Chapter 2: How Psychologists Do Reasearch

Front 1

Theory

Back 1

An organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships.

Front 2

Hypothesis

Back 2

A statement that attempts to predict or account for a set of phenomena.

Front 3

Operational definition

Back 3

A precise definition of a term in a hypothesis, which specifies the operations for observing and measuring the process or phenomenon being defined.

Front 4

Principal of falsification

Back 4

The principal that a scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough to expose the theory to the possibility of disconfirmation. The theory must protect not only what will happen but also what will not happen.

Front 5

Confirmation bias

Back 5

The tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one's own belief.

Front 6

Replicate

Back 6

Repeat.

Front 7

Peer review

Back 7

Submitting results to professional journals, which send the findings to experts in the field for evaluation before deciding whether to publish them.

Front 8

Representative sample

Back 8

A group of individuals, selected from a population for study, which matches the population on important characteristics such as age and sex.

Front 9

Descriptive methods

Back 9

Methods that yield descriptions of behavior but not necessarily casual explanations.

Front 10

Case study

Back 10

A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated.

Front 11

Observational study

Back 11

A study in which a researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with the behavior.

Front 12

Naturalistic observation

Back 12

A way of observing how people or animals act in their normal social environments.

Front 13

Laboratory observation

Back 13

A setting in a laboratory where researchers have more control of the situation.

Front 14

Psychological tests

Back 14

Procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values.

Front 15

Standardization

Back 15

In test construction, to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test.

Front 16

Norms

Back 16

In test construction, established standards of performance.

Front 17

Reliability

Back 17

In test construction, the consistency of scores derived from a test, from one time and place to another.

Front 18

Test-retest reliability

Back 18

Giving a test twice to the same group of people in comparing the two sets of scores statistically.

Front 19

Alternate-forms reliability

Back 19

Giving different versions of the same test to the same group on two separate occasions.

Front 20

Validity

Back 20

The ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.

Front 21

Content validity

Back 21

When the results broadly represent the trait in question.

Front 22

Criterion validity

Back 22

The ability to predict independent measures, or criteria, of the trait in question.

Front 23

Surveys

Back 23

Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experience, attitudes, or opinions.

Front 24

Volunteer bias

Back 24

A shortcoming of findings derived from a sample of volunteers instead of a representative sample; the volunteers may differ from those who did not volunteer.

Front 25

Correlation study

Back 25

A descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena.

Front 26

Correlation

Back 26

A measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another.

Front 27

Variables

Back 27

Characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale.

Front 28

Positive correlation

Back 28

An association between increases in one variable and increases in another-or between decreases in one and in another.

Front 29

Negative correlation

Back 29

An association between increases in one variable in decreases in another.

Front 30

Coefficient of correlation

Back 30

A measure of correlation that ranges in value from -1.00 to +1.00.

Front 31

Illusory correlations

Back 31

Apparent associations between two things that are not really related.

Front 32

Experiment

Back 32

A controlled test of a hypothesis and which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover it's effect in another.

Front 33

Independent variable

Back 33

A variable that an experimenter manipulates.

Front 34

Dependent variable

Back 34

A variable that an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable.

Front 35

Control condition

Back 35

In an experiment, a comparison condition in which participants are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition.

Front 36

Experimental and control groups

Back 36

Control group does not manipulate any variable. Experimental group manipulates a variable.

Front 37

Random assignment

Back 37

A procedure for assigning people to experimental and control groups in which each individual has the same probability as any other of been assigned to a given group.

Front 38

Placebo

Back 38

And inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control in an experiment or given by a medical practitioner to a patient.

Front 39

Single-blind study

Back 39

An experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in an experimental or control group.

Front 40

Experiementer effects

Back 40

Unintended changes in study participants behavior due to cues that the experimenter inadvertently conveys.

Front 41

Double-blind study

Back 41

An experiment in which neither the people being studied nor the individuals running in the study know who is in the control group and who is in the experimental group until after the results are tallied.

Front 42

Field research

Back 42

Descriptive or experimental research conducted in a natural setting outside the laboratory.

Front 43

Descriptive statistics

Back 43

Statistical procedures that organize and summarize research data.

Front 44

Arithmetic mean

Back 44

An average that is calculated by adding up a set of quantities and dividing the sum by the total number of quantities in the set.

Front 45

Standard deviation

Back 45

A commonly used measure of variability that indicates the average difference between scores in a distribution and their mean.

Front 46

Inferential statistics

Back 46

Statistical procedures that allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study's results are.

Front 47

Significant tests

Back 47

Statistical tests that show how likely it is that a study's results occurred merely by chance.

Front 48

Statistical significance

Back 48

There is a good probability that the difference in a study is real.

Front 49

P value

Back 49

P stands for the probability of success in a study.

Front 50

Confidence interval

Back 50

A statistical measure that provides, with a specified probability, a range of values within which a population mean is likely to lie.

Front 51

Cross-sectional study

Back 51

A study in which people, or animals, of different ages are compared at a given time.

Front 52

Longitudinal study

Back 52

A study in which people, or animals, are followed and periodically reassessed over a period of time.

Front 53

Effect size

Back 53

And objective, standardized way of describing the strength of the independent variable's influence on the dependent variable.

Front 54

Meta-analysis

Back 54

A set of techniques for combining data from a number of related studies to determine the explanatory strength of a particular independent variable.

Front 55

Bayesian statistics

Back 55

Statistics that involve a formula for calculating the likelihood of a hypothesis being true and meaningful, taking into account relevant prior knowledge.

Front 56

Informed consent

Back 56

The doctrine that anyone who participates in human research must do so voluntarily and must know enough about the study to make an intelligent decision about whether to take part.

Front 57

Relative vs. absolute risk

Back 57

Relative risk is often how many health findings are presented that increase worry and panic in patients. Absolute risk is what the actual, absolute numbers show.