PSYC 3620 Developmental Psychology Ch 3 Vocabulary 1 basic research research that has the primary goal of adding to our body of knowledge rather than having immediate application 2 applied research research that has the primary goal of solving problems or improving the human condition 3 scientific method the process of formulating testing hypotheses in a rigorous objective manner 4 hypothesis a prediction often based on theoretical ideas or observations that is tested by the scientific method 5 operationalize to define a concept in a way that allows it to be measured 6 reliability the ability of a measure to produce consistent results 7 validity the ability of a research tool to accurately measure what it purports to measure 8 interrater reliability a measure of consistency in the data gathered by multiple observers 9 generalize to draw inferences from the findings of research on a specific sample about a larger group or population 10 population a set that includes everyone in a category of individuals that we are interested in studying 11 representative sample a group of participants in a research study who have individual characteristics in the same distribution that exists in the population 12 event sample a data collection technique in which a researcher records information about all occurrences of a coherent set of behaviors being investigated 13 time sample a data collection technique in which a researcher observes an individual for a predetermined period of time records the occurrence of specific behaviors of interest to the research during that period 14 checklist a prepared list of behaviors characteristics or judgments used by observers to assess a child s development 15 survey a data collection technique that asks respondents to answer a common set of questions 16 questionnaires a written form of a survey 17 interviews a data technique in which an interviewer poses questions to a respondent 18 clinical interview an interview technique in which the interviewer can deviate from a standard set of questions to gather addition information 19 norm the average or typical performance of an individual of a given age on a test 20 case study an in depth study of a single individual or small group of individuals which uses multiple methods of study 21 experimental group the group in an experiment that gets the special treatment that is of interest to the researcher 22 control group the group in an experiment that does not get the special treatment provides a baseline against which the experimental group can be compared 23 random assignment assigning participants to the experimental control groups by chance so that the groups will not systematically differ from each other 24 variable a characteristic that can be measured that can have different values 25 independent variable the variable in an experiment that the researcher manipulates 26 dependent variable the outcome of interest to the researcher that is measured at the end of an experiment 27 natural or quasi experiement research in which the members of the group are selected because they represent different treatment conditions 28 correlation a measure of the strength direction of the relationship between two variables 29 positive correlation a correlation in which increases in one variable are associated with increases in another variable 30 negative correlation a correlation in which increases in one variable are associated with decreases in another variable 31 longitudinal design a research design that follows one group of individuals over time looks at the same or similar measures at each point of testing 32 attrition the loss of participants over the course of a longitudinal study 33 sample bias changes in the makeup of the sample in a longitudinal or cross sequential study that make the sample less representative over time 34 cross sectional design a research design that uses multiple groups of participants who represent the age span of interest to the researcher 35 cohort effect differences between groups in a cross sectional or cross sequential study that are attributable to the fact that the participants have had different life experiences 36 cross sequential design a research design that uses multiple groups of participants follows them over a period of time with the beginning age of each group being the ending age of another group 37 null hypothesis the hypothesis tested by an experiment that there will be no difference in the outcome for the groups in an experiment 38 meta analysis a statistical procedure that combines data from different studies to determine whether there is a consistent pattern of findings across studies 39 informed consent informing research participants of the risks benefits of participating in the research guaranteeing them the right to withdraw from participation if they wish