| A | B |
|---|
| survey/questionnaire | method of obtaining information by asking many people a fixed set of questions |
| case study | in-depth analysis of thoughts, beliefs, experiences, or problems of one individual |
| experiment | method for identifying cause-effect relationships by following guidelines in a controlled setting to minimize possibility of error |
| self-fulfilling prophecy | having a strong belief about an outcome and unknowingly acting to fulfill that expectation |
| placebo | something that resembles medical treatment but has no medical effect (a "sugar pill") |
| placebo effect | a change in behavior that results from imagined value of treatment rather than actual medical effects |
| correlation | a relationship between two or more variables |
| cause-effect | a relationship in which one variable results in another |
| laboratory setting | systematic & controlled conditions that attempt to control or eliminate real-world influences |
| naturalistic setting | observation in a relatively normal environment aiming to not influence a subject's behavior |
| hypothesis | educated guess stated in precise, concrete language |
| independent variable (IV) | something a researcher controls or manipulates (treatment) |
| dependent variable (DV) | a subject's behaviors that are a result of (dependent on) the treatment |
| random selection | best method to have a representative group of people participating in a survey or experiment |
| experimental group | subjects in an experiment who receive the treatment |
| control group | subjects in an experiment who undergo everything but the treatment |
| double-blind procedure | neither the subject nor the experimenter knows which group is receiving treatment |
| positive correlation | variables increase or decrease together |
| negative correlation | as one variable increase the other tends to decrease |
| confounding variable | something that was not counted on or controlled for and interferes with the results |
| operational definition | specific description of a variable stating how it will be measured or observed |
| proof by disproof | accepting a hypothesis as accurate only after eliminating all other possibilities |
| counter-example | an exception to a stated hypothesis |
| applied science | using research data to effect a change (so what?) |
| cause-effect | a rare relationship in psychological research; a conclusion only reached by conducting an experiment |
