TAMU PSYCH 302 FINAL EXAM:
RESEARCH METHODS
Consumer - Correct Answers -exposed to the research through media and radio
Producer - Correct Answers -conducts experiments, analyzed data, publishes results
Theory Data Cycle - Correct Answers -cycle where scientists collect data to test,
change, or update their theories
Basic-applied research cycle - Correct Answers -cycle that is the combination of
research to enhance the general body of knowledge and research to solve practical
problems
peer-review cycle - Correct Answers -experts in the field asses a researchers work for
flaws and virtues, to be publishes as a research journal
journal to journalism cycle - Correct Answers -cycle where scuentific research is passed
to the public by the media (magazines, newspapers, commercials, internet, social media
apps, etc)
Research Methods - Correct Answers -A particular way of studying something in order
to discover more info
***Use the scientific method to observe, gather data, theorize, test and interpret
Empirical Science - Correct Answers -Based on experience and observations
Objective Science - Correct Answers -Everyone perceives the same way
This is what makes science different from non-science
Parsimony - Correct Answers -The degree to which a theory provides the simplest
explanation of a phenomenon
****Requires making the fewest exceptions or qualifications
Confederate - Correct Answers -An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a
specific role in a study.
Control - Correct Answers -Experimental Control = any means to rule out threats to
internal validity
8 Characteristics of Science - Correct Answers -Control -- most important
Tentative
,self-correcting /replication
Progressive
Theory-driven
Objective
Empirical
Parsimonious
Realism - Correct Answers -perceived outside the mind (world exists even when we
aren't aware)
Rationality - Correct Answers -assumes the world can be understood through logical
reasoning; the world is organized in a way that is understandable
Regularity - Correct Answers -rules, laws and properties of the universe are the same at
every point in the universe; everything is stable and constant
Dererminism/ Causality - Correct Answers -things don't just happen spontaneously;
events occur as a result of previous events
Discoverability - Correct Answers -assumes that the universe holds no secrets that
cannot be ultimately known and understood
Law (Scientific) - Correct Answers -A statement based on repeated experimental
observations that describe some aspect of the universe.
Theory - Correct Answers -explain how/why; describes why ideas relate to one another
*********Good theories are: supported by data, falsifiable, and parsimonious
Research - Correct Answers -testable, but does not have a direction/prediction
Hypothesis - Correct Answers -prediction that states a specific outcome that the
research expects to observe if the theory is accurate
What makes a good theory? - Correct Answers --Supported by data
-Falsifiable
-Parsimonious
Basic Research - Correct Answers -Expand Knowledge
Applied Research - Correct Answers -everyday problems- solutions
Translational - Correct Answers -take info from research and apply it
Common Sense - Correct Answers -not a perfect way of knowing (empirical)
Intuition - Correct Answers -gut feeling, sometimes wrong (empirical)
, Tenacity: know things from over exposure/ repeated exposure (ex: if you leave a penny
on Sully's shoe, if you walk under the century tree alone, if you step on the star in
military walk, you...)
Mysticism: unique to you/personal
Problems/limitations:
Swayed by a good story
Thinking what we want to think
present/present bias: the tendency to rely more on things that are more present and
ignore the things that are absent when looking at evidence
Availability heuristic/pop-up principle: things that are more memorable come to mind
much easier and guide our thinking (not necessarily correct)
Cherry picking evidence: seeking and accepting only the evidence that supports what
we already think and what we want to think
Confirmation bias: trying to prove what you believe is right
Authority - Correct Answers -non-empirical
Logic - Correct Answers -Non-empirical
Confounding variables - Correct Answers -unaccounted variables that may have an
influence on an outcome
Operational variable - Correct Answers -how the variable is measures or observed
-more objective and specific the better
Conceptual variable - Correct Answers -meaning of the variable more abstractly or
generally; dictionary
construct variable - Correct Answers -label for a theoretical dimension on which people
are thought to differ
Goal of Science - Correct Answers -Explain, Predict, Describe
Sample - Correct Answers -subset of the population targeted for inclusion in the study
Population - Correct Answers -the entire set of people to whom the researcher intends
to describe explain or predict
Sampling frame - Correct Answers -list of all the people in the study population
Best way to randomly sample - Correct Answers --First people who sign up
-names/numbers on slips of paper into a hat
-Assign people numbers and use random number table
Probability sampling - Correct Answers -this is preferred because it is more
representative of the population
RESEARCH METHODS
Consumer - Correct Answers -exposed to the research through media and radio
Producer - Correct Answers -conducts experiments, analyzed data, publishes results
Theory Data Cycle - Correct Answers -cycle where scientists collect data to test,
change, or update their theories
Basic-applied research cycle - Correct Answers -cycle that is the combination of
research to enhance the general body of knowledge and research to solve practical
problems
peer-review cycle - Correct Answers -experts in the field asses a researchers work for
flaws and virtues, to be publishes as a research journal
journal to journalism cycle - Correct Answers -cycle where scuentific research is passed
to the public by the media (magazines, newspapers, commercials, internet, social media
apps, etc)
Research Methods - Correct Answers -A particular way of studying something in order
to discover more info
***Use the scientific method to observe, gather data, theorize, test and interpret
Empirical Science - Correct Answers -Based on experience and observations
Objective Science - Correct Answers -Everyone perceives the same way
This is what makes science different from non-science
Parsimony - Correct Answers -The degree to which a theory provides the simplest
explanation of a phenomenon
****Requires making the fewest exceptions or qualifications
Confederate - Correct Answers -An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a
specific role in a study.
