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33 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is "basic research"?
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Basic research is research that answers fundamental questions about behavior.
ex/ researchers investigate how different types of studying influence memory of pictures and words *goes hand in hand with applied research |
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What is "applied research"?
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Applied research is research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems.
ex/ study types of advertising campaigns that serve to reduce drug and alcohol use |
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What is "peer review"?
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Peer review is the process by which research in scientific journals has been evaluated, critiqued and improved by other scientists.
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What does the word "empirical" mean?
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Empirical means based of systematic collections and analysis of data.
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Please explain "the scientific method".
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The scientific method is the set of assumptions, rules and procedures scientists use to conduct research.
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Why does the scientific method require researchers to be objective?
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Science must be both empirical and objective, objective meaning that it is free from the personal bias and emotion of the scientist.
The scientific method proscribes how scientists collect and analyze data, how they draw conclusions from data and how they share data with others. Because the data must be reported and presented objectively, other scientists know exactly how the scientist collected and analyzed the data. |
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What are laws?
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Laws are principles that are very general and apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry.
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What is a theory?
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A theory is an integrated set of principles which explains and often predicts most observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry.
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What are 4 important characteristics of good theories?
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A good theory should have the following:
1) it should be general, meaning it summarizes many different outcomes 2) it should be parsimonious, meaning that it provides the simplest account of these outcomes (keep it simple) 3) is should provide ideas for future research 4) it should be falsifiable, meaning that the variables of interest can be adjusted adequately measured and the relationships between the variables that are predicted by the theory can be shown through research to be incorrect. |
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What is a research hypothesis?
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A research hypothesis is a specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables.
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What are conceptual variables?
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Conceptual variables are abstract ideas that for the basis of research hypothesis.
examples include: age, gender, weight, self-esteem, anxiety, etc |
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What are measured variables?
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These are variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables.
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What is the operational definition?
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The operational definition is a statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable.
ex? the conceptual variable of anxiety is operationalized by asking the patient how anxious they are |
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How does one conduct ethical research?
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free-choice
privacy deception cost-benefit analysis IRB informed consent p35 |
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What is research design?
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An approach used to collect, analyze and interpret data.
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What is research design?
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The research of different psychologists is designed with different goal in mind and, therefore, require different approaches. A "research design" is the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze and interpret data.
There are 3 main types of research designs that psychologists rely on to conduct research: 1) Descriptive Research 2) Coorelational Research 3) Experimental Research |
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What is the goal of descriptive research? What are the pro's and con's of this approach? Please give examples.
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The objective of "descriptive research" is to create a snapshot of the current state-of-affairs.
It's advantages include: provides a relatively complete picture of what is occurring at a given time and allows the development of questions for further study. It's disadvantages include: does not assess relationship among variables and it may be unethical if the participants do not realize that they are being observed. Ex: case studies, surveys and naturalistic observation. A case study is a descriptive record of an individual or small group of individuals experiences and behaviors. Examples include developmental psychologist Jean Piaget who studied his own children and Freud who studied interesting patients and the study of Phineas Gage. Survey are typically interviews or questionnaires that try to get a picture of beliefs or behaviors of sample of people of interest. Examples: election polls Naturalistic observation is based on observing everyday events such as watching children playing or observing animals in their natural habitat. |
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Please give an overview of descriptive statistics. (Measurements of central tendency).
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(Bell Shaped, aka normal distribution)
The results of descriptive research are analyzed using descriptive statistics - numbers that summarize the distribution of scores on a measured variable. Most of the scores are located near the center of the distribution which is symmetrical and bell-shaped. The arithmetic average, aka arithmetic MEAN, is the most commonly used measure of central tendency and is calculated by calculating the sum of the scores of a variable and dividing the sum by the number of participants. *When distributions are NOT symmetrical one can use alternative measure of central tendency such as the median. The median in the score in the center of the distribution, meaning 50% of the scores are greater than and 50% of the score are less than the median. **A final measure of central tendency is the mode and it is determined by finding the value which occurs the most frequently in the distribution. ***A note about dispersion (the extent to which the cores are clustered around the central tendency). The standard deviation is simply the difference between the highest and lowest within the range. |
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What is the goal of correlational research? What are the pro's and con's of this approach? Please give examples.
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Correlational research is research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow prediction of future events from present knowledge.
The goal of correlational research is to asses the relationships between and among two or more variables. It's advantages include: allows testing of expected relationships between and among variables and the making of predictions. Can assess these relationships in everyday settings. It's disadvantages include: cannot be used to draw inferences about the casual relationships between and among variables. *It is important to remember that correlational research CANNOT draw conclusions about the causal relationships among the measured variables. Ex/ a researcher hypothesizes that violent TV causes increased aggressive play in children. Researcher measures how often children watch violent TV and measures how aggressively children play. He discovers a positive vorrelation between the two variables. HOWEVER, the researcher cannot assume that violent TV causes aggressive behavior because there are alternate possibilities such as: the causal direction is the opposite of what was originally hypothesized. It is possible that both causal directions are operating. It is possible that there a COMMON-CASUAL VARIABLE, a variable not included in the hypothesis such as parents' discipline style. ** a SPURIOUS RELATIONSHIP is a relationship between two variables in which a common causal variable produces and "explains away" the relationship. |
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Please give a brief overview of measurements related to correlational relationships. Please give examples.
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Correlational research involves measuring two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables.
