Research Methods Glossary

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ACQUIESCENCE
Answering 'yes' or 'strongly agree' to every item in a survey or interview. Also called yea-saying.
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ALPHA LEVEL
The value, determined in advance, at which researchers decide where the p value obtained from a sample statistic is low enough to reject the null hypothesis or too high, and thus retain the null hypothesis.
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APPLIED RESEARCH
Research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular real-world problem.
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ASSOCIATION CLAIM
A claim in which two variables, in which the value (level) of one variable is said to vary systematically with the value of another variable.
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ATTRITION THREAT
In a repeated-measures design or quasi-experiment, a threat to internal validity that occurs when a systematic type of participant drops out of a study before it ends.
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AUTOCORRELATION
In a longitudinal design, the correlation of one variable with itself, measured at two different times.
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AVAILABILITY HEUTISTIC
The tendency to rely predominantly on evidence that easily comes to mind rather than use all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion.
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BASIC RESEARCH
Research whose goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge, without regard for direct application to practical problems.
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BIAS BLIND SPOT
The tendency for people to think that compared to others, they are less likely to engage in biased reasoning.
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BIASED SAMPLE
A sample in which some members of the population of interest are systematically left out, and as a consequence, the results from the sample cannot generalize to the population of interest.
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BIMODAL
Having two modes, or most common score.
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BIVARIATE CORRELATION
An association that involves exactly two variables.
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CARRYOVER EFFECT
A type of order effect, in which some form of contamination carries over from one condition to the next.
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CATEGORICAL VARIABLE
A variable whose levels are categories (e.g. male/female).
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CASUAL CLAIM
A claim arguing that a specific change in one variable is responsible for influencing the value of another variable.
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CEILING EFFECT
An experimental design problem in which independent variable groups score almost the same on a dependent variable, such that all scores fall at the high end of their possible distribution.
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CELL
A condition in an experiment; in a simple experiment, it can represent the level of one independent variable; in a factorial design it represents one of the possible combinations of two independent variables.
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CENSUS
A set of observations that contains all members of the population of interest.
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CENTRAL TENDANCY
A value that the individual scores in a data set tend to center on.
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CLAIM
The argument a journalist, researcher, or scientist is trying to make.
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CLUSTER SAMPLING
A probability sampling technique in which clusters on participants within the population of interest are selected at random, followed by data collection from all individuals in each cluster.
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COHEN'S D
A measure of effect size indicating how far apart two group means are, in standard deviation units.
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COMPARISON GROUP
A group in an experiment whose level on the independent variable differs from those of the treatment group in some intended and meaningful way.
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CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION
A researches definition of a variable at the theoretical level.
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CONCEPTUAL REPLICATION
A replication study in which researchers examine the same research questions (the same conceptual variables) but use different procedures for operationalizing the variables.
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CONCEPTUAL VARIABLE
A variable of interest, stated at an abstract, or conventional, level.
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CONCURRENT-MEASURES DESIGN
An experiment using a within-groups design in which participants are exposed to all the levels of an independent variable at roughly the same time, and a single attitudinal of behavioral preference is the dependent variable.
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CONDITION
One of the levels of the independent variable in an experiment.
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CONFEDERATE
An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific role in a research study.
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CONFIRMATORY HYPOTHESIS TESTING
The tendency yo ask only the questions that will lead to the expected answer.
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CONFOUND
A general term for a potential alternative explanation for a research finding (a threat to internal validity).
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CONSTANT
An attribute that could potentially vary but has only one level in a study.
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CONSTRUCT
A variable of interest, stated at an abstract level, usually defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory.
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CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
An indication of how well a variable was measured or manipulated in a study.
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CONTENT VALIDITY
The extent to which a measure captures all parts of the defined construct.
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CONTROL FOR
Holding a potential third variable at a constant level while investigating the association between two other variables.
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CONTROL GROUP
A level of an independent variable that is intended to represent 'no treatment' or a neutral condition.
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CONTROL VARIABLE
A potential variable that an experimenter holds constant on purpose.
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CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
Choosing a sample based on those who are easiest to access and readily available; a biased sampling technique.
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CONVERGENT VALDITY
An empirical test for the extent to which a measure is associated with other measures of a theoretically similar construct.
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CORRELATE
