PL 361 WPRI Questions (Needs LSN9)

Summarize the five general ethical principles outlined by the American Psychological Association.

a. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence (pg 3 sup) i. Safeguard the rights and welfare of those with whom they interact professionally and other affected persons, and the welfare of animal subjects in research b. Fidelity and Responsibility i. Establish relationships of trust with whom they work with. They are aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. They strive to contribute a portion of their professional time for little or no compensation or personal advantage c. Integrity i. Seek to promote accuracy, honesty, truthfulness in the science, teaching and practice of psychology. Keep your promises and avoid unwise or unclear commitments. In situations where deception may be ethically justifiable to maximize benefits and minimize harm, psychologists have a serious obligation to consider the need for the possible consequences of and their responsibility to correct any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that arise from the use of such techniques d. Justice i. Fairness and justice entitle all persons to access to benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, ad services being conducted by psychologists. Their biases will not affect their practice e. Respect for People's Rights and Dignity i. Respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and self determination

Summarize the terminology of the experimental research strategy.

a. Define the independent variable. • The variable manipulated by the researcher (pg 250) b. Define the dependent variable. • The variable that is observed for changes to assess the effects of manipulating the independent variable. The dependent variable is typically a behavior or response measured in each treatment condition (pg 251) c. Define extraneous variables, to include the three general categories of extraneous variables. o From a sample to the general population o From one Research study to another o From a research study to a real world situation

Differentiate between primary and secondary sources.

a. Describe advantages and disadvantages of using a primary source. i. Primary source - a firsthand report of observations or research results written by individuals who actually conducted the research and made the observations ii. Examples: empirical journal articles, theses and dissertations, conference presentations of research results iii. Can be very thick and time consuming, but is more credible than a secondary source since it is a first-hand report b. Describe advantages and disadvantages of using a secondary source. i. Secondary Source - a description or summary of another person's work. A secondary source is written by someone who did not participate in the research or observation being discussed ii. Examples: books and textbooks in which the author describes and summarizes past research, review articles or meta-analyses, the introductory section of research reports, in which previous research is presented as a foundation for the current study, and newspaper and magazine articles that report on previous research iii. A textbook can summarize the studies of the primary sources in a couple of sentences, but they are always incomplete and the author has selected only bits and pieces of the original study which can be taken out to contribute to the theme of his/her writing

Summarize the types of observational research methods.

a. Describe naturalistic observation. • Researchers observe behaviors in a natural setting as unobtrusively as possible (pg 201) • Extremely time consuming despite its ability to describe real world behavior b. Describe participant observation. • The researcher engages in the same activities as the people being observed in order to observe and record their behavior (pg 202) c. Describe contrived observation. • The observer sets us a situation that is likely to produce the behaviors to be observed so that it is not necessary to wait for them to occur naturally (pg 202) d. Describe field studies. • There is some manipulation on some other variable in a field setting. The participants still don't know that this is an experiemnt

Differentiate the types (modalities) of measurements used in behavioral research

a. Describe self-report measures. b. Having someone fill out a form for an opinion c. Good because it may give insight on things that cannot be seen d. Bad because if you develop your own questions it could cause bias e. Describe physiological measures. f. Things that aren't visually observable are seen through equipment g. Good because it observes unseen attributes, accurate and precise h. Bad because it requires resources i. Describe behavioral methods. j. Watching behavior of an individual or a group k. Good because it requires less resources and you are observing people in nature l. Bad because some attributes cannot be examined through behavior alone, also hard to isolate variables

Describe the issue of avoiding biased language.

a. Describe the appropriate level of specificity (70) b. Be sensitive to labels c. Acknowledge participation d. Topic i. Gender ii. Sexual Orientation iii. Racial and Ethnic Identity iv. Disabilities v. Age vi. Historical and Interpretive Inaccuracies

Summarize the various methods to quantify behavior in an observational study.

