question

The first step in conducting scientific research

answer

observing some phenomenon

question

anything that can change

answer

variable

question

When trying to formulate a research question from your observation, your variable will be measured by this. you will eliminate any gray areas that might arise when thinking about a problem.

answer

operational definition

question

establishing this will eliminate any gray areas that might arise when thinking about a problem.

answer

operational definition

question

The second step in conducting scientific research is stating a

answer

hypothesis

question

an idea that is arrived at logically from a theory.

answer

hypothesis

question

The third step in conducting scientific research is to

answer

test the hypothesis

question

to test the hypothesis by collecting and analyzing what?

answer

data

question

One of the key aspects of testing a hypothesis is

answer

data analysis

question

This applies mathematical procedures to understand what the data mean.

answer

data analysis

question

are the information collected in a study

answer

data

question

Based on what was found after data analysis, researchers can do what from their research?

answer

draw conclusions

question

A research finding is considered reliable when a study has been

answer

replicated again and again and yields similar findings

question

involves investigating the parameters of a variable

answer

Descriptive research

question

this type of research allows the researcher to develop a sense for something but does not answer the how and why of a situation.

answer

Descriptive research

question

For observations to be effective, they must be ____ Researchers must know what they are looking for, who they are observing, where and when observations will take place, and how observations will be made.

answer

systematic

question

One method to gain information about people

answer

interview them directly

question

When information needs to be taken from a large group of people

answer

survey or questionnaire

question

consists of questions about a person's self-reported attitudes or beliefs about a topic.

answer

survey

question

This can either be unstructured and open ended, or they can be structured and more specific

answer

survey

question

why are Surveys and interviews can be problematic?

answer

because sometimes participants will answer the questions in a way they believe is socially acceptable instead of how they really feel.

question

conducted when a researcher takes an in-depth look at a single individual.

answer

case study

question

is usually conducted by a clinical psychologist when the unique aspects of an individual's life cannot be duplicated in other individuals.

answer

case study

question

is conducted when studies are concerned with identifying the relationships between two or more variables so it can be understood how the variables change together.

answer

Correlational research

question

when the variables are measured by the researcher to see how they relate.

answer

Correlational research

question

The strength of the relationship between two variables is expressed as

answer

correlation coefficient

question

represented as a lowercase r

answer

correlation coefficient

question

The numeric value of a correlation coefficient falls between

answer

-1.00 and +1.00

question

where the ______ determines the strength of the relationship between the variables and the _____ sign determines the direction of the relationship between the variables

answer

number, - or +

question

when the variables move in the same direction, so that if one variable increases the other variable also increases, and if one variable decreases the other variable decreases as well.

answer

positive correlation

question

occurs when the variables move in opposite directions, so that if one variable increases the other variable decreases, and vice versa.

answer

negative correlation

question

Correlation does not equal ____

answer

causation

question

A correlation between two variables states only that there is

answer

a relationship between the two variables, not that one of the variables causes the other one.

question

occurs when an extraneous variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two variables.

answer

third variable problem

question

Even with the risk of a third variable, correlational studies are important, because they allow us to

answer

research variables that cannot be manipulated.

question

Correlational studies can also be conducted on variables that would be considered

answer

unethical to carry out in an experiment.

question

can be used when researchers are interested in everyday experience

answer

Correlational studies

question

Correlational studies can be used when researchers are interested in everyday experience is called?

answer

experience sampling method (ESM)

question

this can consist of writing in a diary or recording a measurement of some kind upon being reminded to do so by an electronic organizer

answer

experience sampling method (ESM)

question

Another way of controlling for causation is by conducting a

answer

longitudinally designed study

question

study in which the measures of the variables are obtained in multiple waves over time

answer

longitudinally designed

question

If there is a relationship between two variables, the researcher must use WHAT to determine the direction of the causality.

answer

experimental methods

question

In an ____ the researcher manipulates one of the variables to see if it influences the behavior in question.

answer

experiment

question

If the behavior changes when one of the variables is manipulated, then the manipulated variable is considered to have caused the

answer

behavior to change.

question

USED BY Researchers by dividing a study's participants randomly into two different groups.

answer

random assignment

question

is the variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

answer

independent variable

question

is the result of manipulating the independent variable.

answer

dependent variable

question

Researchers measure changes in which variable?

answer

dependent variable

question

is a person given a role in an experiment in order to manipulate the social context.

answer

confederate

question

is the group whose variable is manipulated.

answer

experimental group

question

is exactly like the experimental group, except that there is no manipulation of the variable

answer

control group

question

this group is used as a comparison group.

