AP Psychology Research Methods

Unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of experimental & control groups differently.

A confounding variable is any difference between experimental & control conditions that might affect dependent variable

Variable that's controlled and manipulated by the experimenter.

A _______ expresses a relationship between two variables without ascribing cause, and can be either positive or negative

Research method commonly used; technique involves observing subjects in natural environment

Experiments that are conducted in a highly controlled environment

A process allowing a researcher to ensure the sample represents the population on some criteria.

When neither participants or researcher can affect outcome of the research

After an event, people often believe that they knew the outcome of the event before it actually happened. 

Scientific study and research that seeks to solve practical problems.

Cues about the purpose of the study that participants can use to appropriately respond.

A procedure where scientists use participants as their own control group

Research is reliable when when it can be _____________; it is consistent.

Research is _____________ when it measures what the researcher set out to measure.

This method is utilized to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or small group of participants.

The variable that is measured by the experimenter.

Research design method where scientists ask people to fill out surveys is called a survey method

A ________ aims to explain some phenomenon & allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses to collect data.

When one wants to ensure experimental & control groups were equivalent on some criterion (age, IQ, sex) they use this:

The process by which participants are put into a group, experimental or control.

The (subject) group that gets the treatment operationalized in the independent variable.

This group serves as a basis of comparison and gets none of the independent variable.

A single blind procedure occurs ONLY when participants know which group they're assigned to

When you operationalize a variable, you explain how you will measure it.

When every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected as a participant of a study.