TERMS: Research Methods in Psychology
a (alpha): How
low the p value must be before the sample result is considered unlikely in
null hypothesis testing.
ABA design (reversal design): A
study method in which the researcher gathers data on a baseline state,
introduces the treatment and continues observation until a steady state is
reached, and finally removes the treatment and observes the participant until
they return to a steady state.
Abstract: A
summary of a research study.
ACT-R: A
comprehensive theory of human cognition that is akin to a programming language,
within which more specific models can be created.
Alternating Treatments Design: Two
or more treatments are alternated relatively quickly on a regular schedule.
Alternative Hypothesis: The
idea that there is a relationship in the population and that the relationship
in the sample reflects this relationship in the population.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): Most
common null hypothesis test when there are more than two groups or condition
means to be compared.
APA Ethics Code: A code first published in 1953 which includes approximately 150
specific ethical standards that psychologists and their students are expected
to follow.
APA Style: A
set of guidelines for writing in psychology and related fields.
Appendix: Part
of a research report which contains supplemental material.
Applied Behaviour Analysis: Starting
in the 1960s, researchers began using single-subject techniques to conduct
applied research with human subjects.
Applied Research: Research
conducted primarily to address some practical problem.
Archival Data: Data
that have already been collected for some other purpose.
Autonomy: A
person’s right to make their own choices and take their own actions free from
coercion.
Bar Graph: A
figure in which the heights of the bars represent the group means.
Baseline: The
level of responding before any treatment is introduced and therefore acts as a
kind of control condition.
Basic Research:
In psychology, research conducted for the sake of achieving a more detailed and
accurate understanding of human behaviour, without necessarily trying to
address any particular problem.
Bayesian Statistics: An
approach in which the researcher specifies the probability that the null
hypothesis, and any important alternative hypotheses, are true before
conducting the study and then updates the probabilities based on the data from
the study.
Behavioural Measures: Measures in which some aspect of participants’ behaviour is
observed and recorded.
Belmont Report: Published
in 1978 in the United states, this explicitly recognized the principle of
seeking justice including the importance of conducting research in a way that
distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups at the societal
level.
Between-subjects Experiment: An
experiment in which each participant is only tested in one condition.
Between-subjects Factorial
Design: All of the independent variables
are manipulated between subjects.
Blindsight: People
with damage to their visual cortex are often able to respond to visual stimuli
that they do not consciously see.
Block Randomization: All
the conditions of an experiment occur once in the sequence before any of them
is repeated.
BRUSO: A
guideline for questionnaire items that suggests they should be brief, relevant,
specific, and objective.
Bystander effect: The
more people who are present at an emergency situation, the less likely it is that
any one of them will help.
Carryover Effect: An
effect of being tested in one condition on participants’ behaviour in later
conditions.
Case Study: A
detailed description of an individual, which can include both qualitative and
quantitative analyses.
Categorical Variable: A
quality that is typically measured by assigning a category label to each
individual.
Central Tendency: The
point around which the scores in the distribution tend to cluster, also called
the average.
Clinical Practice of Psychology: The
diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems.
Closed-ended Items: A
questionnaire item that asks a question and provides a set of respons options
for participants to choose from.
Cluster Sampling: A
method of probability sampling in which larger clusters of individuals are
randomly sampled and then individuals within each cluster are randomly sampled.
Coding: A
judgment on part of the observers by clearly defining a set of target
behaviours.
Cohen’s d: The
most widely used measure of effect size for differences between group or
condition means; the difference between the two means divided by the standard
deviation.
Cohen’s κ: A
statistic, analogous to Cronbach’s α, which assess interrater reliability.
Conceptual Definition: A
definition of a psychological construct that describes the behaviours and
internal processes of that construct and how it relates to other variables.
Concern for Welfare: A
guideline for the Tri-Council Policy that refers to ensuring participants are
not exposed to unnecessary risk, maintaining privacy and confidentiality, and
providing information to participants.
Conditions: The
different levels of the independent variable.
Confederate: A
helper of a researcher who pretends to be a real participant..
Confidence interval: A
range of values that is computed in such a way that some percentage of the
time, the population parameter will lie within that range.
Confidentiality: An
agreement not to disclose participants’ personal information without their
consent or some appropriate legal authorization.
Confirmation Bias: The focus on cases that confirm beliefs and dismissal of cases
that disprove them.
