Methods Review Psych

Method Q's

100

Probably the vast majority of applied social research consists of descriptive and correlational studies. But for most social sciences, it is important that we go beyond just looking at the world or looking at relationships. We would like to be able to change the world, to improve it and eliminate some of its major problems. If we want to change the world (especially if we want to do this in an organized, scientific way), we are automatically interested in _____ relationships -- ones that tell us how programs, treatments, etc. affect the outcomes of interest.

Causal or 'cause and effect'

200

a word that means "based on observations and measurements of reality -- on what we perceive of the world around us." Research in psychology is often THIS.

empirical

300

A cross-sectional study is one that takes place at a single point in time. In effect, we are taking a 'slice' or cross-section of whatever it is we're observing or measuring. A __________ study is one that takes place over time -- we have at least two (and often more) waves of measurement in this design.

Longitudinal

400

in general, if you have two or a few waves of measurement of the same group of subjects, in an experimentyou are using a ________ _________ design.

repeated measures

500

there has often been talk of a relationship between ability in math and proficiency in music. In general people who are good in one may have a greater tendency to be good in the other; those who are poor in one may also tend to be poor in the other. If this relatioship is true, then we can say that the two variables are ___________.

correlated, correlational

More Method Q's

100

the more paranoid people are, the higher their self esteem tends to be. this is what kind of correlation?

positive

200

the _________ ________ is what you (or nature) manipulates -- a treatment or program or cause. The ___________ _________ is what is affected by that manipulation.

IV / DV

300

whenever we talk about an hypothesis, wer are really thinking simultaneously about two hypotheses. Let's say that you predict that there will be a relationship between two variables in your study. The way we would formally set up the hypothesis test is to formulate two hypothesis statements, one that describes your prediction and one that describes all the other possible outcomes with respect to the hypothesized relationship. Your prediction is that variable A and variable B will be related (you don't care whether it's a positive or negative relationship). Then the only other possible outcome would be that variable A and variable B are not related. Usually, we call the hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we call ______hypothesis.

null

400

we call data '_________' if it is in numerical form and '__________' if it is not (Photographs, videos, sound recordings and so on, can be considered this kind of data.)

quantitative / qualitative

500

We are likely to make some claims that our research findings have implications for other groups and individuals in other settings and at other times. When we do, we can examine the __________ validity of these claims.

external. (ecological will be 1/2 credit if the team can explain the difference between it and "external")

Yet More Methods Q's

100

we might take text information (say, excerpts from transcripts, or interviews) and pile these excerpts into piles of similar statements. When we do something even as easy as this simple grouping or piling task, we can describe the results ___________.

quantitatively, ordinal, even (nominal - thought that is not quantitative) would fit here.

200

We use the term ______________ to describe the act of translating a construct (abstract idea) into its manifestation (appearance or evidence of it that is observable by our senses). In effect, we take our idea and describe it as a series of operations or procedures. Now, instead of it only being an idea in our minds, it becomes a public entity that anyone can look at and examine for themselves.

operationalize

300

Just because we find that use of the WWW site and knowledge are correlated, we can't necessarily assume that WWW site use causes the knowledge. Both could, for example, be caused by the same factor. For instance, it may be that wealthier students who have greater resources would be more likely to use have access to a WWW site and would excel on objective tests. What kind of validity is being considered here?

internal