social psych - exam 1

what is the next step once you have a research question?

form a hypothesis

theory

integrated set of principles that explain/predict events

theories help to…

organize, apply findings to real world, and generate hypotheses

what are hypotheses?

testable predictions

correlational research

examines whether two or more factors are naturally associated or if two variables are related

positive correlation

increase in one variable leads to a rise in the other variable

negative correlation

increase in one variable, the other variable will decrease, and vice versa

no correlation

a change in one variable may not necessarily see a difference in the other variable

correlation vs causation

a statistically significant relationship (correlation) is necessary, but not sufficient to determine causation

experimental research

examines variables for cause and effect

what are the two advantages experiments have over correlational research?

control and random assignment

control

the experimenter can manipulate a variable called an independent variable, which has an effect/changes another variable, called the dependent

random assignment

when the experimenter randomly assigns participants to experimental conditions; the goal is to have roughly equal groups

is it enough to just conduct an experiment?

no

replication

the ability for a researcher to collect new data to arrive at the same scientific findings as previous study

reproducibility

the ability for the original researcher to run their existing data and analyses to regenerate the same results

validity

accuracy over time

reliability

getting the same result over and over again

internal validity

degree to which we can be confident that the change in the independent variable is actually causing the change in the dependent variable

independent variable

the variable that is being manipulated in an experiment

dependent variable

variable that is measured in an experiment and is expected to vary or change based on independent variable

external validity

whether a causal relationship holds over variation in persons, settings, treatments, and outcomes

ethical conditions the IRB mandates

informed consent, beneficence, respect for others, justice, confidentiality, debriefing

why is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study a violation of ethics?

participants were deceived

social psychology

the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another

sociology

big picture; focuses on group factors, such as race, socioeconomic status, etc

social psychology

focuses on the individual and their behaviors, feelings, and how they interact with cultural norms

social psych is the scientific study of…

social thinking, social influence, and social relations

values

things that we find important/guide us

personal values in social psychologists

their work is influenced in both obvious and subtle ways

obvious ways to be influenced

when we pick research topics (research topics change across cultures and change with time)

subtle ways to be influenced

we all have our own expectations in our personal experiences and psychological concepts contain hidden values

are values in social psych bad?

no