Social Psych Research

Hypothesis

explicit, testable prediction about the conditions under which an event will occur

Theory

organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena - must evolve and become more and more accurate

Basic research

increase understanding of human behavior and is often designed to test a specific hypothesis from a theory

Applied research

focuses more specifically on making applications to the world and contributing to the world and contributing to the solution of social problems.

Conceptual variables

hypothesized variables are more vague

Operational definition

specific way in which a conceptual variable is manipulated or measured

Construct validity

extent to which the manipulation in an experiment really manipulates the conceptual variables they were designed to manipulate and the measure used in a study really measures the conceptual variables they were designed to measure.

Self report

participant discloses feelings, consists of individual or set of questions together measuring a single conceptual variable.

Bogus pipeline technique

limits the pro social behaviour by informing the participants that their responses will be verified via lie detection.

Interval contingent self report

respondent reports their experience at regular intervals

Signal contingent self report

report on experience soon as being signed to.

event contingent self report

report on a designated set of events as soon as such events have occurred.

Interrated reliability

level of agreement among multiple observers of the same behaviour

Correlational research

conducted via observation, archival, or survey methods - measured relationship between different variables.

Correlational coefficient

-1.0 - +1.0; indicating how strongly the two variables are associated

Correlational research

measuring variables and the degree of association between them - enables researchers to study naturally occurring variables, including variables that would be too difficult or unethical to manipulate.

Experimental research

random assignment to conditions and control over the events that occur, determining the effects of manipulation of the independent variables on changes in the dependent variables - determination of cause and effect relations.

Subject variable

characteristics preexisting differences among the subjects/ participants in the experiment.

Internal validity

certainty that IV causes effects on DV

Confound

some other factor varrying consistently with the manipulation

Experimenter expectancy effect

effects produced when the experimenter’s expectations influence the experiment behaviour and responses.

External validity

results in one condition to be seen in other condition - is the experiment generalizable

Mundane realism

research setting resembles real world setting - realistic procedures = real responses

Experimental realism

experimental setting and procedures are real and involving to the participant.

Preregistration

practice of researchers reporting their research design, predictions and plan for data analysis before conducting the study