Vocabulary Flashcards: Psychology Research Methods & Ethics

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on the scientific method, ethics, research designs, variables, sampling, and statistics.

IRB (Institutional Review Board)

A panel that reviews proposed research to protect participants and ensure ethical scientific standards.

Research Ethics

Ethical standards governing the conduct of research to safeguard participants and ensure integrity.

Privacy

Respect for participants' private information and boundaries during research.

Confidentiality

Keeping participants' information secret and secure from disclosure.

Informed Consent

Participants are informed about the study and can choose to participate or decline.

Deception

Deception may be used if necessary, but must be revealed at the end of the study.

Risks

Researchers cannot require participants to endure unreasonable pain or discomfort.

Literature Review

Review of prior research to inform the study and generate predictions.

Scientific Method

Step-by-step process of observing, measuring, and testing ideas to explain what happens, when, why, and what causes it.

Theory

A well-supported explanation that generates testable predictions.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction derived from a theory.

Descriptive Methods

Research methods that describe what is happening, used in early research stages.

Case Study

Intensive examination of one person or a small group; high detail but limited generalization.

Observational Study

Research where behavior is observed and coded in natural or lab settings.

Coding

Assigning observed behavior to predefined categories.

Observer Bias

Observers' expectations can influence what is recorded.

Hawthorne Effect

Participants may change behavior because they know they are being observed.

Self-Reports

Data collected via surveys, questionnaires, or interviews from participants.

Correlational Methods

Study of relationships between variables without manipulation or causation claims.

Directionality Problem

Difficulty determining which variable influences the other in a relationship.

Third Variable Problem

An unmeasured variable may be causing observed relationships.

Correlation

A statistical association between two variables; does not imply causation.

Experimental Methods

Research that manipulates an independent variable to determine its effect and establish causation.

Independent Variable

The variable deliberately manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent Variable

The variable measured to assess the effect of the manipulation.

Operational Definition

A detailed description of how a variable will be measured or identified in a study.

Control Group

The group that receives no intervention or a baseline condition.

Experimental Group

The group that experiences the manipulation of the independent variable.

Random Assignment

Participants are randomly assigned to groups to equalize differences between groups.

Random Sampling

Participants are selected at random from the population to represent it.

Population

The entire group about which researchers want to draw conclusions.

Sample

A subset of the population studied to make inferences about the population.

Replication

Repeating a study to see if findings hold under other circumstances.

Descriptive Statistics

Statistics that summarize raw data (e.g., mean, median, mode).

Inferential Statistics

Statistics that determine whether results generalize beyond the sample (e.g., p-values, confidence intervals).

Confound

A variable that unintentionally affects the dependent variable and differs across conditions.