Confounding Variable: An
extraneous variable that differs on average across levels of the independent
variable.
Consent Form: A
document informing participants of procedure, risks, and benefits of the
research that is signed during the process of informed consent.
Construct Validity:
The
quality of the experiment’s manipulations.
Constructs: Variables
that are not straightforward or simple to measure such as intelligence.
Content Analysis: A
family of systematic approaches to measurement using complex archival data.
Content Validity: The
extent to which a measure “covers” the construct of interest.
Context Effect: Being
tested in one condition can also change how participants perceive stimuli or
interpret their task in later conditions.
Control: Method
of holding extraneous variables at a constant.
Control Condition: A
condition in a study that the other condition is compared to. This group does
not receive the treatment or intervention that the other conditions do.
Converging Operations: Multiple
operational definitions of the same construct.
Copy Manuscripts: Manuscripts
that will be submitted to a professional journal for publication.
Correlation Matrix: A
table showing the correlation between every possible pair of variables in the
study.
Correlational Research: The
researcher measures the two variables of interest with little or no attempt to
control extraneous variables and then assesses the relationship between them.
Counterbalancing: Testing
different participants in different orders.
Criteria: In
reference to criterion validity, variables that one would expect to be
correlated with the measure.
Criterion Validity: The
extent to which people’s scores on a measure are correlated with other
variables that one would expect them to be correlated with.
Critical Values: Points
on the test distribution that are compared to the test statistic to determine
whether to reject the null hypothesis.
Cronbach’s α: A
statistic in which α is the mean of all possible split-half correlations for a
set of items.
Data File: A
record of the data collected for a research study, usually in the form of a
spreadsheet.
Debriefing: The
process of informing research participants as soon as possible of the purpose
of the study, revealing deception, and correcting misconceptions they may have
as a result of participating in the study.
Deception: Includes
misinforming participants of the purpose of the study, using confederates,
using fake equipment, or presenting false performance feedback.
Declaration of Helsinki:An
ethics code that was created by the World Medical Council in 1964, adding that
research with human participants should be based on a written protocol.
Demand Characteristics: Cues
to how the researcher expects participants to behave.
Dependent-samples T Test: Statistical
test used to compare two means for the same sample tested at two different
times or under two different conditions.
Dependent Variable (Y): The
variable that is thought to be the effect of the independent variable.
Descriptive Statistics: A
set of techniques for summarizing and displaying data.
Difference Score: Variable
formed by subtracting one variable from another.
Directionality Problem: Two
variables can be statistically related because X causes Y or Y causes X.
Discriminant Validity: The
extent to which scores on a measure are not correlated with measures of
variables that are conceptually distinct.
Distribution: The
way the scores are dispersed across the levels of the variable.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD):
A doctoral degree generally held by people who conduct scientific research in
psychology.
Double-blind Study: An
experiment in which both the participants and the experimenters are blind to
which condition the participants have been assigned to.
Edited Volumes: A
type of scholarly book in which an editor or small group of editors recruit
many authors to write separate chapters on different aspects of the same topic.
Effect Size: The
strength of a statistical relationship.
Empirical Questions: The second fundamental feature of science; questions about the way
the world actually is and can be answered through systematic empiricism.
Empirical Research Reports: A
type of research article which describes one or more new empirical studies
conducted by the authors.
Empirically Supported Treatments: Treatments that have been shown to work through systematic
observation.
Error Bars: Small
bars at the top of each main bar in a bar graph that represent the variability
in each group or condition.
Ethics: A
branch of philosophy that is concerned with morality, what it means to behave
morally and how people can achieve this goal.
Experiment: A
study in which the researcher manipulates the independent variable.
Experimental Analysis of
Behaviour: Laboratory methods that rely on
single-subject research; based upon B. F. Skinner’s philosophy of behaviourism
which posits that everything organisms do is behaviour.
Experimenter Expectancy
Effect: A source of variation in which
the experimenter’s expectations about how participants “should” be have in the
experiment.
External Validity: When
the way a study is conducted supports generalizing the results to people and
situations beyond those actually studied.
Extraneous Variable: Anything
that varies in the context of a study other than the independent and dependent
variables.
Face Validity: The
extent to which a measurement method appears to measure the construct of
interest.
Factor: In
a factorial design, each level of one independent variable.
