Research Methods FINAL

Explain why a measure being reliable does not mean it is valid, but a measure cannot be valid unless it is reliable

- A reliable measurement is not always valid: The results might be consistent, but they're not necessarily correct. - A valid measurement is generally reliable: If a test produces accurate results, they should be consistent.

3 criteria to establish causation

1. Covariance 2. Temporal precedence 3. Internal validity

Three ways that scientific journals/articles are different from popular magazines/articles

1. Scientific journals are peer-reviewed 2. Scientific journalists are required to report their honest findings, even if it disproves their hypothesis 3. Popular magazines can be written about any topic even though the author lacks knowledge of it

What is never found in a one-group, pretest/postest design?

A comparison group

A psychiatrist is testing a drug that treats depression. He has given the drug to all his patients, and all of them have experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms. Although this is interesting, his experience is limited because he does not have

A comparison group that did not receive the drug

The mathematical way to describe an interaction is

A differences in differences

Establishing construct validity would probably be most important for a measure of which of the following: 1. A measure of heart rate 2. A measure of the number of times a person eats alone during a month 3. A measure of spirituality 4. A measure of income

A measure of spirituality

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Female Engineering Majors' Effort on Math Problems Depends on Sex of Role Model." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Stout, Dasgupta, Hunsinger, and McManus, 2011.) In the study, female students were asked by either a male math major or a female math major to complete a math test. Female students tried to solve more of the math problems when asked by a female math major than they did when asked by a male math major. In this study, the authors recorded how many math questions (out of 10 questions) participants tried to solve. This is an example of which of the following?

A measured variable

Often used when random assignment is impractical, this type of design manipulates an independent variable. but the participants are not randomly assigned to a condition. It also seeks to establish causal relationships

A quasi-experimental design

APA Principles

A. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence (eliminate biases) B. Fidelity and Responsibility (uphold high ethical standard) C. Integrity (don't deceive or misrepresent) D. Justice (be fair and impartial) E. Respect for People's Rights and Dignity (protect minority groups)

Belmont Report Principles

A. Beneficence and nonmaleficence D. Justice E. Respect for peoples rights and dignity

Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience. He gives his students a survey. In the above scenario, what is Dr. Kramer's likely population of interest?

All students he is currently teaching

Students who are interested in being consumers of, but not producers of, research might choose which profession?

An advising executive

Give an operational definition for "fear of snakes" that could be assessed as a structured question

Asking, "On a scale of 1-10, how afraid of snakes are you?"

Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse." Which type of claim is Dr. Ramon making?

Association claim

To correct for _______, researchers determine whether those who dropped out of the study had a different pattern of scores than those who stayed in the study

Attrition

Why don't scientists use the word "prove" according to Failure?

Because real science is falsifiable

Dr. Kramer plans to give his survey only to his Psychology and Law students because he sees them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and he can spare the class time (unlike in his Introduction to Neuroscience class, which only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Why does this lead to a biased sample?

Because the type of students who take Psychology and Law may be different from the type of students who take Introduction to Neuroscience

What type of associations allow us to make strong predictions using association claims?

Both strong positive associations and strong negative associations

Science journalists have argued that cigarette smoking leads to a variety of health problems. What type of claim are they making?

Causal claim

Asking questions to get the answers we want to hear is an example of ______

Confirmation bias

Different factors that could account for significant results are called

Confounds

When interrogating the _______ validity of the dependent variable in an experiment, you should ask "How well was this variable measured?"

Construct

How well the variables in a study are measured or manipulated/Is the operationalization a good approximation to the conceptual definition?

Construct validity

To test his measure, Dr. Sheffield gives his measure to a group of his clients and at the same time measures how many times they have been gambling in the past month. He predicts that clients who score higher on his measure will also report gambling more times in the past month. This procedure is meant to provide evidence for what type of validity?

Content validity

Dr. Sheffield decides to test the criterion validity of his measure. Dr. Sheffield gives his measure to a group of people that includes suspected problem gamblers and non-gamblers. Which of the following options below could he also do to get evidence for criterion validity?

