Research methods
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- range
- difference btw the highest and lowest scores.
- placebo effect
- improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement.
- Heuristics
- mental short cuts or rules of thumb. pro: reduce the cognitive energy required to solve problems. con: we tend to over simplify reality
- experimental group
- in an experiment, the group of participants that recieves the manipulation.
- experimenter expectancy effect
- phenomenon in which researchers' hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias a study outcome.
- mean
- average
- dispersion
- measure of how loosely or tightly bunched scores are.
- experiment
- a study in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables and measures the outcome.
- naturlaistic observation
- watching behavior in real world settings
- reliability
- consistency of measurement. repeatability
- inferential stats
- mathematical methods that allow ust to determine whether we can generalize findings from our sample to the pop.
- standard deviation
- measure of dispersion that takes into account how far each data point is from the mean
- central tendency
- where the group tends to cluster in a data sheet.
- availability
- estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds.
- external validity
- extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings.
- nocebo effect
- harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm.
- base rate
- how common a characteristic or behavior is in the general population.
- informed consent
- informing research participants of what is involved in a study before asking them to participate.
- correlational studies
- investigates the relationship btw 2 variables.
- case study design
- researchers examine one person or a small group of ppl, often over a long period of time.
- confound
- any difference btw the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable. ex. age
- double blinded design
- neither researchers nor subjects know who is in the experimental or control group.
- descriptive stats
- describe data, numerical characteristics of the nature of the data set.
- surveys
- interviews or questionnaires asking ppl about behavior, attitudes, beliefs, opionions or intentions. Pro: gather a lot of info for little cost. Con: ppl aren't always truthful.
- representativeness
- heuristic that involves judging the probablity of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype. Guy that is quiet/ shy is more likely to be a computer major than communications.
- blind
- unaware of whether one is in the experimental or control group.
- median
- middle score in a data set
- random assignment
- randomly sorting participants into two groups
- dependent variable
- variable that an experimenter measures to see whether the manipulation has an affect.
- control group
- in an experiment, the group of participants tha doesn't recieve the manipulation.
- social diversity bias
- ppl answer how they think the experimenter wants them to.
- internal validity
- extent to which we can draw cause and effect inferences
- independent variable
- variable that an experimenter manipulates.
- illusory correlation
- perception of a statistical association where none exsists (ex. crime and the full moon)
- random selection
- ensures every person in a pop. has an equal chance of being chosen to participate.
- validity
- extent to which a measure asses what it claims to measure. a test must be reliable to be valid.
- mode
- most frequent score in data set.
- Hindsight bias
- the tendency to over estimate how well we could have successfully forcasted known outcomes.
- observer bias
- if ppl know they are being watched, they will perform differently (hawthorne effect)