Unit 2: Research Methods: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Module 4- The Need for Psychological Science Define the following key terms 1. hindsight bias 2. critical thinking Answer the following questions 1. Take the quiz in Table 4.1. Write your answers below. Circle the ones you miss. Then give an example from your life of hindsight bias. 2. How might overconfidence be a problem? Name a time you were overconfident. 3. What is the problem with perceiving order in random events? 4. How do curiosity, skepticism, and humility make modern science possible? 5. What role does critical inquiry play in psychology? Module 5- The Scientific Method and Description
Define the following key terms (do not just copy from the margin- read in context first!) 1. theory 2. hypothesis 3. operational definition 4. replication 5. case study 6. naturalistic observation 7. survey 8. sampling bias 9. population 10. random sample Answer the following questions 1. What s the difference between a theory and a hypothesis? 2. How can an operational definition check a researcher s bias?
3. Name the three kinds of descriptive studies. What are the plusses and minuses of each? 4. What kind of effects can the framing of a question in a survey have? 5. If you wanted to obtain a random sample of students here at Oakmont, what does the text suggest you do? Module 6- Correlation and Experimentation Define the following key terms (do not just copy from the margin- read in context first!)
1. correlation 2. correlation coefficient 3. scatterplot 4. replication 5. illusory correlation 6. experiment 7. experimental group 8. control group 9. random assignment 10. double-blind procedure 11. placebo effect 12. independent variable 13. confounding variable 14. dependent variable 15. validity Answer the following questions
1. Read section 6.1. a. what is a positive correlation? b. what is a negative correlation? c. what does +1.00 to -1.00 mean? d. what is the point to remember : from page 48? 2. Take the quiz in Table 6.2. How did you do (no peeking at the answers). 3. What do correlations help us do? 4. Explain Association does not prove causation. 5. Give an example of an illusory correlation.
6. What is the difference between a correlational study and an experiment? 7. To test the effect of perceived ethnicity on the availability of a rental house, researchers sent identically worded e-mail inquiries to 1115 Los Angeles-area landlords (Carpusor & Loges, 2006). The researchers varied the ethnic connotation of the sender s name and tracked the percentage of positive replies (invitations to view the apartment in person). Patrick McDougall, Said Al-Rahman, and Tyrell Jackson received, respectively, 89 percent, 66 percent, and 56 percent invitations. (In this experiment, what was the independent variable? The dependent variable? ) 8. Table 6.5 Comparing Research Methods Fill in the rest of the table Research Method Basic Purpose How Conducted What is manipulated Strengths Weaknesses Descriptive Do case studies, naturalistic observations, or surveys Case studies require only one participant; naturalistic observations may be done when it is not ethical to manipulate variables; surveys may be done quickly and inexpensively (compared with experiments) Correlational To detect naturally occurring relationships; to assess how well one variable predicts another Nothing Experimental To explore cause and effect Sometimes not feasible; results may not generalize to other contexts; not ethical to manipulate certain variables
Module 7- Statistical reasoning in everyday life Define the following key terms (do not just copy from the margin- read in context first!) 1. descriptive statistics 2. histogram 3. mode 4. median 5. mean 6. skewed 7. range 8. standard deviation 9. normal curve 10. inferential statistics 11. statistical significance Answer the following questions 1. According to the text author, why are statistics important?
2. What s important to remember when viewing descriptive statistics? 3. What is a measure of central tendency? 4. How do scores tend to be distributed in nature? 5. Copy figure 7.3. Include all notation.
6. What are the three principles in determining the reliability of statistics. 7. when sample averages are reliable, and when the difference between them is relatively large, we say the difference has statistical significance. What does this mean? Module 8- Frequently asked questions about Psychology
Define the following key terms (do not just copy from the margin- read in context first!) 1. culture 2. informed consent 3. debriefing Answer the following questions 1. After reading 8.1- summarize the information in the last paragraph. 2. After reading 8.2- copy the point to remember. 3. What are the goals of animal research? What are the two issues that come out of animal research? 4. What are the APA guidelines for animal research? 5. Why is deception necessary for researchers in human research?
6. What are the four ethical principles that guide psychological research?