Studied by 36 people
operational definition
A statement used to describe how variables will be QUANTIFIED and measured.
experiment
A research technique in which one variable is manipulated so the changes in another variable can be observed and measured.
correlation
A descriptive research method used to discover the extent to which two variables are related.
survey
A technique used to gather data by asking questions, may be a questionnaire or interview.
interview
a meeting of people face to face, especially for consultation.
naturalistic observation
Involved watching participants’ behavior in an unmanipulated environment.
participant observation
Technique involving watching participants’ spontaneous behavior by joining the group being studied.
structured observation
Occurs in a controlled environment, such as a lab and typically involves standard procedures.
case study
An retrospective, in-depth investigation of an individual’s past to study a psychological phenomenon or solve a current problem.
longitudinal study
a study of the same group of individuals over an extended period of time
cross-sectional study
a study that collects data from many different groups of individuals at a single point in time, like a snapshot
quantitative vs qualitative research
numbers-based, countable, or measurable
interpretation-based, descriptive, and relating to language
single subject design (independent subject)
require the repeated measurement of a dependent variable or, in other words, the target problem.
matched pairs design
prior to group assignment, participant dyads are made along important characteristics (e.g. age, intelligence, mental health), then the dyad is split between groups and each participants is exposed to one condition*
repeated measures
Single-subject designs require the repeated measurement of a dependent variable or, in other words, the target problem.
independent variable
the experimental element that the researcher manipulates*
dependent variable
the experimental element that the researcher measures*
random sampling
Technique used to make sure every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected as a participant.
representative sample
A selection of participants that share characteristics with and proportionally mirror the “population of interest” *
experimental group
participants who receive the independent variable
control group
participants who do not receive the independent variable
random assignment
a control technique used to place participants in the experimental or control group in a way that ensures every participant has equal opportunity and independence to be in either group*.* Avoids bias!!!!
single-blind technique
an experimental methodology in which the participants do not know if they are part of the experimental or control group*
double-blind technique
an experimental methodology in which neither the participants nor the experimenter know which participants are in the experimental or control group**
reliability
the consistency of the findings or results of a psychology research study
validity
how well a test actually measures what it was created to measure
confounding variables
an uncontrolled outside/extraneous element that impacted the dependent measure so that the experimenter is not sure if the independent factor or the extraneous factor caused the change
extraneous variables
elements within the study that the researcher is not intentionally studying*
mean
Arithmetic average
median
middle value
mode
Most frequently occurring score
range
Span of scores in a data set, distance between high & low scores
positive correlation
The two variables move together in the same direction
negative correlation
The two variables have an inverse relationship and move apart in opposite directions.
normal distribution
A bell-shaped curve describing the spread of characteristics across a population, 50% of scores fall on either side of the mean. You must be able to apply SD to distributions
skewed distributions
Data set with an extreme outlier & the remaining data clustered at one end.
positively skewed distributions
Data set has an outlier (tail) on the right side of the distribution and the majority of scores (mode) fall on the left side
negatively skewed distributions
Data set has an outlier (tail) on the left side of the distribution and the majority of scores (mode) fall on the right side
statistical significance
a measure of the probability of the null hypothesis being true compared to the acceptable level of uncertainty regarding the true answer
variance
How widespread scores are from one another and the mean
standard deviation
Average distance from the mean for a set of scores
descriptive statistics
used to organize or summarize a set of data (ex. percentages, mean, median, mode, etc.)
inferential statistics
Drawing conclusions, determining causality and generalizability
frequency distribution
looks at how frequently certain things happen within a sample of values
histogram & bar chart/graph
With bar graphs, each column represents a group defined by a discrete measurement; with histograms, each column represents a group defined by a continuous measurement
polygon
a line graph made by connecting the top center scores of the columns of a frequency histogram
scattergram/scatterplot
graphical representation of the relationship between two continuously measured variables in which one variable is arrayed on each axis and a dot or other symbol is placed at each point where the values of the variables intersect
informed consent
process by which researchers working with human participants describe their research project and obtain the subjects' consent to participate in the research based on the subjects' understanding of the project's methods and goals
participant’s right to withdraw
allows a research participant to drop out of a study at any time without penalty
justification for the use of deception
a) the use of deception is justified by the study’s value and nondeceptive procedures are not feasible; (b) the research is not expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional distress; and (c) the deception is explained as early as is feasible and participants who object are permitted to withdraw their data
confidentiality of findings
a principle of professional ethics requiring providers of mental health care or medical care to limit the disclosure of a patient's identity, his or her condition or treatment, and any data entrusted to professionals during assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
debriefing procedure (additional notes: when it occurs, benefits for participant and researcher)
a short interview that takes place between researchers and research participants immediately following their participation in a psychology experiment
animal research (additional notes: reasons for use, advantages, disadvantages, care)
research involving non-human participants
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