Terminology

• androcentrism

  Only focused on male participants, only viewing things from their perspective.
• Applications

  How the findings of a particular study can be used to explain or describe behavior and experience in an everyday situation
• Case study

  A research method that involves looking into detail at a single person, event or organisation
• confounding variables

  a variable which has an unintentional effect on the dependent variable
• Correlation

  A measure of how strongly two variables are related to eachother
• Covert observation

  an observational research method where the participants are not informed and unaware that they are being observed and data recorded
• Ecological Validity

  Refers to how well a study can be related to or reflects everyday life
• Ethical Guidelines

  A set of guidelines which psychologists carrying out research should follow
• Ethnocentrism

  A tendency to perceive the world from your own cultural group
• Experimental designs

  These are methods of using the participants within an experiment - independent measures, repeated measures, matched pairs
• Extraneous Variables

  Variables that are controlled by the experimenter because they might interfere with the investigation
• Field Experiment

  Involves direct manipulation of an independent variable and measurement of a dependent variable but takes place in a natural environment
• Focus Group

  Involves a group of participants being interviewed at the same time
• Generalisability

  results from one sample of participants can be applied to a wider group
• Gynocentrism

  only focused on female participants
• Internal Validity

  A measure of whether results obtained are solely affected by changed in the variable being affected
• True experiment

  Involves direct manipulation of the independent variable and measurement of the dependent variable
• Longitudinal

  Research on a group that are followed up on after a period of time
• Overt observation

  a research method where the participants have consented
• Participant bias

  Participants changing their behaviour in response to the research being conducted
• Qualitative data

  Data that describes meaning and experiences
• Quantitative data

  Data that focuses on numbers and frequencies
• Quasi/Natural experiment

  A research method that involves indirect manipulation of an independent variable
• Reductionism (Being reductionist)

  The argument that we can explain behaviour and experiences by reference to only one factor, such as physiology or learning, ignoring deeper explanations
• Reliability

  This refers to how consistent a measuring device is
• Representativity

  How well results can compare to other groups/to the target population
• Researcher bias

  When a researcher influences the findings and conclusion of a study in order to demonstrate their desired outcome
• Sampling techniques

  Techniques for recruiting participants to take part in a study
• Survey/Questionnaire

  A research method where participants are provided with written questions for them to answer
• Temporal Validity

  This is high when research findings successfully apply across time
• Interview

  A research method that involves asking participants questions on a one-to-one basis allowing them to self-report their behaviours, thoughts and feelings etc.
• W.E.I.R.D Participants

  Westernised, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic. Psychological research is conducted on these types of participants
• single blind

  the researcher or the participants don't know which group the participants belong to.
• double blind

  both the researcher and the participant knew which group the participant belongs to.
• determinism

  when consequences occur out of our own free will.