Psychological Research Chapter 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on psychological research, ethics, methods, and statistics.

Empirical

Scientific research is empirical; grounded in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed repeatedly.

Psychology

The science that studies mind and behavior; relies on systematic empirical research.

Inductive reasoning

Starting with observations to form general conclusions or theories.

Deductive reasoning

Starting with a general premise to predict specific outcomes.

Theory

Well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena.

Hypothesis

Tentative, testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables; often an if–then statement and falsifiable.

Operational definition

Description of the actions/operations used to measure or manipulate a variable.

Independent variable

The variable manipulated by the experimenter; usually the key difference between groups.

Dependent variable

The variable measured to assess the effect of the independent variable.

Experimental group

Participants who experience the manipulated variable.

Control group

Participants who do not experience the manipulated variable; used for comparison.

Random assignment

Method of assigning participants to groups with equal chance; controls for preexisting differences.

Random sample

Subset of a population in which every member has an equal chance of being selected.

Population

The entire group of individuals or things the researcher is interested in.

Sample

A subset of the population used to represent it.

Inferential statistics

Using data from a sample to make conclusions about a population.

Reliability

Consistency and reproducibility of a result; includes aspects like inter-rater reliability.

Validity

Accuracy of a result in measuring what it is designed to measure.

Inter-rater reliability

Agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event.

Correlation

Relationship between two or more variables; strength/direction indicated by the correlation coefficient r.

Correlation does not imply causation

An association between variables does not prove a cause-and-effect; causal inferences require experimental design.

Confounding variable

An outside factor that affects both variables, potentially misleading about their relationship.

Illusory correlation

Perceiving a relationship between variables when none exists; can stem from confirmation bias.

Placebo effect

Participants' expectations influencing their experience; demonstrated by comparing with a placebo in a double-blind study.

Single-blind study

Participants do not know their group assignment, but researchers do.

Double-blind study

Neither participants nor researchers know group assignments.

Ethics

Standards for research with human participants; overseen by the IRB.

IRB (Institutional Review Board)

Committee that reviews and approves research involving human participants.

Informed consent

Process of informing participants about risks/implications and obtaining voluntary agreement.

Deception

Purposely misleading participants to protect study integrity; justified only when ethical.

Debriefing

Participants are told complete information about the study after participation, especially if deception was used.

IACUC

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; oversees research with non-human animals.

Case study

In-depth study of one individual; rich detail but limited generalizability.

Naturalistic observation

Observation of behavior in a natural setting; minimizes artificial performance but can have observer bias.

Observer bias

Observer expectations influence what is recorded or interpreted.

Survey

Questionnaires or interviews used to collect data from a sample.

Archival research

Examining records (hardcopy or electronic) for data.

Longitudinal research

Same group measured repeatedly over time; attrition is a concern.

Cross-sectional research

Compares different segments of a population at a single point in time.

Attrition

Reduction in the number of participants over time in a longitudinal study.

Replication

Repeating a study to verify reliability or expand findings.

Peer-reviewed publication

Scholarly article reviewed by other experts before publication.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Historical unethical study illustrating failures in research ethics and leading to reforms.