AAQ AP Psych

Research method options

Experiment, naturalistic observation, case study, correlation, and meta analysis

Experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants

An experiment will have a...

Control group

Naturalistic observation

a non experimental technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occuring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Case study

a non experimental technique in which 1 indivudal or group is study in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which 2 factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Meta analysis

A statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

Operational definition

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

Operational definition wording

The operational defintion for _ is _

Standard deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

negative correlation

the relationship between two variables in which one variable increases as the other variable decreases

Informed consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

effect size

the magnitude of a relationship between two or more variables

Correlational Study

A research strategy that allows the precise calculation of how strongly related two factors are to each other; surveys are often used in this type of research

mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

percentile rank

the percentage of scores below a specific score in a distribution of scores

positive correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction.

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1); closer to -1 or 1, the stronger the relationship

sample

a subset of the population

Population

the entire group of individuals about which we want information

generalizability

Extent to which research results apply to a range of individuals not included in the study (aka can you apply the findings to the population).