Psychological Research Methods: Variables, Designs, and Measurement

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering psychological research methods, scientific inquiry, experimental and non-experimental designs, threats to validity, and measurement theory.

Epistemology

The philosophical study of where knowledge comes from, addressing questions such as what knowledge is and how we know what we know.

Personal Experience

A way of knowing based on events that happened directly to an individual or were witnessed happening to someone else.

Intuition

A way of knowing based on a gut feeling or an immediate sense that something feels correct.

Authority

A way of knowing based on accepting a claim because a respected source says it is true.

Science

A way of knowing that uses rationalism to derive hypotheses from a theory and empiricism to systematically test those hypotheses.

Rationalism

The method of using formal logic to draw a valid conclusion from premises.

Empiricism

The method of acquiring knowledge through direct or indirect observation using the senses.

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive bias in which things that come easily to mind are judged to be more likely.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to view an outcome as obvious or predictable once that outcome is already known.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, or recall evidence that confirms existing beliefs.

Bias about Bias

The mistaken idea that other people are biased, but we ourselves are not.

Abstract

A section of a research paper providing a presentation of the topic, enough introduction to explain the logic, and an overview of the method, results, and discussion.

Empirical Articles

Scholarly publications that report on research studies and their results for the first time, detailing the methods used.

Review Articles

Articles that summarize and integrate previously published studies on a topic, often utilizing meta-analysis.

Meta-Analysis

A statistical technique that combines results across multiple published studies to determine the overall effect size and relationship.

Theory

A broad explanation describing how different variables relate to one another.

Hypothesis

A specific statement or prediction derived from premises or a theory that can be tested through systematic observation.

Working Memory

The memory system actively holding and processing information, characterized by a limited capacity.

Long-Term Memory

The stored repository of knowledge not currently being actively worked with, which has an unlimited capacity.

Generative Strategy Hypothesis

The hypothesis that learning strategies requiring the selection, organization, and integration of material produce better learning outcomes than passive strategies.

Generative Processing

The active construction of knowledge through selecting key information, organizing it into a coherent structure, and integrating it with prior knowledge.

Falsifiability

A property of a scientific theory requiring that it leads to predictions that can be evaluated and potentially rejected with empirical data.

Parsimony

The scientific preference for the simplest explanation that accounts for the observed data.

Basic Research

Research conducted to enhance fundamental understanding of the world and psychological processes.

Applied Research

Research conducted to address and resolve a specific, practical problem in a real-world setting.

Pseudoscience

A set of beliefs or practices presenting non-falsifiable claims lacking empirical support, relying on intuition or authority rather than established scientific literature.

Variable

A characteristic or factor that can take on different values and must have at least two levels.

Constant

A factor that only has one single level within the context of a given study.

Frequency Relationship

A quantitative relationship describing the rate or degree of a single variable.

Correlational Relationship

A relationship where a particular level of one variable is associated with a specific level of another variable.

Causal Relationship

A relationship in which changes in one variable are directly responsible for causing changes in another variable.

Measurement

The process of assigning numbers or categories to individuals in a sample to represent their characteristics.

Construct

An underlying, internal attribute or theoretical concept of interest that cannot be directly observed.

Observable Variable

A directly observable behavior or physical property that provides information about an underlying construct.

Operational Definition

A precise description of a variable specifying the exact procedures used to measure or manipulate it to infer the underlying construct.

Population

The entire group of individuals that a researcher is interested in studying and drawing conclusions about.

Sample

The specific subset of individuals drawn from a population who are analyzed in a study.

Statistical Validity

The extent to which a study's statistical conclusions and inferences are accurate, appropriate, and reasonable.

Quantitative Research

Research that assigns numerical values to variables and analyzes the data using statistical tests to draw conclusions.

Qualitative Research

Research focusing on non-numerical, descriptive data gathered from interviews, observations, or focus groups to construct narratives of lived experience.

Correlational Research

A quantitative research strategy in which variables are measured without active manipulation and participants are not randomly assigned.

Experimental Research

A research strategy in which an independent variable is actively manipulated and participants are randomly assigned to conditions to test causal relationships.

Quasi-Experimental Research

A research strategy in which participants are grouped into conditions without random assignment.

Temporal Precedence

A criterion for causality requiring that changes in the independent variable occur before changes in the dependent variable.

Covariation of Cause and Effect

A criterion for causality requiring that changes in the independent variable and dependent variable systematically co-occur.

Internal Validity

The degree of confidence that the relationship between variables in a study is causal and not caused by extraneous factors or confounds.

External Validity

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized beyond the specific sample, setting, and operational definitions used.

Sampling Bias

A threat to external validity where the sample fails to represent the population, limiting generalizability.