Example: the variables of height and weight are typically correlated because tall people tend to weigh more. Also, study time and memory errors are related because the more time a person studies the less apt they are to make a mistake. Predictor variable --->Outcome variable Typically, the measurements of correlational relationships take form in scatter plots. Linear relationships include positive (trending upwards such as in height and weight) and negative (trending downwards such as study time and making errors) Sometimes relationship between variables cannot be described in a straight line and instead have non-linear relationships. Curvilinear (increase decrease) Random points: independent relationship *most common statistical measurement of the strength of linear relationships among variables is the "Pearson correlation coefficent" symbolized by the letter "r".The value of the correlation coefficient ranges from r= -1.00 to r = +1.00. A positive linear relationship will have a positive value of "r" and a negative linear relationship will have a negative value of "r". |
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What is the goal of experimental research? What are the pro's and con's of this approach? Please give examples.
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Experimental research is research in which initial equivalence in participants in which more than one group is created, followed by a manipulation of a given experience for these groups and a measurement of the influence of the manipulation.
The goal of experimental research is to assess the causal impact of one or more experimental manipulations on a dependent variable. advantages include: allows drawing of conclusions about casual relationships among variables disadvantages include: cannot experimentally manipulate many important variables. might be expensive and time consuming |
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Please define independent variable and dependent variable.
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The independent variable in an experiment is the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter.
The dependent variable in an experiment is a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation. Ex: viewing violence (independent variable) ---> aggressive behavior (dependent variable) |
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Good research is valid research...but what are the threats to the validity of research?
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There are 4 threats to the validity of research:
1) Threats to construct validity. Although it is claimed that the measured variables measure the conceptual variables of interest, they in actuality might not. 2) Threats to statistical conclusion validity. Conclusions regarding the research may be incorrect because no statistical tests were made or because the statistical tests were incorrectly interpreted. 3) Threats to internal validity. Although it is claimed that the independent variable caused the dependent variable, the dependent variable may have been caused by a confounding variable. 4) Threats to external validity. Although it is claimed that the results are more general, the observed effects may actually only be found under limited conditions or for specific groups of people. |
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What is construct validity?
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Construct validity refers to the extent to which the variables used in research adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure.
*the measure must be reliable |
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What is statistical significance?
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Statistical significance refers to the confidence with which a scientist can conclude that data are not due to chance or random error.
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What is statistical conclusion validity?
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Statistical conclusion validity refers to the extent to which we can be certain that the researcher has drawn accurate conclusions about the statistical significance of the research.
We must always keep in mind that inferences about data are problematic and never certain - this is why research never "proves" a theory. |
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What is internal validity?
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Internal validity refers to the extent to which we can trust the conclusions that have been drawn about the causal relationship between independent and dependent variables.
Internal validity usually applies to experimental research designs, in which an experimenter hopes to conclude that an independent variable has caused the dependent variable. Internal validity is maximized when the research is free from the presence of confounding variables. CONFOUNDING VARIABLES are variables other than the independent variables on which the participants in one experimental condition differ systematically from those in other conditions. ex/ alcohol and rating attractiveness of others...confounding variable might be the expectation of either knowing they did or did not consume alcohol |
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What is experimenter bias (another threat to internal validity)?
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Experimental bias is another threat to internal validity and occurs when the experimenter know the research hypothesis and ALSO knows which experimental condition the participants are in. The outcome potential is called experimenter bias - a situation in which the experimenter subtly treats the research participants in the various experimental conditions differently, thereby resulting in an invalid confirmation of the research hypothesis.
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What is a double-blind experiment?
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In order to avoid experimenter bias, researchers frequently run experiments in which researcher are blind to condition. This means that the researchers know the hypothesis but do not know which conditions the participants are assigned to. Experimenter bias cannot occur in a if the researcher in blind to condition.
In a double blind experiment, BOTH the researcher and the research participants are blind to condition. Ex: in a double blind trial of a drug, the researcher does NOT know whether the drug being given is the real drug or the placebo and the patients are unaware as well. This eliminates the potential for experimenter effects and participant expectancy effects. |
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What is external validity?
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External validity refers to the extent to which results of the research design can be generalized beyond the specific way the original experiment was conducted.
Generalization is the extent to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables. Unless the researcher has a specific reason (limiting condition) to believe that generalization will NOT hold, it assumed that the result in one population will generalize to another population. Because the investigator can never demonstrate that the research will generalize to all populations, it is not expected that the researched will make the attempt. Rather, the burden of proof rests on the those who claim that a result will NOT generalize. |
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What is replication?
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Replication is the process of repeating previous research. which forms the basis of all scientific inquiry.
Advances occur through the accumulation of knowledge that comes from many different tests of the same theory or research hypothesis. These tests are conducted by different researchers using different research designs, participants and operationalizations of the independent and dependent variables. |
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What is meta-analysis?
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Meta-analysis is a statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw conclusions about those studies. Scientists use meta-analysis to summarize replications of research findings.
Because meta-analysis provides so much information, they are very popular and useful ways of summarizing research literature. Meta-analysis is considered relatively objective because: 1)it specifies inclusion criteria that indicate exactly which studies will or will not be included in the analysis 2)systematically searches for all studies that meet the inclusion criteria 3)provides an objective measure of the strength of observed relationships *they try to include non-published studies as well if they can find them |
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How to critically evaluate validity in everyday situations (such as the internet)
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see p 56
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