RESEARCH & STATISTICS

o What are the 3 types of psychological research? o Experimental o Descriptive o Correlational

o The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that we knew it was going to happen is called… o Hindsight Bias

o What is the only type of research that can show cause and effect? o Experiments!

o In an experiment, the research must make a prediction trying to show a relationship between 2 variables. What is this testable prediction called? o Hypothesis

o Researchers want their research to measure what it is meant to (it’s accurate). If it does, the research is. o Valid

o Research is considered reliable when it can be. o Replicated (recreating the study & get the same results)

o Whatever is being manipulated in an experiment is called the and what is being measured is called the. o If, then Independent Dependent

o Anything that causes change in the results of the experiment are called. o Confounding/extraneous variables

o In our experiment, the hypothesis was that Eating Cookies before the test would increase test scores. Name the independent, dependent, and 3 confounding variables. o Independent: the cookie o Dependent: the test scores o Confounding: weekend to study, were told the answers, Ms. Williams is awesome …

o When choosing participants for an experiment, they should be placed into 2 groups. Name each group and which receives the independent variable. o Experimental, Control o Experimental receives the independent variable

o What is often given to the control group to make them think they are in the experimental group? o Placebo-receive NONE of the independent variable o Ex: drug experiment, placebo is a sugar pill

o What is the purpose of having a random sample? o It is representative of the population because each person has an equal chance of being included in the research

o To minimize differences between the control and experimental groups are as much as possible, participants should be placed into groups using. o Random Assignment

o What is the procedure called when neither the researcher nor the participants know who is in the experimental group? o Double Blind

o In what type of descriptive research would you get a full, detailed picture of one person or small group? o Case Study

o Name the biggest weakness of case studies. o The findings are not always GENERALIZABLE to the entire population

o Name one positive and one negative about surveys. o Positive: cheap & easy way to collect data o Negatives: surveys are not always worded well, people are not always truthful, low response rate (maybe only 1 in 100 will respond)

o Name 2 important facts concerning a naturalistic observation. o Do not intervene in any way o Observe people in their natural environment o Cannot know what people are thinking/feeling because you are only observing their behavior

o What is the purpose of correlational research? o To explore the relationship between 2 variables

o What are the 3 measures of central tendency AND explain each? o Mean-average o Median-value in the middle o Mode-value that occurs most often

o Given these values, find the mean, median, and mode. o 10, 10, 8, 6, 1 o Mean: 7 o Median: 8 o Mode: 10

o What measure of central tendency is most affected by oultiers? o Mean

o What is the number that shows the strength of a relationship between 2 variables? o Correlation coefficient

o Which of the following has a stronger correlation? o +.03 o -.87 o +.80 o -.34 o -.87 o Remember the closer to +1 or -1 the stronger the relationship o The closer to 0 the weaker the relationship

o What is the range of the following values? o 17, 45, 15, 26, 38 o 30 o Remember, highest score-lowest score=range

o A correlation is STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT if the chances of it occurring by chance are less than %? o 5%

o Look at the following scatterplot. What type of relationship do you see? o Positive Correlation, both values are increasing o A negative correlation if one value is increasing and one is decreasing

o If participants in an experiment know that they are being studied, it could alter the results. What is this phenomenon called? o Hawthorne Effect

o What is the average distance from the mean called? o Standard Deviation

o In a normal distribution of scores, what percentage of the scores will fall within 1 standard deviation? o 68% o 95% within 2 SDs o 98% within 3 SDs

o What is it called when we think that a relationship exists when it really doesn’t? o Illusory Correlation

o You are responsible for knowing the following: o SQ3R o Longitudinal studies o Cross-sectional studies o Ethics