Research Methods

the scientific, systematic study of behaviors and mental processes

• sociology

• psychology

• social studies

• neuroscience

Which kind of research method only requires one to observe, not interfere with the study

• naturalistic observation

• case study

• survey

• longitudinal study

studies the same sample of people over a period of years to determine how they have changed over time

• experiment

• case study

• longitudinal study

• cross sectional study

You can learn many different things about the subject(s) by doing this kind of detailed study but you cannot apply these findings to the general population

• experiment

• longitudinal study

• survey

• case study

Studies groups of participants of different ages simultaneously and compares their results to examine potential age differences

• cross sectional studies

• naturalistic observation

• survey

• longitudinal study

Ms. Royal goes to the store and buys 50 potted plants. She wants to figure out if playing Beyonce for the plants will increase the plants’ growth. She splits the plants up into two groups of 25 plants each, one group of plants is played Beyonce and the other group is not played any music. 

What is the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE?

• plant growth

• playing Beyonce music

• number of plants per group

Ms. Royal goes to the store and buys 50 potted plants (yikes). She wants to figure out if playing Beyonce for the plants will increase the plants’ growth. She splits the plants up into two groups of 25 plants each, one group of plants is played Beyonce and the other group is not played any music. 

What is the DEPENDENT VARIABLE?

• the group of plants that was played Beyonce

• playing Beyonce

• plant growth

Ms. Royal goes to the store and buys 50 potted plants (yikes). She wants to figure out if playing Beyonce for the plants will increase the plants’ growth. She splits the plants up into two groups of 25 plants each, one group of plants is played Beyonce and the other group is not played any music. 

What is the EXPERIMENTAL GROUP?

• playing Beyonce

• the plants that were played Beyonce

• the plants that were not played any music

Ms. Royal goes to the store and buys 50 potted plants (yikes). She wants to figure out if playing Beyonce for the plants will increase the plants’ growth. She splits the plants up into two groups of 25 plants each, one group of plants is played Beyonce and the other group is not played any music. 

What is the CONTROL GROUP?

• the plants that were not played any music

• plant growth

• the plants that were played Beyonce

Show a POSITIVE CORRELATION either in graph form or with pictures/symbols