Sampling Methods
Participants respond to an ad or posting and elect to be in the research
Volunteer/Self-selected
Description of how a variable is measured
Operational definition
Participants should not exposed to physical or psychological harm greater than what they might encounter in everyday life.
(Protection from) Undue Harm
The extent to which study findings can be generalized beyond the specific conditions of the experiment, such as different populations, settings, and times
External Validity
Participants are chosen because they are easy to access and available
Opportunity/Convenience
The measured variable
Dependent Variable
Participants must be informed that they can stop participating at any time without penalty or negative consequences.
Right to withdraw
This occurs when selected participants are not representative of the target population
Selection Bias
Participants all have an equal chance of being selected. For example, pulling names from a hat
Random
Identify the IV:
A researcher wants to examine how caffeine use affects anxiety levels
caffeine use
Participants must be fully informed about the nature, purpose, and potential risks of the study before agreeing to participate
(Informed) Consent
The group that a psychologist is trying to draw a sample from is called:
Target Population
When participants recruit other participants from among their friends, coworkers, and acquaintances
Snowball
A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment
Confounding Variable
Participants' identities are not recorded or connected to their data, ensuring their privacy is protected.
Anonymity
When a sample is an accurate picture of the group you are trying to study it is:
Representative/Generalizable
The target population is divided into subgroups based on a common characteristic (age, race, gender, etc.) and are then randomly selected from those categories in proportion to their presence in the target population
Stratified
A researcher holds these constant in order to establish a cause and effect relationship between their IV and DV
Controlled Variables
After the study, participants must be fully informed about the true purpose, any deception used, and allowed to ask questions.
Debriefing
the extent to which a study can confidently demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable
Internal Validity