Research Methods (Quiz 1)

participant variable

characteristics of research participants (age, personality, intelligence)

anecdotal evidence

systematic observation; can help make a claim

naturalistic observation

unobtrusively watching people as they go about their lives

“basking in reflected glory” phenomenon

tendency for people to associate themselves with successful people or groups

priming

exposing people to one or more stimuli that makes certain thoughts, feelings or behaviors apparent

manipulation check

determines whether the manipulation of the independent variable has had its intended effect

ecological validity

the degree to which a study finding has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life

correlational design

test associations; whether variations in one variable correspond with variations in another variable

benefits of correlational design

the study answers the research question and tells us about the relationships between factors

limits of correlational design

lots of questions are left unanswered, not entirely sure which causes which

correlation coefficient

how we interpret correlations (r), represents the relationship between variables (-1 to +1)

experimental design

test causation, whether changing one variable causes change in another (has a manipulated variable)

confound

prevents you from being able to make a causal claim (why random assignment is important); why we must randomly assign groups

internal validity

researchers’ ability to make a causal claim; nothing besides the IV could have caused group differences in the DV

two ways to ensure internal validity

-random assignment

-minimize extraneous variables

external validity

the extent to which the results of an experiment can be generalized (applied) to other situations and people (does this experiment translate to real life, can we apply the findings to other situations people might experience)

psychological realism

the extent to which psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to psychological processes that occur in everyday life

how to promote psychological realism

try to get participants to feels like they are involved in a real events, not something made up by researchers; don’t reveal true purpose of the study at beginning

generalizability

extent to which results from a sample should be used to make conclusions about a larger population (the goal is to have a representative sample)

social psychologists’ dilemma

trade off between internal and external validity (greater internal validity = less realistic; more realistic = more confounding factors)

IRB (Institutional review board)

must approve all human subjects studies before researchers can start collecting data (minimize risk and respect people)

informed consent

document specifies what Ps will do in the study and the risks involved, Ps must give consent to participate

debriefing

let Ps know why the study was done, ensure they allow their data to be included

confidentiality

minimizing risk, protecting data behind passwords on secure servers; eliminating links between participants’ personal information and their responses

autonomy

respect (can make own decision), let Ps know that they can stop at any time without affecting their compensation