Factor Analysis: A
statistical technique that organizes the variables into a smaller number of
clusters, such that they are strongly correlated within each cluster but weakly
correlated between clusters.
Factorial ANOVA: A
null hypothesis test that is used when more than one independent variable is
included in a factorial design.
Factorial Design: An
approach to including multiple independent variables in an experiment where
each level of one independent variable is combined with each level of the
others to produce all possible combinations.
Factorial Design Table: A
table showing each condition produced by the combinations of variables.
Falsifiable: Scientific
claims must be expressed in such a way that there are observations that would
count as evidence against the claim.
Fatigue Effect: Participants
perform a task worse in later conditions because they become tired or bored.
Feasibility: the
state or ability of being easily or conveniently completed.
Field Experiments: Experiments
conducted entirely outside the laboratory.
File Drawer Problem: When
researchers obtain nonsignificant results, they tend not to submit them for
publication or, if they are submitted, they are not accepted.
Final Manuscripts: Manuscripts
prepared by the author in their final form with no intention of submitting them
for publication elsewhere such as dissertations, theses, and other student
papers.
Focus Groups: Small
groups of people who participate together in interviews focused on a particular
topic or issue.
Folk Psychology: Intuitive
beliefs about people’s behaviour, thoughts, and feelings.
Formality: The
extent to which the components of the theory and the relationships among them
are specified clearly and in detail.
Frequency Table: A
table in which one column lists the values of a variable (the possible scores)
and the other column lists the frequency of each score (how many participants
had that score).
Full REB Review: The
default requirement for research involving humans.
Functional Approach: Psychological
phenomena are explained in terms of their function or purpose.
Fundamental attribution error: People
tend to explain others’ behaviour in terms of their personal characteristics as
opposed to the situation they are in.
Grounded Theory: Researchers
start with the data and develop a theory or interpretation that is “grounded
in” the data.
Group Research: The
study of large numbers of participants and examining their behaviour primarily
in terms of group means, standard deviations, and so on.
HARKing: Hypothesizing
after the results are known.
High-level Style: The
second level of APA style which includes guidelines for the clear expression of
ideas through writing style.
Histogram: A graphical display of a distribution.
History: A
category of alternative explanations for differences between scores such as
events that happened between the pretest and posttest, unrelated to the study.
Hypothesis: A
prediction about a new phenomenon based on a theory; can also be an explanation
that relies on just a few key concepts.
Hypothetico-deductive method: Primary way that scientific researchers use theories.
Independent-samples T Test: Statistical
test used to compare the means of two separate samples.
Independent Variable (X): The
variable of a statistical relationship that is thought to cause the other
variable.
Informed Consent: Researchers
obtain and document people’s agreement to participate in a study after having
informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their
decision.
Interaction: When
the effect of one independent variable depends on the level of another.
Interestingness: The
level a research question is interesting to the scientific community and people
in general.
Internal Consistency: Consistency
of people’s responses across the items on a multiple-item measure.
Internal Validity: When
the way an experiment was conducted supports the conclusion that the
independent variable caused observed differences in the dependent variable.
These studies provide strong support for causal conclusions.
Interrater Reliability: The
extent to which different observers are consistent in their judgments.
Interrupted Time-series
Design: A set of measurements taken at
intervals over a period of time that are interrupted by a treatment.
Interval Level: Level
of measurement in which scores represent the precise magnitude of the
difference between individuals, but a score of 0 does not represent an absence
of the characteristic.
Interviews: A
way to collect qualitative data consisting of both general questions and more
detailed questions.
Introduction: The
third page of a manuscript containing the research question, the literature
review, and comments about how to answer the research question.
Item-order Effect: The
order in which the items are presented affects people’s responses.
Justice: A guideline of the Tri-Council Policy that refers to the
obligation to treat people fairly and equitably.
Latency: The
time it takes for the dependent variable to begin changing after a change in
conditions.
Level: Whether
the data is higher or lower based on a visual inspection of the data; a change
in the level implies the treatment introduced had an effect.
Levels of Measurement: Different
levels of quantitative information that can be communicated by a set of scores.
Line Graphs: A
graph used to present correlations between quantitative variables when the
independent variable has, or is organized into, a relatively small number of
distinct levels.
Literature Review: A
description of relevant previous research on the topic being discusses and an
argument for why the research is worth addressing.
