quantitative research
aim is to arrive at numerical expressed laws that characterize the behavior of large group of individuals.
data comes in forms of numbers
the orientation on deriving universal laws
operates with variables
construct
theoretical defined variables, an idea not physical
operationalization
when a construct is expressed in terms observable behavior
experimental studies
one independent variable and one dependent variable and other potential variables are controlled, the experiment is the only method that allows cause-and-effect inferences
(a type of quantitative research)
correlation studies
researchers do not manipulate the variables, variables are measured and relationships between them are quantified
(a type of quantitative research)
descriptive studies
the relationships between variables are not studied, variable are approached separately, often used to conduct a broad investigation of a phenomena
(a type of quantitative research)
random sampling
ideal approach to make it representative
sufficient sample size
easy to generalize
not always possible for practical reasons
type of sampling
stratisfied samplinh
theory driven
researchers decide the essential characteristics of a sample
recruit the participants based on the data and proportions as the sample
type of sampling
convenience (opportunity) sampling
participants that are more readily available
university student are a very popular choice because researchers usually are very busy
type of sampling
self-selecting sampling
recruiting volunteers through advertisement
type of sampling
hypothesis
the experimental method is based on hypothesis training
null hypothesis
a fact that you are set up to disprove
the hypothesis assumes that there will be no significant difference for a given population under two different conditions
alternative hypothesis
you guess what will happen
there is a clear guess as to the outcome of the experiment
it isn’t acceptable practice to change your alternative hypothesis after you get your results to match your findings
construct validity
characterizes the quality of operationalization
internal validity
characterizes the methodological quality of the experiment
external validity
characterizes generalizability of findings in the experiment
population validity
refers to the extent to which findings can be generalized from the sample to the target population
(type of external validity)
ecological validity
refers to the extent to which findings can be generalized from the experiment to other settings or situations. It links to the artificiality of experimental conditions
(type of external validity)
Threats to internal validity
bias in experimental research comes in the form of confounding factors that may influence the cause-and-effect relationships between the IV and DV decreasing internal validity
selection
occurs in independent measures and matched pairs designs
(threat to internal validity)
history
refers to outside events that happen to participants in the course of the experiment
they can potentially influence the DV or are not evenly distributed in the comparison groups
(threat to internal validity)
maturity
in the courses of the experiment, participants go through natural development processes, such as fatigue or simply growth
(threat to internal validity)
testing effect
the first measured of the DV may affect the second (and subsequently) measurements
(threat to internal validity)
instrumentation
this effect occurs when the instrument measuring the DV changes slightly between measurements
the “instrument of measurement” is often a human observer
(threat to internal validity)
regression to the mean
becomes a concern when the initial score on the DV is extreme. extreme scores have a purely statical tendency to become more average on subsequent trials
(threat to internal validity)
experimental mortality
refers to the fact that some participants drop out during an experiment, which may become a problem if dropouts are not random