Psychology's Scientific Mind and Research Methods

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms and concepts from Chapter 2 lecture notes on psychology's scientific method, research designs, statistics, and ethics.

Theory

A broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.

Hypothesis

An educated guess that derives logically from a theory; a prediction that can be tested.

Prediction

A statement about the specific expectation for the outcome of a study.

Empirical Method

Gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning.

Variable

Anything that can change.

Operational Definition

A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study.

Replication

Repeating a study with a new sample to see if results are the same as in previous work.

Direct Replication

A replication that employs the very same methods as the original study.

Conceptual Replication

A replication that employs different methods to test the same prediction.

Duchenne Smiling

Genuine smiling.

Self-Determination Theory

A theory proposing that people are likely to feel fulfilled when their lives meet three important needs: relatedness, autonomy, and competence.

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure that summarizes a large body of evidence from the research literature on a particular topic, allowing the researcher to assess the strength of the relationship between the variables.

Descriptive Research

Research that determines the basic dimensions of a phenomenon—defining what it is, how often it occurs, and so on.

Correlational Research

Research that examines the relationship between variables in order to find out whether and how two variables change together.

Experimental Research

Research concerning establishing causal relationships between variables.

Replication Crisis

A situation that occurs when other investigators try to reproduce results from many studies but do not find the same results.

Survey

A technique that presents a standard set of questions, or items, to obtain people's self-reported attitudes or beliefs about a topic.

Socially Desirable Responding

The tendency of participants to answer questions in a way that will make them look good rather than in a way that communicates what they think or feel.

Case Study

An in-depth look at a single individual.

Correlation Coefficient

A numerical value represented with the letter $r$, falling between $-1.00$ and $+1.00$, that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Third Variable Problem

The circumstances in which a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables (also known as confounds).

Cross-sectional Design

A type of correlational study in which variables are measured at a single point in time.

Longitudinal Design

A special kind of systematic observation used by researchers that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time.

Big Data

Extremely large datasets provided by public records or naturally occurring sources of information that can be analyzed to describe and understand human behavior.

Experiment

A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables believed to influence some other variable.

Random Assignment

The assignment of participants to experimental groups by chance to reduce the likelihood that a study's results will be due to preexisting differences between groups.

Independent Variable

A manipulated experimental factor; the variable that the experimenter changes to see what its effects are.

Dependent Variable

The outcome; the variable that may change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable.

External Validity

The degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address.

Internal Validity

The degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Confederate

A person who is given a role to play in an experiment so that the social context can be manipulated.

Experimental Group

The participants in an experiment who receive the drug or other treatment under study; those who are exposed to the change that the independent variable represents.

Control Group

The participants in an experiment who are as much like the experimental group as possible and are treated in a way like the experimental group except for a manipulated factor, the independent variable.

Experimenter Bias

The influence of the experimenter's expectations on the outcomes of the research.

Demand Characteristic

Any aspect of a study that communicates to the participants how the experimenter wants them to behave.

Research Participant Bias

In an experiment, the influence of the participants' expectations and of their thoughts on how they should behave on their behavior.

Placebo Effect

A phenomenon in which the expectation of the participants, rather than actual treatment, produces an outcome.

Placebo

In a drug study, a harmless substance that has no physiological effect given to participants in a control group so that they are treated identically to the experimental group except for the active agent.

Double-blind Experiment

An experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated.

Population

The entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions.

Sample

The subset of the population chosen by the investigator of the study.

Random Sample

A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected.

Naturalistic Observation

The observation of behavior in a real-world setting.

Descriptive Statistics

Mathematical procedures that are used to describe and summarize sets of data in a meaningful way.

Mean

A measure of central tendency that is the average for a sample.

Median

A measure of central tendency that is the middle score in a sample.

Mode

A measure of central tendency that is the most common score in a sample.

Range

A measure of dispersion that is the difference between the highest and lowest scores.

Standard Deviation

A measure of dispersion that indicates how much the scores in a sample differ from the mean in the sample.

Inferential Statistics

Mathematical methods that are used to indicate whether the data sufficiently support a research hypothesis.

Informed Consent

An ethical guideline requiring that all participants must know what their participation will involve and what risks might develop.

Confidentiality

The ethical requirement where researchers are responsible for keeping all data gathered on individuals completely confidential and, when possible, completely anonymous.

Debriefing

The process where researchers inform participants of the study's purpose and methods after the study has been completed.

Deception

Withholding full information about a research study when telling participants beforehand would substantially alter their behavior and invalidate the study.

Institutional Review Board

A board at colleges and universities that evaluates the ethical nature of research conducted at their institutions.