Psych Ch. 2
what is data
all the information (all those numbers) researchers collect in a study
how do psychologists gain knowledge about mind and behavior
by the scientific method
the mode can be useful when
can be useful in cases in which info is desired about preference or popularity
definition of experiment
carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable
the ____ _____ _____ (_____) has a code of ethics that instructs psychologists to protect their participants from mental or physical harm
american psychological association (APA)
what is a hypothesis
an educated guess that derives logically from a theory. an expectation that can be tested.
one problem with surveys and interviews is the tendency of participants to
answer questions in a way that will make them look good rather than in a way that communicates what they truly think or feel
what is a variable
anything that can change
a control group in an experiment is
as much like the experimental group as possible and is treated in every way like the experiment group EXCEPT for that change
sometimes the best and quickest way to get information about people is to
ask them for it
what is experience sampling method (ESM)
assess people in their natural settings
what is the third variable problem
at times some other variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two others
theories tell us about the relations between
between variable on a conceptual level...... also: seek to explain why certain things have happened and can be used to make predictions about future observations
examples of moments that might inspire a scientific inquiry:
1) current events (protests) 2) social issues (low # of women in engineering professions) 3) personal experiences (interaction with child)
the APA's guidelines 4 important issues
1) informed consent 2) confidentiality 3)debriefing 4) deception
five steps of scientific method
1) observing some phenomenon 2) formulating hypotheses and predictions 3) testing through empirical research 4) drawing conclusions 5) evaluating the theory
why can research not a good idea in labs with participants?
1) participants know they are being studied 2) participants can behave unnaturally because the lab is not the real world 3) individuals willing to go to labs may not represent groups from diverse backgrounds 4) some aspects of mind and behavior are difficult to examine in a lab
examples of negative correlation
1) the longer the lecture, the lower your attentiveness 2) the more you party, the lower your test grade
examples of positive correlation
1) the longer the lecture, the more you yawn 2) the more you study, the higher your test grade
correlation does NOT
DOES NOT equal correlation
empirical researchers gain knowledge from observation of objective evidence, not
NOT simply relying on belief or theory
descriptive statistics reveal the
"big picture"--the overall characteristics of the data and the variation among them
data analysis means
"crunching" those numbers mathematically to see if they support predictions
the independent variable is the one that is
manipulated
as a good indicator of the central tendency for a group of scores, the ______ is the measure that is used most often
mean
what are the three measures of central tendency
mean, median, and mode
definition of standard deviation
measures how much scores vary, on average, around the mean of the sample
descriptive statistics can also give us
measures of disperion, which describe how much the scores in a sample differ from one another
independent variable is the
cause
what is the self-determination thoery
people are likely to feel fulfilled when their lives meet three important needs: relatedness (warm relations with others), autonomy (independence), and competence (mastering new skills)
a meta-analysis allows researchers to
conclude whether a result is consistent in the literature and to estimate the magnitude of the relationship between variables
in psychological research the standard is that if odds are 5/100 or less that the differences are due to chance, the results are what
considered statistically significant
an experimental group
consists of the participants in an experiment who are exposed TO the change that the independent variable represents
the degree of relation between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a
correlational coefficient
a key aspect of the process of testing hypotheses is
data analysis
descriptive research is about
describing some phenomenon--determining its basic dimensions and defining what this thing is, how often it occurs, etc.
what are the two basic categories of statistics
descriptive and inferential statistics
what are the three types of research
descriptive, correlational, and experimental
media reports of psychological info often leave out _____ about the nature of the sample used in a given study
details
the way you study your question of interest (ex.: butterflies, happiness) determines
determines whether your approach is scientific
what is external validity
refers to the degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address
what is internal validity
refers to the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are genuinely due to the manipulation of the independent variable
definition of validity
refers to the soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment
a key step after a study has been published is
replication
in experimental designs, what are the two types of validity that matter?
external validity and internal validity
descriptive research involves
finding out about the basic dimensions of some variable (ex.: average level of happiness for men in USA)
a case study provides information about one person's
goals, hopes, fantasies, fears, traumatic experiences, family relationships, health, etc.
one CANNOT apply conclusions from a
group to an individual
all the different things psychologists study are variables, including experiences like
happiness, gratitude, aggression, belongingness, conformity
what has James Pennebaker done
has conducted a number of studies that converge on the same conclusion: that writing about one's deepest thoughts and feelings concerning one's most traumatic life event leads to a number of health and well-being benefits
a theory can generate many what?
