Knowledge and RQs
Types of knowledge related to attributive, associative, and causal RQs
Descriptive, Predictive, Causal/Understanding
External validity is concerned with _______ while internal validity is concerned with ______.
Generalizability; Causal interpretation
To test a causal RQ we need to run a true experiment. What is required for a true experiment?
Random assignment, manipulation of the IV, and control of confounds
We want our sample to be _______ of the target population in order to ________ from our sample back to our target population.
Representative; generalize
Variable can be qualitative or quantitative. What is the difference?
Qual = categorical; different values represent different categories or groups
Quant = numerical; different values represent difference amounts
Source of knowledge that would state; "my mom says that kissing toads will give you warts!"
Authority
If we want to determine if the results of our study can be translated from the lab to the real world; what type of validity (specifically) are we worried about?
External validity; setting
The variable manipulated by the researcher, or the condition, or the level, or the causal variable is known as?
The IV (independent variable)
After 20 first years signed up for our study we changed our recruitment list to state third years only. What type of sampling technique is being used?
Stratified
Operationally define number of pets owned.
Ex: "do you have pets -- yes/no"
Ex: "how many pets do you have? ____"
Ex: "What types of pets do you own? dog, cat, bird, fish, etc."
Source of knowledge used in psychology
Scientific empiricism
Initial equivalence is maintained by?
Random assignment
Joe, Sally, Martha, and Pete complete the first level of the IV and then they complete the second level of the IV. Next their scores are compared. What type of design is this? Why?
Within-groups; because it is the same people in both conditions
We have a group of 100 participants. As the enter the lab, we send the first 25 to group 1, the second 25 to group 2, the third 25 to group 3, and the last 25 to group 4. What type of assignment is being used?
Arbitrary
Why do we care if our data is normally distributed? If we are interested in age of kindergartener and the mean is 5 with a SD of .5, are we worried that this might be skewed data?
All of our inferential statistics assume a normal distribution and do not function properly with non-normal data
+/-2SD check for skew leads us to 4-6 years old (probably ok)
RQs must have some way to collect data and be evaluated as well as be possibly wrong
Testable and falsifiable
Any variable other than ones controlled for or manipulated by the researcher.
Confound
Group 1 gets the standard treatment while group 2 gets the new treatment. Scores are compared at the end of the treatments. What is the causal (IV) variable? What is the effect (DV) variable?
Type of treatment; scores
What type of participant assignment is necessary for maintenance of initial equivalence and required for causal interpretation?
Random assignment
False alarm (when we say there is a significant effect in our data set but there is NOT a significant effect in the population) is also known as?
Type 1 error
Testing novel RQ, replication, and convergence
Three ways to apply the research loop
How consistent a measure is.
Reliability
Why might be not be able to run a true experiment?
Not all IVs can be manipulated, may not be able to randomly assign, may have limitations due to ethics, tech, resources, etc.
What is the difference between the target population and a data sample?
Target pop = the people we want to study/generalize to
Data sample = participants from our study that provide us usable data
We are interested in evaluating the relationship between young adults and older adults on time spent of social media. What type of bivariate analysis is most appropriate?
t-test; age group (qual with 2 levels: young adults and older adults) and time spent on social media (quant: 0-15 million hours!)