Types of Research
Readings from class
Terminology
The language of variables
Who to survey?
100
A drawback of this type of research is that it can be tough summarize the data and draw generalizable conclusions.
What is qualitative research?
100
In the article examining sleep deprivation and its effect on task-switching performance, this was the independent variable.
What is amount of sleep (sleep deprived vs. normal sleep)?
100
This is the name for the process of developing a specific method to measure a variable (converting a vague idea to a specific measurable variable).
What is operationalization?
100
These are some possible attributes of the variable "hair color."
What are blonde, brown, black, red, etc.?
100
This is the process of selecting the objects (often people) for a given study.
What is sampling?
200
This type of research often starts with a hypothesis, provides hard data, and attempts be more specific which allows for generalizable results to the population.
What is quantitative research?
200
A study of this program designed to combat teenage use of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol actually showed that "among students who were not smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol at the beginning of the study, those who took part in the [] program were more likely to be smoking or drinking by the eleventh grade than were students in the control group...actually doing more harm than good."
What is D.A.R.E.?
200
These are the characteristics or qualities that describe the research object.
What are attributes?
200
If asked to figure out what affects a high school student's likelihood to get a high GPA, these are three possible independent variables you might choose to research.
Answers can vary...number of hours spent doing homework, attendance, parents' level of education, participation in extra-curriculars, etc.
200
This is how close a sample’s aggregate characteristics approximate those of the aggregate characteristics of the population.
What is representativeness?
300
This type of research attempts to expand the limits of knowledge without necessarily having a direct application in mind.
What is basic research?
300
In the article examining jealousy among female college age students, this was the relationship found between the woman's self esteem and her level of jealousy within her relationship.
What is negative: as self esteem (IV) increases, the level of jealousy (DV) decreases?
300
These are the logical groupings of attributes.
What are variables?
300
You are asked to identify the effects that getting regular exercise has on one's life. These are three possible dependent variables.
Answers will vary...longer life expectancy, higher life satisfaction, lower BMI, higher self esteem, etc.
300
Stopping people on a street corner to survey them is an example of this type of sampling.
What is reliance on available subjects (nonprobability sampling)?
400
This type of research is generally more exploratory by nature and can help lay the groundwork for future more specific studies.
What is qualitative?
400
In the Jealousy and Dating article, the participants were recruited from a Psychology Department and those who volunteered were included in the study if they reported being in a current romantic relationship or had previously been in an ongoing dating relationship. This is an example of this type of sampling.
What is non-probability sampling (reliance on available subjects and/or purposive sampling)?
400
In a cause --> effect relationship, this type of variable is the cause.
What is an independent variable?
400
A study finds that drinking alcohol increases level of satisfaction at EMU. This is the independent variable.
What is drinking alcohol?
400
A parameter is a summary description for a given variable in a population (e.g. the average family income in Harrisonburg), this is the summary description for a given variable in a sample (e.g. the average family income of my sample of Harrisonburg families).
What is a statistic?
500
Critiques of this type of research are that it is too picky, doesn’t look at big picture, and doesn’t allow for nuance or depth.
What is quantitative?
500
Research done on Scared Straight programs arrived at these conclusions about the effectiveness of the program.
What is that it not only failed to reduce the likelihood that kids will commit crimes, but actually increases levels of crime of the participants?
500
This describes a relationship that might logically be expected among variables.
What is a theory?
500
These are some possible attributes of the variable "level of education."
What is less than high school, high school, some college, college, graduate degree, etc.?
500
This is random sampling and is the most effective way of selecting representative samples.
What is probability sampling?
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