Research Terminology and Study Designs

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental research concepts, variables, experiment controls, validity types, and study designs from the lecture.

Variable

Anything in the world that can vary and have two or more levels.

Conceptual Variable

A broad, big picture concept or phenomenon out in the world that a researcher wants to study, which can often be squishy or amorphous.

Measured Variable

A tangible, concrete variable that represents a conceptual variable and can actually be recorded and measured in a study.

Population

The larger group of individuals in the world that a researcher hopes to learn something about.

Sample

A subset of the population that actually participates in a study.

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment that receives the manipulation.

Control Group

The group in an experiment that receives no manipulation and serves as a baseline for comparison.

Independent Variable

The variable in a study that the researcher directly changes or manipulates.

Dependent Variable

The variable in a study that the researcher measures or records to see if the independent variable had an effect.

Confound

Any factor other than the independent variable that varies between groups and could cause a difference in the dependent variable.

Placebo Effect

A change in behavior that occurs due to a participant's expectations rather than an active treatment.

Placebo

A fake testing condition, such as a sugar pill, used to control for participant expectations in a study.

Blind

A condition in a study where participants do not know which experimental group or treatment condition they are in.

Expectancy Effect

Unintentional bias or behavior change caused by subtle cues or prior knowledge about a study's conditions or hypotheses.

Random Assignment

The process of using a random method to assign participants to groups, ensuring that every participant has an equal chance of being in any condition and preventing preexisting differences.

Reliability

The consistency and dependability of a measure or study, producing the exact same results every time it is used on the same subject.

Validity

The extent to which a test or measure accurately measures what it was intended to measure.

Internal Validity

The extent to which an experiment was performed correctly inside the study, ensuring that changes in the dependent variable are solely due to the independent variable and not confounds.

External Validity

The extent to which the results of an experiment generalize beyond the study sample to other populations, settings, or contexts.

Observational Design

A study design where researchers simply watch and record naturally occurring behavior without manipulating any independent variables.

Correlational Design

A study design that measures two naturally occurring variables to see if a relationship exists between them, without manipulating either variable.

Experimental Design

A study design involving independent variables, random assignment, and control of confounds, allowing researchers to draw causal conclusions.

Case Study

An in-depth study design used to examine a single individual or small group extensively when a phenomenon or condition is rare.

Longitudinal Study

A study design that tests the same group of participants repeatedly over an extended period of time to measure individual change.