Novelty Effect

A threat to external validity where participants alter their behavior simply because they are in an unfamiliar study environment.

Ecological Validity

The degree to which the context and conditions of a study match the real-world conditions the study aims to understand.

Extraneous Variable

Any variable within a study related to the dependent variable that is neither the independent variable nor the dependent variable.

Confound

An extraneous variable that varies systematically with the independent variable, offering an alternative explanation for the outcome.

Third Variable Problem

A situation where an unmeasured, extraneous variable is responsible for the observed statistical relationship between two variables.

Directionality Problem

The ambiguity in correlational research regarding which of two related variables is causing changes in the other.

Independent Variable

The variable intentionally manipulated by the researcher, hypothesized to be the cause of changes in the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

The outcome variable measured by the researcher, hypothesized to be the effect of the manipulated independent variable.

Selection Effect

A confound occurring when participants assigned to one level of the independent variable systematically differ from those assigned to another level.

Design Confound

A flaw in the experimental setup where a secondary variable accidentally varies systematically alongside the independent variable.

Between-Subjects Design

An experimental design in which each participant is exposed to only one level or condition of the independent variable.

Within-Subjects Design

An experimental design in which every participant is exposed to all levels or conditions of the independent variable.

Posttest-Only Design

A between-subjects design where participants are randomly assigned to conditions and measured on the dependent variable only once after treatment.

Pretest/Posttest Design

A between-subjects design where participants are tested on the dependent variable twice: once before exposure to the independent variable and once after.

Assignment Bias

A threat to internal validity in between-subjects research occurring when the group allocation process systematically creates groups with different characteristics.

Random Assignment

A method of assigning participants to conditions such that each participant has an equal and independent probability of being placed in any condition.

Matching Groups

An assignment technique using restricted random assignment to ensure that groups are balanced across one or more specific participant characteristics.

Holding Characteristics Constant

A control technique where a specific participant characteristic is prevented from varying across individuals and conditions.

Differential Attrition

A threat to internal validity occurring when participant drop-out rates vary significantly between different experimental conditions.

Order Effects

A confound in within-subjects designs where a participant's performance in later conditions is affected by their experience in earlier conditions.

Progressive Order Effects

Changes in participant performance across successive conditions caused by fatigue or practice.

Counterbalancing

A procedure in within-subjects designs that systematically varies the order of conditions across participants to balance out order effects on average.

Full Counterbalancing

A counterbalancing approach where every possible sequential ordering of treatment conditions is presented across participants.

Partial Counterbalancing

A counterbalancing method where each condition appears exactly once in each ordinal position across the selected orderings.

Demand Characteristics

Cues in an experiment that lead participants to infer the researcher's hypotheses and alter their behavior accordingly.

Matched Pairs Design

A design where participants are paired one-to-one on specific characteristics before being assigned to separate groups, combining features of between- and within-subjects designs.

Maturation

A threat to internal validity involving natural physiological or psychological changes occurring within participants over time.

Regression to the Mean

The statistical tendency for individuals with extreme scores at Time 1 to score closer to the average at Time 2 due to chance factors not repeating.

Instrumentation Confound

A threat to internal validity occurring when the measurement tool, rubric, or observer criteria change over the course of the study.

Conceptual Definition

A theoretical description of a construct formulated in terms of the underlying behaviors and internal processes involved.

Behavioral Measure

A measurement type where the researcher directly observes and records actions performed by participants.

Self-Report Measure

A measurement type where participants rate, evaluate, or describe their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

Physiological Measure

A measurement type that records biological or bodily functions, such as heart rate or blood pressure.

Nominal Scale

A measurement scale using qualitative categories or labels that have different names without any quantitative or sequential ordering.

Ordinal Scale

A measurement scale where categories or scores have a meaningful rank order, but intervals between ranks are not necessarily equal.

Interval Scale

A measurement scale consisting of equal-sized intervals between units, but lacking an absolute, meaningful zero point.

Ratio Scale

A measurement scale with equal units and a meaningful absolute zero point that represents the total absence of the variable.

Reliability

The degree to which a measurement process yields consistent and repeatable results across time, raters, and items.

Inter-Rater Reliability

The degree of consistency and agreement among different observers or judges who score the same observations.

Test-Retest Reliability

The degree of consistency obtained when the same participants complete the same measurement at two distinct points in time.

Internal Consistency

The degree to which multiple items designed to measure the same underlying construct correlate with each other.

Face Validity

The subjective evaluation of whether a measurement superficially appears to capture the intended construct.

Content Validity

The subjective evaluation of whether a measurement thoroughly captures all facets and components of a construct's conceptual definition.