Research Methods Ch 2 Final

What are the considerations when choosing the levels of an independent variable?

1. Cover as much of the range as practical: You never know what may happen in another time frame. 2. Have enough values tested not to miss any important relationships: 3. Pay attention to the underlying scale of the IV when picking values. To be a variable something has to vary. To ensure no confounding variables exist every other variable must be kept constant, or the same across conditions.

Dependent variable

A measure of the subject's behaviour that reflects the independent variable's effects. Response that the person or animal makes. May be a score on some test or behavioural response that can be measured.

Hypothesis

A prediction from theory. It is a statement that is assumed to be true for the purpose of testing its validity. If A is true B should follow. Must be testable to be useful.

Paradigm

A set of laws, theories, methods, and applications that form a scientific research tradition. for example - Pavlov conditioning.

What is a paradigm?

A set of laws, theories, methods, and applications that form a scientific research tradition. for example - Pavlov conditioning. Progress in science often involves a major shift in theories and assumptions known as a paradigm shift, rather than a steady accumulation of knowledge.

Operational definition

A statement of the precise meaning of a procedure or concept within an experiment.

Construct validity

A test that a measurements actually measure the constructs they are designed to measure, but no others.

Internal consistency

Different questions, same construct.The degree to which the various items on a test are measures of the same thing.

Face validity

Idea that a test should appear superficially to test what it is supposed to test. It refers to the transparency or relevance of a test as it appears to test participants. Asking for an evaluation of face validity is always a good idea. Having a fresh pair of eyes examine a protocol or planned test can point out flaws and issues which might not be apparent to the creator. Ex. Projective tests like Rorschach Test have a serious problem with validity. People wonder how ink blots are associated with personality?

Criterion validity

Idea that a test should correlate with other measures of the same theoretical construct. Relate closely to other measures of the same theoretical construct. Valid intelligence test should correlate highly with other intelligence tests.

Content validity

Idea that a test should sample the range of behaviour represented by the theoretical concept being tested. Ex. Intelligence test should measure general knowledge, verbal ability, spatial ability, quantitative skills.

Cause

If X then Y. Reason for some sort of phenomenon

Discovery of regularities

One of the major goals of science: Description, Discovering law, The Search for Causes.

Law

Statement that certain events are regularly associated with each other in an orderly way.

Measurement

The process of assigning a numbers to events or objects according to rules.

Reliability

The property of a consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on different occasions.

Reliability Measurement

The property of a consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on different occasions. Is one that shows consistency over time. A valid measurement is one that reflects accurately the variable under study.

Falsifiability

The property of a good theory that is capable of disproof.

Interrater

Type of reliability of measurement. If you have 2 observers watching the same behaviour, their scores should agree with each other.

Error variance

Variability in the dependent variable that is not associated with the independent variable

Type of validity in relation to tests and measurement.

a. Construct validity b. Face validity c. Error variance

Four types of measurement scales

a. Nominal b. Ordinal c. Interval d. Ratio

Theory

A statement or set of statements explaining one or more laws, usually including one indirect concept needed to explain the relationship. See broader term in questions.

Construct validity

A test that measurements actually measure the constructs they are designed to measure, but no others. Ex. Musical aptitude test should not require too much reading ability.

List and explain the purpose and procedures in reviewing the literature.

AUTHORSHIP. PUBLISHING BODY. POINT OF VIEW. CONNECTION TO LITERATURE. VERIFIBLITY. CURRENCY SEARCH (Research topic must be narrowed down to a manageable size. Literature review is essential to help you understand what is currently know about a problem. Check for books in your area of interest in the library. If no books, consult textbooks. Review articles have been published in journals that are relevant to your topic. Skim through the books and journal articles to get an overview of the topic. Once done you can dig dipper - look up the references suggested by the article and books to get first hand knowledege of the important research on your topic. AUTHORSHIP Is author a well known authority? If not, is the author's work cited approving by a known authority? If not, can you find biographical information that would validate the author's credentials? THE PUBLISHING BODY Who sponsors the site? Is the site linked to respected organization? Information that exists only on a personal website should be considered highly suspect. POINT OF VIEW Does the organization sponsoring the website have a biased point of view? Information provided by corporations should be considered advertisements. Be careful of political organizations and advocacy groups. CONNECTION TO THE LITERATURE Are there references to other works in the field? Are the appropriate theories discussed? Are controversies acknowledged? VERIFIABILITY Is there information that would allow you to verify methodology? CURRENCY Is there a date on the document that would allow you to evaluate the timeliness of the information? HOW THE SEARCH ENGINE DETERMINES ORDER OF HITS Much of the info obtained on the internet is found by using search engines such as Google or Bign. Some search engines sell space to advertisers. How does the search engine you use determine the order of information listed?)