Control - Correct Answers -Experimental Control = any means to rule out threats to
internal validity
8 Characteristics of Science - Correct Answers -Control -- most important
Tentative
,self-correcting /replication
Progressive
Theory-driven
Objective
Empirical
Parsimonious
Realism - Correct Answers -perceived outside the mind (world exists even when we
aren't aware)
Rationality - Correct Answers -assumes the world can be understood through logical
reasoning; the world is organized in a way that is understandable
Regularity - Correct Answers -rules, laws and properties of the universe are the same at
every point in the universe; everything is stable and constant
Dererminism/ Causality - Correct Answers -things don't just happen spontaneously;
events occur as a result of previous events
Discoverability - Correct Answers -assumes that the universe holds no secrets that
cannot be ultimately known and understood
Law (Scientific) - Correct Answers -A statement based on repeated experimental
observations that describe some aspect of the universe.
Theory - Correct Answers -explain how/why; describes why ideas relate to one another
*********Good theories are: supported by data, falsifiable, and parsimonious
Research - Correct Answers -testable, but does not have a direction/prediction
Hypothesis - Correct Answers -prediction that states a specific outcome that the
research expects to observe if the theory is accurate
What makes a good theory? - Correct Answers --Supported by data
-Falsifiable
-Parsimonious
Basic Research - Correct Answers -Expand Knowledge
Applied Research - Correct Answers -everyday problems- solutions
Translational - Correct Answers -take info from research and apply it
Common Sense - Correct Answers -not a perfect way of knowing (empirical)
Intuition - Correct Answers -gut feeling, sometimes wrong (empirical)
, Tenacity: know things from over exposure/ repeated exposure (ex: if you leave a penny
on Sully's shoe, if you walk under the century tree alone, if you step on the star in
military walk, you...)
Mysticism: unique to you/personal
Problems/limitations:
Swayed by a good story
Thinking what we want to think
present/present bias: the tendency to rely more on things that are more present and
ignore the things that are absent when looking at evidence
Availability heuristic/pop-up principle: things that are more memorable come to mind
much easier and guide our thinking (not necessarily correct)
Cherry picking evidence: seeking and accepting only the evidence that supports what
we already think and what we want to think
Confirmation bias: trying to prove what you believe is right
Authority - Correct Answers -non-empirical
Logic - Correct Answers -Non-empirical
Confounding variables - Correct Answers -unaccounted variables that may have an
influence on an outcome
Operational variable - Correct Answers -how the variable is measures or observed
-more objective and specific the better
Conceptual variable - Correct Answers -meaning of the variable more abstractly or
generally; dictionary
construct variable - Correct Answers -label for a theoretical dimension on which people
are thought to differ
Goal of Science - Correct Answers -Explain, Predict, Describe
Sample - Correct Answers -subset of the population targeted for inclusion in the study
Population - Correct Answers -the entire set of people to whom the researcher intends
to describe explain or predict
Sampling frame - Correct Answers -list of all the people in the study population
Best way to randomly sample - Correct Answers --First people who sign up
-names/numbers on slips of paper into a hat
-Assign people numbers and use random number table
Probability sampling - Correct Answers -this is preferred because it is more
representative of the population
