Social Psychology: Chapter 2

Front 1

Observational method

Back 1

The technique whereby a researcher observes people and systematically records measurements or impressions of their behavior

Front 2

Ethnography

Back 2

The method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by observing it from the inside, without imposing any preconceived notions they might have

Front 3

Interjudge reliability

Back 3

The level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data; by showing that two or more judges independently come up with the same observations, researchers ensure that the observations are not the subjective, distorted impressions of one individual

Front 4

Archival analysis

Back 4

A form of the observational method in which the researcher examines the accumulated documents, or archives, of a culture (e.g., diaries, novels, magazines, and newspapers)

Front 5

Correlational method

Back 5

The technique whereby two or more variables are systematically measured and the relationship between them (i.e., how much one can be predicted form the other) is assessed

Front 6

Correlation coefficient

Back 6

A statistical technique that assesses how well you can predict one variable from another-- for example, how well you can predict people's weight from their height

Front 7

Random selection

Back 7

A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample

Front 8

Experimental method

Back 8

The method in which the researcher randomly assigns participants to different conditions and ensures that these conditions are identical except for the IV

Front 9

Probability level (p-value)

Back 9

A number calculated with statistical techniques that tells researchers how likely it is that the results of their experiment occurred by chance and not because of the IV or variables; the convention in science, including social psych, is to consider results significant if p-value is less than 5 in 100

Front 10

Internal validity

Back 10

Making sure that nothing besides the IV can affect the DV; this is accomplished by controlling all extraneous variables and by randomly assigning people to different experimental conditions

Front 11

External validity

Back 11

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people

Front 12

Mundane realism

Back 12

The extent to which an experiment is similar to real-life situations

Front 13

Psychological realism

Back 13

The extent to which teh psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to psych. processes that occur in everyday life; psych. realism can be high in an exp. even if mundane realism is low

Front 14

Cover story

Back 14

A description of the purpose of a study, given to participants, that is different from its true purpose, used to maintain psych. realism

Front 15

Replication

Back 15

Repeating a study, often with different subject populations or in different settings

Front 16

Meta-analysis

Back 16

A statistical technique that averages the results of two or more studies to see if the effect of an IV is reliable

Front 17

Cross-cultural research

Back 17

Research conducted with members of different cultures, to see whether the psych. processes of interest are present in both cultures or whether they are specific to the culture in which people were raised

Front 18

Field experiments

Back 18

Experiments conducted in natural settings rather than in the laboratory

Front 19

Basic research

Back 19

Studies designed to find the best answer to the question of why people behave as they do and that are conducted purely for reasons of intellectual curiosity

Front 20

Applied research

Back 20

Studies designed to solve a particular social problem