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| statement of the procedures used to define research variables. |
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| thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions; rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, and assesses conclusions. |
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| a technique for understanding the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a random, representative sample of them. |
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| experimental factor that is being manipulated and studied. |
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| repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants and indifferent situations to see whether the basic findings extend to other participants and circumstances. |
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| all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for study. |
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| a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occured by chance. |
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| a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. |
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| the arithmetic average of a distribution obtained by adding the scores and then dividing the number of scores. |
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| the most frequently occuring score in a distribution. |
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| a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. |
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| an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. |
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| the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it. |
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| the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. |
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| the tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have foreseen it. |
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| the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of independent variable. |
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| an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations. |
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| the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. |
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| a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion. |
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| observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
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| a meaure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. |
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| a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables; the slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables; the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). |
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| a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable); by random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. |
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| an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the participants have received the treatment or a placebo; commonly used in drug-evaluation studies. |
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| experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent. |
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| the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable. |
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| the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. |
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| assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
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| measure of a central tendency |
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| a single score that represents a whole set. |
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| the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. |
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