a. Describe the frequency method. • Involves counting the instances of each specific behavior that occur during a fixed time observation period (pg 198) b. Describe the duration method. • Involves recording how much time an individual sends engaged in a specific behavior during a fixed-time observation period (pg 199) c. Describe the interval method. • Involves dividing the observation period into a series of intervals and then recording whether a specific behavior occurs during each interval (pg 199

Summarize the methods for controlling extraneous variables.

a. Describe the method of holding a variable constant. • Making the same environment for all those being observed, but can hold negative consequences to the external validity of the experiment (pg 262) b. Describe the method of matching values across treatment conditions. • The average value is the same for all treatments for both gender or not (pg 262) c. Describe the method of control by randomization, to include the use of random assignment as a method of control. • The use of a random process to help avoid a systematic relationship between two variables (pg 263) d. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each method of control. • First two active methods require some extra effort, typically used for only 1 or 2 variables identified as real threats for confounding the data, randomization can control a wide variety of variables simultaneously, not guaranteed to be successful (pg 266

Differentiate the four scales (or levels) of measurement

a. Describe the nominal scale. • Differentiates between items or subjects based only on their names and other qualitative classifications they belong to (gender, nationality, ethnicity, genre, style...) b. Describe the ordinal scale • Allows for rank order by which the data can be sorted, but still does not allow for relative degree of difference between them (sick vs healthy, guilty vs innocent for dichotomous data and completely agree, mostly agree, mostly disagree or completely disagree when it is non-dichotomous) c. Describe the interval scale. • Allows for a degree of difference between items, but not the ratio between them (temperature on a scale for Celsius) d. Describe the ratio scale. • Measurement is the estimation of the ratio between a magnitude of a continuous quantity and a unit magnitude of the same kind

Summarize biases in self-report measurement.

a. Describe the social desirability response bias. • Research participants are concerned with how they will be perceived and evaluated by the researcher and other participants (pg 99) b. Describe acquiescence and nay-saying response styles. • Acquiescence - Showing a tendency to agree with statements regardless of the content (pg 100) • Nay-saying - tending to disagree with statements regardless of the content • Both have very minor effects c. Describe a response set - the tendency to respond to questions in a specific way that is unrelated to the content of the question. For example, a participant who responds "agree" on every item of a questionnaire, regardless of the content, would be demonstrating a response set.

Define the control group.

a. Describe the use of a no-treatment control group. • A treatment condition in which the participants do not receive the treatment being evaluated (pg 266 b. Describe the use of a placebo-control group. • Placebo effect - refers to a response by the participant to an inert medication that has no real effect on the body. The placebo effect occurs simply because the individual thinks the medication is effective (pg 267)

Summarize the techniques that can be used when recording behavior.

a. Describe time sampling. • Involves observing for one interval, then pausing during the next interval to record all the observations (pg 199) b. Describe event sampling. • Involves identifying one specific event or behavior to be observed and recording during the first interval; then the observer shifts to a different event or behavior during the second interval and so on (pg 199) c. Describe individual sampling • Involves indentifying one participant to be observed during the first interval, then shifting attention to a different individual for the second interval and so on (pg 199)

Describe the steps of the research process. (pg 26 for table)

a. Find a research idea: Select a topic and search the literature to find an unanswered question (pg 27) b. Form a hypothesis and a prediction (pg i. Logical, Testable, Positive in Relationship and Refutable c. Determine How You Will Define and Measure your Variables (pg 32) i. The variables need to be very defined and specific so they can be tested d. Identify and select the participants or subjects for the study (pg 33) e. Select a research study f. Select a research design g. Conduct the study h. Evaluate the data i. Report the results j. Refine or reformulate your research idea

Define the concept of behavioral variability.

a. How and why behavior varies across situations, among people and over time. Understanding behavior and mental processes really means understanding what makes behavior and mental processes vary (pg 36 Sup) b. It varies across situations, among individuals and over time

Describe the purpose of a literature search.

a. Literature search - find a set of published research reports that define the current state of knowledge in an area and to identify and unanswered question—that is, a gap in that knowledge base—that your study will attempt to fill (pg 49)

