Research Methods in Social Psychology Vocabulary

studies how biological systems are implemented in social processes and behaviour

different measures of the same construct are significantly associated with each other

measures of constructs such as attitudes that are unobtrusively assessed (eg. by reaction times) so that participants are unaware of what is being assessed

procedure that alters the nature of what is being measured

researcher studies the target group from within

a measure that yields the same result on multiple occasions or when used by different individuals

techniques for establishing whether findings exhibit a pattern of relationship that is reliable across studies

an experiment that is accessed via the internet; participants receive instructions via the web and provide responses via their keyboard or touch screen

generalisability of research findings to settings and populations other than those involved in the research

false but plausible explanation of the purpose of the experiment, limits operation of demand characteristics

participant is not aware of therefore cannot influence their behaviour

assesses participants perceptions of the purpose of the experiment (Orne, 1962)

participants are likely to want to be seen in a positive light and may therefore adjust their responses

the assumption that independent and dependent variables adequately capture the abstract variables are supposed to

when an independent variable has two or more separable components

the inference that changes in the independent variable result in changes in the dependent variable

the extent to which a measure precisely measures what it is supposed to measure

a variable that mediates the relation between two other variables

a term used when the combination of two (or more) independent variables in a factorial experiment yields an effect that differs from the sum of the main effects

a term used to refer to the separate effects of each independent variable in a factorial experiment

an experiment in which two or more independent variables are manipulated within the same design

a group of participants who are typically not exposed to the independent variable(s) used in experimental research

a group of participants allocated to the 'experimental' condition of the experiment

an experimental design in which participants are randomly allocated to one of two groups; one group is exposed to the independent variable, another, the control group, is not

a research design in which observations are made on a group after some event has occurred or some manipulation has been introduced

the practice of explaining to participants the purpose of the experiment in which they have just participated and answering any questions they may have

the variable that is expected to change as a function of change in the independent variable. Measured changes in the dependent variable are seen as 'dependent' on manipulated changes in the independent variable

a measure of the effectiveness of the independent variable

the way in which a theoretical construct is turned into a measurable dependent variable or a manipulable independent variable in a particular study

the variable that an experimenter manipulates in order to examine the effect on one or more dependent variables

accomplice of the experimenter who is ostensibly another participant but who in face plays a prescribed role in the experiment

the 'package' within which an experiment is presented to participants

the use of multiple methods and measures to research a given issue

analysing talk and texts, with the goal of revealing how people make sense of their everyday worlds

a sample that fills certain pre-specified quotas and thereby reflects certain attributes of the population (such as age and sex) that are though to be important to the issue being researched

a sample in which each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected and in which the selection of every possible combination of the desired numbers of members is equally likely

the process of selecting a subset of members of a population with a view to describing the population from which they are taken

involves interviewing (or administering a questionnaire to) a sample of respondents who are selected so as to be representable of the population from which they are drawn. Measures existing levels of variable rather than manipulating them

the process of allocating participants to groups (or conditions) in such a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each group

an experiment in which participants are allocated to the different conditions of the experiment on a random basis

an experiment in which the participants are not randomly allocated to the different experiment conditions (typically because of factors beyond the control of the researchers)

a method in which the researcher deliberately introduces some change into a setting to examine the consequences of that change

a person who takes part in a psychological study

a prediction derived from a theory concerning the relationship between variables

the term used to refer to the measurable representation of a construct

an abstract theoretical concept (such as social influence)

a set of abstract concepts (ie. constructs) together with propositions about how those constructs are related to each other