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| the results of carefully and systematically recored observations |
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| general set of procedures used to gain information in the sciences |
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| belief in practice based on faith and chance, magic or irrational feelings (subjective) |
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| knowledge that we aquire without conscious reasoning (subjective) |
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| information learned from reports of a trustworthy and credible source(objective) |
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| superstition, intuition, authority, rational-inductive |
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| primary method of knowledge acquision in non-scientific disciplines, based on texts of authors, historical contexts; learner draws conclusions about authors beliefs, learner forms own rational arguments (objective but arguing suceptible to bias) |
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| prediciton of what causes a certain phenomenon to occur |
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| flaws in the design of a study that allow for competing explinations of the results |
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| what the researcher changes or manipulates in an experiment |
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| levels/conditions of the IV |
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| different ways in which the independent variable is varied |
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| the group of participants given the treatment being tested |
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| the group of participants that does not recieve the treatment being tested |
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| what the experimenter measures in both the experimental and control groups |
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| subject variable/attribute variable |
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| a characteristic of the participants that can be measured (selected but not manipulated ex. gender) |
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| a goal of scientific research, to describe when behavior is likely to occur (identifies and describes phenomenon so explanations of these phenomena may be proposed |
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| description, explanation & prediction, control |
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| a goal of research, to explain phenomena (attempt to offer reasons why a phenomenon occurs) |
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| an objective of research, to predict when behaviors or phenomena will occur(hypotheses derived and tested from explanations) |
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| a goal of research in psychology, to control some behaviors by understanding their causes |
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| research with results that are immediatly relevant in a practical setting |
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| research whose results may be of no immediate practical use |
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| a set of related statements that explain and predict phenomena |
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| specific statements expressed in the form of a mathematical equation whose accuracy is beyond a reasonable doubt |
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| statements that predict a phenomenon with a certain level of probability |
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| statements based on personal feelings and subjective knowledge about things that can't be tested scientifically |
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| the assumption that, of two equally accurate explanations, the one based on simpler assumptions is preferrable(preference for simplicity in an explanation) |
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| the criteria by which theories are evaluated on how precisely they are stated. a more precisely stated theory is considered better than one containing vague statements |
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| criteria for a theory (4) |
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| parsimony, precision, testability, accuracy |
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| it must be possible to prove the theory wrong |
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| ablity to fit the known facts and predict new ones |
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| institutional review boards (IRB) |
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| comites of individuals with diverse backgrounds who review proposals for research with human participants |
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| a form given in advance to each participant in a research project; it describes the purpose of the study and what the participant will be asked to do and includes any known risks or benefits of the study |
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| American Psychological Association (APA) |
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| a national organization of psychologists and people in related fields |
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| APA ethical principles in the conduct of research |
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| guidelines generated by the APA for conducting research in which people are the participants |
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| the potential for physical or psychological harm to a research participant (a primary ethical concern) |
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| a sitiuation in which the risk to the participants of a research project is no greater than that encountered in daily life |
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| lying to, or misleading research participants (should only be conducted when no alternative procedure is available) |
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| consent given without coercion or pressure to comply |
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| fully explaining the purpose of the experiment to the participants, usually after the experiment is over |
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| a researcher participant who poses as a participant |
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| secrecy of the identity of research participants |
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| an invisible physical or psychological buffer zone or boundry around a person |
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| APA principles for the care and use of animals |
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| guidelines for the use of animals in research |
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| acts in which a researcher modifies or lies about data so that the results of the research will be more impressive |
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| the consistency of which the same results are obtained from the same test instrument or procedure |
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| a definition that tells the reader exactly what was done; to produce a phenomenon or to measure some variable |
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| the extent to which a measurement technique measures what it purports to measure |
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| the extent to which the design of an experiment ensures that the IV, and not some other variable or variables, cause the measured difference in the DV's |
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| the confound arising when behavior differences in a study are caused by the participation of different experimenters |
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| cues the participants use to determin what is expected of them in a study |
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| the extent to which the results of an investigation can be generalized beyond the original study |
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| factors other than the IV that could possibly effect the outcome of the study |
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| all of the individuals to whom the research project is meant to generalize |
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| all members of the population are equally likely to be chosen |
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| convenience sample/accidental sample |
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| a sample composed of individuals who happen to be at the right place at the right time |
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| assigning participants to experimental conditions within an investigation in a manner such that each participant is equally likely to be assigned to each condition |
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| the prediction that there is no differece between the groups being compared (statement that no relationship exists among the variables that were tested) |
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| alternative hypothesis (H1) |
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| prediction that there is a relationship among the variables that were tested |
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| a type of alternative hypothesis in which the researcher simply predicts that the two groups being compared will differ, but does not predict the direction of that difference |
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| a type of alternative hypothesis in which the researcher predicts the direction of the difference between the groups being compared |
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| rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true |
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| failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false |
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| the probability of making a type I error |
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| a difference between two descripitive statistics-such as means-that is of such a magnitude as to be unlikely to have occured by chance alone |
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| the distribution of sample means, as opposed to a distribution of individual scores |
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| the area of sampling distribution beyond the critical value of the test statistic. if the score falls within the region of rejection, the Ho (null hypothesis) is rejected |
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| the probability of making a type II error |
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| the liklihood of finding a true difference (1-B) |
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| summerization and analysis of data |
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| steps in conducting scientific research |
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1)identify a topic
2)learn about the topic
3)form a hypothesis
4)design a study
5)collect data
6)analyze data
7)interpret results
8)communicate results |
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| a variable that can't be manipulated (ex. gender, personality, skills) |
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