Research Methods

9/6

La monte questions- due next tues, not this thurs

Go to office hours to introduce self 1-3

Placebo Effect: perceived change, mental

Observational Designs:

  • Cross-Sectional: individuals selected at random from a population; IVs and DVs are measured at once; can be divided into groups and compare means; allows correlations to be made between potential risk factors

  • Retrospective: case-control; subjects divided based of DV and the IVs are measured retrospectively- according to medical records; allows correlations to be made

  • Ex. people that developed preeclampsia during pregnancy more or less active prior to diagnosis than people that didn’t develop preeclampsia

  • Recall susceptible to error and bias

  • Prospective: longitudinal; initially healthy people tested and retested over time (for Dvs and IVs); study establishes correlation

  • Ex. muscle strength in people who do and don’t engage in resistance exercise at age 40, 50, and 60

  • Breathing helps control the ph of blood (which is homeostatically regulated)

Diabetes: disease where the body does not produce or respond to insulin resulting in elevated blood glucose levels

  • Type 1: doesn’t produce insulin
  • Type 2: doesn’t respond to insulin (insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity)

Negative Feedback Loop: a process in which a change from the normal range of function elicits a response that opposes or resists that change

Threshold: where the integrator decides if the variation between the set point and the actual value are too big