Unit 0: Research Methodology

Macmillan Textbook Modules 0.1-0.6

Define Critical Thinking

Active, deliberate process of analyzing, evaluating, and questioning information to make reasoned judgments and sound decisions

Confirmation Bias

looking for evidence that supports our ideas and ignores contradictory info; drawn to things that support our idea bc we want to be right

Hindsight Bias

we tend to believe, on learning on outcome, that we could have foreseen the result

Overconfidence

we tend to think we know more than we do

Illusory Correlation

when you perceive two things as related to an output, illusion of control over change

Peer Reviewers

other experts evaluate a study’s theory, originality, and accuracy

Theory

a simplified idea of a broad observation organized into a framework that accurately predicts outcomes

Hypothesis

a testable prediction expresses relationship between two variables

Null Hypothesis

default assumption stating that there’s no relationship, effect, or difference between variables studied

Falsifiable

if the hypothesis can be proven wrong; scientific strength

Operational Definition

explain what each variable really is; how variables will be defined in real life terms (quantify)

Replication

repeating an original observation with different participants, materials, and circumstances

Case Study

a deeper picture of one/few subjects; atypical cases (non-applicable to most)

Naturalistic Observation

watching subjects with no interference within their natural environments; no cause or effect

Hawthorne Effect

people being watched act differently

Correlation

expresses a relationship between two variables; correlation /= causation (-1/1 = strong, 0 = no correlation)

Meta-Analysis

combines data from multiple independent studies to find an overall trend/effect

Surveys

cheap & fast with easy sampling; low responses, lies, or wording effects

Experimenter Bias

a researcher’s expectations unintentionally influence how they conduct a study

Social-Desirability Bias

when participants give answers they think would make them more socially acceptable to others

Self-Report Bias

participant gives inaccurate/incomplete information about themselves their thoughts or behaviors

Sampling Bias

when the people chosen for a study don’t accurately represent the larger population being studied

Wording Effects

the way a question is phrased influences he understanding and answer of participants

Population

the group from which participants were drawn from

Representative Sample

participants representative of the attributes in the population chosen to study

Random Sample/Selection

choosing research participants from population before assignment, randomly assigned into control or experiment

Convenience Sampling

choosing participants easily reached

Generalizability

able to be applied to a larger population; possible if sampling isn’t biased/narrow

Variable

two things being studied to see if they correlate

Scatterplot

graphing using dots to show relationship

Third Variable Problem

when another variable affects both variables studied

Regression Towards the Mean

extreme result is likely to be followed by the average because extreme results are less common.