Nonexperimental Designs in Psychology

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the principles, validity types, and various methods of nonexperimental research designs.

Nonexperimental research

Research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or both.

Internal Validity

The degree to which a researcher can establish a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

External Validity

The degree to which research findings can be generalized to other settings and individuals.

Degree of manipulation of antecedent conditions

A dimension of research concerning the assignment of participants to antecedent conditions created for the experiment.

Degree of imposition of units

A dimension of research concerning how much a researcher limits or constrains a participant’s responses on the dependent variable.

Phenomenology

A nonexperimental approach involving a participant’s description of personal immediate subjective experience.

Case studies

A descriptive study where a researcher compiles a participant’s experiences, observable behaviors, and archival records kept by an outside observer.

Deviant Case Analysis

An approach where researchers examine differences between deviant and normal individuals to identify etiological factors.

Retrospective Data

Recollections of past events that are collected in the present, which may be compromised by faulty memory or current mood.

Field studies

Nonexperimental studies conducted in real-life settings where the experimenter does not manipulate antecedent conditions.

Naturalistic Observation

A field study method that examines participants' spontaneous behavior in their actual environments.

Ethology

Animal behavior research used to study behavior in the wild as well as in captivity.

Reactivity

A phenomenon where participants alter their behavior because they know they are being observed.

Participant-Observer

A field observation study where the researcher is part of the studied group, often used when the group would not otherwise cooperate.

Field experiments

True experiments conducted in real-life settings where the antecedent conditions are actually manipulated by the researcher.

Archival study

A descriptive method where researchers reexamine data that were originally collected for other purposes, such as government surveys or hospital records.

Qualitative research

Research that obtains data consisting of words instead of numbers, typically through self-reports, personal narratives, and expressions of feelings.

Paradigm shift

A change in attitudes, values, beliefs, methods, and procedures accepted during a specific time period.

Contextual phenomena

Behavior that can only be understood within its specific context.

Empirical Phenomenology

A method relying on researcher self-reflection, participant oral/written descriptions, or accounts from literature and art to study experiences.