PSYCH 1X03 - Research Methods I & II

What is the scientific model of research?

construct a theory, generate a hypothesis, choose a research model, collect data, analyze data, report the findings, review existing theories

Theory

a general set of ideas about how the world works

Hypothesis

a testable statement guided by theories to make specific predictions about the relationship between the variables

Research method

the way in which you conduct your research

Collect data

obtain quantitative and qualitative measurements of the outcomes

Analyze data

understand and discover relationships between variables

Report findings

publish findings to a scholarly article

Revise theories

look at the information proved, and develop new questions about new information for understanding the world

Anecdotal evidence

evidence based on personal accounts of incidents

What are the two types of groups in an experiment?

Experimental and control

What is the goal, in terms of comparing the two, of control and experimental groups?

Be as similar as possible, so there is no unequal/unfair advantages

Control group

the group in an experiment in which are given a subject which will not influence the outcome and is simply to contrast the subject being tested

Experimental group

the group in an experiment in which are given the altered independent variable, or the subject being tested

What are two experimental subject designs?

Within- and between-participants

Within-subjects design

an experimental design in which one participant acts as both the experimental and control groups for an experiment

Between-subjects design

an experimental design in which one group of participants acts as the control group and another group of participants act as the experimental group in an experiment

Confounding variable

a variable that systemically varies with an independent variable and is hard to isolate to reduce the effect on the independent variable

What are the limitations of a within-subjects experimental design?

they can be costly and time consuming, prone to the practice effect and measures can very between participants

Placebo effect

the situation when an individual exhibits a response to a treatment that has no real therapeutic actions

Participant bias

actions that the participant makes that could create bias and decrease the accuracy of the experiment

Experimenter bias

actions that the experimenter makes that could create bias and decrease the accuracy of the experiment to get their intended outcome

Single-blind study

a study conducted in which subjects are unaware of which participant group they are in

Double-blind study

a study conducted in which neither participants or experimenters are aware of which participant group participants are in

Normal distribution

a special kind of distribution with a smooth, symmetrical and bell-shaped curve with one peak

Frequency distribution

a type of graph illustrating the distribution of how frequently values appear in a data set

Mean

the average value of a data set

Median

the centre value in a data set, when arranged numerically

Mode

the value that appears most frequently in a data set

Measure of variability

a measure of how spread out data is

Standard deviation

the measure of variation or dispersion of a set of values

Inferential statistics

sets of information that allow us to use their results to make inferences about overall, underlying populations

T-test

considers each data from both groups to calculate the probability that two people were drawn from the same population

Statistical significance

a set of data is deemed statistically significant if it has a p-value of less than 0.05

P-value

indicates the percentage probability you would see this result even if your hypothesis was wrong

What are the types of errors?

Type 1 and Type 2

Type 1 error

believing there is a difference present when there is not

Type 2 error

believing there is no difference present when there is

Correlation

the measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables

Correlation coefficient

this shows the strength and direction of the correlation

True or False - Correlation = Causation

False

True or False - A p-value of 0.01 is deemed statistically significant

True

Random sampling

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Which method of sampling is deemed most effective and reliable?

Random sampling