Research Methods in Psychology

theory

an organized set of concepts that explains a phenomenon or set of phenomena

peer review

the process of experts analyzing the details of articles when they are submitted to journals

independent variable

Professor Peterson is testing the hypothesis that people will cooperate less when a lot of people are in a group. In the experiment he plans, he will vary the number of people in each group. That will be his:

double-blind control

Rahul is serving as a research assistant. In his first phase of the experiment, Rahul gives each participant a can of cola or a can of caffeine-free cola. In the second phase of the experiment, Rahul times the participants with a stopwatch while they play a video game. It sounds like this study is lacking a(n):

within-subjects design

Matt is participating in a two-day experiment. On Day 1, he takes a memory test after running on a treadmill for 2 minutes. On Day 2, he takes a similar test after running for 10 minutes. The experimenters plan to compare Matt’s performance on the two tests. This sounds like a:

negative correlation

Shirley visits an antique store. The owner explains to her that the smaller an object is, the more he can charge for it. This is an example of a:

wishful thinking

Sally is about to travel from New York to Chicago. Although she prefers to drive, she has decided to get on airplane. Sally reads a pair of articles about the relative safety of the two types of travel. She concludes that the one that favors air travel is considerably more valid. This sounds like an example of:

validity

Dr. Paul is developing a new measure of hunger. He says, “I need a measure that will accurately predict how much food peple will eat in their next meal.” Dr. Paul’s statement is about the \____ of the measure.

self-report

Giovanna is worried that results of her experiment may be affected by her participants’ desire to provide favorable impressions of themselves. It sounds as if she might be using \___ measures.

naturalistic observation

Ben believes that men are more lifely to arrive late to classes than are women. To test this hypothesis most effectively, Ben should use:

archival data

Andrew wishes to test the hypothesis that people give more freely to charities when the weather is pleasant. To test this hypothesis, Andrew is likely to make use of:

informed consent

when a researcher provides you with information about procedures, potential risk, and expected benefits

refine, reduce, replace

three Rs that ethicists suggest should guide research using nonhuman animals

alternative

Always search for \___ explanations to the obvious ones proposed.

20 out of every 100

You ask people to respond to scenarios that describe the risk asosciated with excess cell-phone usage. You expect people to give the highest risk estimates when they read that “\___ people suffer serious vocal chord damage.”

determinism

the theory that everything that happens in the world is determined completely by previously existing causal factors (predestination)

hypothesis

a potential explanation for the relationship between two (or more) events or variables

public verifiability

the opportunity to inspect, criticize, replicate, or disprove the data and methods

observer bias

the distortion of evidence because of the personal motives and expectations of the viewer

standardization

a set of uniform procedures for treating each participant in a test, interview, or experiment, or for recording data

operational definition

a definition of a variable or condition in terms of the specific operation or procedure used to determine its presence

variable

a factor that varies in amount and kind

independent variable

the variable that the researcher manipulates

dependent variable

the variable that the reaserchers measures to assess impact

experimental methods

a research process that involves following scientific guidelines to test hypotheses and establish causal relationships between variables

confounding variable

a stimulus other than the variable an experimenter explicitly introduces into a research setting that affects a participant’s behavior

expectancy effect

result that occurs when a researcher or observer subtly communicates to participants the kind of behavior he or she expects to find, thereby creating that expected reaction

placebo effect

a change in behavior in the absence of an experimental manipulation

control procedure

consistent procedure for giving instructions, scoring responses, and holding all other variables constant except those being systematically varied

double-blind control

keeping both participants and experimental assistants unaware as the to the condition that the participant is in

placebo control

experimental condition in which treatment is not administered; it is used in cases where a placebo effect might occur

between-subjects design

experimental design in which the subjects of an experiment are assigned to different conditions

random assignment

a procedure by which participants have an equal likelihood of being assigned to any condition within an experiment

experimental group

group in an experiment that is exposed to a treatment or experiences a manipulation of the independent variable

control group

group in an experiment that is not exposed to a treatment or does not experience a manipulation of the independent variable

population

entire set of individuals to which generalizations will be made based on an experimental sample

sample

subset of a population selected as participants in an experiment

representative sample

subset of a population that closely matches the overall characteristics of the population with respect to the distribution of males and females, racial and ethnic groups, and so on

random sampling

procedure that ensures that every member of a population has an equal likelihood of participating in an experiment

within-subjects design

a research design that uses each participant as his or her own control; for example, the behavior of an experimental participant before receiving treatment might be compared to his or her behavior after receiving treatment

correlational method

research methodology that determines to what extent two variables, traits, or attributes are related

correlation coefficient (r)

statistic that indicates the degree of relationship between two variables

reliability

extent to which results can be reproduced (consistency)

reliable and valid

research must be..?