Hypothesis-explains the relationship between two variables

Independent variable-whatever is being manipulated
Dependent variable-whatever is being measured in the experiment

Operational definitions- explain what you mean in your hypothesis, how will the variables be measured in "real life" terms

Sampling- identify  the population you want to study, the sample must be representative of the population you want to study

Experimental method- looking to prove casual relationships, cause=effect
Beware of confounding variables-A confounding variable is anything that could cause a change in B that is not A.

Hawthorne effect-just the fact that you know you are in an experiment can cause change.

Correlational method-expresses a relationship between two variables, does not show causation.

Survey method- most common type of study in psychology, measures correlation, cheap and fast, good random sample, low response rate.

Naturalistic Observation-watch subjects in their natural environment, do not manipulate the environment.



Correlation coefficient- a number that measures the strength of a relationship, range from +1 to -1, the relationship gets weaker the closer you get to zero.

Case studies-a detailed picture of one or a few subjects, tells us a great story, does not give us correlation data.

Mean- average the results
Median-subtract the lowest from the highest
Mode-occurs the most in a set of data




Single blind- the subject does not know of the experiment being conducted.
Double-blind- the subject and the researcher do not know of the study being conduced.



Longitudinal- observing a study of the course of years
Cross-sectional- looking over a variety of groups