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Definition
An organized set of concepts that explains a phenomenon or set of
phenomena. |
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The doctrine that all events—physical, behavioural, and
mental—are determined by specific causal factors that are potentially
knowable. |
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A tentative and testable explanation of the relationship
between two (or more) events or variables; often stated as a prediction
that a certain outcome will result from specific conditions. |
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Definition
The distortion of evidence because of the personal motives
and expectations of the viewer. |
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A set of uniform procedures for treating each participant
in a test, interview, or experiment, or for recording data. |
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Definition
A definition of a variable or condition in terms of
the specific operation or procedure used to determine its presence. |
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Definition
In an experimental setting, a factor that varies in amount and
kind. |
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Definition
In an experimental setting, a variable that the
researcher manipulates with the expectation of having an impact on
the value of the dependent variable. |
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Definition
In an experimental setting, a variable that the
researcher measures to assess the impact of a variation in an
independent variable. |
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Definition
Research methodologies that involve the
manipulation of independent variables in order to determine their
effects on the dependent variables. |
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Definition
A stimulus other than the variable an experimenter
explicitly introduces into a research setting that affects a participant’s
behaviour. |
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Definition
Results that occur when a researcher or observer subtly
communicates to participants the kind of behaviour he or she expects
to find, thereby creating that expected reaction. |
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Definition
A change in behaviour in the absence of an experimental
manipulation. |
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Definition
Consistent procedures for giving instructions, scoring
responses, and holding all other variables constant except those being
systematically varied. |
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Definition
An experimental technique in which biased
expectations of experimenters are eliminated by keeping both
participants and experimental assistants unaware of which participants
have received which treatment. |
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Definition
An experimental condition in which treatment is not
administered, used in cases where a placebo effect might occur. |
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Definition
A research design in which different groups of
participants are randomly assigned to experimental conditions or to
control conditions. |
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Definition
A procedure by which participants have an equal
likelihood of being assigned to any condition within an experiment. |
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Definition
A group in an experiment that is exposed to a
treatment or experiences a manipulation of the independent variable. |
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Definition
A group in an experiment that is not exposed to a
treatment or does not experience a manipulation of the independent
variable. |
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Definition
A subset of a population selected as participants in an experiment. |
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Definition
The entire set of individuals about which generalizations will
be made based on an experimental sample. |
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Definition
A subset of a population that closely matches the
overall characteristics of the population with respect to the distribution
of males and females, racial and ethnic groups, and so on. |
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Definition
A research design that uses each participant as his
or her own control; for example, the behaviour of an experimental
participant before receiving treatment might be compared to his or her
behaviour after receiving treatment. |
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Definition
Research methodologies that determine to what
extent two variables, traits, or attributes are related. |
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Term
correlation coefficient (r) |
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Definition
A statistic that indicates the degree of
relationship between two variables. |
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Definition
The degree to which a test produces similar scores each time
it is used; stability or consistency of the scores produced by an
instrument. |
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Definition
The extent to which a test measures what it was intended to
measure. |
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Definition
The behaviours that are identified through a
participant’s own observations and reports. |
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Term
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Definition
Overt actions and reactions that are observed and
recorded, exclusive of self-reported behaviour. |
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Definition
Intensive observation of a particular individual or small group
of individuals. |
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Definition
A procedure conducted at the end of an experiment in which
the researcher provides the participant with as much information
about the study as possible and makes sure that no participant leaves
feeling confused, upset, or embarrassed. |
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