IB psychology research terminology

Interview plan

A plan for conducting an interview plan

Representative sample

A sample that represents a population

Self-selected sampling

A sampling method made up of volunteers

Cross-cultural validity

A term used when asking if the research is relevant to other cultures or if it is ethnocentric

Ecological validity

A term used when asking if the study represents what happens in real life

Artificiality

A term used when the situation created is so unlikely to occur that one has to wonder if there is any validity in the findings

Snowball sampling

A type of sampling where participants recruit other participants among their friends and acquaintances

Triangulation

Combining different research methods in order to achieve richer data

Opportunity sampling

Convenience sampling, a sample of whoever happens to be there and agrees to participate

Application

How a theory or empirical study is used

The ethical guidelines in IB psychology

Informed consent, deception, debriefing, withdrawal from a study, confidentiality, protection from physical or mental harm

Sampling bias

Involves problems with generalizing findings to a larger population

Random sampling

Is a type of sampling where every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected. Putting all the names in a hat

The experiment

Is performed under highly controlled conditions, with the goal of establishing cause-and-effect relationship between two variables

A negative correlation

Means that when one variable increases, the other decreases

Double blind control

Not only the participants do not know whether they are in the treatment or control group, but also the person carrying is left out on what the aim of the study is

Researcher bias

Observer bias, when the experimenter sees what he/she is looking for

Null hypothesis

Predicts that there will be no results or that the result will be due to chance

Experimental hypothesis

Predicts the relationship between the IV and the DV

The field experiement

The experiment takes place in a natural environment, but the researchers still manipulate variables

Target population

The group whose behaviour the researcher wishes to investigate

Single blind control

The participants do not know what the study is about

Participants

The people who take part in a psychological study

Aim

The purpose of a study indicating which behaviour or mental process will be studied

Procedure

The step-by-step process used by the researcher to carry out the study

Dependent variable

The variable that is being measured after the manipulation of the independent variable

Independent variable

The variable that the researcher deliberatly manipulates

Findings

These state how the researcher interpreted the data that were collected

Stratified sample

This type of sample draws random samples from each subpopulation within the target population

To generalize

To assume that the behaviours observed in the random sample are representative of those in the larger population

Confounding variable

Undesirable variables that influence the relationship between the indpendent and dependent variable

Deductive approach

When a claim is tested against empirical evidenct so that it can be either accepted or rejected

A positive correlation

When both variables are affected in the same way

Correlational studies

When data are collected which show a relationship between two variables

Interviewer effects

When for example the interviewer responds to age, sex, or ethnicity

Demand characteristics

When participants act differently because they know that they are in an experiment

Participant bias

When people adjust their responses to what they think is appropriate for the interviewer

Social desirability bias

When people want to present a positive image of themselves, and not be entirely truthful in their responses

Hawthorne effect

When the participants try to guess the aims of the study and act accordingly

Inductive approach

When the variables are not defined in advance, but the resarcher first gathers data and then sees what they could mean

A natural experiment

An experiment where the researchers have no control over the variable

Participant variability

Something which is important to consider when choosing a sample in order to avoid an overrepresentation of tratits that can bias the outcome of the study