Describe the four characteristics of a good hypothesis.

a. Logical - premise leading to a conclusion (pg 28) b. Testable - something that can be observed and have all variables measured c. Refutable - at least one characteristic must be able to be proven wrong d. Positive - it should prove about the existence of something, usually the existence of a relationship, the existence of a difference or the existence of a treatment effect (pg 30)

Describe the steps of the scientific method (SR).

a. Observe Behavior or other Phenomena (pg 16) i. Induction is often usually happens here b. Form a Tentative Answer of Explanation (pg 17) i. Identify variables from observation 1. Variables - characteristics or conditions that change or have different values for different individuals c. Use Your Hypothesis to Generate a Testable Prediction (pg 18) i. Application of the hypothesis and applying it to a specific, observable, real-world situation ii. Often involves deductive reason using a general statement as the basis for reaching a conclusion about specific examples d. Evaluate the Prediction by Making Systematic, Planned Observations (pg 20) i. This is the research or data collection phase e. Use the Observations to Support, Refute, or Refine the Original Hypothesis (pg 20) i. This is comparing the actual observations with the predictions that were made from the hypothesis

Describe the use of abbreviations.

a. Overuse - made a judgment on whether or not justifies the time saved versus mastery (pg 106) b. Underuse - some things may need to written out completely in long papers c. Do not switch between using it and then not d. Often used abbreviations (pg 108) e. Latin abbreviations f. Scientific abbreviations g. List of common abbreviations (pg 109)

Summarize the common sources of research topics.

a. Personal Interests of Research Topics (pg 42) i. What interests you, what you are curious about, what course you have taken b. Casual Observation i. Watching animals or behavior that you encounter daily c. Practical Problems or Questions i. Issues with your job, family relationships, schoolwork, questions you also encounter daily ii. Applied research - research that is directed toward solving practical problems iii. Basic research - studies that are intended to sole theoretical issues d. Vague or Fleeting Thoughts i. Flashes of inspiration, haphazard and sporadic e. Reading Reports of Others' Observations i. Formal and informal sources that can lead to other questions you may have about something. Personal ads, cartoons, advertising, articles, more likely to find something in a journal or research article f. Behavioral Theories i. Watch for theories that offer explanations for behavior or try to explain different environmental factors lead to different behaviors

Differentiate science from pseudoscience.

a. Pseudoscience - is a system of ideas, often presented as science, but actually lacking some of the key components that are essential to scientific research (pg 24) b. The primary distinction between the two is based on the notion of testable and refutable hypothesis. A theory is scientific only if it can specify how it can be refuted or it has to be able to say that something would prove it wrong while. Pseudoscience only discounts the other option c. Science actively tests and challenges its own theories and adapts the theories when new evidence appears d. Science demands an objective and unbiased evaluation of all available evidence e. Scientific theories are grounded in past science

Describe the basic purpose of a good research paper/report.

a. Research project - provide three kinds of information (pg 488) b. A written description of a research study that includes a clear statement of the purpose of the research, a review of the relevant background literature that led to the research study, a description of the methods used to conduct the research, a summary of the research results, and a discussion and interpretation of the results i. What was done ii. What was found iii. How your research study is related to other knowledge in the area

Describe the three principles that govern scientific investigations.

a. Science is Empirical (pg 21) i. Answers are obtained through making observations ii. *Picture of the process of scientific inquiry on pg 22* b. Science is Public (pg 23) i. The scientific method makes observations available for evaluation by others, especially other scientists c. Science is Objective (pg 24) i. The observations are structured so that the researcher's biases and beliefs do not influence the outcome of that study

Summarize the research tools available for performing library research.

a. Table 2.1 pg 47 b. PsycINFO - historical documentation with current information as well c. Psyc Articles - current issues in psychology d. ERIC - education resources for education related research e. Medline - medical information and medicine

Define research ethics.

