experimental psychology

• External validity: How well the findings of an experiment generalize or apply to people and settings that were not tested directly
• Internal Validity: The certainty that the changes in behaviors observed across treatment conditions were actually caused by differences in treatment
• Paradigm: The set of attitudes, values, beliefs, methods, and procedures that are generally accepted within a particular discipline at a certain point in time
• Field study: A non-experimental research method used in the field or in a real-life setting, typically employing a variety of techniques, including naturalistic observation and unobtrusive measures or survey tools, such as questionnaires and interviews
• Focus group: A type of group interview; it is an organized discussion session with a small group of people, usually led by a trained facilitator
• Participant-observer study: A special kind of field observation in which the researcher actually becomes part of the group being studied
• Phenomenology: A nonexperimental method of gathering data by attending to and describing one's own immediate experience
• Qualitative research: Research that relies on words rather than numbers for the data being collected; it focuses on self-reports, personal narratives, and expression of ideas, memories, feelings, and thoughts
• Reactivity: The tendency of subjects to alter their behavior or responses when they are aware of the presence of an observer
• Retrospective data: Data collected in the present based on recollections of past events; apt to be inaccurate because of faulty memory, bias, mood, and situation
• Systematic observation: A system for recording observations; each observation is recorded using specific rules or guidelines, so observations are more objective
• Naturalistic Observations: A descriptive, nonexperimental method of observing behaviors as they occur spontaneously in natural settings
• Unobtrusive measure: A procedure used to assess subjects' behaviors without their knowledge; used to obtain more objective data
• Archival study: A descriptive method in which already existing records are reexamined for a new purpose
• Case study: The descriptive record of an individual's experiences, behaviors, or both kept by an outside observer
• Deviant case analysis: A form of case study in which deviant individuals are compared with those who are not to identify the significant differences between them
• Empirical phenomenology: Contemporary phenomenology that relies on the researcher's own experiences, experiential data provided by study participants, or other available sources such as literature or popular media; a qualitative approach
• Cluster sampling:

  • A form of probability sampling where a researcher samples entire clusters or naturally occurring groups within the population
• Content analysis:

  • A system for quantifying responses to open-ended questions by categorizing them according to objective rules or guidelines
• Context effects:

  • Effects produced by the position of a question within the question order, influencing how the question is interpreted
• Continuous dimension:

  • Traits, attitudes, and preferences viewed as a continuous dimension where each individual can fall at any point along each dimension
• Convenience sampling:

  • Obtained by using any groups that happen to be convenient, considered a weak form of sampling as the researcher exercises no control over the representativeness of the sample
• Interval scale:

  • Measurement of magnitude with equal intervals between values but no true zero point
• Latent content:

  • The "hidden meaning" behind a question
• Manifest content:

  • The plain meaning of the words or questions that actually appear on the page
• Naysayers:

  • People who are apt to disagree with a question regardless of its manifest content
• Nominal scale:

  • The simplest level of measurement that classifies items into two or more distinct categories based on a common feature
• Level of measurement:

  • The type of scale used to measure a variable - ratio, interval, ordinal, or nominal
• Population:

  • All people, animals, or objects that have at least one characteristic in common
• Position preference:

  • When in doubt about answers to multiple choice questions, some people always select a response in a certain position
• Sampling:

  • Deciding who the subjects will be and selecting them
• Simple random sampling:

  • The most basic form of probability sampling where a portion of the whole population is selected in an unbiased way
• Nonprobability sampling:

  • Sampling procedures where subjects are not chosen at random; examples include quota and convenience samples
• Ordinal scale:

  • A measure of magnitude where each value is measured in the form of ranks
• Snowball sampling:

  • A form of nonprobability sampling where a researcher locates one or a few people who fit the sample criterion and asks them to lead to additional individuals who fit the criterion
• Stratified random sampling:

  • A form of probability sample obtained by randomly sampling from people in each important population subgroup in the same proportion as they exist in the population
• Systematic random sampling:

  • A variation of random sampling where a researcher selects every person from the population
• Probability sampling:

  • Selecting samples in a way that the odds of any subject being selected for the study are known or can be calculated
• Purposive sampling:

  • The selection of nonrandom samples that reflect a specific purpose of the study
• Quota sampling:

  • Selecting samples through predetermined quotas intended to reflect the makeup of the population