Low-level style: Third
level of APA style which includes all the specific guidelines pertaining to
spelling, grammar, references and reference citations, numbers and statistic,
figures and tables, and so on.
Main Effect: In
factorial design, the statistical relationship between one independent variable
and a dependent variable–averaging across the levels of the other independent
variable.
Manipulate: To
change an independent variable’s level systematically so that different groups
of participants are exposed to different levels of that variable, or the same
group of participants is exposed to different levels at different times.
Manipulation Check: A
separate measure of the construct the researcher is trying to manipulate.
Maturation: An
alternative explanation that refers to how the participants might have changed
between the pretest and posttest in ways that they were going to anyway because
they are growing and learning.
McGurk effect: When
audio of a basic speech sound is combined with video of a person making mouth
movements for a different speech sound, people often perceive a sound that is
intermediate between the two.
Mean: Symbolized M, the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores.
Mean Squares Between Groups
(MSB): An estimate of population
variance based on the differences among the sample means.
Mean Squares Within Groups
(MSW): An estimate of population
variance based on the differences among the scores within each group.
Measurement: The
assignment of scores to individuals where the scores represent some
characteristic of the individuals.
Mechanistic Theories: Focus
on specific variables, structures, and processes as well as how these factors
interact to produce a particular phenomena.
Median: The
middle score in the sense that half the scores in the distribution are less
than it and half are greater than it.
Mere exposure effect: The
more often people have been exposed to a stimulus, the more they like it—even
when the stimulus is presented subliminally.
Minimal Risk Research: When the likelihood and magnitude of possible harms faced by the
participants is no greater than those encountered in in everyday life.
Mixed Factorial Design: When
one independent variable is manipulated between subjects and another is
manipulated within subjects.
Mixed-methods Research: The
combination of quantitative and qualitative research.
Mode: The
most frequent score in a distribution.
Model: A
precise explanation or interpretation of a specific phenomenon; expressed in
terms of equations, computer programs, or biological structures and processes.
Monograph: Type
of scholarly book written by a single author or small group of authors,
coherently presents a topic much like an extended review article.
Mundane Realism: The
participants and the situation studied are similar to those that the
researchers want to generalize to and participants encounter everyday.
Multiple-baseline Design: A
baseline is established for several participants and the treatment is then
introduced to each participant at a different time.
Multiple Dependent Variables: When
researchers examine the relationship between a single independent variable and
more than one dependent variable.
Multiple Regression: Measuring
several independent variables, all of which are possible causes of a single
dependent variable. This results in an equation that expresses the dependent
variable as an additive combination of the independent variables.
Multiple-treatment Reversal
Design: A baseline phase is followed by
separate phases in which different treatments are introduced.
Naturalistic Observation: An
approach to data collection that involves observing people’s behaviour in the
environment in which it typically occurs.
Negative Relationship: Higher
scores on one variable tend to be associated with lower scores on the other
variable.
Nominal Level: Level
of measurement used for categorical variables and involves assigning scores
that act as category labels.
Nonequivalent Groups Design: A
between-subjects design in which participants have not been randomly assigned
to conditions.
Nonexperimental Research: Research
that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of
participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or both.
Nonlinear Relationships: The
points of a data set are better fit by a curved line.
Nonmanipulated Independent
Variable: In a factorial design, the
researcher measures an independent variable but does not manipulate it.
Nonprobability Sampling: When
the researcher cannot specify the probability that each member of the
population will be selected for the sample.
Nonresponse Bias: A
form of sampling bias in which survey nonresponders differ from responders in
systematic ways.
No-Treatment Control Condition: A
type of control condition in which participants receive no treatment.
Null Hypothesis: The
idea that there is no relationship in the population and that the relationship
in the sample reflects only sampling error.
Null Hypothesis Testing: A
formal approach to deciding between two interpretations of a statistical
relationship in a sample.
Nuremberg Code: A
set of ten principles written in 1947 in conjunction with the trials of Nazi
physicians that provided a standard by which to compare the behaviour of the
men on trial.
Occam’s razor:
Another term for parsimony (see definition for parsimony).
One-Sample T Test: Compares
a sample mean with a hypothetical population mean that provides some
interesting standard of comparison.
One-tailed Test: Where
the null hypothesis is rejected only if the t score for the sample is extreme in one direction that we specify
before collecting the data.
One-Way ANOVA: A
null hypothesis test that is used for between-between subjects designs with a
single independent variable.
