Research Methods
A systematic plan for testing a hypothesis.
What is an experiment?
The middle value in a data set.
What is the median?
A study collecting data from participants at a single point in time
What is a cross-sectional study?
The variable that is measured in an experiment.
What is the dependent variable?
Participants receiving a treatment with no therapeutic effect experience benefits.
What is the placebo effect?
The group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment.
What is the control group?
The most frequently occurring value in a data set.
What is the mode?
A study following participants over a long period.
What is a longitudinal study?
The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.
What is the independent variable?
The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs.
What is confirmation bias?
Ensuring participants are randomly placed into different experimental groups.
What is random assignment?
The average of all values in a data set.
What is the mean?
Combining data from many studies to draw a broader conclusion.
What is a meta-analysis?
A specific prediction that guides an experiment.
What is a hypothesis?
The fairness and accuracy of measuring what a study intends to measure.
What is validity?
Participants and researchers are both unaware of who receives the treatment.
What is a double-blind procedure?
A measure of how spread out values are in a dataset.
What is standard deviation?
A hybrid study design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal methods.
What is a mixed longitudinal design?
The process of defining variables in practical, measurable terms.
What is operationalization?
The possibility that only positive results are published.
What is publication bias?
The group of people to whom the research aims to generalize findings.
What is the population?
Statistical evidence that a result is unlikely due to chance
What is statistical significance?
Observing behavior in its natural setting without interference.
What is naturalistic observation?
A third factor that influences both variables, creating a false correlation.
What is a confounding variable?
Ensuring that research can be repeated with the same results.
What is replication?