a. The Ethics Code is designed to provide guidance for psychologists and standards of professional conduct that can be applied by the APA and by other bodies that choose to adopt it. The ethics of research allow professional judgment on the part of psychologists, eliminate injustice or inequality that would occur without the modifier, ensure applicability across the broad range of activities conducted by psychologies, guard against a set of rigid rules that might be quickly outdated (pg 2 sup)

Summarize the common mistakes made in choosing a research topic.

a. The Topic Does Not Interest the Student (pg 44) i. If it doesn't interest you, you often procrastinate and do not show interest. Allow for a lot of time to find a subject b. The Topic Is Too Safe or Too Easy i. Don't do something too familiar or else you might lightly research so you can teach yourself and learn something about the subject c. The Topic is Too Difficult i. If the literary information is a bunch of complex scientific jargon, try and look at something else and not waste time trying to understand it for that project d. The Topic is too Broad i. It isn't bad at the beginning stages of the research, but it needs to be shrunk into a single research idea so that the research project has a specific direction e. Sticking With the First Topic That Comes to Mind i. Do not hyperfocus on one subject without considering other possibilities of research. Don't commit too early since that will also help you to get to something more refined f. Inadequate Literature on the Topic i. If the angles to the subject do not exist, then it will be extremely difficult to conduct research with. You may also want to check your databases

Describe the process of conducting a literature search (the steps of a literature search).

b. Figure 2.6 pg 36 i. Start with a general idea of a topic area or a behavior ii. Use recently published secondary sources such as textbooks to narror down your focus and obtain a list of subject words and author names iii. Use subject words and author names in an online database to locate primary source journal articles iv. Weed out items that are not directly relevant. Most can be eliminated based on the title; of those remaining, many can be eliminated by the abstract. Skim the introduction and discussion sections of the remaining articles to determine their relevance v. Once you have a handful of recent, relevant articles, use the references from the articles to look for new subject words and author names vi. Use the new subject words and author names in an online database search. Continue until you no longer find new items

Abstract.

c. Should be about 150-250 words, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article a. Should be b. Accurate c. Concise and specific d. Nonevaluative e. Coherent and readable f. Should Describe g. Background and/or purpose (1 sentence) h. Hypothesis (1 sentence) i. Sample (1 sentence) j. Design (1 sentence) k. Method and measures (2 sentences) l. Results (2-3 sentences) m. Conclusions (1-2 sentences)

Results.

gg. Organized in terms of hypotheses hh. Summarizes statistical analyses of the data collected ii. Use of table or figures

Describe the method of authority.

i. A person finds answers by seeking out an authority on the subject, this can mean consulting an expert directly or going to a library or a website to read the works of an expert, usually a good starting point and the easiest way to get answers, could represent subjective and not pure knowledge from the expert (pg 8) ii. "expert witnesses"

Describe the issue of fraud in science, along with the safeguards against fraud.

i. Cannot fabricate data ii. You cannot withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify their substantive claims through reanalysis and who intent to use such data only for that purpose

Describe the element of organization.

i. Impersonal Style - make objective (pg 491) ii. Verb Tense - use they past tense when describing past events iii. Reducing Biased Language - free of implied or irrelevant evaluation of groups iv. Citations - avoid plagiarism v. Levels of heading - check out all 5 levels (pg 62) vi. Seriation - helps the reader understand the organization of key points within sections, paragraphs and sentences, separating paragraphs in a series (pg 63)

Describe the method of intuition.

i. Information is accepted as true because it "feels right," relying on instinct to answer questions, when we have no relevant information or cannot refer to supporting data, we refer to this (pg 7) ii. "gut feeling, feel like"

Describe the method of tenacity.

i. Involves holding on to ideas and beliefs simply because they have been accepted as facts for a long time or because of superstition. It is based on habit or superstition, information is usually not accurate (pg 6) ii. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks, opposite attract"

Describe the empirical method.

i. Known as empiricism, attempts to answer questions by direct observation or personal experience, this method is a product of the empirical viewpoint in philosophy which holds that all knowledge is acquired through senses, limited in you don't directly experience and is time consuming and dangerous sometimes (pg 13) ii. "touch, smell, hear, taste, see"

