PSYC 235 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Longitudinal Study, Internal Validity, Confounding
21 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Hypothesis: an idea or theory that is not proven but that leads to further study or discussion (an educated guess) Testability: a hypothesis must be formulated so that it is testable. The ability to support a hypothesis is important for science and validity of your study) Independent variable (iv): variables that we manipulate, change, or record. (e. g. , the type and amount of an anti-depressant given to a patient) Dependent variable (dv): depends on the independent variable, subject to change (e. g. , the severity of the depression) Internal validity: extent to which we are confident that the independent variable caused the dependent variable to change. External validity: how well the results of the study relate to the aspects of the real world beyond the study or how the findings generalize to people who were not part of the research study. Statistical significance: probability of obtaining an observed effect by chance is small. This can happen more frequently with inflated numbers.
