Module 2: Research Methods

Question 1

William James

Answer 1

the founder of the school of functionalism

Question 2

What contributes to psychology as a science?

Answer 2

asking questions and investigating in order to reveal things

Question 3

Description

Answer 3

explaining behaviors and values

Question 4

Prediction

Answer 4

what might happen in the future

Question 5

Control

Answer 5

drawing true conclusions from cause and effect relationships

Question 6

Explanation

Answer 6

understanding the “why” behind something

Question 7

Types of research studies

Answer 7

experimental, correlational, observational

Question 8

Experimental study

Answer 8

identifies the cause and effect relationship by manipulating IV to measure DV

Question 9

Condition

Answer 9

the variation of the IV that a participant is exposed to

Question 10

Correlational study

Answer 10

variable associations made when the IV can’t be manipulated due to ethical and/or practical limitations

Question 11

Alternative explanations

Answer 11

other reasons why a relationship might be present

Question 12

Correlation coefficient (r)

Answer 12

signifies strength of association; sign (+ or –) is the direction of association, and distance from 1 represents strength

Question 13

Observational study

Answer 13

no interactions are made with the study

Question 14

External validity

Answer 14

can the observations be generalized to norm population?

Question 15

Types of data analysis

Answer 15

descriptive statistics and inferential statistics

Question 16

Descriptive statistics

Answer 16

summarizes and organizes the data in an informational manner

Question 17

Inferential statistics

Answer 17

helps to draw conclusions from the data

Question 18

Data collection methods

Answer 18

coding behaviors, self-reporting, response performance, and psychophysiological assessment

Question 19

Individual variability

Answer 19

things cannot be generalized to universality because everyone is unique

Question 20

Operational definitions

Answer 20

described and measured definitions of variables

Question 21

Construct validity

Answer 21

ensure that what’s being measured was intended to be measured

Question 22

Reliability

Answer 22

a measurement that can be repeated with similar or same results

Question 23

Internal validity

Answer 23

controlled factors that interfere with cause-effect relationship

Question 24

Replication

Answer 24

are real findings being found?

Question 25

Direct replication

Answer 25

using exact same procedure as another study to produce same findings

Question 26

Conceptual replication

Answer 26

looking for an association between larger ideas, but not doing it in the exact same way

Question 27

Empiricism

Answer 27

observing the world and measuring aspects about it, involving data collection and analysis

Question 28

Scientific method

Answer 28

a systematic process for observing and measuring phenomena that includes research, theories, and hypotheses

Question 29

Theory

Answer 29

an explanation or model of how a phenomenon works

Question 30

Hypothesis

Answer 30

specific, testable prediction that is narrower than the theory it is based on

Question 31

Variable

Answer 31

something in the world that can be changed, manipulated, and measured by the researcher

Question 32

False positive

Answer 32

a study produces a statistically significant result by chance but there is no real effect

Question 33

HARKing

Answer 33

hypothesizing after the results are known instead of generating a theory beforehand

Question 34

p-hacking

Answer 34

testing the same hypothesis with variations of statistical tests until the result is significant

Question 35

Preregistration

Answer 35

documenting the hypotheses, methods, and analysis plans before a study is completed

Question 36

Meta-analysis

Answer 36

combines the findings of multiple studies to arrive at a conclusion

Question 37

Case study

Answer 37

a descriptive research method that involves the extensive examination of an atypical person/organization

Question 38

Participant observation

Answer 38

a descriptive study where the researcher is involved in the situation

Question 39

Naturalistic observation

Answer 39

the researcher is a passive observer, making no attempt to change behavior

Question 40

Directionality problem

Answer 40

there is a relationship between two variables, but it isn't clear which variable influenced the other

Question 41

Third variable problem

Answer 41

the researcher can't be sure that another unmeasured variable didn't cause differences

Question 42

Experimental group

Answer 42

the cohort of participants that receive the treatment being tested

Question 43

Control group

Answer 43

the participants who receive no treatment or a treatment that has no effect

Question 44

Confound

Answer 44

something that influences a DV and unintentionally vary between experimental conditions

Question 45

Experimentation averse

Answer 45

the tendency to prefer to receive untested treatment instead of participate in a randomized study

Question 46

Central tendency

Answer 46

a measure that represents the typical response or behavior of a group as a whole; i.e. mean

Question 47

Bayesian statistics

Answer 47

a group of statistics that combine existing beliefs with new data to update the likelihood that a belief is true