Describe the rational method.

i. Known as rationalism, involves seeking answers by logical reasoning. We begin with a set of known facts or assumptions and use logic to reach a conclusion or get an answer to a question, argument with premise statements, limited in the sources that you draw from (pg 10) ii. All 3-year olds are afraid of the dark, Amy is a 3-year old, Therefore, Amy is afraid of the dark

Define systematic variance.

i. Part of the total variability in participants' behavior that is related in an orderly, predictable fashion to the variables the researcher is investigating (pg 43)

Describe the issue of plagiarism, along with the guideline provided to help prevent plagiarism.

i. Psychologists do not represent portions of other person's work as their own. If psychologists discover significant errors in their published data, they take reasonable steps to correct such errors in a correction, retraction, erratum or other appropriate publication means. ii. They give full authorship to those who deserve it and do so appropriately

Describe the obligation to protect participants from physical or psychological harm.

i. Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational cliencts, and other with whom they work and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable

Describe the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

i. The IRB is used as a tool to approve questions or issues that arise through conducted research concerning ethics and serves as a backstop for regulations and actions that could be taken by the psychologists ii. They are in place as a checks and balances. iii. They ensure: 1. Minimize risk to participants 2. Reasonable risk in relation to benefits 3. Equitable selection 4. Informed consent 5. Documentation of informed consent 6. Data monitoring 7. Privacy and confidentiality

Define error variance.

i. The portion of the total variance that is unrelated to the variables under investigation of the study, more often it is simply the result of factors that remain unidentified in a study (pg 45)

Describe a participant's right to confidentiality.

i. They have an obligation to take precautions to protect confidential information obtained through or stored in any medium, limits of confidentiality may be regulated by law or stabled by institutional rules or professional or scientific relationships ii. Communicating electronically provides limits to confidentiality

Describe the principle of informed consent (to include the three components involved in informed consent).

i. When you conduct research or provide assessment, therapy, counseling, or consulting services in person or any other way, they must get informed consent of the individual(s) using understandable language except when mandated by law or governmental regulation ii. If the person is unable to give consent, they must provide and appropriate explanation, seek the individuals assent, consider the persons' preferences and best interests and obtain it from a legally authorized person.

Describe the element of clarity.

i. Word Choice - words mean what they say (pg 68) ii. Colloquial expressions - avoid them iii. Jargon - avoid the ridiculous words, just keep it simple if possible iv. Pronouns - they confuse readers, keep it impersonal v. Comparisons - ambiguous or illogical comparisons are a no go vi. Attributions - inappropriately or illogically attributing action in an effort to be objective can be misleading

Discussion.

kk. Statement of support or nonsupport of hypotheses ll. Evaluation and interpretations of findings within the context of previous literature mm. Implications/applications for the field nn. Limitations oo. Future directions pp. Cite the previous research!

Factorial

o Multiple independent variable o 3x3 means two independent variables with three variations

One-way designs

o Studies the effects of one independent variable o Allows us to explore the effects of an independent variable in greater depth o How this affects that

Introduction.

o. Introduce the problem p. Explore the importance of the problem q. Describe relevant scholarship r. Avoid unnecessary details s. Emphasize pertinent findings, relevant methodological issues, major conclusions t. Organize review of prior research thematically u. Logical continuity between previous and present work v. State hypothesis and their correspondence to research design

Method.

x. Participants y. Description of sample, to include sample size and major demographic characteristics z. Sampling procedures aa. Materials/Measures bb. Materials used to collect data cc. Methods used to enhance quality of the measurement (e.g., training and reliability of assessors) dd. Procedure ee. Additional subsections as needed

Describe the purpose of survey research. Give an illustration.

• A research study that uses a survey to obtain a description of a particular group of individuals (pg 205) • People's attitudes towards an upcoming election

Describe proportionate stratified random sampling.

