PSY 274 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Internal Validity, Longitudinal Study, Operationalization
9 Dec 2015
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Hypothesis- a general proposal regarding the relationship between the crucial elements of our question. This statement must be related to some existing theory. Variables- the elements in a hypothesis change in 1 will lead to change in other. Once a hypothesis has been established, social psychologists like to use a variety of ways to test it including: experimentation, observation of behavior, surveys, and longitudinal studies that track people"s behaviors over long periods of time. Advantages: maximum amount of control over variables changes. Independent variable- the one that the experimenter. Control- holding all variables constant except for the independent variable. Random assignment- assigning subjects randomly to experimental groups to control variables. Comparison- having more than one condition for experimental purposes. Validity- they must measure what they claim to measure (to check its validity, compare it to a similar or non-similar scale) Reliability- they must measure what they claim to measure consistently. (repeat to see consistent or non-consistent results)
