AP Psyc AAQ

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Correlational study

non-experimental research to measure the relationship between two or more variables. There is a relationship between two things

Naturalistic observation

careful observation of humans/animals in real life

Case Study

in-depth study of individuals, groups, and situations (can be longitudinal or cross-sectional)

Meta-analysis

combining information from multiple existing studies

Single Blind

participants who don't know who receives the real treatment (placebo effect)

Double Blind

neither researchers nor participants know (controls for placebo effect)

Operational definition

a measurement of your variable

confonding variable

other factors that affect the dependent variable other than the intended treatment

mean

average

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

median

Middle number

range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

informed consent

told about the experiment prior to agreeing to participate

informed assent

minors AND their parents must agree

protection from harm

humans come before science

confidentiality

nothing traced back to participants

debriefing

told about the true nature of the study after it is completed

generalizability

the degree to which a study can be applied to the entire population

representative sample

gender, age, ethnicity