To occur or vary together (covary) systematically, as in the case of two variables.
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CORRELATION STUDY
A study that includes two or more variables, in which all of the variables are measured; can support an association claim.
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CORRELATION COEFFICIENT
A single number, ranging from -1.0 to 1.0, that indicates the strength and direction of an association between two variables.
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COUNTERBALANCING
In a repeated measures experiment, presenting the levels of independent variable to participants in different sequences to control for order effects.
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COVARIANCE
One of three criteria for establishing a casual claim, which states that the proposed casual variable must vary systematically with changes in the proposed outcome variable.
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CRITERION VALIDITY
An empirical form of measurement validity that establishes the extent to which a measure is correlated with a behavior or concrete outcome it should be related to.
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CRITERION VARIABLE
The variable in a multiple-regression analysis that the researchers are most interested in understanding or predicting.
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CRITICAL VALUE
A value of a statistic that is associated with a desired alpha level.
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CRONBACH'S ALPHA
A correlation-based statistic that measures a scale's internal reliability.
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CROSS-LAG CORRELATION
In a longitudinal design, a correlation between an earlier measure of one variable and a later measure of another variable.
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CROSS SECTIONAL CORRELATION
In a longitudinal design, a correlation between two variables that are measured at the same time.
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CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
A subdiscipline of psychology concerned with how cultural settings shape a person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and how these in turn shape cultural settings.
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CURVILINEAR ASSOCIATION
An association between two variables which is not a straight line; instead, as one variable increases the level of the other variable increases and then decreases (or vice versa). Also called curvilinear correlation.
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DATA
A set of observations representing the value of some variable, collected form one or more research studies.
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DATA FABRICATION
A form of reserach misconduct in which a researcher invents data that fit the hypothesis.
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DATA FALSIFICATION
A form of research misconduct in which a researcher influences a study's results, perhaps by deleting observations from a data set or by influencing participants to act in the hypothesized way.
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DATA MATRIX
A grid presenting collected data.
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DEBREIF
To inform participants afterward about a study's rue nature, details and hypotheses.
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DECEPTION
The withholding of some details of a study from participants (deception through omission) or the act of actively lying to them (deception through commission).
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DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
A threat to internal validity that occurs when some cue leads participants to guess a study's hypotheses or goals. Also called experimental demand.
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DEPENDENT VAIRABLE
In an experiment, the variable that is measured. in a multiple-regression analysis, the single outcome, or criterion value, the researchers are most interested in understanding or predicting. Also called outcome variable.
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DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
A set of statistics used to organize and summerize the properties of a set of data.
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DESIGN CONFOUND
A threat to internal validity in an experiment in which a second variable happens to vary systematically along with the independent variable and therefore is an alternative explanation for the results.
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DIRECTIONALITY PROBLEM
A situation in which it is unclear which variable in an association came first.
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DIRECT REPLICATION
A replication study in which reserachers repeat the original study as closely as possible to see whether the original effect shows up in the newly collected data. Also called exact replication.
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DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY
An empirical test of the extent to which a measure does not associate strongly with measures of other, theoretically different constructs.
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DOUBLE-BARRELED QUESTION
A type of question in a survey or poll that is problematic because it asks two questions in one, thereby weakening its construct validity.
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DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO CONTROL STUDY
A study that uses a treatment group and a placebo group and in which neither the research staff nor the participants know who is in which group.
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DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY
A study in which neither the participants nor the researchers who evaluate them know who is in the treatment group and who is in the comparison group.
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ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
The extent to which the tasks and manipulations of a study are similar to real-world contexts. Also called mundane realism.
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EFFECT SIZE
The magnitude of a relationship between two or more variables
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Card 2

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The value, determined in advance, at which researchers decide where the p value obtained from a sample statistic is low enough to reject the null hypothesis or too high, and thus retain the null hypothesis.

Back

ALPHA LEVEL

Card 3

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Research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular real-world problem.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

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A claim in which two variables, in which the value (level) of one variable is said to vary systematically with the value of another variable.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

In a repeated-measures design or quasi-experiment, a threat to internal validity that occurs when a systematic type of participant drops out of a study before it ends.

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Preview of the back of card 5
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