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Unit # 2
Research Methods
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Random Assignment | Random Assignment is a random experimental technique for assigning subjects to different treatments. |
| Double Blind Procedure | An experimental procedure in which neither the subjects of the experiment nor the people in charge of the experiment know the main aspects of the experiment. These types of experiments help in creating non-bias results of an experiment. |
| Placebo Effect | The placebo effect is the effect of being given a "fake" substance but still experiencing the results of a real substance. (Placebos are also known as "Sugar pills") |
| Experimental Group | A group of subjects that are shown to the variable of a control experiment. |
| Control Group | The control group is the group that receives the placebo. They are the group that the Experiment Group is being compared to. |
| Independent Variable | An independent variable is the variable in which is supposed to affect a dependent variable. |
| Dependent Variable | The dependent variable is dependent on another variable. |
| Confounding Variable | The confounding variable is the variable that can adversely affect the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable. |
| Hindsight Bias | Hindsight bias is the inclination to see events that have occurred as being more predictable than they were before they took place (finding that once something happens it makes it seem inevitable) |
| Critical Thinking | Critical thinking is thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions but examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions |
| Theory | A theory explains through an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
| Hypothesis | testable predictions produced by a good theory |
| Operational Definition | describe concepts with precise procedures or measures |
| Replication | researchers re- create a study with different participants and materi-als and get similar results, then our confidence in the finding’s reliability grows |
| Survey | the survey method looks at many cases in less depth. researchers do surveys when wanting to estimate, from a representative sample of people, the attitudes or reported behaviors of a whole population |
| Case Study | Examines one individual in depth in hopes of revealing things |
| Population | All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. (Note: except for national studies, this does not refer to ca country's whole population ) |
| Random Sample | A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
| Naturalistic Observation | Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
| Correlation | A measure of the extent to which two factors very together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other |
| Correlation Coefficient | A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1) |
| Scatterplot | A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the vales of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation. |
| Illusory Correlation | The perception of a relationship where none exists. |
| Experiment | A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. |
| Mode | the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution |
| Mean | the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores |
| Median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it |
| Range | the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution |
| Standard Deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score |
| Normal Curve | a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (68% fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes |
| Statistical Significance | a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
| Culture | the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
| Informed Consent | an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they with to participate |
| Debriefing | The post experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants. |
| Method | A set of rules and techniques for observation that allow researchers to avoid illions, mistakes, and erroneous conclusions that simple observation can provide |
| Electromyograph | A device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person's skin |
| Validity | The characteristic of an observation that allows one to draw accurate inferences from it |
| Construct Validity | The tendency for an operational definition and a property to have clear conceptual relation |
| Predictive Validity | the tendency for an operational definition to be related to other operational definitions |
| Reliability | The tendency for a measure to produce the same result whenever it is used to measure the same thing |
| Frequency Distribution | A graphical representation of a measurements of a sample that are arranged by the number of times each measurement was observed |
| Demand Characteristics | Those aspects of an observation setting that cause people to behave as they think an observer wants or expects them to behave |
| Natural Correlation | A correlation observed between naturally occurring variables |
| Third-Variable Correlation | The fact that two variables may be correlated only because they are both caused by a third variable |
| Matched Samples | An observational technique that involves matching the average of the participants in the experimental and control groups in order to eliminate the possibility that a third variable caused changes in the dependant variable |
| Third variable Problem | The fact that the causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the correlation between them because of the ever present possibility of a third variable correlation |
| Self-selection | The case in which a participant's inclusion in the experimental or control group is determined by the participant |
| Randomization | A procedure to ensure that a participant's inclusion or control group is not determined by a third variable |
| Internal Validity | The characteristic of an experiment that allows one to draw accurate inferences about the causal relationship between and independant and dependant variable |
| External validity | The characteristic of an experiment in which the independent and dependent variables are operationally defined in a normal, typical , or realistic way |
Created by:
AP Psychology 2011