ch 2 kewords

Research Methods Keywords

• Archival Research: A research method that uses past records or data sets to answer research questions or identify patterns.
• Attrition: Reduction in the number of participants in a study due to some dropping out over time.
• Cause-and-Effect Relationship: Changes in one variable causing changes in another; determined by experimental research design.
• Clinical/Case Study: Observational research focusing on one or a few individuals.
• Confirmation Bias: Tendency to ignore evidence contradicting pre-existing beliefs.
• Confounding Variable: An unanticipated factor influencing both variables of interest, often misinterpreted as a cause-and-effect relationship.
• Control Group: A comparison group used to control for chance factors, ensuring the experimental manipulation is the only difference.
• Correlation: Relationship between two or more variables, where a change in one variable is accompanied by a change in the other.
• Correlation Coefficient: A numerical value (-1 to +1) indicating the strength and direction of a correlation (represented by 'r').
• Cross-Sectional Research: Comparing multiple segments of a population at a single point in time.
• Debriefing: In experiments involving deception, providing complete and truthful information about the study at the end.
• Deception: Purposely misleading participants to maintain the integrity of the experiment.
• Deductive Reasoning: Drawing conclusions based on general premises.
• Dependent Variable: The variable measured to see the effect of the independent variable.
• Double-Blind Study: Experimental design where both researchers and participants are unaware of the group assignments.
• Empirical Research: Research grounded in observable and measurable evidence.
• Experimental Group: The group in an experiment designed to answer the research question, differing from the control group only by the experimental manipulation.
• Experimenter Bias: Researcher expectations influencing the study's results.
• Falsifiable: Able to be proven wrong by empirical evidence.
• Generalization: Extending the findings of a study from a sample to a larger population.
• Hypothesis: A testable prediction about how variables relate, often in "if-then" format.
• Illusory Correlation: Perceiving a relationship between two things when no such relationship exists.
• Independent Variable: The variable manipulated by the researcher.
• Inductive Reasoning: Drawing generalizations from specific observations.
• Informed Consent: Participants' agreement to participate after understanding the study's procedures and potential risks.
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC): Committee reviewing research proposals on non-human animal use.
• Institutional Review Board (IRB): Committee reviewing research proposals involving human participants.
• Inter-Rater Reliability: Agreement among observers in recording and classifying events.
• Longitudinal Research: Studies observing the same group of individuals repeatedly over a period of time.
• Naturalistic Observation: Observing behavior in its natural context.
• Negative Correlation: Two variables changing in opposite directions.
• Observer Bias: Observer expectations influencing observations.
• Operational Definition: Specific description of how variables will be measured and manipulated.
• Opinion: Personal judgments, conclusions, or attitudes; not necessarily accurate.
• Participant: Subject in psychological research.
• Peer-Reviewed Journal Article: Article reviewed by experts.
• Placebo Effect: Participants' expectations influencing their experience in a study.
• Population: The entire group of individuals a researcher is interested in.
• Positive Correlation: Two variables changing in the same direction.
• Random Assignment: Assigning participants to groups randomly to control for confounding variables.
• Random Sample: A group of individuals randomly selected from a population.
• Reliability: Consistency and reproducibility of research findings.
• Replication: Repeating an experiment using different samples to confirm reliability.
• Sample: Subset of a population used in a study.
• Single-Blind Study: Experimental design where participants are unaware of the group assignment.
• Statistical Analysis: Determining the probability that results are due to chance.
• Survey: A list of questions administered to a sample to gather data.
• Theory: Well-developed set of ideas explaining observed phenomena.
• Validity: Accuracy of a measure in measuring what it's designed to measure.

This quiz covers essential concepts related to research methods, including definitions and explanations of terms such as archival research, attrition, and correlation. Test your understanding of how these terms are applied in scientific studies and their implications for research design.