AP Psychology Research Methods flashcards

The deck

1. 1What is the independent variable in an experiment?Tap to reveal

   AnswerThe variable the researcher deliberately manipulates in order to test its effect. It is the presumed cause.
2. 2What is the dependent variable in an experiment?Tap to reveal

   AnswerThe variable that is measured to see whether the manipulation had an effect. It is the presumed outcome, and its value depends on the independent variable.
3. 3What is a confounding variable?Tap to reveal

   AnswerAny factor other than the independent variable that differs systematically between groups and could account for the results. Confounds are what random assignment is designed to spread evenly across conditions.
4. 4What is an operational definition?Tap to reveal

   AnswerA precise statement of how a variable is manipulated or measured in a particular study — for example, defining 'stress' as the score on a specific 20-item questionnaire. It is what allows another researcher to replicate the study.
5. 5What is a hypothesis?Tap to reveal

   AnswerA testable prediction, usually stating the expected relationship between the independent and dependent variables, made before any data are collected.
6. 6What is random sampling, and what does it accomplish?Tap to reveal

   AnswerA sampling method in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. It makes the sample representative, which is what allows the results to be generalized to the population.
7. 7What is random assignment, and what does it accomplish?Tap to reveal

   AnswerAssigning participants to the experimental and control conditions by chance. It distributes participant differences evenly across groups, which is what permits a cause-and-effect conclusion.
8. 8What is the difference between the experimental group and the control group?Tap to reveal

   AnswerThe experimental group receives the treatment — the manipulated level of the independent variable. The control group does not, and serves as the comparison baseline against which the treatment's effect is judged.
9. 9What is the placebo effect?Tap to reveal

   AnswerA change in outcome produced by a participant's expectations rather than by an active treatment. Giving the control group an inert substitute is how researchers separate the two.
10. 10What is a double-blind procedure?Tap to reveal

    AnswerA design in which neither the participants nor the researchers who interact with them know who is receiving the treatment. It controls for both participant expectations and experimenter bias.
11. 11What range can a correlation coefficient take, and what do the sign and the number mean?Tap to reveal

    AnswerIt ranges from −1.00 to +1.00. The sign gives the direction — positive means the variables move together, negative means they move in opposite directions — and the absolute value gives the strength, with 0 meaning no linear relationship (two variables can still be related in a curved pattern).
12. 12Why does correlation not prove causation?Tap to reveal

    AnswerA correlation shows only that two variables vary together. The causal direction could run either way, or a third variable could be producing both. Only an experiment with a manipulated variable and random assignment supports a causal claim.
13. 13What is a case study, and what is its main limitation?Tap to reveal

    AnswerAn in-depth investigation of a single individual or small group, valuable for studying rare conditions and generating hypotheses. Its main limitation is that findings from one atypical case may not generalize to others.
14. 14What is naturalistic observation?Tap to reveal

    AnswerWatching and recording behavior in its natural setting without manipulating anything. It preserves realistic behavior but cannot establish cause and effect, and the observer's presence may still alter what people do.
15. 15What is the wording effect in survey research?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe finding that small changes in how a question is phrased can produce substantially different answers. It is a major source of bias in survey results.
16. 16What does it mean for a measure to be reliable?Tap to reveal

    AnswerIt yields consistent results — across repeated administrations, across different halves of the test, or across different raters. A reliable measure can still be consistently measuring the wrong thing.
17. 17What does it mean for a measure to be valid?Tap to reveal

    AnswerIt actually measures what it claims to measure. Validity requires reliability, but a reliable measure is not automatically valid.
18. 18What are the three measures of central tendency?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe mean (arithmetic average), the median (middle score when values are put in order), and the mode (most frequently occurring score).
19. 19Which measure of central tendency is most distorted by an extreme outlier, and which is preferred instead?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe mean is pulled toward the outlier. The median is preferred for skewed data, because it depends on position rather than on the size of extreme scores.
20. 20What does the standard deviation tell you?Tap to reveal

    AnswerHow much the scores in a distribution vary around the mean. A small standard deviation means scores cluster tightly; a large one means they are spread out.
21. 21In a normal distribution, what percentage of scores fall within one, two, and three standard deviations of the mean?Tap to reveal

    AnswerAbout 68% fall within one standard deviation, about 95% within two, and about 99.7% within three.
22. 22In a positively (right) skewed distribution, how do the mean and median compare?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe mean is greater than the median, because a few unusually high scores stretch the right tail and pull the mean toward it. In a negatively skewed distribution the mean falls below the median.
23. 23What does it mean for a result to be statistically significant?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe difference observed is unlikely to have arisen by chance alone. Psychologists conventionally use a probability of .05 or less as the cutoff. Significance says nothing about how large or important the effect is.
24. 24What is informed consent?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe ethical requirement that participants be told enough about the study to decide knowingly whether to take part, and be informed that they may withdraw at any time without penalty.
25. 25What is debriefing?Tap to reveal

    AnswerFully explaining the study to participants afterward, including the purpose of any deception used and why it was necessary. It is required whenever participants were not fully informed at the outset.
26. 26What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?Tap to reveal

    AnswerThe committee that reviews proposed research to ensure it meets ethical standards — weighing risks against benefits and checking the safeguards for participants — before the study is allowed to proceed.

AP Psychology Research Methods: FAQ

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