• A sample is obtained such that the proportions in the sample exactly match the proportions in the overall population (pg 149)

Summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of a within-subjects design. (Differences outlines pg 308)

• Advantages o Has no issues with individual differences between groups or within each treatment condition  Generally require few participants  Minimize the likelihood of selection bias  Each participant serves as his/her own control or baseline  Few sources of variability - more powerful than BS designs • Disadvantages o Participant attrition - come of the individuals who start the research study may be gone before the study is completed (pg 313)  Fatigue effects  Practice effects  Time-related or order-related effects  Greater potential for participant attrition  Need to develop equivalent sets of materials  Greater likelihood of influence of demand characteristics

Summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of a between-subjects design.

• Advantages o Participant's score is not influences by factors as - practice or experience gained in other treatments, fatigue or boredom from participating in a series of different treatments, contrasting effects that result from parting one treatment to another • Disadvantages o Individual differences (assignment bias) and environmental variables

Describe demographic research.

• Concerned with describing patterns of basic life events and experiences such as birth, marriage, divorce, employment, migration and death (pg 114)

Summarize the relation between correlation and causality.

• Correlation does not imply causality (pg 157)

Describe the guidelines suggested for creating a well-organized survey.

• Demographic Questions - age, gender, level of education...(pg 211) • Sensitive questions or items that may cause embarrassment are put in the middle of the survey • Questions dealing with the same general topic should be grouped together as well as questions of the same format • If participants are going t read the survey, the format for each page should be relatively simple and uncluttered • Vocabulary and language style should be easy for participants to understand

Describe simple random sampling.

• Each individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected, sometimes added is that each selection is independent of the others (pg 145) • Clearly define the population from which you want to select a sample, list all the members of the population, use a random process to select individuals from the list • Sampling can occur with or without replacement

Describe the two major sources of confounding that exist in a within-subjects design.

• Environmental variables - characteristics of the environment that may change form one treatment condition to another • Time related factors - the design usually requires a series of measurements made over time(pg 314)

Describe the methods used to ensure the objectivity of behavioral observations.

• Habituation - requires repeated exposure until the observer's presence is no longer a novel stimulus (pg 198) • Behavior Categories - developing a set of behavior categories means that before observation begins, we identify the categories of behavior we want to observe and then list exactly which behaviors count as examples of each category (pg 198)

Describe the two major sources of confounding that exist in a between-subjects design.

• Individual differences - personal characteristics that different from one participant to another (pg 283) - assignment bias • Environmental variables - any characteristics of the environment that may differ (pg 286)

Describe cluster sampling.

• Instead of selecting individuals from a population, you can select clusters of groups such as classrooms to get the same numbers for the sample desired. It is relatively quick and easy, the measurement can often be done in groups (pg 150

Define internal validity.

• It produces a single, unambiguous explanation for the relationship between two variables (pg 170)

Describe the methods used to address the impact of the observer's presence.

• It s essential that the behaviors are not disrupted or influenced by the presence of an observer (pg 197) • It requires some degree of subjective interpretation by the observer

Summarize the common methods for administering surveys, to include a description of strategies to improve response rates and the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

• Mail Surveys - relatively simple and easy, but it can be time consuming and expensive o Nonresponse bias - the individuals who return surveys are usually not representative of the entire group who receive them • Telephone surveys - calling up individuals and asking them questions o Keep it short, practice reading the questions aloud, beware of interviewer bias • Internet Surveys - they are economical and efficient medium for reaching a large amount of people o Easy to find people of a specific demographic and characteristics, extremely flexible, but it presents issues with identity since they are using the internet • In-Person Surveys and Interviews - interviewing participants in person o Can be done with single participants, but it is time consuming and should be done with a small group o Interviewer bias can contort the sample (pg 216)

Describe quota sampling

• Making a quota before finding the sample, such as gender, helps eliminate bias (pg 153)

Summarize how manipulation is used in an experiment to 1) determine the direction of a cause-and-effect relationship, and 2) eliminate the third-variable problem.