IQ of 120 "twice as smart" as a person with an IQ of 60? Why, or why not?

Amount of differences between people can be meaningfully represented by the IQ score. However IQ in not a ratio scale. IQ is not a measurement that is an estimation of the ratio between a magnitude of a continuous quantity and a unit magnitude of the same kind (This is a ratio scale def.). IQ is an example of an Interval Scale value. Values can be treated mathematically, but zero on the scale does not indicate a total absence of the variable being measured. allows for the degree of difference between items, but not the ratio between them

What is the difference between continuous and discrete variables?

If a variable can take on any value between its minimum value and its maximum value, it is called a continuous variable; otherwise, it is called a discrete variable. Continuous variable - One that falls along a continuum and is not limited to a certain number of values. Some quantitative variables can take any value on a continuum. Not limited to certain values, such as whole numbers or discrete bins. Measure - latency, force, duration. Commonly measured in discontinuous fashion it is necessary to distinguish between the real limit of a measure from apparent limits. Discrete variable - One that falls into separate bins with no intermediate values possible. A variable whose value is obtained by counting. Examples: number of students present number of red marbles in a jar number of heads when flipping three coins students' grade level value is whole number and not in fractions. A discrete variable is a variable that can only take on a certain number of values. In other words, they don't have an infinite number of values. If you can count a set of items, then it's a discrete variable. The opposite of a discrete variable is a continuous variable. Continuous variables can take on an infinite number of possibilities.

Distinguish between independent variables and dependent variables. Give examples.

Independent variable - The condition manipulated or selected by the experimenter to determine its effect on behaviour. Cause some change in the value of the DV. Is the stimulus of stimulus-response psychology. Stimulus equivalent to cause. Dependent variable - A measure of the subject's behaviour that reflects the independent variable's effects. Response that the person or animal makes. May be a score on some test or behavioural response that can be measured. Duration - amount of time that behaviour lasts. Latency - the amount of time between an instruction and when the behaviour is actually performed. Topography - the shape or style of behaviour. Force - intensity or strength of behaviour. Locus - where the behaviour occurs in environment. Frequency - The number of times behaviour is performed Rate - number of times that a behaviour is performed relative to time.

Variable

Is an aspect of the testing condition that can change or take on different characteristics with changes in conditions.

What is a hypothesis? How is a hypothesis related to a theory? Give an example.

It is a statement that is assumed to be true for the purpose of testing its validity. THEORY - PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN IS PRoCESSED SIMILAR TO PHYSICAL PAIN. Hypothesis - If A is true B should follow. Ex. If people take pain relievers when their feelings are hurt, they will feel better or they won't; it cannot feel both better and worse.

According to Sir Karl Popper, can a theory be proven true? Why, or why not?

No theory can never be proven true but it can be falsified, meaning that it can and should be scrutinized by decisive experiments. If RESULTS CONTRADICT THEORY. DON'T THROW OUT. A theory must be capable of being tested in an unambiguous way. It must make a definite prediction that can be proven right or wrong. A theory must not only be tested but it must be capable of being proven wrong.

Theory development

One of the major goals of science: A theory is originally based on empirical observations, and, once it has been developed, predictions about the theory must be tested through empirical observations. If the predictions are confirmed, evidence is provided that the theory is useful as an explanation for the given event. If the predictions are refuted, either the theory has to be abandoned or modified to account for the data, or a more sensitive test of the theory needs to be devised.

Description (Describing Behaviour)

One of the processes in the discovery of regularities: First step is to describe the phenomena. Define events and entities such as stimuli and responses, cognitions and beliefs, or neuroses and psychoses.

The Search for Causes

One of the processes in the discovery of regularities: Goal of science is to understand the world, another way to say this is scientists search for the causes of the events we observe. What do the cases have in common? How do the cases differ from some similar cases? Does the magnitude of the effect vary with the magnitude of some other event? Keep in mind - Often overlook real cause. Some events are just coincidences. The real cause is another event that is correlated with the suspected cause. Causes cannot happen after their effects.

Discovering Laws (Discovering lawful relationships among aspects of behaviour)

One of the processes in the discovery of regularities: Law - Statement that certain events are regularly associated with each other in an orderly way. Not necessary to have perfect relation between two variables to have a law. So not have to state cause-effect relationships. Can be part of the same activity as description.

