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GRE Psychology- Research Design
taken from Princeton Review
30
Psychology
Graduate
10/14/2011

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Term
Independent variable
Definition
the researcher is interested in the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The researcher manipulates the independent variable.
Term
Dependent variable
Definition
the researcher does not control the dependent variable but rather examines how the independent variable affects the dependent variable.
Term
Confounding variables
Definition
the researcher attampts to minimize or eliminate confounding variables. These are variables in the environment that might also affect the dependent variable and would blur the effect of the independent variable.
Term
Random sampling
Definition
the best way to get a representative or unbiased sample. Every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen for the sample.
Term
Longitudinal study
Definition
studying the same subjects at different points in the life span.
Term
cross-sectional
Definition
different subjects of different ages are compared
Term
cohort-sequential
Definition
combines longitudinal and cross-sectional appraoches
Term
double-blind
Definition
neither the subject nor the experimenter knows whether the subject is assigned to the treatment or to the control group.
Term
placebo
Definition
an inactive substance or condition disguised as a treatment to be used in the control group.
Term
predictive value
Definition
the degree to which an independent variable can predict a dependent variable.
Term
generalizability
Definition
the degree to which the results from an experiment can be applied to the real world.
Term
acquiescence
Definition
when people agree with opposing statements
Term
cohort effects
Definition
the effects that might result when a group is born and raised in a particular time period.
Term
demand characteristics
Definition
when subjects act in ways they think the experimenter wants or expects
Term
experimenter bias
Definition
when researchers see what they want to see
Term
Rosenthal effect
Definition
a form of experimenter bias - when a researcher sees what he wants to see. This is minimized in a double-blind experiment.
Term
Hawthorne effect
Definition
when subjects alter their behavior because they are being observed. This also applies to workers who are being observed.
Term
Nonequivalent control group
Definition
this problematic control group is used when an equivalent one cannot be isolated.
Term
placebo effect
Definition
when subjects behave differently just because they think that they have received a treatment.
Term
reactance
Definition
an attitude change in response to feeling that options are limited. In an experiment this might look like someone acting unnaturally because of a negative feeling about being in the experiment. An everyday life example is when someone becomes set on a certain flavor of ice cream as soon as they are told it is sold out.
Term
selective attrition
Definition
when the subjects that drop out of an experiment are different from those that remain. The remaining sample is no longer random.
Term
social desirability bias
Definition
when subjects do or say what they think they should
Term
illusory correlation
Definition
when a relationship is referred when there is in fact none.
Term
meta-analysis
Definition
a method that mathematically combines and summarizes the overall effects or research findings for a particular subject.
Term
scientific discipline
Definition
empiricism, verifiable, testable hypotheses, falsification
Term
descriptive research
Definition
beginning stages of research - basis of future undertakings. a mapping out of events in order to describe what is happening behaviorally.
Term
relational research
Definition
description of changes in one set of observations related to changes in another set. based on a working hypothesis drawn from descriptive research
Term
experimental research
Definition
the focus is on the cause the 'why'. manipulation of variables.
Term
Occam's Razor
Definition
"cut away" what is unnecessary in a research study.
Term
criteria of a good research idea
Definition
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