RM 3-4

Research that attempts to address practical questions rather than theoretical questions

Research that tests or expands on theory, with no direct application intended

Investigation that relies on studying behaviors as they naturally occur without any intervention by researcher

Investigation meant to discover whether variables covary (whether there are predictable relationships among measurements of different variables)

Investigation that involves manipulating and controlling an independent or treatment variable to assess whether it causes a change in the level of dependent variables

A research study set up to resemble a true experiment but that does not involve random assignment or manipulation of a true independent, relying on groups based on pre-existing characteristics

An intensive, in-depth study of a single individual or a few individuals, usually without manipulation of any variables to see how changes affect the person's behavior

A research project in which a group of participants is observed and measured over time, sometimes over many decades

Investigation that relies on existing records like books or governmental statistics or other artifacts rather than on direct observation of participants

The entire set of people or data that are of interest to a researcher

A subset of the population that is studied in a research project

A subset of the population in a research project that resembles the entire population with respect to variables being measured

A working definition of a compels or abstract idea that is based on how much it is measured in a research project

An element in a research project that, when measured, can take on more than one value

An idea or concept that is useful for understanding behavior, thought, and attitude but that is complex and not directly measurable

An error in data collection based on poor measuring instruments or human error that leads to invalid conclusions

Consistency or reproducibility of data collected using the same methodology on more than one occasion – across different but related test items or by different individuals

A measure of consistency of data collected at different points in time

A measure of the consistency of data across subgroups when the data from a test or another measuring instrument are broken down into smaller segments

Consistency of observation of a single situation made by different people

A property of data, concepts, or research findings whereby they are useful for measuring or understanding phenomena that are of interest to the psychologist.

The degree to which a measurement accurately measures the underlying concept that is supposed to be measured

The degree to which an experiment is designed so that a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variable is demonstrated without interference by extraneous variables

The process in which participants in a research study are nonsystematically placed in different treatment groups so that those groups are equivalent at the start of the experiment

The property of data such that research results apply to people and situations beyond that particular sample of individuals observed in a single research setting

The characteristic of research results such that the conclusions drawn from the results are valid because the appropriate statistical analyses were used

The degree to which two measurements that attempt to measure the same hypothetical construct are consistent with one another

The degree to which two measurements that should be assessing different constructs lead to different values

Measurement that involves putting observations into qualitatively different categories

Measurement that involves ranking data according to size

Measurement that shows the characteristics of an interval scale but that has an absolute zero point

Measurement that involves data organized from large to small for which any two adjacent variables are the same distance from one another as any other pair of adjacent variables