Psychological Research (Psychology)

Recall cards on how psychologists do research. Why research matters: evidence-based knowledge, theories and hypotheses, empirical evidence, facts versus opinions, deductive and inductive reasoning, and falsifiability. Approaches to research: the case study, naturalistic observation, observer bias and inter-rater reliability, surveys, samples and populations, archival research, and longitudinal versus cross-sectional designs. Analyzing findings: the correlation coefficient, positive and negative correlation, why correlation is not causation, confounding and illusory correlations, independent and dependent variables, experimental and control groups, single- and double-blind studies, the placebo effect, random sampling and random assignment, statistical significance, reliability and validity, and peer review and replication. And research ethics: the IRB, informed consent, deception and debriefing, the IACUC and animal welfare, and the Tuskegee syphilis study that led to the National Research Act.