PSY 393: Research Methods, Claims, Variables, Validity, and Reliability

Vocabulary flashcards generated from weeks 1-3 lecture material covering scientific research criteria, research process, operationalization, claims, causation requirements, validity, and reliability.

Systematic Empiricism

A criterion of scientific research that involves following an organized method or plan and relying on observable evidence.

Public Verification

A criterion of scientific research stating that scientific ideas and findings should be open to evaluation and verification by others.

Solvable Problem

A criterion of scientific research referring to a problem that can be investigated using scientific methods and evidence.

Confirmation Bias

When we only search for evidence that fits our beliefs while ignoring evidence that does not fit our beliefs.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency for people to overestimate how predictable an event was after it happens.

Availability Heuristic

A limitation of intuition and experience in which judgments are influenced by information that comes easily to mind.

A Priori Hypothesis

A hypothesis formed based on theory before collecting or analyzing the data.

Replication

Repeating a research study to determine whether its findings can be reproduced.

APA Format

The American Psychological Association citation format used in psychology, including author(s) and year in-text, and full references identifying the work.

Falsifiable

A property of a claim meaning it is possible to prove it wrong using observable evidence.

Variable

Something that varies or has variability, changing in quantity or quality rather than remaining constant.

Conceptual Variable

An abstract label for a concept being studied, also called a construct in psychology.

Operational Variable

How a variable is actually represented in a study through manipulation, observation, measurement, etc.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that is manipulated by researchers as the cause.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that represents the effect or outcome in a study.

Subjective Measures

Measures where participants use their opinions to report on variables related to themselves or others.

Frequency Claim

A claim focused on one variable at a time, describing its frequency, percentage, mean, or standard deviation.

Correlation Claim

A claim that two or more variables are related.

Causation Claim

A claim that one or more variables cause another variable to change.

Non-directional Correlation Claim

A claim that two variables are related, without specifying whether the relationship is positive or negative.

Directional-Positive Correlation Claim

A claim that two variables are positively related—as one increases, the other tends to increase.

Directional-Negative Correlation Claim

A claim that two variables are negatively related—as one increases, the other tends to decrease.

Predictor Variable

The variable in a correlation used to predict or explain variation in the outcome.

Outcome Variable

The variable in a correlation being predicted or examined as the outcome.

Covariation

Evidence that the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) are related, serving as one of the three requirements for causation.

Temporal Precedence

A requirement for causation stating that the independent variable (IV) must change before the dependent variable (DV) changes.

Confounds

Alternative explanations or potential confounding factors that researchers must rule out to establish causation.

Inference

A conclusion made based on evidence but not directly stated in the evidence.

Validity

The quality of an inference made from study evidence.

Internal Validity

The quality of a cause-and-effect claim made by a study.

External Validity

The generalizability of a claim made by a study.

Correlational Research Design

A research design where researchers observe or measure variables without manipulating conditions, which cannot directly examine causation.

Experimental Design

A research design characterized by direct manipulation of conditions, providing stronger evidence for causation.

Reliability

Consistency in measurement, assuming that errors are random rather than correlated with systematic factors.

Test-Retest Reliability

Consistency of scores obtained from the same measure across different time points.

Inter-Rater Reliability

Consistency of scores across different raters evaluating the same target.

Internal Consistency

Consistency of scores across different items within the same scale or measure.

Cronbach’s $\alpha$

A statistic used to measure internal consistency, requiring a value greater than $.70$.

Face & Content Validity

Validity evidence relying on judgment to infer the construct of interest based on the content of the measure.

Construct & Criterion-Related Validity

Validity evidence relying on statistical analysis to infer a person's standing on a construct or an outcome based on measure scores.