Science Practices/Research Methods - Vocabulary (Notes Coverage)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, biases, study designs, and methodological terms from the notes (Pages 1–3).

Cultural Norms

Unwritten guidelines within a culture that determine what is considered appropriate behavior, dress, and expression.

Confirmation Bias

Tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to believe after an event that one would have predicted it beforehand.

Overconfidence

Tendency to be more confident in one's judgments than is warranted by accuracy.

Experimental Research Design

A design that aims to establish a cause-and-effect relationship by manipulating the independent variable and measuring the dependent variable under controlled conditions.

Case Study

A nonexperimental study that investigates a single person or a small group in depth to reveal insights that may apply more broadly.

Correlation (non-experimental)

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and whether one can predict the other.

Meta-analysis

A nonexperimental procedure that statistically combines results from multiple studies to identify overall patterns.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory, that can be falsified through experimentation.

Operational Definitions

Precise specifications of how variables are measured or manipulated in a study.

Independent Variable

The variable that is deliberately manipulated to observe its effect on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

The outcome variable that is measured in an experiment.

Confounding Variable

An extra variable that may influence the results, potentially masking the effect of the independent variable.

Sample

A subset of the population selected for a study.

Population

The entire group of individuals of interest from which samples may be drawn.

Representative Sample

A sample whose characteristics closely reflect the characteristics of the population.

Random Sampling

A sampling method in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being included.

Convenience Sampling

A nonprobability sampling method where participants are chosen based on availability and proximity.

Sampling Bias

A flawed sampling process that produces a nonrepresentative sample.

Generalizability

The extent to which study findings can be applied to other people, settings, and times beyond the original sample.

Experimental Group

The group exposed to the treatment or level of the independent variable.

Control Group

The group not receiving the treatment, used as a baseline for comparison.

Placebo

A substance or condition with no active effect used to control for expectancy effects in experiments.

Single-blind

Participants do not know which treatment condition they receive.

Double-blind

Neither participants nor researchers know which treatment condition is assigned.

Social Desirability Bias

Tendency to respond in a way that is socially favorable rather than truthful.

Qualitative Data

Descriptive data expressed in words rather than numbers.

Quantitative Data

Numerical data that can be measured and analyzed statistically.

Peer Review

Evaluation of research by other experts in the field before publication.

Replication

Repeating a study's procedures to determine if findings can be reproduced.