Sophia Koh Psychology Vocab Chp. 2 💗

Basic Research

research that answers fundamental questions about behavior

Applied Research

research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems

Peer Review

process where research articles submitted for publication are reviewed, often anonymously by others who are doing research in the same area

Empirical

based on systematic collection and analysis of data

Objective

free from personal bias or emotions of the scientist

Laws

principles that are so general as to apply all situations

Theory

integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a particular area

(good theories have: organization, parsimonious (simplest possible explanation), falsifiability, provide ideas for future research) 

Research Hypothesis

a specific & falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among 2 or more variables

Variable

any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times/places

Operational Definition

a precise statement of how a variable is measured for a particular study

Conceptual Variables

ideas/concepts/variables we can conceptualize, but not necessarily measure

(ex. aggression [operational definition: # of seconds taken to honk the horn at the car ahead after a light turns green]

interpersonal attraction [operational definition: number of millimeters of pupil dilation when one person looks at another]

employee satisfaction [operational definition: # of days per month an employee shows up to work on time], etc.)

Deception

situation that occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

committee of at least 5 members whose goal is to determine cost-benefit ratio of research conducted within an institution (which research should/shouldn’t be allowed to proceed?) (ensures research is ethical)

Informed Consent

conducted before a participant begins a research session, it is designed to explain research procedures and inform the participant of their rights during the study

Debriefing

procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation (after debrief, participant can ask wtv questions abt research)

Research Design

an approach used to collect, analyze, & interpret data

3 main designs: descriptive, correlational, experimental

Descriptive Research

designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs (how things are right now!)

(uses case studies, surveys, random samples, naturalistic observation)

Case Studies

use of multiple sources of data to gain a better understanding of a person, group, or event

Naturalistic Observation

research based on the observation of everyday events

Correlational Research

designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge

Experimental Research

research utilizing randomized assignment of participants to conditions and systematic manipulation of variables with the objective of drawing causal inference

Random Assignment

each participant in an experiment is assigned, at random, to one of the conditions of the independent variable (used to create initial equivalence between the groups, allowing researchers to draw causal conclusions)

SIFT test

Stop (source reputable?)

Investigate (source)

Find (more info on the topic)

Trace (origin of claim? Is there peer-reviewed, published scientific evidence that supports?)

Sections of published research articles

Abstract (history & more)

Introduction

Method

Results

Discussions

References