AH 4239

false consensus effect

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