hypotheses
what is longitudinal design
involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time
what is a meta-analysis
is a statistical procedure that summarizes a large body of evidence from the research literature on a particular topic
what is a case study/case history
is an in-depth look at a single individual
what is the institutional review board (IRB)
it evaluates the ethical nature of research conducted at their institutions
what is a demand characteristic
it is any aspect of a study that communicates to participants how the experimenter wants them to behave
what is empirical method
it means gaining knowledge by observing objective evidence
what is replication of a study
it means repeating it and getting the same results
what is an operational definition
it provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study
what should people know about internal validity
know whether the experimental methods are free from biases and logical errors that may render the results suspect
correlational research is
interested in discovering relationships between variables (ex.: whether being married predicts greater happiness for men)
random assignment means
researchers assign participants to groups by chance
example of quasi-experimental
researchers comparing individuals who have been exposed to a natural disaster to a similar group not so exposed
descriptive research allows
researchers to get a sense of a subject of interest, but it cannot answer questions about how and why things are the way they are
about _____ percent of APA members use nonhuman animals in their research
5%
rats and mice account for how much of all psychological research with animals
90%
Science is defined not by ____ investigates but by _____ it investigates
WHAT....HOW
what is a theory
a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations
what is a confederate
a confederate is a person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated
the mean is NOT helpful when
a group of scores contains a few extreme scores
definition of placebo
a harmless substance that has no physiological effect
because operational definitions allow for the measurement of variables, researchers have
a lot of numbers to deal with once they have conducted a study
definition of independent variable
a manipulated experimental factor
one special type of study involves
a meta-analysis
what is a random sample
a sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected
what is a measure of central tendency
a single number that indicates the overall characteristics of a set of data
what is a prediction
a specific expectation for the outcome of a study
what is the correlation coefficient
a statistic that tells us two things about the relationship between two variables-- its strength and direction
although correlational studies cannot show a casual connection between variables, they
do allow us to use one variable to predict a person's score on another
direct replications means
doing the study precisely as it was conducted in its original form
conceptual replication means
doing the sudy with different methods or different types of samples
based on the results of the data analyses, scientists then
draw conclusions from their own research
what is the fourth step in the scientific method
drawing conclusions
dependent variable is the
effect
experimental research concerns
establishing causal relationships between variables (ex.: whether women perceive men more attractive when men smile)
what is the 5th and final step in scientific method
evaluating the theory
establishing an operational definition ensures that
everyone agrees on what a variable means (like one set definition of being kind to someone)
the purpose of correlational research is to
examine whether and how two variables CHANGE TOGETHER
random sampling ______ the chances that the sample is representative of the population
improves
dependent variable definition
in an experiment is the variable that may change as a result of manipulations in the independent variable
what is a double-blind experiment
neither experimenter administering the treatment nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental or control group until results are calculated
the final step in the scientific theory, evaluating the theory, is one that
never really ends
descriptive research methods include
observation, surveys, interviews, and case studies
the first step in conducting a scientific inquiry involves
observing some phenomenon in the world
definition of placebo effect
occurs when participants' expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce a particular outcome
what is research participant bias
occurs when the behavior of research participants during the experiment is influenced by how they think they are supposed to behave or by their expectations about what is happening to them
experimenter bias definition
occurs when the experimenter's expectations influence the outcome of the research
what are Likert scales
on survey: select a number from 1 (indicating not at all) to 7 (indicating very much)
in statistical language, 5/100 is a 0.05 level of statistical significance, or what
or the 0.05 confidence level
the dependent variable is the
outcome
people participating in psychological research should be what
should be no worse off coming out of the study than they were going in
the second step in the scientific method is
stating a hypothesis
ways to get information about people by asking is using
surveys and interviews
in order to _____ _______ about a sample, the researcher needs inferential statistics
test predictions
in empirical research, we learn about what?
we learn about the world conducting systematic inquiries, collecting data, and analyzing the information
what is the mean
the average (add all up then divide by the amount)
definition of population
the entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions
correlational research tells us about
the relation between two variables
what makes psychology a science
the scientific method
what is the median
the score that falls exactly in the middle of the distribution of scores from lowest to highest
what is mode
the score that occurs most often in the dataset
definition of sample
the subset of the population chosen by the investigator for the study
if more and more hypotheses related to a theory turn out to be true, then
the theory gains in credibility
when scientists consider to answer questions, they develop
theories
case studies can be very valuable as the first step of the scientific method because
they often provide vivid observations that can then be tested in a variety of ways through psychological research
the third step in the scientific method is
to test the hypothesis by conducting empirical research
correlation means only that
two variables change together
descriptive statistics definition
used to describe and summarize data---the mathematical procedures researchers have developed to describe and summarize sets of data in meaningful way
definition of inferential statistics
used to draw conclusions about data--- mathematical methods used to indicate whether the data sufficiently support a research hypothesis
the phenomena that scientists study are called
variables
what is naturalistic observation
viewing behavior in a real-world setting
when psychologists conduct a study, they usually want
want to be able to draw conclusions that will apply to a larger group of people than the participants they actually study
the researcher assesses external validity to see
whether the experimental methods and the results GENERALIZE--whether they apply to the real world