Research methods of family sciences

What is in the methods of a research paper?

Report of what the research did, and the details about how the study was conducted

What is in the discussion of a research paper?

Shows various perspectives, possibly compares results to past research, explains if the results support the hypothesis that was stated earlier

BRUSO stands for?

brief, relevant, unambiguous, specific, objective

What are the three goals of behavioral science

describe behavior, predict behavior, and identify causes/explanations for behavior

How do you generate research questions and hypotheses?

Should be clear, interesting, testable, feasible

What are the parts of a paper?

Abstract, intro, method, results, and discussion

What is in the introduction of a research paper?

Describes the problem under investigation

What is survey methodology?

assesses attitudes, opinions, perceptions, and behaviors

What do we want our sample to be?

generalizable from the population, representative

What is the empirical approach

an evidence-based method that relies on observation and experimentation

Is intuition reliable?

No, intuition causes faulty aquisitions

What are some historical examples of ethical violations?

Alaskan radiation experiment, world war 2 surgical experiments

What was Milgram's study?

Study that measured how much a person would inflict harm on another with an authority figure watching. Experimented with "electrical shocks" to the answerer

What are some ethical violations of the Milgram's study?

Psychological risk, deception, and respect for persons - was told to keep going with pressure from authority figure

What are the 3 typical categories for review in the IRB?

Exempt, Expedited, Full Review

Difference between variable and construct?

construct is a theoretical variable that cannot be directly measured, variable can be directly measured

What are examples of constructs?

love, beauty, happiness, motivation

What are examples of variables?

temperature, time, age, weight

How would you formulate good survey questions related to your research topic?

Make sure they are clear, free of bias, and accurate

What is the independent variable?

variable is the variable that is changed or manipulated

What is the dependent variable?

variable that is measured, the results

What is an independent group design? (think of Mozart vs country experiment)

different participants are used in each condition in an experiment

What are repeated measure designs?

participants are assigned to more than one experimental condition

What are some pros and cons of repeated measures?

pros - fewer participants, error variability is minimized
cons - carry-over effects, demand characteristics

What are the types of ordering effects in RM?*

Order effects that are associated passing of time with practice effects ( getting better over time) and fatigue effects (getting tired, bored, distracted)

How do you control ordering effects in RM?*

give the participants extensive practice before the experiment begins they understand the task before instead of improving over time. To fix fatigue effects by keeping it brief and interesting

What is the Hawthorne effect?

the change of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed

Naturalistic observation usually provides:
A. Excellent internal validity but poor ecological validity
B. Poor internal validity but excellent ecological validity
C. Excellent internal and ecological validity
D. Poor internal and ecological validity

B

Which of the following example(s) best defines the nominal level of measurement?
A. Numbers represent differences among students on a fluency test.
B. Numbers represent different hair colors.
C. Numbers represent how much a student likes a math class.
D. Numbers represent student's knowledge of vocabulary.

B

Which of the following is an example of the ordinal level of measurement?
A. Temperature measured in Fahrenheit
B. The amount of money you have in your pocket right now
C. Categorizing people according to their favorite color
D. Letter grades

D

In order to reduce _________, researchers may employ a procedure called ____________.

order effects, counterbalancing

What does positive correlation mean?

both variables increase or decrease together

What is habituation?
A. Giving responses without really considering the question
B. A series of questions have the same response format
C. An increase in response after a repeated series of questions are presented
D. The choice order of questions

A

What does a negative correlation mean?

as one variable increases, the other decreases

What is a naturalistic observation?

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulating the situation

What is a participant observation?

the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed

What is structured observations?

Observer creates an opportunity to observe "target" behavior, manipulated settings

What are field experiments? (think of what would you do tv show)

experiments conducted in natural settings but manipulating one variable

What does the Belmont Report adress?

Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice

One may avoid pursuing a repeated measures design if ______________.

One of the conditions is likely to impact performance in other conditions

What type of method was used in Helen Fisher's study on the anatomy of love

fMRI (functional MRI)

What is a confound?

An uncontrolled third variable that affects the relationship between the IV and DV

What were the confounds they worked to avoid in their study of the anatomy of love?

They worked to avoid carry-over effects. They did this by scattering the positive and neutral stimuli with a distraction, counting tasks.

What does habituate mean?

to become apart of your surroundings

To establish causality, what method would you use?

Experimental

What is interrater reliability?

the amount of agreement in the observations of different raters who witness the same behavior