• Manipulation - consists of identifying the specific values of the independent variable to be examined and then creating a set of treatment conditions corresponding to the set of identified values (pg 255) • Third variable problem - although a study may establish that two variables are related, it does not necessarily mean that there is a direct (causal) relationship between the two variables. It is always possible that a third (unidentified) variable is controlling the two variables and is responsible for producing the observed relation (pg 252) • Directionality Problem - although a research study may establish a relationship between two variables, the problem is determining which variable is the cause and which is the effect (pg 252)

Describe the four basic elements of an experimental study.

• Manipulation - researcher manipulates one variable by changing its value to create a set of two or more treatment conditions (pg 248) • Measurement - a second variable is measured for a group of participants to obtain a set of scores in each treatment condition • Comparison - the scores in one treatment condition are compared with the scores in another treatment condition. Consistent differences between treatments are evidence that the manipulation has caused changes in the scores • Control - all other variables are controlled to be sure that they do not influence the two variables being examined

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of observational research designs

• Naturalistic o Positives - behavior observed in the real world, useful for nonmanipulated behaviors, actual behaviors observed and recorded o Negatives - time consuming, potential for observer influence, potential for subjective interpretation (pg 204) • Participant Observation o Positives - when natural observation is impossible, get information not accessible otherwise, participation gives unique perspective o Negatives - time consuming, potential for loss of objectivity, increases chance for observer influence • Contrived observation o Positive - do not have to wait for behaviors to occur o Negative - less natural

Define a between-subjects design.

• Obtain each of the different groups of scores from a separate group of participants. For example, one group of individuals is given a list of one-syllable words to memorize and a separate group receives a list of two-syllable words. This type of design, comparing scores from separate groups is the between-subjects design (pg 280)

Differentiate between the use of open-ended questions, restricted questions, and rating-scale questions, to include a description of the advantages and disadvantages of each type of question.

• Open-ended question - introduces a topic and allows participants to respond in their own words (pg 206) o Allows for flexibility, but can allow for too much slack and they are difficult to summarize • Restricted Questions - presents the participant with a limited number of response alternatives, thereby restricting the response possibilities, like multiple choice (pg 207) o Easy to summarize and analyze • Rating Scale Questions - requires a participant to respond by selecting a numerical value on a predetermined scale (pg 208)\ o Participants tend to avoid extreme values so the scale is effectively reduced by two categories o Participants have trouble discriminating more than 9 or 10 different levels

Summarize the methods used to control for time-related and order effects in within-subjects designs.

• Order Effects o Carryover effects - are changes in behavior or performance that are caused by the lingering aftereffects of an earlier treatment condition o Progressive error - refers to changes in participant's behavior or performance that are related to general experience in a research study but not related to a a specific treatment or treatments • Randomization • Holding them constant • Matching across treatment conditions (pg 317)

Differentiate between a population and a sample.

• Population - the entire set of individuals of interest to a researcher. Although the entire population usually does not participate in the research study, the results from the study are generalized to the entire population (pg 138) • Sample - a set of individuals selected from a population and usually is intended to represent the population in a research study (pg 138)

Differentiate between probability sampling and nonprobability sampling.

• Probability sampling - the entire population is known, each individual in the population has a specifiable probability of selection, and sampling occurs by a random process based on the probabilities (pg 145) • Random process - a procedure that produces one outcome from a set of possible outcomes, the outcome must be unpredictable each time, and the process must guarantee that each of the possible outcomes is equally likely to occur (pg 144) • Nonprobability sampling - the population is not completely known, individual probabilities cannot be known, and the sampling method is based on factors such as common sense or ease, with an effort to maintain representativeness and avoid bias (pg 144)

Summarize the methods used to create equivalent groups in a between-subjects design.

• Random Assignment - the group assignment process is limited to ensure predetermined characteristics (such as equal size) for the separate groups (pg 287) • Matching Groups - involves assigning individuals to groups so that a specific variable is balanced, or matched, across groups. The intent is to create groups that are equivalent (or nearly equivalent) with respect to the variable matched (pg 288) • Holding variables constant or restricting range of variability (pg 289)

Define external validity.