Correlate the measure with a behavior, such as amount of money lost in a casino during the past year

What is used to control order effects in an experiment?

Counterbalancing

When discussing aspects that establish causality, ______ ensures that an independent variable, or variations in it, is accompanied by changes in the dependent variable

Covariance

According to its conceptual definition, a variable should be related to a particular behavior. If a researcher is able to demonstrate that his measure of the variable is related to the behavior, then he has established what type of validity?

Criterion validity

Lana is writing her first empirical journal article. Although she thinks she knows why she found the results she did, she also wants to mention some alternative explanations for her findings. In which section will she mention these alternative explanations?

Discussion

Another word for discriminant validity is _______ validity

Divergent

When obtaining informed consent from a participant, what must the researcher do?

Explicitly inform the participants of any potential risks involved in participating in the study

Dr. Rodriquez is concerned about the validity of the measure of narcissism recommended by her colleague. She send s a copy of the measure to the faculty members in her psychology department to look at, and they all tell her it looks like it will measure narcissism. She now has evidence of what?

Face validity

Another term for independent variable is ________ when using a factorial design

Factor

Elliot is double majoring in English and psychology. He plans on being a high school English teacher and is only majoring in psychology because he finds the classes interesting. What is not an important reason for him to become a good consumer of research?

He will probably want to read research related to enhancing his teaching

In understanding "controlling for" a third variable, ________ _________ is a similar concept

Identifying subgroups

The number of main effects that need to be examined is equal to the number of ________ _________

Independent Variables

In a relationship between one variable (A) and another (B), the extent to which A is responsible for changes in B (rather than some other variable (C))

Internal validity

What type of validity is the main priority for experimental studies?

Internal validity

What is an advantage of a quasi-experimental design?

It enhances external validity

What is the reason that scientific journals use peer review?

It ensures that the studies published are of the highest quality

What is a suitable reason for using debriefing in a study?

It informs participants about the presence and purpose of deception in a study

What is the reason why it is important to be a knowledgeable consumer of research?

It is important to understand whether the information you read is accurate

In a repeated measures design, when the effect size of the independent variable is confounded with carryover from one level to the other, or with practice, fatigue or boredom

Order effect

Research is _______ because its findings are not expected to explain all the cases all the time

Probabilistic

In Milgram's (1963) experiments on obedience to authority, participants were led to believe that they were shocking a "learner" in another room each time the learner made an error. What was the main risk to participants in Milgram's study?

Psychological distress

What is the best way to balance characteristics about participants that can lead to alternative explanations for findings?

Random assignment

Statistical significance depends on ________ size and ______ size

Sample and effect

What is the distinction between scientific journals and popular magazines?

Scientific journal articles are peer reviewed; popular magazine articles are not

When the two independent variable groups have systematically different kinds of participants in them

Selection effect

Experimenters use random assignment to avoid _______

Selection effects

Oversampling is a variant used in which of the following sampling techniques?

Stratified random sampling

Professor Adeyemi is examining well-being after retirement in a city, and it is important to have excellent external validity. If Professor Adeyemi obtains a sample that reflects the demographic proportions of their city, which of the following sampling techniques is most likely being used?

Stratified random sampling

The aim of the Tuskegee Study was to examine which disease?

Syphilis

Before using the measure in her study, Dr. Rodriquez gives the measure to a group of participants on the first day of the semester and again on the last day. She then compares the scores between the two time points. This is a test if which of the following?

Test-retest reliability

The need to balance the potential costs and benefits to participants taking part in a research study is done to address which principle of the Belmont Report?

The principle of beneficence

What is one of the creative aspects of the research process?

The specification of operational definitions

Why are multiple regression designs inferior to experimental designs?

They can only control for third variables (confounds) that are measured

One of the reasons that research studies are superior to personal experience is that

They include at least one comparison group

If a study does not actually measure what it is supposed to, his measure is said to lack what?

Validity

What is a scenario where you should be skeptical of an authority's research?

When they based their opinions on intuition