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false consensus effect
tendency for people to overestimate how much other people share their beliefs attitudes and behaviors
because of the false consensus effect our goal in research is to
avoid casual observations use systematic approach instead
what is research?
a critical process for asking and attempting to answer questions about the world
ways of learning about behavior
custom and tradition intuition logical reasoning authority pseudoscience scientific approach- empiricism
characteristics of intuition
gut feelings basic observation common sense accept info w/o skepticism
limitations of intuition
assumes facts without finding proof not full picture no strong foundation of evidence
logical reasoning uses the
problem solving method
inductive reasoning is when you
develop generalizations from specific observations
example of inductive reasoning
nurse observes anxious behavior children in one hospital conclusion that in general child's separation from parent is stressful
deductive reasoning is when you
develop specific predictions from general principles
deductive reasoning example
assume separation anxiety happens in general conclusion that children in local hospital whos parents leave will have 5x stress
limitation of logical reasoning
validity of reasoning depends on accuracy of info used to create predictions
learning by authority is when
turn to specialized sources leaders say it's the answer
limitation of learning by authority
need to consider your source
phrenology is an example of
pseudoscience
phrenology claims to be able to
determine character and personality based on shape of head
limitations of phrenology and pseudoscience
lack of evidence
pseudoscience tends to
pick favorable evidence tends to be dogmatic and unyielding
scientific method defintion
systematic empirical controlled critical examination of hypothetical propositions
systematic means there is
a sense of order ID problem Collect evidence Analyze data Interpret findings
empiricism is
knowledge must be based on observation
falsifiability is when
research fails to provide support of an idea
peer-review acts to
prevent poor quality research from becoming part of scientific literature
steps of scientific method
develop question background research construct hypothesis develop method test hypothesis analyze data communicate results
why does research matter?
understand and interpret new info improve clinical practice discover and validate scientific concepts
benefits of research
improves legislation aids program development
goals of behavioral research
description of behavior prediction of behavior determine causes explain behavior
data + methods =
outcomes
research process
research idea research design collecting data analyze data publication process
non experimental research questions
descriptive correlational no intervention
example of descriptive research question
what beverages do college students consume daily?
example of correlational research question
what is the relationship between daily hours of studying and daily alcohol consumption?
example of experimental research question
does a low carb diet compared to an isocaloric low fat diet result in greater weight loss among college students
basic behavioral research acts to
examine nature of behavior increases knowledge
applied behavioral research acts to
address issues and potential solutions puts knowledge into action
experimental research designs
true experimental within subjects experimental quasi-experimental
key uses of non-experimental design
describe co-occurence generate hypotheses compare two methods prediction
descriptive research describes
a developmental change in people over time without changing the environment
correlational research studies
the nature of existing relationships
correlational coefficient is the
numerical index of strength of relationship
epidemiological research is
non-experimental study of health and disease in population and incidence of disease
example of epidemiological research
risk factors for heart disease 37% of adults report at least two of them
limitations of non experimental research
never cause and effect third variable problem
key features of true experimental design
true control group true random assignment groups statistically equal blind sample size
pre-test/ post-test design example
effects of resistance exercise on elders with depression
factorial design means there is
more than one independent variable
factorial design example
effect of running vs walking on people with either low fat or normal diet
within subjects design is when there is
one group of subjects subjects as their own control group
advantages of within subjects design
fewer participants less money conditions identical because person is own control group
disadvantages of within subjects design
fatigue effect carryover effect (order effect) practice effect
disadvantages of within subjects design fixed by
crossover design with random order and wash out period
quasi experimental design
no random assignment; uses pre existing or self selected groups one group post test only one group pre test post test
why sampling
economical time efficient potentially more accurate
goal of study is to
generalization
goal of sampling is to
represent population
our class vs. the uconn population
only a handful of majors ratio of men vs women age/ class standing ratio of commuter vs. residential
steps in sampling process
ID target population ID accessible population Choose sampling procedure define inclusion and exclusion criteria
inclusion criteria is the
main characteristics of target and accessible populations that will qualify someone as participant
exclusion criteria is the
characteristics that would prevent someone from being a participants
sampling bias is when
certain attributes of a sample that aren't representative of population
sampling bias means that the data you collect may
not be accurate or represent the population
sampling bias can occur any time your sample is
not random sample
sampling bias leads to
sampling error deviation of sample from the population
probability sampling is
random selection every unit has equal chance of being chosen free of sampling error
disproportionate sampling is
non random probability of selection isn't known sampling error can't be estimated
disproportionate sampling is common in
clinical research certain condition or intervention
stratified random sampling is
selecting randomly from intact groups ex: major certain participant characteristics are important
in disproportionate sampling data are then
weighed meaning mathematically corrected due to sample having larger proportion than actual population
cluster sampling is done when
accessible population is too large
in cluster sampling sample is selected
using large units than smaller units multi stage selection process
ex of cluster sampling
randomly select from all CT schools then from all 8th graders then from all latinos
NHANES is the __ and they sample by
national health and nutrition examination survey to sample combines interviews and physical examination
non probability sampling is done when
probability sampling isn't feasible each person does NOT have an equal chance of being selected
in non probability sampling techniques are
arbitrary population of interest may be defined but there's little effort to sample from it sample can be very different from target population
types of non-probability sampling
convenience purposive snowball quota
in convenience sampling it is __ and potential for
done haphazard and based on availability potential for bias of self selection bonus it's very easy and inexpensive
in purposive sampling
recrutiment is based on specific criteria
in snowball sampling
there are hard to locate individuals recruit similar subjects
selection in quota sampling
select subjects until number need is met ex: need a certain number of muslims for a study but isn't accurate to actual population proportions in the population
quota sampling may limit
generalizing to the state population
concepts are
mental representations an abstract idea terms we know the definition of as a society
example of concepts
food father weight wheelchair
constructs are
a concept created for a scientific purpose to be measured
example of constructs
IQ shyness health pain love
types of variables
continuous discrete
continuous variables are
any value along a continuum can't be exactly measure and depends on degree of precision
example of continuous variables
distance weight
discrete variables are
categorical described as whole unit
example of discrete variable
heart rate population
levels of measurement
nominal ordinal interval ratio
nominal is a
classification category label ex: sex nationality blood type
ordinal is
rank order ex: pain, functional status
interval is
equal intervals between numbers with NO TRUE ZERO ex: calendar years, IQ, temperature
ratio is
units with equal intervals measure from TRUE ZERO ex: distance, length, age, time
reliability is the
extent to which a measurement is consistent
validity means measurement is
relatively free from error
goal of validity in research
to show using a sample of people that a change in the IV caused a change in the DV and that this relationship can be generalized to population
three types of validity
internal external construct
internal validity means
ability to accurately draw conclusions about causal relationships
external validity means
ability to generalize results to population and other settings
Note 
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