Chapter 2:The Research Enterprise in Psychology
Terms
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- Mode
- The most frequent score in a distribution
- Statistical Significance
- Exists when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low.
- Participants/Subjects
- The persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study.
- Double-Blind Procedure
- A research strategy in which neither the subjects nor the experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.
- Placebo
- A substance (in pharmacology) that resembles a drug but has no actual pharmacological effect.
- Survey
- When researchers use questionnaires or interviews to gather information about specific aspects of participants' background and behavior.
- Research Methods
- Consist of various approaches to the observation, measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in empirical studies.
- Statistics
- The use of mathematics to organize, summarize, and interperet numerical data.
- Sampling Bias
- Exists when a sample is not representative of the population from which it was drawn.
- Independent Variable
- A condition or event that an experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable.
- Placebo Effects
- Occur when a participants' expectations lead them to experience some change even though they receive empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment.
- Data Collection Techniques
- Procedures for making empirical observations and measurements.
- Theory
- A system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.
- Social Desirability Bias
- The tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.
- Median
- The score that falls exactly in the center of a distribution of scores.
- Operational Definition
- Describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable.
- Extraneous Variables
- Any varibales other than the independent variable that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study.
- Random Assignments
- Occurs when all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition in the study.
- Mean
- The arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution.
- Anecdotal Evidence
- Consists of personal stories about specific incidents and experiences.
- Dependent Variable
- The variable that is thought to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.
- Correlation
- Exists when two variables are related to one another.
- Population
- The much larger collection of animals or people (from which the sample is drawn) that researchers want to generalize about.
- Naturalistic Observation
- When a researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without intervening directly with the subjects.
- Replication
- The repetition of a study to see whether the earlier results are duplicated.
- Case Study
- An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
- Response Set
- A tendency to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions.
- Inferential Statistics
- Used to interperet data and draw conclusions.
- Variability
- Refers to how much the scores in a data set vary from each other and from the mean.
- Journal
- A periodical that publishes technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of injury.
- Confounding of Variables
- Occurs when two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects.
- Experimental Group
- Consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable.
- Hypothesis
- A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
- Standard Deviation
- An index of the amount of variability in a set of data.
- Variables
- Any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study.
- Sample
- The collection of subjects selected for observation in an empirical study.
- Correlation Coefficient
- A numerical index of the degree of a relationship between two variables.
- Experimenter Bias
- When a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.
- Descriptive Statistics
- Used to organize and summarize data.
- Control Group
- Consisists of similar subjects who do not receive the special treatment given to the experimental group.