Guiding Research

One of the roles of theories in science. Good theory suggest new experiments and helps researchers choose alternative ways of performing them. Suggest new studies that can be performed to establish that new law.

Predicting New Laws

One of the roles of theories in science. Suggests places to look for new laws. Results of experiment demonstrate how a theory can lead to new laws of to a new phenomena.

Organizing Knowledge and Explaining Laws

One of the roles of theories in science. Theory pulls together the collection of descriptions and laws into a unified framework. The better the theory the more events and laws it can explain. The more specific and precise the explanation the better the theory. Theories that are mathematically are considered better than theories that state relationships only in general terms. A broad theory can explain more laws and instances but with less precision.

Other Goals

One of the roles of theories in science. Ultimate goal of science. Knowledge of the laws allow us to predict occurrence of behaviour.

Continuous variable

One that falls along a continuum and is not limited to a certain number of values. Some quantitative variables can take any value on a continuum. Not limited to certain values, such as whole numbers or discrete bins. Measure - latency, force, duration. Commonly measured in discontinuous fashion it is necessary to distinguish between the real limit of a measure from apparent limits. i. Real limits - the interval defined by the number plus or minus half the distance to the next number. ii. Apparent limits - the point indicated by the number. A continuous variable is a variable whose value is obtained by measuring. value is Examples: height of students in class weight of students in class time it takes to get to school distance traveled between classes The value is in fractions. EX. Suppose the fire department mandates that all firefighters must weigh between 150 and 250 pounds. The weight of a firefighter would be an example of a continuous variable; since a fire fighter's weight could take on any value between 150 and 250 pounds.

Discrete variable -

One that falls into separate bins with no intermediate values possible. A variable whose value is obtained by counting. Examples: number of students present number of red marbles in a jar number of heads when flipping three coins students' grade level value is whole number and not in fractions. A variable that can only take on a certain number of values. In other words, they don't have an infinite number of values. If you can count a set of items, then it's a discrete variable. The opposite of a discrete variable is a continuous variable. Continuous variables can take on an infinite number of possibilities. EX. Suppose we flip a coin and count the number of heads. The number of heads could be any integer value between 0 and plus infinity. However, it could not be any number between 0 and plus infinity. We could not, for example, get 2.5 heads. Therefore, the number of heads must be a discrete variable.

Ratio Scales. What are its properties?

One type of measurement scale. A measure having a meaningful zero point as well as all the properties of the other scales. Utimate nirvana when it comes to measurement scales because they tell us about the order, they tell us the exact value between units, AND they also have an absolute zero-which allows for a wide range of both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied. NUMBER SYSTEM PROPERTIES REPRESENTED BY ASSIGNMENT RULE: Similarities and differences, rank order, magnitude of differences between people, ratios of properties between individuals, meaningful zero point. PERMISSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS: Multiplication by a positive constant only. Ex. List of veggies in preference but use zero point with meaningful distance. Demonstrate if you like one veg twice as much as another. Give number twice as large. Dislike negative number. Ex. Steven's law of sensation magnitude

Interval Scales. What are its properties?

One type of measurement scale. A measure in which the differences between numbers are meaningful; includes both nominal and ordinal information. Are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but also the exact differences between the values. NUMBER SYSTEM PROPERTIES REPRESENTED BY ASSIGNMENT RULE: Similarities and differences, rank order, magnitude of differences between people. PERMISSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS: Addition of a constant, multiplication by a positive constant. Ex. List of veggies in preference with number ranking out 10 with meaningful distance to show scale of like or dislike. Ex. IQ

Ordinal Scales. What are its properties?

One type of measurement scale. A measure that both assigns objects and events a name and arranges them in order of their magnitude. It is the order of the values is what's important and significant, but the differences between each one is not really known. NUMBER SYSTEM PROPERTIES REPRESENTED BY ASSIGNMENT RULE: Similarities and differences, rank order. PERMISSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS: Any change that preserves order among members, including both below. Ex. List of veggies in order of preference. Ex. Preferences.

Nominal Scales. What are its properties?

One type of measurement scale. A measure that simply divides objects or events into categories according to their similarities or differences. Used for labeling variables, without any quantitative value. NUMBER SYSTEM PROPERTIES REPRESENTED BY ASSIGNMENT RULE: Similarities and differences. PERMISSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS: Any substitution of a number for another number that preserves similarities and differences including all below. Ex. List of veggies Ex. Types of defence mechanism.

Confounding variables

One whose effect cannot be separated from the supposed independent variable.

What is operational definition? Why is it desirable to use convergent operations?

