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| Disciplined method of gaining new information, building knowledge, or answering questions; also called disciplined inquiry; implies a systematic investigation with underlying guidelines regardless of the particular research paradigm. |
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| A statement or group of statements that explains and predicts relationships among phenomena; a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and postulations that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables. |
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| A random table of numbers (or similarly random process) is used to assign each participant to a group. |
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| Positivistic paradigm/theoretical framework |
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| A way of thinking about and conducting quantitative research. |
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| Constructivist paradigm/theoretical framework |
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| Related ways of thinking about research where knowledge is constructed based on experiences; also called the naturalist or qualitative paradigm. |
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| A way of thinking about and conducting research; it is a philosophy that guides how the research might be conducted. |
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| Research study that uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Common in program evaluation research. |
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| Utilizes exploratory and confirmatory methods (instead of qualitative or quantitative methods), which increases the options for researchers in regard to data collection methods, data analysis tools, and interpretations. |
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| __________ designs provide better control over extraneous variables, while _________ designs are typically more ecologically valid. |
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T or F
Research designs based on the positivistic paradigm are more sensitive to individual differences than those based on constructivism. |
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| A characteristic of a person or situation with two or more values in a study. |
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| Controlled or selected by the experimenter to determine its relationship to a phenomenon of interest. |
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| Active independent variable |
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| Manipulated by the researcher |
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| Attribute independent variable |
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| An unchangeable characteristic of the person or situation under study |
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| Features random assignment of participants into groups, and the use of an active independent variable. |
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| Utilizes an active independent variable, but without random assignment. |
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| Approach in which a comparison is made between/among a few groups based on an attribute independent variable. |
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| Approach in which two or more usually continuous variables, for the same group of participants, are related or associated; is also sometimes called correlational approach. |
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| Approach that answers descriptive questions using only descriptive, not inferential, statistics; summarizes data from the current sample of participants without making inferences about the larger population of interest; no comparisons or associations are made; does not have an independent variable. |
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| The research problem is best described as: |
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| A question about the relationship between two or more variables. |
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| What is not true of a good research problem? |
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| That it is broad in scope and implications. |
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| A research problem should hold the promise of... |
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Definition
| Filling a gap in the literature and providing a test of a theory. |
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| Operational definition of a variable |
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| Describes or defines a variable in terms of the operations or techniques used to make it happen or to measure it. |
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| Measurement of the dependent variable taken prior to the intervention; used to establish a baseline. |
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| Predictive statements about the relationship between variables. |
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| The research problem will set forth the phenomena to be studied, the curiosity as to "why something is as it is." |
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| Similar to the research hypothesis but does not entail specific predictions about the relationship and is phrased in question format. |
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| A characteristic of the participants or situation for a given study that has different values; a variable must have different values in the study or it is a Constant. |
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| Active versus Attribute Independent Variable |
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Definition
| An active independent variable is a variable, at least one level of which is given to a group of participants, within a specified period of time during the study, they are manipulated by the experimenter. An attribute variable are preexisting attributes of the persons or their ongoing environment that do not change during the study. |
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| Basic versus complex research questions (and statistics) |
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Definition
| Basic questions and statistics use only two variables whereas complex questions and statistics involve more than two variables. |
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| Independent versus Dependent versus extraneous variables |
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Definition
| An independent variable includes any predictors, antecedents, or presumed causes or influences under investigation in the study and can be active or attribute variables. Dependent variables are assumed to measure or assess the effect of the independent variable, it is thought of as the presumed outcome or criterion. Extraneous variables are not of interest in a particular study but could influence the dependent variable so they need to be ruled out or controlled. |
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| Levels of one variable versus a set or group variables |
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Definition
| A level of a variable can include gender as the variable with male and female as the two levels of the variable. Set or group variables include demographics where several similar variables are grouped together, but each still has varying levels. |
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| Ordered versus unordered or nominal variables |
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Definition
| Ordered variables have a set of values that vary from low to high within a certain range, such that a larger value of the variable indicates more of it than a smaller value of the variable. Unordered or nominal variables use labels or names that do not designate value. |
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| A statistic that indicates the association or relationship between scores on two variables; may be positive (direct relations: as one variable increases, so does the other), negative (inverse relationship: as one variable increases, the other decreases), or zero (no relationship). |
