| A | B |
|---|
| Beneficience | Based on the respect of each individual and that requires that benefits be maximized |
| Nonmaleficience | The requirements to guard against the potential for harm |
| Confidentiality | Assumes that participants have the right to control the degree to which information can be disclosed to others. |
| Voluntary informed consent | Acknowledgement by individuals that they are participating willingly in research and that they understand the investigation including its purpose, procedures, risk, benefits and their option to refuse to participate. |
| Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) | Groups that consider issues such as the scientific soundness of proposed research, voluntary consent and potential for harm and benefits to the participants |
| Qualitative research | A method of research that facilitates the study of issues significant to real-world events that are observed in natural environments. Researchers using this method believe that human behavior and development are best understood from a personal frame of reference and should not be viewed in terms of separate variables but as a unified whole |
| Accelerated longitudinal research epidemiology | A method that attempts to overcome the weaknesses of cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal methods that combines the two approaches to help researchers study developmental change |
| Generational (cohort) effects | Development that may be different due to historical factors or societal changes (relating to things such as health care, social environments and educational opportunity, etc.) |
| Prospective longitudinal research | Individuals are observed and then evaluated with repeated observation as time passes. |
| Case-control study | Study in which a group that has been diagnosed with a disorder is compared with a group without the disorder. The purpose is to seek hypotheses about the predictors or causes of the observed disturbance. |
| Retrospective longitudinal research | This research goes back in time. An adolescent with a variable of interest is identified and information about their earlier characteristics and life experiences are then collected. |
| Cross-sectional research | Participants are observed at one point in time, as if a snapshot were being taken. Group comparisons are frequently made between groups that differ in age or developmental status. Developmental change cannot be traced. |
| Efficacy, effectiveness | When a causal connection between an intervention and a positive outcome is demonstrated. However, when applied in the real world, the intervention may not always work. |
| Single-case experimental designs | Involve a manipulation with a single (or a few) participants. Sometimes referred to as time-series designs because measures of the dependent variable are repeated across time periods. |
| Statistical significance | Concerns the probability that a finding is not due to mere chance. A common convention is that this type of finding would occur by chance only 5 or less times were the study repeated 100 times. |
| Dependent variable | The outcome that is measured in a controlled experiment. |
| Independent variable | The variable that is manipulated through the control of the experimenter. |
| Experiments of nature | These studies examine naturally occurring events and contrast a condition of interest with a condition in a comparison group. Correlational and other statistical analyses may be used to evaluate the relationships of interest. |
| Negative correlation | Is indicated when the relationship between two variables moves in opposite directions (high scores are associated with low scores and the reverse). |
| Positive correlation | Is indicated when the relationships between two variables moves in the same direction (high scores are associated with high scores and low scores are associated with low scores). |
| Correlational studies | Nonexperimental investigations that describe the relations between two or more factors without exposing the participants to a manipulation. |
| Case study | A descriptive, nonexperimental method commonly used in investigations of psychological disorders. It focuses on an individual and can tell something about the nature, course, correlates, outcomes, and possible etiology of psychological problems. |
| Quasi-experimental studies | Include a manipulation and various controls. Participants are not randomly assigned to the manipulation. |
| Experimental methods | These methods take two forms – randomized or quasi. They require that a manipulation of a variable be made followed by an examination of the effects. |
| Descriptive (non-experimental) methods | A method in which the general purpose is to portray a phenomenon of interest. These methods may involve sophisticated correlational and multivariate statistical analysis to study complex relationships. |
| External validity | Asks the question of the extent to which the results of an investigation apply to other populations and situations. |
| Observer blindness | Occurs when an observer has no knowledge of the problems to be displayed, or the hypotheses being tested |
| Interobserver reliability | The extent to which two or more observers code the same behavior in a consistent way. |
| Naturalistic observation | Consists of directly observing individuals in their “real world” |
| Internal validity | Refers to the extent to which the explanation is judged to be correct or sound. |
| Reliability of measurement | Measurements where data are similar, or consistent, if measurements were taken again under similar circumstances. |
| Validity of measurement | A measurement that is an accurate indicator of the attribute of interest. |
| Operational definition | Some observable and measurable operation must be selected to define the behavior or concept. |
| Selection bias | When a sample overrepresents a population, utilizes participants who show the most severe symptoms, are more representative of one gender. The characteristics of research participants and the way that participants are chosen are critical in planning and drawing conclusions from research investigations. |
| Random selection | A representative sample where each participant is chosen by chance |
| Hypothesis testing | A process by which hypotheses derived from theoretical notions are tested. The process is valuable because it tends to build knowledge systematically rather than haphazardly. |
| Randomized experiments | They require that a manipulation of a variable be made followed by an examination of the effects. Also requires random assignment of participants to the manipulation as well as control of the procedures and extraneous factors. |
| Epidemiology | The quantitative study of the distribution and causes of disorder in human populations. |
