basic research
research that answers fundamental questions about behavior
applied research
research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions for everyday problems
empirical research
based on systematic collection and analysis of data
scientific method
set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research; leads to an accumulation of knowledge
objective
free from personal bias or emotions of the scientist
laws
principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry
theory
integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many (not all) observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry
good theories
general (summarize many different outcomes)
parsimonious (provide simplest possible account of outcomes)
provide ideas for future research
falsifiable
falsifiable
variables of interest can be adequately measured, relationships between variables predicted by the theory can be shown through research to be incorrect
research hypothesis
specific and falsifiable prediction about a relationship between two or more variables
variable
any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places
conceptual variables
abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses
measured variables
variables consisting of numbers that represent conceptual variables
operational definition
precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable
deception
whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it; can be active or passive
Institutional Review Board
committee of at least five members whose goal it is to determine the cost-benefit ratio of research conducted within an institution
informed consent
conducted before a participant begins a research session; designed to explain research procedures and inform the participant of his/her rights during the investigation; may withhold some information that allows the study to work
debriefing
procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation
research design
the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data
descriptive research
research designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs
correlational research
research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge
experimental research
research in which initial equivalence among research participants in more than one group is created, followed by a manipulation of a given experience for these groups and a measurement of the influence of the manipulation
case study
descriptive record of one or more individual's experiences and behavior; typically done with people who have unusual experiences or characteristics, or people in particularly difficult or stressful situations
survey
measure administered through either an interview or a written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest
sample
the people chosen to participate in the research; represents the population
population
all the people the researcher wants to know about; represented by the sample
naturalistic observation
research based on the observation of everyday events
descriptive statistics
numbers that summarize the distribution of everyday events
normal distribution
data distribution shaped like a bell; can be described in terms of central tendency (point in distribution where data is centered around) or dispersion (spread)
arithmetic mean
arithmetic average; most commonly used measure of central tendency
median
score in the center of distribution (50% of scores are greater, 50% are less than)
mode
value that occurs most frequently in the distribution
standard deviation
the most commonly used measure of dispersion
scatter plot
visual image of the relationship between two variables
Pearson correlation coefficient
most common statistical measure of the strength of a linear relationship among variables
multiple regression
statistical technique based on correlation coefficients among variables that allows predicting a single outcome variable from more than one predictor variable
common-causal variable
variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the observed correlation between them
spurious relationship
relationship between two variables in which a common-causal variable produces and explains away the relationship
independent variable
the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter
dependent variable
measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation
random assignment to conditions
procedure in which the condition that each participant is assigned to is determined through a random process, such as drawing numbers out of an envelope or using a random number table
construct validity
the extent to which the variables used in the research adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure
reliability
the consistency of a measured variable
statistical significance
the confidence with which a scientist can conclude that data are not due to chance or random error
statistical conclusion validity
the extent to which we can be certain that the researcher has drawn accurate conclusions about the statistical significance of the research
internal validity
the extent to which we can trust the conclusions that have been drawn about the causal relationship between the dependent and independent variables
confounding variables
variables other than the independent variable on which the participants in one experimental condition differ systematically from those in other conditions
experimenter bias
situation in which the experimenter subtly treats the research participants in the various experimental groups differently; leads to invalid confirmation of the research hypothesis
double-blind experiment
both the researcher and the research participants are blind to condition (do not know which conditions the participants are assigned to)
external validity
the extent to which the results of a research design can be generalized beyond the specific way the original experiment was conducted
generalization
the extent to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables
replication
the process of repeating previous research which forms the basis of all scientific inquiry
meta-analysis
statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw conclusions about those studies