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| explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
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| testable prediction, often implied by a theory |
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| self-correcting process for asking questions and observing nature's answers |
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| statement of the procedures used to define research variables. e.g. human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. e.g. generosity might be defined as "money contributed" |
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| repeating essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic findings extends to other participants in other circumstances |
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| observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles |
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| a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group |
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| all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn |
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| sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
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| observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation |
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| measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other. |
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| a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1) |
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| graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. Slope suggest directions. Amount of scatter suggests correlation. |
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| perception of a relationship where none exists |
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| research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. By random assignment experiment controls other relevant factors. |
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| assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance |
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| experimental procedure in which the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants are receiving treatment or a placebo |
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| experimental results caused by expectations alone |
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| the group that is exposed to the treatment in an experiment |
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| the group that is not exposed to the treatment during an experiment |
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| experimental factor that is manipulated |
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| outcome factor that responds to manipulations of independent variable |
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| descriptive research method |
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| observes and records behavior through studies, surveys or naturalistic observations |
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| correlational research method |
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| detects naturally occurring relationships and assesses how well one variable predicts another using by computing statistical association, sometimes among survey responses |
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| experimental research method |
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| explores cause and effect using manipulation of one or more factors and random assignment |
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| most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution |
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| arithmetic average of a distribution |
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| the middle score in a distribution |
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| difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution |
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| a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score |
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| symmetrical, bell-shaped curve describing distributions of many types of data |
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| a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
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| a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
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