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Research Methods Exam 1

Terms in this set (94)

What comprises the general approach and observation of the scientific method?
The approach is empirical and utilizes direct observation and experimentation, and the observation is systematic and controlled
What comprises a nonscientific approach?
Relying on intuition, not using a formal process
What is a factor/variable?
The aspects of a situation that may influence particular phenomena
What is an independent variable (IV)?
The factor that a researcher manipulates or selects
What is an experimental condition?
The condition or situation in which the "treatment" is present
What is a control condition?
The condition or situation in which the "treatment" is absent
What is a nuisance variable?
A factor that is not manipulated or selected by the experimenter which might affect the results
What are control techniques?
If a potentially important variable is not manipulated (or selected) you should control it (hold constant/balance). IV's can be manipulated or selected (subject variables)
What is a dependent variable?
The factor that the researcher measures to assess the effects of the IV's
What is an operational definition?
Explaining a concept in terms of the operations used to measure it
How can reporting be scientific?
By being unbiased and objective, not influenced by feelings
How can concepts be scientific?
By being clear and using operational definitions
How can instruments be scientific?
By being accurate and precise
What is accuracy?
The difference between what an instrument reports and the "truth"
What is precision?
The level at which an instrument measures an event
How can a hypothesis be scientific?
By being testable/falsifiable
What is a scientific attitude?
Critical and skeptical
How can measurement be scientific?
By being valid and reliable
What is validity?
The truthfulness of a measure
What is reliability?
The consistency of measurement
What are the goals of the scientific method?
Description, prediction, explanation, application
What is description?
Developing rules to describe people (nomothetic approach) or finding individual differences (idiographic approach)
What is nomothetic approach?
- Aims to establish generalization that apply to many people.
- Focuses on similarities between people and gaining objective knowledge.
- Collects large amounts of data.
What is idiographic approach?
Focuses on the uniqueness of the individual. It looks at in-depth details and subjective experiences.
Uses qualitative methods such as case studies.
What is prediction?
Given one event, predict subsequent event
What is explanation?
To demonstrate causality need:
1. Covariation of events
2. Time-order relationship
3. Elimination of plausible alternatives
-Confounds often create an alternative explanation
What is application?
Improving lives
What is confounding variable?
When the levels of an IV covary with the nuisance variable
What is internal validity?
No confounds; you can make a causal statement
What is external validity?
Generalizability; different populations, settings, etc.
What responsibilities fall under scientific responsibility for psychologists?
Reporting results accurately, managing resources honestly, acknowledging other's contributions, considering consequences to society, and speaking publicly on issues related to areas of expertise
What ethical standards should be met before conducting research?
Eliminating any confounds, implementing protection for participants, training assistants appropriately, consulting experts if necessary, following federal and state laws, and getting IRB approval
What is the difference between omission and commission in research?
Omission is not saying certain information, commission is giving incorrect information
What steps should be taken during research collection?
Getting informed consent, if using animals treating them well (clean, housed, killed quickly)
What should be done after research has been conducted?
Debriefing (telling participants the purpose of the study), sharing data with other, and reporting results
What is naturalistic observation?
Passively recording events (without intervention)
What is participant observation?
Getting involved, having an active role in observing, undisguised.
What is structured observation?
Setting up a situation that may not occur naturally or is hard to capture (e.g. one-way mirror studies), may use a confederate
What are field experiments?
One or more IV manipulated in a natural study
What are qualitative records?
Writing down/recording everything
What are quantitative records?
Before you observe behavior you decide what you want to measure
What is time sampling?
Observing behavior at different times and on different occasions (can be systematic, random, or event)
What is situation sampling?
Sampling behaviors in many different situations (more situations=more external validity)
What are the four levels of measurment?
Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio
What is nominal scale?
Names the category.
What is ordinal scale?
Rank, order
- Distance between categories or ranks are not necessarily equal
What is interval scale?
It is the meaningful difference or distance between the values that you have but no absolute 0
What is ratio scale?
A scale that has non-arbitrary points and intervals; has absolute 0
What are the measures of central tendency?
mean, median, mode
What are the types of variability?
range, variance, standard deviation
What is observer reliability?
How accurate the observers are (interobserver reliability= [#of times observers agree/#oppurtunities to agree]*100). 85% reliability or higher is best
What are some problems with observational research?
