Research Methods Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining key psychological research terms, study designs, biases, and statistical concepts based on the provided lecture transcript.

Critical thinking

Carefully examining evidence before believing something.

Hindsight bias

Thinking you knew something would happen after it already happened.

Peer reviewers

Experts who check research before it is published.

Theory

An explanation supported by lots of evidence.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction.

Falsifiable

Able to be tested and possibly proven wrong.

Operational definition

A specific way to measure something.

Replication

Repeating a study to see if you get similar results.

Case study

An in-depth study of one person or group.

Naturalistic observation

Watching behavior in a natural environment.

Survey

A group of questions used to collect information.

Social desirability bias

Giving an answer that makes you look good.

Self-report bias

Giving inaccurate information about yourself.

Sampling bias

When the people chosen for a study don’t represent the whole population.

Random sample

Choosing people by chance so everyone has an equal opportunity to be selected.

Population

The entire group being studied.

Correlation

A relationship between two variables.

Correlation coefficient

A number from $-1$ to $+1$ showing the strength and direction of a correlation.

Variable

Something that can change or be measured.

Scatterplot

A graph showing the relationship between two variables.

Illusory correlation

Thinking two things are related when they aren’t.

Regression toward the mean

Extreme results tend to become more average later.

Experiment

A study where researchers change one variable to see its effect.

Experimental group

The group that receives the treatment being tested.

Control group

The group used for comparison that doesn’t receive the treatment.

Random assignment

Putting participants into groups by chance.

Single-blind procedure

Participants don’t know which group they’re in.

Double-blind procedure

Neither participants nor researchers know who receives which treatment.

Placebo effect

Changes caused by believing you received a treatment.

Independent variable

The variable the researcher changes.

Confounding variable

An outside factor that could affect the results.

Experimenter bias

When a researcher’s expectations influence the study.

Dependent variable

The variable being measured.

Validity

How accurately something measures what it is supposed to measure.