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| Table that gives frequencies (and often percentages) for values of two categorical variables; way of presenting data about two variables so their relationship is more evident. |
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| Normal curve/distribution |
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Definition
| Probability distribution of the population, the normal distribution is unimodal; the mean, median, and mode are equal; the curve is symmetric, the range is infinite; the curve has no kurtosis; also called normal curve or bell curve. |
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| Measure of variability for normally distributed data. |
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| Histogram versus frequency polygon versus bar chart |
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Definition
| Frequency polygons and histograms connect the points between the categories, so they are best used with normally distributed data. Frequency polygons should not be used with nominal data because in that case there is no necessary ordering of the points. Thus for nominal variables it is better to make a bar graph of the frequencies. |
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| Mean versus median versus mode |
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Definition
| The mean or arithmetic average takes into account all of the available information when used to compute the central tendency of frequency distribution. Thus, the mean is usually the statistic of choice if one has normal data. The median or middle score is an appropriate measure of central tendency for ordinal level data. It is a better measure than the mean if the distribution is skewed. The mode, or most common category can be used with any kind of data but provides the least precise information. |
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| Nominal versus Dichotomous versus Ordinal versus Normal levels of measurement |
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| Nominal levels of measurement occur when each mutually exclusive category stand for the name of the category but have no implied order or value. Dichotomous variables has only two levels or categories. Ordinal variables have three or more ordered categories or levels and the responses are not normally distributed. Normally distributed variables have mutually exclusive categories that are ordered, but the responses or scores are at least approximately normally distributed. |
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| Research approach that has at least one active independent variable; may be randomized experimental or quasi-experimental. |
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Definition
| Research approaches with at least one attribute independent variable and no active independent variable. |
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| What is the purpose of the randomized experimental approach? |
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Definition
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| What is the purpose of a quasi-experimental approach? |
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| What is the purpose of a comparative approach? |
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| What is the purpose of an associational approach? |
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| Find Associations/Make Predictions |
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| What is the approach to the descriptive approach? |
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| Selection from the population of interest of study participants using a random selection technique so that the sample is representative of all the possible participants who fit the selection criteria. |
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| Multiple-group time-series designs |
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Definition
| Quasi-experimental design which a baseline is determined to be stable prior to an intervention (via multiple pretests) so that the researcher can conclude that the change in the dependent variable is due to the intervention and not other environmental factors and there is a comparison group that receives the same number of measurements but does not receive the intervention. |
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| One-group posttest-only design |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment, experimental group, intervention, posttest observation or measure. |
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| One-group pretest-posttest design |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment,experimental group, pretest observation or measure, intervention, posttest observation or measure. |
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| Posttest-only nonequivalent groups design |
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Definition
| Two groups, nonrandom assignment, one experimental group gets intervention, one control group does not get intervention, posttest observation or measure |
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| Pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison-group designs |
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Definition
| Two groups, nonrandom assignment, one experimental group that receives treatment and one control group that doesn't receive treatment, pretest and postest |
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| Single-group time-series designs with temporary treatment |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment, experimental group, several pretests treatment and several posttests |
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| Single-group time-series designs with continuous treatment |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment experimental group, pretest, treatment interspersed with observations/measures, than posttests interspersed with treatment |
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| Multi-group time-series designs with temporary treatment |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment, two groups, experimental gets treatment, and control doesn't, numerous pretests and posttests |
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| Multiple-group time-series designs with continuous treatment |
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Definition
| Nonrandom assignment, two groups, one experimental receives pretests than treatments interspersed with observations/measures, and control group that receives pretests and observations/measures throughout testing of experimental group |
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| Posttest-only control-group design |
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Definition
| Random assignment, experimental group that receives treatment, and a control group that doesn't, and posttests |
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| Pretest-posttest control group design |
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Definition
| Random assignment, experimental group that receives treatment and control group that doesn't, pretest and posttest |
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Definition
| Random assignment, two experimental groups that receive treatment one receives pretest and one doesn't, two control groups one receives pretest and one doesn't, all receive posttest |
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| Randomized experimental design with matching |
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Definition
| Matched random assignment, experimental group that receives treatment, control group that doesn't, both receive posttests |
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| Within-subjects or crossover design |
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Definition
| Random assignment, experimental group one receives treatment then posttest one and then control/comparison/other treatment then second posttest. Experimental group two receives opposite of experimental group one. |