Open-ended items: A
questionnaire item that allows participants to answer in whatever way they
choose.
Opening: An
introduction to the research question and explanation for why this question is
interesting.
Open Science Practices: Practices
that increase the transparency and openness of the scientific enterprise.
Examples include the pre-registration of hypotheses and the sharing of raw
data and research materials.
Operational Definition: A
definition of the variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured.
Operationalization: Conversion from research question to experiment design.
Oral Presentations: Also
known as a “talk”, presenters stand in front of an audience of other
researchers and explains their research, usually assisted by a slide show.
Ordinal Level: Level
of measurement in which scores represent the rank order of the individuals,
showing how individuals are different from each other and whether they are
higher or lower on the variable being measured.
Organization: Referring
to an article, the sections that are included and what order they appear in.
Other-race effect: People
recognize faces of people of their own race more accurately than faces of
people of other races.
Outlier: An
extreme score that is much higher or lower than the rest of the scores in the
distribution.
P Hacking: A
data malpractice in which a researcher might perform inferential
statistical calculations to see if a result was significant before deciding
whether to recruit additional participants and collect more data.
P Value: The
probability that, if the null hypothesis were true, the result found in the
sample would occur.
Parameters: Values
in a population that correspond to variables measured in a study.
Parsimony: A
principle which holds that a theory should include only as many concepts as are
necessary to explain or interpret the phenomena of interest.
Participant Observation: Researchers
become active participants in the group or situation they are studying.
Pearson’s r: A
statistic measuring the strength of a correlation between quantitative
variables ranging from -1.00 (strongest negative relationship) to +1.00
(strongest positive relationship), with 0 showing no relationship between
variables.
Peer Review: A
process in which articles are reviewed by two or three experts on the article
topic in order to ensure the work meets basic standards of the field before it
can enter the research literature.
Percentage of Nonoverlapping Data
(PND): The percentage of responses in
the treatment condition that are more extreme than the most extreme response in
a relevant control condition.
Percentile Rank: The
percentage of scores in the distribution that are lower than a particular
score.
Perspective: A
broach approach to explaining and interpreting phenomena.
Phenomenon: A
general result that has been observed reliably in systematic empirical
research.
Pilot Test: A
small-scale study conducted to make sure that a new procedure works as planned.
Placebo: A
simulated treatment that lacks any active ingredient or element that should
make it effective.
Placebo Control Condition: Participants
receive a placebo that looks like the treatment but lacks the active ingredient
or element thought to be responsible for the treatment’s effectiveness.
Placebo Effect: A
positive effect of a treatment that lacks any active ingredient or element to
make it effective.
Population: A very large group of people.
Positive Relationship: Higher
scores on one variable tend to be associated with higher scores on the other
variable.
Post Hoc Comparisons: Analysis
of selected pairs of group means to determine which are different from which
others.
Poster Session: A
type of conference presentation in which posters are set up on bulletin boards
arranged around a large room where other researchers may circulate through the
room, examine the posters, and speak with the presenters.
Practical Significance: The
importance or usefulness of the result in some real-world context.
Practice Effect: Participants
perform a task better in later conditions because they have had a chance to
practice it.
Prescreening: A procedure used to identify and eliminate participants who are at
high risk.
Pretest-posttest Design: The
dependent variable is measured once before the treatment is implemented and
once after it is implemented.
Privacy: A
person’s right to decide what information about them is shared with others.
Probability Sampling: The
researcher can specify the probability that each member of the population will
be selected for the sample.
Professional Conferences: Method
for researchers to share their work with other researchers through
presentations such as “talks” or posters.
Professional Journals: Periodicals
that publish original research articles.
Prospect Theory: A
formal theory of decision making under uncertainty.
Protocol: A
detailed description of the research that is reviewed by an independent
committee.
Pseudoscience: Activities
and beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents, and may
appear scientific, but are not.
Psychological Realism: The
same mental process is used in both the laboratory and in the real world.
Psychometrics: Measurement used in the field of psychology.
PsycINFO: An
electronic database covering thousands of professional journals and scholarly
books produced by the APA.
Public Knowledge: The third fundamental feature of science; scientists publish their
work after asking empirical questions, making systematic observations, and
drawing conclusions.
