Term
| When numbers are involved, the research involves what kind of data? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| When using analysis of language, the research involves? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| One or more thing you would like to measure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Hypothesized general principle or set of principles that explain known findings about a topic and from which new hypothesizes can be generated. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Predictions from theories. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The act of disproving a hypothesis or theory. |
|
|
Term
| What two things do we essentially need in order to collect data? |
|
Definition
| We need to know: what to measure; and how to measure it. |
|
|
Term
| What is essential in testing hypotheses? |
|
Definition
| We need to measure variables. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Things that can change (or vary); they might vary between people (e.g., IQ, behavior), location (e.g., unemployment), or even time (e.g., mood, profit, number of cancer cells). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A variable we think is a cause.
Called so because its value does not depend on any other variable. |
|
|
Term
| What is another name for Independent Variable? |
|
Definition
| Predictor Variable: because it is the cause. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A variable we think is an effect.
Called so because its value depends on the cause (the independent variable). |
|
|
Term
| What else do we call the Dependent Variable? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The relationship between what is being measured and the numbers that represent what is being measured. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A variable made from categories.
Each individual falls into small groups that fall into larger groups, which fall into larger groups, etc. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| "This or That" (e.g., Male or Female; pregnant or not pregnant; dead or not; etc.) there is no middle ground. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When two things that are equivalent in some sense are given the same name (or number), but there are more than two possibilities. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When categories are ordered, the variable is known as the ordinal variable. |
|
|
Term
| Ordinal variables are able to tell us what has occurred, what else are they able to tell us? |
|
Definition
| In what order those things have occurred. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A variable that gives us a score for each person and can take on any value on the measurement scale we are using. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Data measured on a scale along the whole of which are equal. E.g., book ratings. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
An interval variable, but with the additional property that ratios are meaningful.
e.g., A book rated on a 1-5 but a 4 means you Liked it a lot and that a 4 means 2X as much like as the person who rates it a 2; likewise, a 1 is half as much like as the person who rated the book a 2. |
|
|
Term
| Why can a continuous variable be continuous or discrete? |
|
Definition
| Because a truly continuous variable can be measured to any level of percision. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A variable that can only take on certain values (usually whole numbers) on the scale.
|
|
|
Term
| What is an example of a number on the scale? |
|
Definition
| 1, 2, 4, 10. You cannot enter a value of 1.4, 3.67, 2.5, etc. |
|
|
Term
| What is an example of a continuous variable? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| There will often be a discrepancy between the numbers we use to represent the thing we are measuring and the actual value of the thing we are measuring. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Whether an instrument actually measures what it sets out to measure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Whether an instrument can be interpreted consistently across different situations. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Whether you can establish that an instrument measures what it claims to measure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When data are recorded simultaneously using the new instrument and existing criteria. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When data from the new instrument are used to predict observations at a later point in time. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| With self-report measures/questionnaires we can also assess the degree to which individual items represent the construct being measured, and cover the full range of the construct. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The easiest way to assess reliability is to test the same people twice; a reliable instrument will produce similar scores at both points in time. |
|
|
Term
| In what kind of research do we observe naturally what goes on in the world without directly interfering with it? |
|
Definition
| Correlational or Cross-Sectional Research |
|
|
Term
| In what research do we manipulate one variable to see its effect on another? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A form of research in which you observe what naturally goes on in the world without interfering with it by measuring several variables at multiple points in time. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Evidence that the results of a study, experiment, or test can be applied, and allow interferences to real-world conditions. |
|
|
Term
| What is the key to answering the research question? |
|
Definition
| Figuring out how the proposed cause and the proposed outcome relate to each other. |
|
|
Term
| What is the first problem in measuring variables simultaneously? |
|
Definition
| It provides no information about the contiguity between different variables. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Extraneous factors. A variable that we may or may not have measured, other than the predictor variables, which we're interested that might potentially affects an outcome variable. |
|
|
Term
| What do experimental methods strive to do? |
|
Definition
| Provide a comparison of situations (usually called treatments or conditions). |
|
|
Term
| What determines the type of test that is used to analyze data? |
|
Definition
| The way in which the data is collected. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The variation is due to the experimenter doing something in one condition but not in the other condition. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| This variation results from random factors that exist between the experimental conditions (such as natural differences in ability, the time of day, etc.). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The process of doing things in an unsystematic or random way. In the context of experimental research the word usually applies to the random assignment of participants to different treatment conditions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Participants may perform differently in the second condition because of familiarity with the experimental situation and/or the measures being used. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Participants may perform differently in the second condition because they are tired or bored from having completed the first condition. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Used to ensure participants do not go through the "practice effects" or "boredom effects" while participating in a condition. |
|
|
Term
Frequency Distribution
(Histogram) |
|
Definition
| A graph plotting values of observations on the horizontal axis, with a bar showing how many times each value occurred in the data set. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
If you draw a vertical line through the center of the distribution points o a graph then it should look the same on both sized.
Characterized by the bell-shaped curve. |
|
|
Term
What are the two main ways a distribution can deviate from the norm?
|
|
Definition
1. Skew: Lack of symmetry
2. Kurtosis: Pointy-ness.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
The difference between each score and the mean:
deviance=xi-x-- (line above x) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Add the squared deviances up and you get the sum of squared errors, SS |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Working with not the total dispersion but the average dispertion. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The square root of the variance. A small SD indicates that the data points are close to the mean. A large SD indicates the data points are distant from the mean. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
How sexually attractive you find a statistical test. Alternatively, it is the degree to which a statistical model is an accurate representation of some observed data.
(Incidently, it is just plain wront to find statistical tests sexually attractive). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The whole group you're trying to apply the condition to vs. a smaller group which can represent the larger group. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Ratio of systematic to unsystematic variance or effect to error. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A statistical model that tests a directional hypothesis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A statistical model that tests a non-directional hypothesis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Occurs when we believe that there is a genuine effect in our population, when in fact there isn't. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Occurs when we believe there is no effect in the population when, in reality, there is. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The ability of a test to find an effect. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Null Hypothesis Significance Testing |
|
|