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Definition
| The general term most often used by researchers to judge quality or merit. |
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Definition
| The extent to which we can infer that the independent variable caused the dependent variable. |
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| The extent to which the findings will generalize to other populations, settings, measures, and treatments. |
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| The quality of accuracy of individual measures or scores. The extent to which a score measures what it was intended to measure. |
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| Quality or merit of the whole study. |
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| What are threats to internal validity related to equivalence of groups? |
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Definition
| Statistical regression, attrition/mortality, and selection. |
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| Scores from the low group improve relative to the scores on the pretest even without the intervention. (use of extreme groups) |
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| Bias in assignment to groups, problems arise from how participants were assigned to a particular group (comparison or intervention), not from how they were selected (sampled) from the population. |
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| What are threats to internal validity based on control of extraneous variables? |
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Definition
| Maturation, history, testing, instrumentation, additive and interactive threats, and ambiguous temporal precedence. |
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Definition
| Changes due to time or growth and development. |
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| Extraneous environmental events, something other than the independent variable happens between the pretest and the posttest. |
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| Repeated testing, carryover effect |
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| Instrument or observer inconsistency (instrument changes in some way or the observer changes between pre- and posttest). |
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| Additive and Interactive Threats |
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Definition
| Combinations of two or more threats |
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| Ambiguous temporal precedence |
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| Did the independent variable actually occur before the dependent variable? (Which came first the chicken or the egg?) |
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| What helps to eliminate threats to internal validity? |
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Definition
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| What internal validity threats does random assignment not eliminate? |
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Definition
| Mostly caused by contamination such as resentful or demoralized participants, over-compensating participants. Also expectation effect (Hawthorne effect) participant believing they are in the treatment or control group. And observer or experimenter bias. |
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| The larger group that you pull the sample from. |
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| Participants, cases, or elements |
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Definition
| The people or objects or events that are of interest in a particular study. |
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| Theoretical or target population |
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Definition
| Includes all of the participants of theoretical interest to the researcher and to which he or she would like to generalize. |
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| (Sampling frame) The group of participants to which the researcher has access. |
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| The smaller group of participants selected from the larger accessible population by the researcher and asked to participate in the study. |
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| Nonprobability sampling technique in which participants are selected on the basis of convenience or availability rather than attempting beforehand to select participants that are representative of the theoretical population. |
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| The participants that complete the study and whose data are actually used in the data analysis. |
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| Selection of participants in a way that is nonbiased. |
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Definition
| No way of estimating the probability that each participant has of being included in the sample. |
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| What are the probability sampling methods? |
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Definition
| Simple random sampling, systematic (random) sampling, stratified random sampling, cluster (random) sampling, and multistage sampling. |
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Definition
| Every unit has an equal chance of selection from the frame. Problem is members of a subgroup may not be included and can be time-consuming. |
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| Systematic (random) sampling |
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Definition
| Every nth unit in the frame is selected. Problems may be that you must watch for recurring patterns within the sampling frame. |
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| Stratified random sampling |
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Definition
| The study population is grouped according to meaningful characteristics or strata. Problems include sample sizes must be calculated for each stratum and can be time-consuming and costly. |
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| Cluster (random) sampling |
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Definition
| Natural groups or clusters are sample with ALL members of each selected group included. Problems include clusters selected need to represent the clusters not selected. |
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Definition
| Natural groups or clusters are sampled, with members of each selected group subsampled afterward. |
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| What are the nonprobability sampling methods? |
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| Quota sampling, purposive sampling, convenience sampling, and snowball sampling. |
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| Researcher sets quotas for various subgroups, but research assistants have latitude in selection. Some problems are members of a subgroup of interest may not be included in appropriate proportions and there is much room for bias that can't be evaluated. |
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Definition
| On purpose, hand-picked participants that you believe will be representative of the typical of the population. Problems include distinguishing from having inclusion or exclusion criteria. |
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| Select participants who are accessible with little regard given to the theoretical population. Problem is that your sample is probably not representative. |
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| A special type of convenience sampling where participants are asked to provide names of other possible participants. Problem is that it is not in any way representative. |
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| What are the fundamental characteristics that all assessments should share? |
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Definition
| They should be reliable, valid, standardised, and free from bias. |
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| The science of psychological assessment. |
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