Publication MAnual of the American
Psychological Association: A book produced by the APA
containing standards for preparing manuscripts to be submitted for publication
in order to facilitate scientific communication by promoting clarity of
expression and standardizing the organization and content of articles and book chapters.
Qualitative Research: Research
where the data are usually non-numerical and are analysed using non-statistical
techniques.
Quantitative Research: Research
in which data is gathered from a large number of individuals and described
using a statistical technique.
Quantitative Variable: A
quantity that is typically measured by assigning a number to each individual.
Quasi-experimental Research: The
researcher manipulates an independent variable but does not randomly assign
participants to conditions or orders of conditions.
Ratio Level: Level
of measurement in which there is a true zero point that represents the complete
absence of the characteristic.
Random Assignment: A
method of controlling extraneous variables across conditions by using a random
process to decide which participants will be tested in the different
conditions.
Randomized Clinical Trial: A
type of experiment to research the effectiveness of psychotherapies and medical
treatments.
Range: The
difference between the highest and lowest scores in the distribution.
Rating Scale: An
ordered set of responses that participants must choose from.
Raw Data: Unanalysed
data collected for a research study.
Reactivity: A
phenomenon which occurs when subjects alter their performance due to their
awareness of being observed.
Reference Citation: The
referral to another researcher’s idea that is written in the text, with the
full reference appearing in the reference list.
References: The
source of information used in a research article.
Regression To The Mean: The
statistical fact that an individual who scores extremely on a variable on one
occasion will tend to score less extremely on the next occasion.
Reject the Null Hypothesis: When
the relationship found in the sample would be extremely unlikely, the idea that
the relationship occurred “by chance” is rejected.
Reliability: The
consistency of a measure.
Repeated-Measures ANOVA: The
dependent variable is measured multiple times for each participant, allowing a
more refined measure of MSW.
Replicability Crisis: The
inability of researchers to replicate earlier research findings.
Replication: Conducting
a study again, either exactly as was originally conducted or with
modifications, to ensure that it will produce the same results.
Rescorla-Wagner model: A
theory of classical conditioning that features an equation describing how the
strength of the association between unconditioned and conditioned stimuli
changes when the two are paired.
Research Ethics Board (REB): A committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols
for potential ethical problems.
Research Literature: All
the published research in a particular field.
Respect for Persons: A
guideline for the Tri-Council Policy that refers to respecting the autonomy of
research participants through free, informed, and ongoing consent and
protection of those incapable of exercising autonomy.
Respondents: Participants of a survey.
Restriction of Range: One
or both of the variables have a limited range in the sample relative to the
population.
Results Section: The
main results of the study, including the results from statistical analyses, are
presented in a research article.
Retain the Null Hypothesis: When
the relationship found in the sample is likely to have occurred by chance, the
null hypothesis is not rejected.
Reversal Design (ABA design): A
study method in which the researcher gathers data on a baseline state,
introduces the treatment and continues observation until a steady state is
reached, and finally removes the treatment and observes the participant until
they return to a steady state.
Review Articles: A
type of research article that summarizes previously published research on a
topic and usually presents new ways to organize or explain the results.
Sample: A
small subset of a population.
Sampling Bias: When
a sample is selected in such a way that it is not representative of the entire
population and therefore produces inaccurate results.
Sampling Error: The
random variability in a statistic from sample to sample.
Sampling Frame: A
list of all the members of the population from which to select the respondents.
Scatterplots: A
graph which shows correlations between quantitative variables; each point
represents one person’s score on both variables.
Scholarly Books: Books
written by researchers and practitioners mainly for sue by other researchers
and practitioners.
Science:
A general approach to understanding the natural world.
Scope: The
number and diversity of the phenomena a theory explains or interprets.
Self-report Measures: Measures
in which participants report on their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Serial position effect: Stimuli
presented near the beginning and end of a list are remembered better than
stimuli presented in the middle.
Simple Random Sampling: A
probability sampling method in which each individual in the population has an
equal probability of being selected for the sample.
Single-Subject Research: A
type of quantitative research that involves studying the behaviour of each
small number of participants in detail.
Single-Variable Research: Research
that focuses on a single variable rather than a statistical relationship
between two variables.
Skepticism: An
attitude in which one considers alternatives and searches for evidence.
Skewed: The
peak of a distribution is shifted towards either the upper or lower end of its
range.
Social Validity: The
study of strong and consistent effects that can be implemented reliably in the
real-world contexts in which they occur.