Reactivity, the presence of the observer may make participants behave differently (reactivity), and demand characteristics may give subconscious cues that guide the participant
What are some ways to eliminate problems with observational research?
Using nonreactive measurements (i.e. concealed or disguised), or adaptation (habituating-introducing the observer many times, or desensitization-starting slow, then observing more and more)
What is observer bias?
The observer may unintentionally bias the data being collected
What are expectancy effects?
Expecting results to turn out in a specific way
How can expectancy effects be reduced?
Interobserver reliability (w/blind observers), and double-blind studies
What is the goal of correlation research?
Identify predictive relationships
What are the directions of correlation?
Positive correlation, negative correlation, & zero correlation
What is the range of the correlation coefficient?
-1.00 to +1.00
0 = no relation
1 = perfect relation
What are the potential problems that affect correlation?
Restricted range, groups problem, nonlinear relation, & extreme groups
What is a restricted range?
A restricted range is a range of values that has been condensed, or shortened
=> deflate/decrease correlation coefficient
What is nonlinear correlation?
Non-linear correlation occurs when the ratio of change between two variables is not constant.
What are moderating relationships?
The effect of one variable depends on (or is affected by) the levels of another variable
What are mediating relationships?
Address the "how" and "why" questions. The mediating variable helps to explain the relationship IV, works through IVs
What is a population?
Set of all cases of interest
What is a sampling frame?
Operational definition of population
What is a sample?
Subset of population drawn from sampling frame
What is an element?
Each member of the population
What is nonprobability sampling?
Sampling when there's no way to know the probability of being sampled and if everybody can be sampled
What is convenience sampling?
Sampling based on willingness and availability
What is purposive sampling?
Sampling by hand-picking people (e.g. experts)
What is probability sampling?
Sampling with the probability that each element of the population included in the sample can be specified
What is simple random sampling?
Sampling based on randomly chosen elements
What is stratified random sampling?
Dividing the population into subgroups (strata), then randomly sampling them
What are the pros of mail surveys?
Quick and easy, no interviewer bias, good for embarrassing questions
What are potential cons of mail surveys?
If the survey isn't self-explanatory the P may not understand, no control over how/what order the P fills out the survey, no control over who fills out the survey, response rate bias
What are the pros of personal interviews?
More flexible/can jump around, can clarify unclear questions, P's take task more seriously
What are potential cons of personal interviews?
More expensive, interviewer bias, social desirability issues (reactivity)
What are the pros of telephone interviews?
They can be conducted from a central location, can access places which are hard to get to
What are potential cons of telephone interviews?
Takes time and money, interviewer bias, social desirability, don't know how people will respond over phone, hard to get people to respond
What are the pros of internet surveys?
Very inexpensive, very efficient, environmental, convenient, potential diversity
What are the cons of internet surveys?
Response rate bias, selection bias, lack of control, concerns about anonymity
What is a cross-sectional study?
Sampling one moment in time; development
What is the cohort effect?
The impact on development when a group of people share common time period or life experience
What are successive independent samples?
Series of cross-sectionals at different times with different Ps; changes over time (societal change)
What is a longitudinal study?
Same Ps surveyed over time (more than once)
What types of questions should be included in psychological questionnaires?
Demographic variables, self-report measures (preferences and attitudes)
How can a survey/questionnaire be valid and reliable?
By ensuring test-retest reliability (giving the same questionnaire to a large group twice)Want correlation to be .80 or higher
What is construct validity?
How well a test measures what it's designed to measure
What is convergent validity?
Correlates with other measures of the same construct (the degree that two measurements that should be related are actually related)
What is discriminant validity?
Does not correlate well with the measures of a different construct (the degree that two measurements that should not be related are unrelated)
What are some basics of a good questionnaire?
1. Use simple, direct, familiar vocab (7th grade level)
2. Be clear and specific
3. Use 20 words or fewer per question; short as possible
4. Check wording for reliability (e.g. avoid double-negatives)
5. Avoid double-barreled questions (two-part questions)
6. Avoid leading questions (questions that prompt a specific response)
7. Avoid loaded questions (questions with emotion-laden words)
8. Start with general questions, then get more specific
9. Use reverse-scored questions to avoid response bias
What is the relationship between internal validity and external validity?
They are inversely related
What types of articles are published in psychology journals?
Empirical Studies, Literature Reviews, Theoretical Article, Methodological Articles, Case Studies, Other
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