Research Methods

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A Priori Power analysis

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Conducted prior to the research study, used in estimating sufficient sample sizes to achieve adequate power

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Alpha (stats)

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The significance level - the probability of making a type one error.

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ANCOVA

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The statistical process where variables are controled for statistically, rather than through research design.

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Cohen’s D

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An effect size. Cohen's d is defined as the difference between two means divided by a standard deviation for the data

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Confidence Intervals

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The confidence level describes the uncertainty associated with a sampling method.

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Exploratory factor analysis

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The assumption of unknown factors that causally explain certain relationships.

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Mann-whitney U test

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a nonparametric test of the null hypothesis that two samples come from the same population against an alternative hypothesis, especially that a particular population tends to have larger values than the other.

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MaxMinCon

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Maximising experimental variance, Minimising error variance, Controlling for external variance

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Multiple Regression Analysis

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a powerful technique used for predicting the unknown value of a variable from the known value of two or more variables- also called the predictors.

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non-parametric scale

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Nominal and ordinal data are non-parametric, and do not assume any particular distribution.

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Parametric scale

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Interval and ratio data are parametric, and are used with parametric tools in which distributions are predictable

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One Way Anova

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The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to determine whether there are any significant differences between the means of three or more independent (unrelated) groups.

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parameter and statistic

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parameter: statistical characteristic of population (e.g. popul. mean/median/standard deviation) statistic: statistical characteristic of sample

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Moderator Variable

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A variable (e.g. attribute/characteristic of situation or person) that influences, or moderates, the relation between two other variables and thus produces an interaction effect

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Normal Curve

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50% of values less than the mean and 50% greater than the mean

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Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation

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a measure of the linear correlation between two variables X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1 inclusive, where 1 is total positive correlation, 0 is no correlation, and −1 is total negative correlation.

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Positron Emission Tomography

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The system detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radionuclide (tracer), which is introduced into the body on a biologically active molecule.

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RM-Anova

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the repeated-measure factor (the qualitative independent variable) is the within-subjects factor, while the dependent quantitative variable on which each participant is measured is the dependent variable.

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Threats to Internal Validity

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DREAD THIS MESS, DREAD MEMORIZING THIS MESS

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Variability measures

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range, the interquartile range (IQR), variance, and standard deviation.

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Variance

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Average squared deviation of scores from the mean (= squared SD) (outlier-weak, good for symmetrical data)

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z-test

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The simplest Z-test is the 1-sample Z-test, which tests the mean of a normally distributed population with known variance.