Socially Desirable
Responding: A phenomenon where participants
respond in the way they believe to be socially appropriate or in a way desired
by the researcher.
Split-half Correlation: Method
of assessing internal consistency through splitting the items into two sets and
examining the relationship between them.
Spontaneous recovery: A
conditioned response that has been extinguished often returns with no further
training after the passage of time.
Spontaneous Remission: The
tendency for many medical and psychological problems to improve over time
without any form of treatment.
Stage Theories: Specify
a series of stages that people pass through as they develop or adapt to their
environment.
Standard Deviation: The
average distance between the scores and the mean.
Standard Error: The
standard deviation of the group divided by the square root of the sample size
of the group.
Statistical Control: The
researcher measures potential third variables and includes them in the
statistical analysis.
Statistical Power: The
probability of rejecting the null hypothesis given the sample size and expected
relationship strength.
Statistical Relationship: Occurs
when the average score on one variable differs systematically across the levels
of the other variable.
Statistical Validity: Whether the statistics conducted in the study support the
conclusions that are made.
Statistically Significant: When
there is less than a 5% chance of a result as extreme as the sample result
occurring and the null hypothesis is rejected.
Steady State Strategy: The
researcher waits until the participant’s behaviour in one condition becomes
fairly consistent from observation to observation before changing conditions.
This way, any change across conditions will be easy to detect.
Stratified Random Sampling: A
method of probability sampling in which the population is divided into
different subgroups or “strata” and then a random sample is taken from each
“stratum.”
Subject Pool: An
established group of people who have agreed to be contacted about participating
in research studies.
Survey Research: A
quantitative approach in which variables are measured using self-reports from a
sample of the population.
Symmetrical: A
distribution whose left and right halves are mirror images of each other.
Systematic Empiricism:
The first fundamental feature of science; careful planning, making, recording,
and analyzing observations of the natural world for the purposes of learning.
T Test: A
common null hypothesis test examining the difference between two means.
Test-retest Correlation: The
consistency of a measure on the same group of people at different times.
Test-retest Reliability: The
consistency of a measure over time.
Test Statistic: A
statistic that is computed only to help find the p value.
Theoretical Approach: Theories
in psychology are constructed from a variety of theoretical ideas.
Theoretical Article: A
type of review article primarily devoted to presenting a new theory.
Theoretical Framework: The
established context applied to understanding a phenomenon.
Theoretical Narrative: An
interpretation of the data in terms of the themes identified through
qualitative research.
Theory: A
coherent explanation or interpretation of one or more phenomena.
Third-variable Problem: Two
variables may be statistically related, but both may be caused by a third and
unknown variable.
Title Page: The
page at the beginning of an APA-style research report containing the title of
the article, the authors’ names, and their institutional affiliation.
Tolerance for Uncertainty: The
acceptance of the unknown.
Treatment: Any
intervention meant to change people’s behaviour for the better.
Treatment Condition: A
condition in a study where participants receive treatment.
Trend: The
gradual increases or decreases in the dependent variable across observations.
Triangulation: Using
both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to study the same
general questions and to compare the results.
Tri-Council Policy Statement:
Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans: Canadian code of ethics that must be followed by researchers and research
institutions.
Two-tailed Test: The
null hypothesis is rejected if the t score for the sample is extreme in either direction.
Type I Error: When
the null hypothesis is rejected when it is true; when the research concludes
there is a relationship in the population when in fact there is not.
Type II Error: When
the null hypothesis is retained when it is false; when the research conclues
there is no relationship in the population when in fact there is one.
Typologies: Groups
organized by the distinct type of person or behaviour being categorized.
Validity: The
extent to which the scores from a measure represent the variable they are
intended to.
Variability: The
extent to which the scores vary around their central tendency.
Variable: A
quantity or quality that varies across people or situations.
Variance: The
mean of the squared differences; a measure of variability.
Visual Inspection: The
plotting of individual participants’ data, examining the data, and making
judgements about whether and to what extent the independent variable had an
effect on the dependent variable.
Waitlist Control Condition: Participants
are told that they will receive the treatment but must wait until the
participants in the treatment condition have already received it.
Within-subjects Experiment: Each
participant is tested under all conditions.
Z Score: The
difference between an individual’s score and the mean of the distribution,
divided by the standard deviation of the distribution.