Operationalism - view that scientific concepts must be defined in terms of observable operations. For example of a non-scientific concept - psychic ability - no operations exist. as it has no operational definition the concept is barred from science. Operational definition - A statement of the precise meaning of a procedure or concept within an experiment. Misuse - taking trivial definition of concept and attempting to build a theory on it. Ex. twiddle button as sign of anxiety. Relying on this measure would not be as good as using the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. Misuse - Considering every measure of concept as independent of every other measure. Converging operations - Using different operational definitions to arrive at the meaning of a concept. Much like the method a surveyor uses to locate a point on the ground. Marked from two or more independent locations in order to get a good fix on the triangulation.

Distinguish between quantitative and categorical variables. Give examples.

Quantitative variable - One that varies in amount. Ex. Speed of response. Loudness. Categorical variable - One that varies in kind. Ex. College major and gender.

Test-retest

Same people, different times. The degree to which the same test score would be obtained on another occasion. If the test is good it will have a high split-half correlation.

What is a law? Give an example of a law.

Statement that certain events are regularly associated with each other in an orderly way. Statement only concerns a single relationship between variables. Ex. Frustration causes aggression. Ex. People can recall seven bits of information that have been briefly presented.

Independent variable

The condition manipulated or selected by the experimenter to determine its effect on behaviour. Cause some change in the value of the DV. Is the stimulus of stimulus-response psychology. Stimulus equivalent to cause.

Validity of a Measurement

The property of a measurement that tests what it is supposed to test.

Validity of a measurement

The property of a measurement that tests what it is supposed to test.

How are variables related to theoretical concepts? Give an example.

Theory is a set of interrelated conceptions or ideas that describe a phenomena. Theory often contain statements of interrelated, lawlike generalizations. Because such statements describe a phenomena, they must be related to observational statements (i.e., variables) through correspondence rules. theory should specify the way in which each variable corresponds to a particular concept. Attibute going to study. (Example: Increasing anxiety will increase the affiliation motive. To test this theory, you must take the theoretical concepts of anxiety and affiliation motive and relate them to variables in the real world by means of operational definitions. Theory is an abstract statement. You must bring it down to cases. Measure anxiety by the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and affiliation by how close people sit to each other in the experiment. These 2 measures constitute the variables of the study. The scores of the variables of anxiety and distance apart are related to one another as tests of the hypothesis. The relationship between the two variables is taken as providing support for or against the theory that generates the experiment.)

What are the levels of an independent variable?

They are different values of an independent variable. Has at least two values. Wouldn't be a IV if it didn't have at least two. Variable of interest - a variable for which its roles in the cause and effect of an observed relationship is not clear. Subject variable - a difference between subjects that cannot be controlled but can only be selected.

Internal consistency

Type of reliability of measurement. Different questions, same construct.The degree to which the various items on a test are measures of the same thing. Ex. Kuder-Richardson-20 - university testing service routinely computes on all multiple-choice tests that it sores. The K-R-20 can be thought of a s computing all possible split-half correlations on a set of data and taking the average. The value of the K-R-20 can vary from 0.0, meaning complete disagreement to 1.0 perfect agreement.

Test-retest

Type of reliability of measurement. Same people, different times. The degree to which the same test score would be obtained on another occasion. If the test is good it will have a high split-half correlation. Ex. Retaking the SAT or GRE. A good test gives a similar score on two occasions.

What roles do theories play in science?

Ultimate goal of science is the development of a theory to explain lawful relationships that exist in a particular field. Theories guide research and in turn, are modified by research in a continuous cycle. 3 Functions - 1) Organize knowledge and explaining laws. 2) predicting new laws. 3) guiding research.

Define a theory, both in broad terms and in strict terms.

a. Broadly - a statement or set of statements about the relationships among variables. Number of laws tied together into a more general set of statements. Ex. Operant Conditioning - Skinner. b. Stricter sense - a statement or set of statements explaining one or more laws, usually including one indirect concept needed to explain the relationship. Ex. Information > Working memory > Processing> Long Term Memory CAN BE BROAD- GENERALIZED CONCEPTS OF BASE OF KNOWLEDGE OR NORMATIVE MEANING IT INCLUDES GOALS. NORMS AND STANDARDS.

Three processes in the discovery of regularities.

a. Description (Describing Behaviour) b. Discovering Laws (Discovering lawful relationships among aspects of behaviour) c. The Search for Causes

Understand the two major goals of science:

a. Discovery of regularities b. theory development

The role of theories in science

a. Organizing Knowledge and Explaining Laws b. Predicting New Laws c. Guiding Research d. Other Goals

Types of Reliability

a. Test-retest b. Internal consistency c. Interrater