about something that hasn’t happened yet.

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14
Q

What does a good theory help generate?

A

It helps generate a hypothesis - this then assists with forming a research question/s

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15
Q

What is a research problem/question

A

An interrogative sentence that states the relationship between two or more variables or the key research question

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16
Q

What is the criteria for a good research problem?

A
  1. variables should express a clear relationship
  2. stated in question form
  3. Capable of empirical testing
17
Q

What is operationalisation?

A
  • The way you turn abstract concepts into measurable observations for research.
  • In the process of research, to test a hypothesis, a scientist needs to be able to make the hypothesis about something they can directly observe. But that thing should correctly represent the theoretical variable they are interested in. The scientist comes up with an operational definition of their theoretical variable that will serve the purposes of enabling them to test a prediction
  • Example: let’s say my general theory was that people
    experience more brain-fog when they are hungry. To test this, I need to find a thing which I could measure (or possibly even that I could manipulate) which represented hunger and another that might measure brain fog
18
Q

What is a variable?

A
  • something that varies
  • takes on different categories or values.
    example: gender, IQ scores etc.
19
Q

What is a categorical variable?

A
  • varies by type or kind
  • Nominal measurement
    Example, gender, religion, uni course
20
Q

What is a continuous variable?

A
  • Varies by degree or amount
  • Interval/Ratio measurement
    Examples: reaction time, height, age, anxiety level
21
Q

How do you actually answer research question?

A
  1. Design a study
  2. Find participants (define your population and sample from it)
  3. Make some measurements (and potentially stage an experiment to manipulate the variables)
  4. Analyse the data
  5. Write a paper explaining what you have done
22
Q

What are the common pitfalls in research?

A
  1. Extraneous variable
  2. Confounding variable
23
Q

What are extraneous variables?

A
  • A variable that competes with the IV in explaining the outcome of the DV
  • also called nuisance variable
24
Q

What is a confounding variable?

A
  • A variable that is systematically related to both the IV and DV in your study, so that any changes in the DV cannot be directly attributed to the IV
  • The result is said to be confounded. Confounding reduces internal validity
25
Q

What is causation?

A

A condition where one event (the cause) generates another event (the effect)
Example: ice cream and sunburn example - hot day

26
Q

What is the criteria for identifying a casual relationship?

A
  1. relationship condition: The cause (IV) must be related to the effect of the DV
  2. Temporal order condition: Changes in the IV must precede (come first) changes in the DV
  3. No other plausible explanation must exist for the effect
27
Q

Inferring causality in a design

A

A well-designed and appropriately conducted/controlled experiment can allow inferences about causality (a conclusion based on evidence or reasoning)

  • perform and action (manipulate IV)
  • measure consequences (changes in DV)
  • control for other possible explanations (extraneous variables)
28
Q

An experiment should be…

A
  1. Carefully designed
  2. Rigorously controlled
  3. Replicable
  4. Ethical
29
Q

What are the disadvantages of the experimental approach?

A
  1. Does not test the effects of non-manipulated variables
    - many potential independent variables cannot be manipulated (for example, people’s age, gender)
  2. Artificiality or generalisability
    - Sometimes cant generalise laboratory findings to the real world context

Pyb210 - Statistics (11 decks)

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