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175.203 Introduction to Psychological Research > Week 2: Overview of the Scientific Method > Flashcards

Week 2: Overview of the Scientific Method Flashcards

1
Q

Research Literature > Research Question > Empirical Sutdy > Data Anlayss > Conclusions> Research Literature —- is what?

A

Simple Model of Scientific Research in Psychology

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2
Q

How do you find a research topic?

A
  • Internal observations
  • Practical problems
  • Previous research
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3
Q

Why review research literature when developing a research topic?

A
  • Determine if question already answered
  • Evaluate the interestingness of question
  • Give ideas on conducting own study
  • Tell you if your question fits into the reseach literature
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4
Q

What is research literature?

A

All the published research in particular that field

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5
Q

What are the two types of research literature?

A
  1. Professional journals

2. Scholarly books

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6
Q

How do you generate a research question?

A
  • Look at discussion section of research article

- Generate own reserach question

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7
Q

How to generate own research question?

A
  1. Conceptualise behaviour/psychological characteristic as a variable
  2. Ask for frequent/intense the variable is
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8
Q

What must a research question be?

A
  1. Interesting.

2. Feasible

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9
Q

What makes a research question interesting?

A
  • Answer is in doubt
  • Fills a gap in the research literature
  • Has important practical implications
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10
Q

What is a theory

A

Coherent explanation or interpretation of one or more phenomena

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11
Q

What is a hypothesis

A

A specific prediction about a new phenomenon that should be observed if a particular theory is accurate

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12
Q

What is the theory/hypothesis relationship?

A

If/then

e.g. If drive theory is correct, then cockroaches would run faster when others observe them

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13
Q

How do you derive a hypothesis from a theory?

A
  • Generate research question, ask if any theory implies answer to the question.
  • Focus on components of the theory that’s not been directly observed.
  • Distinguish between competing theories.
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14
Q

What is the Hypothetico-Dedutive Method?

A

A cyclical process of theory development, starting with observed phenomena and developed using existing theory

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15
Q

How to incorporate theory into research?

A
  1. Interpret results using one or more theories

2. Describe theory, derive and test hypothesis in a new study and then re-evaluate the theory

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16
Q

What are the characteristics of a good hypothesis?

A
  1. Testable and falsifiable
  2. Logical
  3. Positive (Makes a positive statement about the existence of a relationship or effect).
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17
Q

What is a variable?

A

Quantity or quality that varies across people or situations

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18
Q

What is a quantatative varible

A

A quantity typically measured by assigning a number to each individual (e.g. height)

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19
Q

What is a categorical variable

A

Represents a characteristic of an individual, measured by assigning each individuals response to one of several categories (e.g. ethnicity)

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20
Q

What is an operational definition

A

A definition of the variable in terms of how it will be measured

(eg. Depression is abstract but can be directly observed/measured through scales, diagnosis or number of symptoms)

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21
Q

What is a sample

A

A smaller portion of the population the researcher wants to study

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22
Q

What are the two types of sampling

A
  1. Simple random sampling

2. Convenience sampling - whoever is available

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23
Q

What type of sampling is most used in psychological research?

A

Convenience sampling

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24
Q

What is experimental research?

A
  • Goal is to explain

- Manipulate one or more variables while attempting to control extraneous variables.

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25
Q

What is non-experimental research?

A
  • Goal is to make predictions

- Does not manipulate variables (e.g. recording how many use cellphone while at red light)

26
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

Variable that the experimenter manipulated ( the presumed cause)

27
Q

What is a dependent variable?

A

Variable the experimenter measures (the presumed effect)

28
Q

What is an extraneous variable?

A

Any variable other than the dependent variable

29
Q

What is a confounding variable?

A
  • Type of extraneous variable
  • Systematically varies along with the variables under observation
  • Provides an alternative explanation for the results
30
Q

What is the difference between laboratory and field research?

A
  • Lab study is conducted in a laboratory environment

- Field study is conducted in the real world

31
Q

What is internal validity?

A

Degree to which we can confidently infer a causal relationship between variables

32
Q

What is external validity?

A

Degree to which we can generalize findings to other circumstances or settings like the real world

33
Q

What kind of validity does lab research have?

A

High internal validity, low external validity

34
Q

What kind of validity does field research have?

A

Low internal validity (no control over environment), high external validity

35
Q

What are field experiments?

A

Independent variable manipulated in a natural setting with extraneous variables controlled.

Has high internal and high external validity.

36
Q

What do descriptive statistics do?

A

Summarize the data

37
Q

What do inferential statistics do?

A

Generalise the results from the sample to the population

38
Q

What is the mode?

A

The most frequently occurring score in the distribution

39
Q

What is the median?

A

The midpoint of a distribution of scores

40
Q

What is the mean?

A

The average of a distribution of scores

41
Q

What is the range?

A

A measure of dispersion that measures the distance between highest and lowest scores in a distrbution

42
Q

What is the standard deviation?

A

A measure of dispersion, measuring the average distance of scores from the mean

43
Q

What is the variance?

A

The standard deviation squared (also the distances of the scores from the mean, but in a different unit of measurement)

44
Q

What statistics does experimental research use?

A

Means and standard deviations, compare for each group

45
Q

What statistics does non-experimental research use?

A

Percentages or correlations between two variables

46
Q

What is a correlation coefficient?

A

Describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables?

47
Q

What is used to denote the correlation coefficient?

A

Pearson’s r.

48
Q

What does a correlation coefficient of 0 mean?

A

There is no relationship between the two variables

49
Q

What kind of correlations can exist between two variables?

A
  • Negative correlation ( As one variable goes up, other goes down)
  • Positive correlation (both go up or down)
50
Q

What is the max range scores for Pearson’s r?

A

+1.00 or -1.00

51
Q

What does it mean for an effect to be statistically significant?

A

The effect is unlikely due to random chance and therefore likely represents a real effect in the population

52
Q

What threshold is usually used for statistical significance?

A

5% - results that have less than 5% chance of being due to random error

53
Q

What are the two types of errors?

A

Type I error

Type II error

54
Q

What is a Type I error?

A
  • False positive

- Results are due to chance

55
Q

What type of error rejects the null hypothesis when it is true?

A

Type I error

56
Q

What is a Type II error?

A
  • Missed opportunity, there is actually a real effect in the population that researcher has missed
57
Q

What type of error retains the null hypothesis when it is false?

A

Type II error

58
Q

When are the chances of a Type II error increased?

A

When the chances of a Type I error are reduced:

  • the statistical significance threshold too low (under 5%)
  • sample size too small
59
Q

Can theories be proved?

A

No, they are supported, refuted or modified based on research results.

60
Q

Why do researchers not use word proved?

A
  • Could be Type I error
  • Maybe be other plausible theories
  • Further testing could disprove theory
  • Problem of induction (All swans are white…)

175.203 Introduction to Psychological Research (6 decks)

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