• Refers to the extent to which we can generalize the results of a research study to people, setting, times, measures, and characteristics, other than those used in that study (pg 168)

Describe reliability.

• Reflective of the construct we are trying to measure

Describe the issues related to selecting relevant and representative individuals.

• Relevant - many surveys address a specific issue that is relevant to only a small subset of the general population so people who are relevant to the study should participate • Representative - They should not be too restricted, identify the group to be described and be sure to diversify your participants to represent the whole group (pg 212)

Describe convenience sampling.

• Researchers simply use as participants those individuals who are easy to get (pg 151)

Define a within-subjects design.

• The different groups of scores all can be obtained from the same group of participants. For example, one group of individuals is given a memory test using a list of one-syllable words, and the same set of individuals is also tested using a list of two syllable words. Thus the researcher gets two sets of scores, both obtained from the same sample (pg 280)

Describe survey research.

• The most common, used often to inquire about people's attitudes, lifestyles, behaviors, and problems, its goal is to provide a description of people's behaviors, thoughts or feelings (pg 110) • Respondents provide information about themselves by completing a questionnaire or answering an interviewers questions • Cross-sectional survey design - a single group of respondents - "cross section" of a population - is surveyed • Successive independent samples survey design - two or more samples of respondents answer the same questions at different points in time • Longitudinal or Panel Survey deign - a single group of respondents is questioned more than once

Describe the use of the observational research design.

• The researcher observes and systematically records the behavior of individuals to describe the behavior (pg 197)

Summarize the three criteria needed to infer causality

• They must be found to covary, to correlate • We must show that the presumed cause precedes the presumed effect in time • Al extraneous factors that might influence the relationship between the two variables are controlled or eliminated (pg 157)

Summarize possible sources of threats to external and internal validity.

• Threat to external validity - Any characteristic of a study that limits the ability to generalize the results from a research study (pg 168) • Threat to internal validity - any factor that allows for an alternative explanation (pg 170)

Describe the use of descriptive research.

• To describe the characteristics or behaviors of a given population in a systematic and accurate fashion, not designed to test the hypothesis, but rather is conducted to provide information about the physical, social, behavior, economic, or psychological characteristics of some group of people (pg 109)

Describe stratified random sampling.

• To obtain this kind of sample, first identify the specific subgroups (or strata) to be included in the sample, then we select equal-sized random samples from each of the pre-identified subgroups using the same steps as in simple random sampling, finally we combine the subgroup samples into one overall sample (pg 147)

Define the experimental group.

• To the treatment condition in an experiment (pg 266

Describe epidemiological research.

• Used to study the occurrence of disease in different groups of people, mostly conducted by medical researchers to study patterns of illness, but psychologists use this to study how illnesses and injuries are affected by people's behavior and lifestyles and because it deals with describing the prevalence and incidence of psychological disorders (pg 114)

Describe systematic sampling

• Very similar to simple random sampling, it begins by listing all the individuals in the population then randomly picking a starting point on the list. The sample is then obtained by moving down the list and selecting every nth name (pg 146)

Describe the issues to consider when determining how many participants to include in a sample.

• Want to avoid (pg 141) o Biased sample - a sample with different characteristics from those of the population o Selection bias or sampling bias - when participants or subjects are selected in a manner that increases the probability of obtaining a biased sample • Things that are good o Representative sample - a sample with the same characteristics as the population

Describe the use of correlational research.

• When researchers are interested in questions regarding whether variables are related to one another, they use this research method. It s used to describe the relationship between two or more naturally occurring variables (pg 143) • Pearson correlation coefficient - designed by the letter r, is the most commonly used measure of correlation, numerical ranges from -1.00 and +1.00 • Positive correlation 0 indicates a direct, positive relationship • Negative correlation - indicates in inverses, negative relationship between two variables

Describe the characteristics of a confounding variable.

• any other possible explanations for observed changes in the experiment that must be ruled out to allow the causal relationship to be valid (pg 257) • only confounding if it influences the dependent variable