Wk 1 Part 2 Research Methods

Question 1

Probability:

Answer 1

A measure of the degree of certainty of the occurrence of an event.

Question 2

Pseudoscience

Answer 2

Beliefs or practices that are presented as being scientific, or which are mistaken for being scientific, but which are not scientific.

Question 3

What are the qualities of well designed research? (observations)

Answer 3

• Observations that are systematically recorded, high quality, and representative of the population it claims to describe.

Question 4

Inductive reasoning:

Answer 4

• When a set of general observations leads to a specific conclusion / To draw general conclusions from specific observations.
• A form of reasoning in which a general conclusion is inferred from a specific set of observations.
• Ex: Observing a person texting and driving nearly crash their car → Concluding that texting while driving is dangerous.
• Based on data collected from samples.
• Does not prove anything; Does show what is probably true.
• SPECIFIC to GENERAL.

Question 5

Anecdotal evidence:

Answer 5

• A piece of biased evidence, usually drawn from personal experience, used to support a conclusion that may not be correct.
• Derived from personal experience and unsystematic observations.

Question 6

Deductive reasoning

Answer 6

• Where a general premise determines the interpretation of specific observations.
• Broad, general premises that are applied to specific instances.
• Ex: Gravity is associated with mass → Bc the moon has a smaller mass than the earth, it should have weaker gravity.
• Associated with ‘proof’.
• GENERAL to SPECIFIC.

Question 7

Representative

Answer 7

• In research, the degree to which a sample is a typical example of the population from which it is drawn.
• Ex: Participants in a caffeine memory study should not all be over 90 years old.

Question 8

Written Answer : Discuss science as a social activity, comparing and contrasting facts and values.

Answer 8

Scientific claims are more likely to be correct and predict real outcomes than “common sense” opinions and personal anecdotes. This is because researchers consider how to best prepare and measure their subjects, systematically collect data from large and—ideally—representative samples, and test their findings against probability.

Question 9

Correlation:

Answer 9

In statistics, the measure of relatedness of two or more variables.

Question 10

Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST)

Answer 10

• In statistics, a test created to determine the chances that an alternative hypothesis would produce a result as extreme as the one observed if the null-hypothesis were actually true.
• Assesses the probability that the observations could be the same if there were no relationship between the variables in a study.
• Comparing what you expect to find (probability), with what you actually find (collected data).

Question 11

type I error:

Answer 11

Finding a relationship when none really exists. (error of rejecting the null-hypothesis when it is true).

Question 12

type II error:

Answer 12

Failing to find a relationship when one exists (error of failing to reject the null-hypothesis when it is false).

Question 13

Probability values:

Answer 13

In statistics, the established threshold for determining whether a given value occurs by chance.

Question 14

What does the alternative hypothesis predict in NHST?

Answer 14

That there is a relationship between 2 variables.

Question 15

Functionalism:

Answer 15

” Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory, functionalists were interested in the activities of the mind—what the mind does. An interest in functionalism opened the way for the study of a wide range of approaches, including animal and comparative psychology …..utility of consciousness.

Question 16

Structuralism:

Answer 16

A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience.
Structuralists were interested in the contents of the mind—what the mind is. he excluded from study those with mental deficiencies, children, and animals

Question 17

Cognitive Psychology:

Answer 17

The study of mental processes.

Question 18

Behaviorism considers ______ to be the proper subject matter of psychology.

Answer 18

observable behavior

Question 19

The saying the “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” represents to philosophy of ______ psychology.

Answer 19

Gestalt psychology

Question 20

Eugenics:

Answer 20

Selective breeding to promote desired traits.

Question 21

Practitioner-Scholar Model:

Answer 21

A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes clinical practice.

Question 22

Psychophysics

Answer 22

Study of the relationships between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli.

Question 23

Scientist-practitioner model

Answer 23

A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes the development of both research and clinical skills.

Question 24

Key components to a statistical investigation:

Answer 24

• Planning the study
• Examining the data
• Inferring from the data
• Drawing conclusions:

Question 25

cause-and-effect

Answer 25

Related to whether we say one variable is causing changes in the other variable, versus other variables that may be related to these two variables.

Question 26

A fundamental principle of statistics is that:

Answer 26

Data vary

Question 27

Generalizability

Answer 27

an important research consideration: The results of studies with widely representative samples are more likely to generalize to the population. (sample, population, generlized, random sample)

Question 28

Written answer: Define basic elements of a statistical investigation.

Answer 28

Statistical thinking involves the careful design of a study to collect meaningful data to answer a focused research question, detailed analysis of patterns in the data, and drawing conclusions that go beyond the observed data. Random sampling is paramount to generalizing results from our sample to a larger population, and random assignment is key to drawing cause-and-effect conclusions. With both kinds of randomness, probability models help us assess how much random variation we can expect in our results, in order to determine whether our results could happen by chance alone and to estimate a margin of error.

Question 29

Written answer: Describe the role of random assignment in drawing cause-and-effect conclusions.

Answer 29

Random assignment: Using a probability-based method to divide a sample into treatment groups.

Random sampling: Using a probability-based method to select a subset of individuals for the sample from the population.

Cause-and-effect: Related to whether we say one variable is causing changes in the other variable, versus other variables that may be related to these two variables.

Parameter: A numerical result summarizing a population (e.g., mean, proportion).

Confidence interval: An interval of plausible values for a population parameter; the interval of values within the margin of error of a statistic.

Question 30

A political poll is not perfectly accurate. The measure of how confident the researcher is in the accuracy is called the ______.

Answer 30

margin of error

Question 31

Identify limitations of the traditional laboratory experiment.

Answer 31

it has little to say about what actually does happen under the circumstances that people actually encounter in their daily lives.

Question 32

full-cycle psychology

Answer 32

A scientific approach:
- Researchers start with an observational field study to identify an effect in the real world.

• Follow up with laboratory experimentation to verify the effect and isolate the causal mechanisms.
• Return to field research to corroborate their experimental findings.

Question 33

Rationale for Conducting Psychology Research in the Real World

Answer 33

The goal for researchers, must be to complement traditional laboratory experiments with less controlled studies under real-world circumstances.

Question 34

Ecological validity

Answer 34

The degree to which a study finding has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life.

Question 35

Research Methods for Studying Daily Life?

Answer 35

Sampling daily behavior, Sampling daily psychology, Sampling online behavior, Collecting usage data via smart phones, Sampling daily experiences

Question 36

Internal Validity

Answer 36

The degree to which a cause-effect relationship between two variables has been unambiguously established.

Question 37

External Validity:

Answer 37

The degree to which a finding generalizes from the specific sample and context of a study to some larger population and broader settings.

Question 38

an important challenge researchers face when designing a study is to find the right balance between ensuring

Answer 38

internal and external validity