Psychology Research Methods - Day 3

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing descriptive methods, observational techniques, survey research, and correlational methods from psychology lecture notes.

Case studies

A method in which one individual or group is studied in a great deal of detail.

Advantages of case studies

Provides lots of information and offers data that may be hard to obtain in other ways.

Disadvantages of case studies

May not generalize to larger populations and makes it hard or impossible to tease out causal relationships.

Naturalistic Observation

Observation and description conducted in the organism's natural environment.

Reactivity

Changing your behavior because you know you are being studied.

Advantages of naturalistic observation

Reduces reactivity in study subjects.

Disadvantages of naturalistic observation

Provides no control over the situation.

Laboratory Observation

Observation and description conducted in a laboratory setting.

Advantages of laboratory observation

Offers more control than naturalistic observation, can account for some confounding variables, and can reduce reactivity to some degree.

Disadvantages of laboratory observation

There will still be some reactivity, and it involves only observing without manipulating the situation.

Survey Methods

Methods where self-reported attitudes or behaviors are collected.

Advantages of survey methods

Allows lots of topics to be studied by creating a survey asking about anything.

Disadvantages of survey methods

Susceptible to response bias and social desirability effects.

Correlation

A method that involves seeing how two variables are related.

Variable

Something that can take on different values and isn't always the same.

Positive correlation

A relationship where both variables move in the same direction.

Negative correlation

A relationship where the variables move in opposite directions.

Advantages of the correlation method

Allows researchers to describe, predict, and generate new hypotheses.

Disadvantages of the correlational method

Cannot determine cause and effect.

structuralism

an early school of thought promoted by wundt and titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

functionalism

an early school of thought promoted by james and influenced by darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function

empirical approach

learning about something by observing it and collecting evidence/data

critical thinking

carefully examining information and evidence before deciding what to believe

nature-nurture issue

the question of how much our behavior comes from genetics versus our environment and experiences

hindsight bias

the tendency to think you knew something would happen after it already happened

operational definition

clearly explaining how a variable will be measured or tested

preregistration

recording a studys plan before collecting or analyzing the data

control group

the group that does not receive the exprimental treatment and is used for comparison

placebo effect

when someones expectations cause them to experience a change even without an active treatment