Research Methods Test

Cognitive Bias

Approach to thinking about a situation that may lead you to respond to a particular manner that may be flawed. Types of biases: base-rate fallacy, framing

Anchoring

A heuristic where individuals use a specific value as a base for estimating an unknown quantity and adjust their estimate based on it.

Decision fatigue

Occurs when making many decisions negatively impacts an individual's ability to make rational decisions.

Discounting base-rate information

A cognitive bias favoring anecdotal evidence over detailed available information.

Framing effect

A cognitive bias influenced by minor wording differences leading to varied choices.

Mood effect

Influence on decision-making due to positive or negative mood states.

Peer-review journals

Scholarly journals where submitted articles are evaluated by experts in the same field.

Reliability

Consistent findings from an investigation or measurement tool with repeated use of the same procedures.

Replication

Repeating an investigation to obtain the same or highly similar results by the original or independent researchers.

Nominal scale

Responses are unordered categories, may be coded by number but the number magnitude is irrelevant.

Ordinal scale

Responses are ordered or ranked, but the distance between rankings is unknown.

Ratio scale

A scale with properties of an interval scale and a meaningful absolute zero point.

Oversampling

Intentionally over-recruit underrepresented groups to ensure representation.

Representative sample

Shares essential characteristics of the population it was drawn from.

Random sampling

Each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Attrition

Loss of research participants before study completion.

Careless responding

Lack of careful attention to responses in a survey.

Closed-ended response item

Requires choosing from predetermined responses.

Compound question

Attempts to ask about more than one issue in the same question.

Experimenter bias

Bias introduced by the way questions are asked in research.

Internal consistency

Items measuring the same variable yield similar responses.

Interview

Data collection technique where participants are asked questions orally.

Loaded question

Includes an assumption that may bias a response.

Motivated response bias

Bias occurring when people are highly motivated to affect public opinion.

Nonresponse bias

Bias from differences between those who complete a survey and those who do not.

Pilot study

Conducted before the actual study to assess instruments or methodology.

Social desirability bias

Bias arising from participants' desire to present themselves favorably.

Split-half reliability

Internal consistency assessed by dividing survey items into two sets.

Control group

Participants serving as a comparison for the experimental group.

Dependent variable

The factor being measured in an experiment.

Experimental group

Participants receiving the intervention or treatment.

External validity

The degree to which results can be generalized to other samples and situations.

Internal validity

Concludes a variable is the direct cause of an outcome in a study.

Quasi-independent variable

Existing participant characteristics not manipulated by the experimenter.

Random assignment

Ensures no systematic differences between participant groups.

Stereotype threat

Activating a stereotype leads individuals to behave in line with the stereotype.

What are the two key aspects of ethical research?

Protection of human subjects (not harming, not coercing, informing participants of what they will do, maintaining confidentiality) and responsible conduct of research (dealing appropriately with data)

What are the three general principles of the Belmont Report?

Respect for persons, beneficence, justice

What is an IRB?

Institutional review board, committee that supports research responsible for protecting the heath and well-being of research participants.

A “good” hypothesis

A testable (questions can be answered by direct observation or by evidence gathered) and falsifiable (you can prove it to be wrong).

What are the goals of science?

Description: what happened, Explanation: why did the results happen?, and Prediction: what do we predict would happen if?

Description: how many drinks do college students drink in a typical week?

Explanation: why do some college students drink more than 5 drinks in a row? (positive outcome expectancies, peer pressure, coping)

Prediction/causality: if X happens, does X lead to Y?, change in X leads to change in Y, does treatment of depression lead to a reduction in drinking?

What does treating participants ethically involve?

• Informing participants about what they will do

• Not harming 

• Not coercing

• Maintaining confidentiality