Unit 0, Methods and Data Interpretation

Hindsight bias

An event that allows people to convince themselves after an event that they predicted it before it even happened'

ex- saying i knew i was going to do bad after taking a test

Scientific Method

A self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis

Falsifiability

The strength of a hypothesis

operational definition

exact procedure used in a research study

Case study

Examines one individual or group in depth in hopes of revealing things true of us all

Social desirability

Bias from people responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

Correlational Coefficient

A statistical index that measures the extent to which two variables fluctuate together, indicating the strength and direction of their relationship.

third variable problem

when an observed correlation between two variables can actually be explained by a third variable that isn’t accounted for

illusory correlation

Perceiving a relationship where none exists or perceiving a relationship stronger then it actually is.

experiment

investigators manipulate one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

independent variable

what’s being manipulated

dependent variable

The outcome that is measured or affected in an experiment.

4 ethical guidlines

Informed consent, Protect the patient from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

confederate

individuals who appear to be participants in a study but are part of the research team

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

measure of central tendency

a statistical measure that identifies a single value as representative of an entire dataset, typically including the mean, median, and mode.

rage

difference between the lowest and highest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

how much scores vary around the mean

inferential statistics

Numerical data that allows one to generalize from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

statistical significance

how likely a result is to happen by chance