PSYC 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Dependent And Independent Variables, Naturalistic Observation, Random Assignment
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Five characteristics of good research: use of objective measures. Research methods a set of methods that allows a researcher to test a hypothesis, or a specific prediction about behavior. Two main types of research: experimental research allows casual conclusions (what causes this behavior in the first place, correlational research how are variables related to each other. Naturalistic observation is o(cid:271)ser(cid:448)i(cid:374)g a(cid:374)d re(cid:272)ordi(cid:374)g the parti(cid:272)ipa(cid:374)t"s (cid:374)atural (cid:271)eha(cid:448)ior, without influencing the participant: behavior is studied under natural conditions, but it is difficult not to influence behavior and requires lots of patience (very artificial) Interest is in the relation between variables and the researcher just measures two (or (cid:373)ore) (cid:448)aria(cid:271)les a(cid:374)d uses statisti(cid:272)s to see if the(cid:455)"re related. The calculated statistic is called the correlation coefficient (r: value of r tells you how much the two variables are related. Correlation is not causation a relatio(cid:374)ship (cid:271)et(cid:449)ee(cid:374) the (cid:448)aria(cid:271)les does(cid:374)"t (cid:373)ea(cid:374) that they caused each other.
