Psychology - Research Methods I

Case Study

• Study of one individual in great detail.

• Observation of human or animal behavior in its natural setting.

• An inexpensive and quick method of gaining information about people’s opinions, attitudes, and perceptions.

• Experiment using a variety of different hypotheses.

Survey

• An inexpensive and quick method of gaining information about people’s opinions, attitudes, and perceptions.

• Study of one individual in great detail.

• Observation of human or animal behavior in its natural setting.

• Experiment using a variety of different hypotheses.

An experiment where neither the participants nor the experimenter know who has received the treatment, until the experiment has concluded, is known as what?

• Random Experiment
• Single-blind Experiment
• Stratified Experiment
• Double-blind Experiment

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

• Experimental condition
• Control condition
• Independent variable
• Dependent variable

A specific, testable prediction, narrower than a theory

• Theory
• Hypothesis
• Critical thinking
• Psychological reasoning

Group that does receive the treatment

• Experimental group
• Control group

Group that does not receive the treatment

• Experimental group
• Control group

Professor Belevicious carefully monitors and records the behaviors of children on school playgrounds to track the development of their physical skills. Professor Belevicious is engaged in:

• experimentation.

• replication.

• survey research.

• naturalistic observation.

An experiment is performed to see if background music improves learning.  Two groups study the same material, one while listening to music and another without music. The independent variable is

• learning
• size of group
• material studied
• presence of music

Population

• The entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested.

• A sample that has characteristics that are similar to those in the population.

• Subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and may receive a placebo treatment.

• Study in which the subject do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group.