Term
| What is the scientific method? |
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Definition
| a 5 step process for empirical investigation of a hypothesis under conditions designed to control biases and subjective judgments |
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Term
| What is Empirical investigation? |
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Definition
| an approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data |
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Term
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Definition
| a testable explanation for a set of facts or observations. In science a theory is not just speculation or a guess |
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Term
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Definition
| A statement predicting the outcome of a scientific study; a statement describing the relationship among variables in a study |
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Term
| What are operational definitions? |
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Definition
| specific descriptions of concepts involving the conditions of a scientific study. Operation definitons are stated in terms of how the concepts are to be measured or what operatons are being employed to produce them |
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Term
| What is an independent variable? |
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Definition
| a stimulus condition so named because the experimenter changes it independently of all the other carefull controlled experimental conditions |
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Term
| What is a random persentation? |
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Definition
| a process by which chance alone determines the order in which the stimulus is presented |
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Term
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Definition
| pieces of information especially information gathered by a researcher to be used in testing a hypothesis |
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Term
| What is a dependent variable? |
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Definition
| the measured outcome of a study, the responses of the subjects in the study |
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Term
| What does it mean to replicate? |
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Definition
| in research, this refers to doing a study over to see whether the same results are obtained. As a control for bias, replication is often done by someone other than the researcher who performed the original study |
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Term
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Definition
| a kind of research in which the researcher controls all the conditions and directly manipulates the conditions including the independent variable |
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Term
| What is a confounding or extraneous variable? |
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Definition
| variable that has an unwanted influence on the outcome of an experiment |
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Term
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Definition
| constraints that the experimenter places on the experiment to ensure that each subject has the exact same conditions |
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Term
| What is random assignment? |
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Definition
| each subject of the sample has an equal likelihood of being chosen for the experimental group of an experiment |
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Term
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Definition
| research in which we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition |
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Term
| What is correlational study? |
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Definition
| a type of research that is mainly statistical in nature. correlation studies determine the relationship between two variables |
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Term
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Definition
| a quasi-experimental method in which questions are asked to subjects. When designing a survey, the researcher has to be careful that the questions are not skewed or biased toward a particular answer |
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Term
| What is a naturalistic observaton? |
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Definition
| a research method in which subjects are observed in their natural environment |
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Term
| What is a longitudinal study? |
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Definition
| a type of study in which one group of subjects is followed and observed for an extended period of time |
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Term
| What is a cross-sectional study? |
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Definition
| a study in which a representative cross section of the population is tested or surveyed at one specific time |
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Term
| What is a cohort-sequential study?(cross-sequential) |
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Definition
| a research method in which a corss section of the population is chosen and then each cohort is followed for a short period of time |
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Term
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Definition
| the researcher allowing personal beliefs to affect the outcome of a study |
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Term
| What is an expectancy bias? |
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Definition
| the researcher allowing his or her expectations to affect the outcome of a study |
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Term
| What is a double blind study? |
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Definition
| an experimental procedure in which both researchers and participants are uninformed about the nature of the independent variable being administered |
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Term
| What is the Institutional Review Board? |
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Definition
| a committee at each institution where research is conducted to review every experiment for ethics and methodology |
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Term
| Waht is the Code of Ethics? |
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Definition
| a set of obligations and rules concerning research done; is used to make sure that the research does not violate the ethics of people and the rights of the subjects |
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Term
| What are descriptive statistics? |
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Definition
| statistical prodecures used to describe characteristics and responses of groups of subjects |
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Term
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Definition
| a relationship between variables in which changes in one variable are reflected in changes in the other variable-as in the correlation between a child's age and height |
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Term
| What is a correlation coefficient? |
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Definition
| a number between -1 and +1 expressing the degree of relationship between two variables |
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Term
| What is inferential statistics? |
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Definition
| statistical techniques based on probability theory that are used to assess whether the results of a study are reliable or whether they might be simply the result of chance. Inferential statistics are often used to deterine whether 2 or more groups are essentially the same or different |
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Term
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Definition
| a sample group of subjects selected by chance without biased selection techniques |
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Term
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Definition
| a small group that represents the population |
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Term
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Definition
| the group of people in whom the researcher is interested |
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Term
| What is random assignment? |
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Definition
| means that everyone in the sample has an equal chance of being in each group |
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Term
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Definition
| one in which all the variables are controlled and doesn't recieve the treatment |
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Term
| What is an experimental group? |
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Definition
| one in which all the variabels are controlled, but one variable is changed |
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Term
| What are the 5 steps of the scientific method? |
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Definition
1.develop a hypothesis
2. perform a controlled experiment/test
3. gather objective data
4. Analyze the results
5. publish, criticize, and replicate the results |
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Term
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Definition
| data that can be measured and expressed as numbers |
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