answer

control group

question

a caution involved in experimental research that refers to whether the experimental design is representative of real-world issues

answer

External validity

question

a caution involved in experimental research that refers to whether changes in the dependent variable are actually due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

answer

Internal validity

question

occurs when the experimenter's expectations influence the results of the study.

answer

Experimenter bias

question

are any aspects of a study that communicate to the subject how the researcher wants them to behave.

answer

Demand characteristics

question

occurs when the participant's behavior during an experiment is influenced by how the participant believes he or she is supposed to be behaving

answer

Research participant bias

question

occurs when the participant's expectations produce an experimental outcome, even though the participant did not receive any manipulation.

answer

A placebo effect

question

is an innocuous, inert substance that has no effect on the behavior of the participants. However, participants are kept unaware of this, so that they believe they actually received the manipulation.

answer

placebo

question

One method to control for both experimenter and participant bias is to conduct a

answer

double blind experiment

question

In this type of experiment, neither the experimenter nor the participant is aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group.

answer

double blind experiment

question

The researcher wants to be able to draw conclusions from the results that will apply to a larger group of people or animals.

answer

population.

question

The group that the study uses is called the ____. It is a subset of the population

answer

sample

question

as a way to more closely resemble the population, a researcher uses a

answer

random sample

question

Choosing a random sample means that each member of the population has an

answer

an equal chance of being selected

question

takes place in a controlled environment from which the complex factors of the real world are removed

answer

Laboratory research

question

the participants know that they are being studied; the laboratory setting is unnatural; is considered?

answer

drawbacks to conducting laboratory research

question

the participants who go to a university setting to take part in laboratory research may not be representative of the general population; is considered?

answer

drawbacks to conducting laboratory research

question

some aspects of the mind and behavior are difficult to examine in a laboratory. is considered?

answer

drawbacks to conducting laboratory research

question

When research is conducted in a natural setting, it is

answer

naturalistic observation

question

In such research, people's behaviors are being observed in real-world situations. this is called?

answer

naturalistic observation

question

The consideration of THIS came about after Nazi doctors in concentration camps used prisoners as guinea pigs in their experiments.

answer

ethical standards

question

Subjects in a research study should be no worse off after participating in the study. is considered?

answer

ethical guideline

question

Colleges and universities have what are termed ______ that evaluate the ethical nature of research studies before approving them.

answer

institutional review boards

question

This has developed guidelines for researchers to follow when conducting research involving human participants.

answer

The American Psychological Association (APA)

question

Researchers must obtain the _____ of the participants prior to the start of the experiment

answer

informed consent

question

Is an ethical guideline where the participants must know in advance what will be involved in the experiment and what, if any, risks there might be.

answer

informed consent

question

Researchers are responsible for the maintaining the _____ of all the data collected from the participants in the experiment.

answer

confidentiality

question

After an experiment has been conducted, the researcher is responsible for _____ the participants

answer

debriefing

question

Part of ethical guideline where the participants are informed of the experiment's purpose and the methods that were used in the experiment.

answer

debriefing

question

THIS is allowed in an experiment if telling the participants in advance about the expected outcome of the study could potentially alter the participants' behavior and therefore invalidate the results of the experiment.

answer

Deception

question

Experiments using animals as research subjects have provided a better understanding of and solutions for many ____

answer

human problems

question

The APA has established guidelines for researchers to use in housing, feeding, and maintaining the psychological and physiological well-being of ____ subjects.

answer

animal

question

The issue of ____ in psychological research (the standards for judging what is worthwhile and desirable) is two sided.

answer

values

question

ONE SIDE OF VALUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH: psychologists believe that psychology should be ____ and ____ neutral

answer

value-free, MORALLY

question

ONE SIDE OF VALUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH: people believe that because psychologists are humans, they cannot be _____.

answer

value-free

question

is the using of an ethnic label in a superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more homogeneous than it really is.

answer

Ethnic gloss

question

the three key terms in PSYCHOLOGY definition

answer

science, behavior, and mental processes.

question

uses systematic methods to observe human behavior and draw conclusions

answer

psychology science

question

The goals of THIS are to describe, predict, and explain behavior.

answer

psychological science

question

psychologists are often interested in ___ or ____behavior and use ____ to examine interventions that might help, for example, reduce violence or promote happiness.

answer

controlling or changing; scientific methods

question

This type of research involves finding out about the basic dimensions of some variable

answer

Descriptive research

question

this type of research is interested in discovering relationships between variables

answer

Correlational research

question

this type of research is concerned with establishing causal relationships between variables

answer

Experimental research

question

is about describing some phenomenon—determining its basic dimensions and defining what this thing is, how often it occurs, and so on

answer

Descriptive research

question

By itself, this type of research cannot prove what causes some phenomenon, but it can reveal important information about people's behaviors and attitudes

answer

descriptive research

question

this type of research methods include observation, surveys and interviews, and case studies.

