PSYC 201W Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Confounding, Random Assignment, Operationalization
19 Jan 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Research approaches and methods of data collection | lecture 2. Qualitative studies collect non-numerical data to answer research questions. Experimental: attempts to identify cause and effect relationships through psychological experiments. Descriptive: focuses on describing phenomena, events, or situations. Variable: something that takes on different values or categories. Constant: something that cannot vary; a single value or category. Categorical variables varies by type or kind. Quantitative variables varies by degree or amount. Independent variable (iv): presumed to cause changes in another variable (manipulated) Dependent variable (dv): presumed effect or outcome of the study (measured) Extraneous variables: variable that competes with the iv in explaining the dv (sometimes called third variables or confounding variable) Mediating variable: occurs between two other variables in a causal chain. Moderating variable: qualify a causal relationship as dependent on another variable. A condition in which one event (the cause) generates another event (the effect)
