Ch. 2 The Methods Of Social Psychology

Front 1

Hindsight Bias

Back 1

People's tendency to be overwhelmed about whether they could have predicted a given outcome.

Front 2

Hypothesis

Back 2

A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances.

Front 3

Theory

Back 3

A body of related propositions intended to describe some aspect of the world.

Front 4

Balance Theory

Back 4

The theory that people like their thoughts to be consistent with one another, and will do substantial mental work to achieve such cognitive consistency.

Front 5

Participant Observation

Back 5

A type of observational research which involves observing some phenomenon at close range (sometimes even living with a group of indigenous people, for example).

Front 6

Archival Research

Back 6

Research involving the use of archives- collections of information pertaining to specific topics (ranging from census reports to homicide cases).

Front 7

Survey

Back 7

A type of research involving asking participants questions; can be conducted using either interviews or written questionnaires.

Front 8

Random Sampling

Back 8

Randomly selecting participants from a population for a research study in order to get an accurate portrayal of the population being tested.

Front 9

Convenience Sampling

Back 9

Non random sampling in which the first or closest responders were those chosen in the study's sample.

Front 10

Correlational Research

Back 10

Research that does not involve random assignment to different situations, or conditions, and that psychologists conduct to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables.

Front 11

Experimental Research

Back 11

In social psychology, research that randomly assigns people to different conditions, or situations, and that enables researchers to make strong inferences about how these different conditions affect behavior.

Front 12

Third Variable

Back 12

In correlational research, a variable that exerts a causal influence on both variable 1 and variable 2.

Front 13

Self-Selection

Back 13

In correlational research, a problem that arises when the participant, rather than the researcher, selects his or her level on each variable, bringing with this value unknown other properties that make causal interpretation of a relationship difficult.

Front 14

Independent Variable

Back 14

In experimental research, the variable that is manipulated; it is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome.

Front 15

Dependent Variable

Back 15

In experimental research, the variable that is measured (as opposed to manipulated); it is hypothesized to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.

Front 16

Random Assignment

Back 16

Assigning participants in experimental research to different groups randomly, so they are as likely to be assigned to one condition as to another.

Front 17

Control Condition

Back 17

A condition comparable to the experimental condition in every way except that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to produce the expected effect on the dependent variable.

Front 18

Natural Experiment

Back 18

A naturally occurring event or phenomenon having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as in experiments where the investigator manipulates the conditions.

Front 19

External Validity

Back 19

An indication of how well the results of a study generalize to contexts besides those of the study itself.

Front 20

Field Experiment

Back 20

An experiment conducted in the real world (not a lab), usually with participants who are not aware they are in a study of any kind.

Front 21

Internal Validity

Back 21

In experimental research, confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results.

Front 22

Debriefing

Back 22

In preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants directly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so on. In later versions, debriefings are used to educate participants about the question being studied.

Front 23

Reliability

Back 23

The degree to which the particular way researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results.

Front 24

Measurement Validity

Back 24

The correlation between some measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict.

Front 25

Regression to the Mean

Back 25

The tendency of extreme scores on a variable to be followed by, or associated with, less extreme scores.

Front 26

Statistical Significance

Back 26

A measure of the probability a given result could have occurred by chance.

Front 27

Basic Science

Back 27

Science or research concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right, with a view toward using that understanding to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world.

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Applied Science

Back 28

Science or research concerned with solving important real-world problems.

Front 29

Intervention

Back 29

An effort to change a person's behavior.

Front 30

Replication

Back 30

The reproducing of the results of a scientific study.

Front 31

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Back 31

A university committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research.

Front 32

Informed Consent

Back 32

A person's signed agreement to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all the relevant aspects.

Front 33

Deception Research

Back 33

Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something that is done to them.