answer

descriptive research

question

For observations to be effective, they must be

answer

systematic

question

THIS presents a standard set of questions, or items, to obtain people's self-reported attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic.

answer

SURVEY

question

can measure only what people think about themselves

answer

SURVEY

question

if we are interested in studying a variable that we think is unconscious, like a psychodynamic drive, we cannot use a

answer

SURVEY

question

One particular problem with surveys and interviews is the tendency of participants to answer questions in a way that will make them ____ rather than in a way that communicates what they truly think or feel

answer

look good

question

Another challenge in survey construction is that when questionnaires are used to operationally define

answer

variables

question

is an in-depth look at a single individual

answer

case study, or case history,

question

Case studies are performed mainly by ______when, for either practical or ethical reasons, the unique aspects of an individual's life cannot be duplicated and tested in other individuals

answer

clinical psychologists

question

provides information about one person's goals, hopes, fantasies, fears, traumatic experiences, family relationships, health, or anything else that helps the psychologist understand the person's mind and behavior and can also involve in-depth explorations of particular families or social groups.

answer

case study

question

provide dramatic, detailed portrayals of people's lives, but we must be cautious about applying what we learn from one person's life to other people

answer

Case histories

question

allows researchers to get a sense of something but cannot answer questions about how and why things are the way they are

answer

Descriptive research

question

tells us about the relationships between variables, and its purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together

answer

Correlational Research

question

looks at a co-relationship

answer

Correlational Research

question

____is so named because of the statistical technique, that is typically used to analyze these type of data.

answer

Correlational research

question

the key feature to this type of study is that the variables of interest are measured or observed to see how they relate

answer

Correlational research

question

the degree of relationship between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a

answer

correlational coefficient

question

The correlation coefficient is a statistic that tells us two things about the relationship between two variables which are?

answer

its strength and its direction

question

The number or magnitude of the correlation tells us about the _____of the relationship.

answer

strength

question

The closer the number is to ___, the stronger the relationship

answer

±1.00

question

The sign _____tells us about the direction of the relationship between the variables.

answer

(+ or -)

question

A ______sign means that as one variable increases, the other also increases

answer

positive

question

A _____ sign means that as one variable increases, the other decreases

answer

negative

question

A _____correlation means that there is no systematic relationship between the variables.

answer

zero

question

Correlation does not equal

answer

causation

question

These "third variables" are also called

answer

confounds

question

a collection of measurements

answer

Data

question

summary descriptions of data (i.e., mean, medium, range)

answer

Statistics

question

Used to describe or summarize sets of data to make them more understandable

answer

Descriptive Statistics

question

Which of the following research methods allow researchers to determine causality? Survey studies, correlation studies, experimental studies

answer

Experimental studies

question

Randomly choosing a group of 50 students from a roster of all students in a school and inviting them to participate in a study would be an example of one way to ____.

answer

obtain a random sample

question

A population is

answer

the entire group of people researchers want to draw conclusions about

question

Dr. Aoki used double-blind procedures in his experiments to reduce the potential for ____ and ___.

answer

experimenter bias and participant bias

question

In a ____, neither the participants nor the experimenter know which group has received the treatment.

answer

double-blind experiment

question

The placebo effect can weaken the ____ of an experiment.

answer

internal validity

question

Demand characteristics can threaten the _____ of a study.

answer

internal validity

question

____ refers to the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable and nothing else.

answer

internal validity

question

___ refers to the degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address.

answer

External validity

question

In an experiment, the group that is NOT subjected to a treatment condition is known as the _____ group.

answer

control

question

In an experiment, the ____ is conceptualized as the "cause" and the _____ is conceptualized as the "effect. "

answer

independent variable / dependent variable

question

Independent variables are ____.

answer

manipulated by researchers

question

In an experiment the ______ is manipulated by the researcher and its effects on the _____ are measured.

answer

independent variable / dependent variable

question

Professor Jones is studying drug use among high school students. If she uses random sampling, it will strengthen the ____ of her study.

answer

external validity

question

Longitudinal research involves ______.

answer

obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time

question

Professor Mendez found that the correlation between students' life stress scale score and his or her final grade was -. 80. This correlation coefficient indicates a _____ relationship between the two variables.

answer

strong negative

question

Professor Jordan has suggested to his students that as study time increases, grades increase. The professor is describing a ____.

answer

positive correlation

question

_____ provide an objective description of how variables are going to be measured and observed in a particular study.

answer

Operational definitions

question

Which of the following is NOT an example of a descriptive research method? surveys and interviews, observations, experiments, case studies

answer

Experiments

Psychology- Chapter 1 Scientific Method – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards