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Study Guide Ch. 2
Research in Psychology
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Importance of Critical Thinking | - important for scientific inquiry. Assessing claims and making judgements on the basis of well supported evidence. |
5 Questions of Critical Thinking | 1. What am I being asked to believe or accept? 2. What evidence is available to support the assertion? 3. Are there alternative ways to interpret data? 4. what additional info would help evaluate assertions? 5. what conclusions are most reasonable? |
Hypothesis | A specific testable prediction about some phenomenon. |
Theory | Set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related to one another. (theory -> hypothesis -> experiment) |
Hindsight (after-the-fact) | Past events can be explained in multiple ways. The reason we have may not have caused the specific event that we've seen. |
Good Theory | 1. Organize info in a meaningful way 2. Testable and generates a new hypothesis 3. supported by findings of new research 4. simpler is better (law of parsimony) |
Statistical Reliability | The degree to which independent measurements of a given behavior are consistent or the same. |
Validity | Degree to which an experiment or variable measures what it is intended to measure. |
Variable | Any characteristic or factor that can vary. |
Operational Variable | Defines it in terms of the specific procedure/method. |
Data | The number that represents facts used as a basis for reasoning, reaching conclusions, or analysis. |
Participants | Being observed |
Naturalistic observations | observation in normal environment adv : large amounts of descriptive data dis : observer bais, self-consciousness, may never see something interesting. |
Surveys | Set of questions asked to a group about beliefs, attitudes, preferences, or activities. uses-> gathering data, learning about options problems-> sampling errors, poorly phrased questions, self report measure. |
Correlational Research | Examining relationships between variables. |
Experimental Design | Set up of an experiment. |
Experimental Design Vs. Quasi experiment | Experimental -> Not randomly assigned Quasi -> Randomly assigned. |
Placebo Effect | When people show a change in behavior because of expectancy. |
Experimenter Expectancy | Subtle and unintentional ways the experimenter influences the outcome. |