Source of knowledge acquired by means of observation or experimentation.

Empirical evidence is information that justifies a belief in the truth or falsity of an empirical claim. 

- Maintaining confidentiality of information collected from research participants means that only the investigator(s) or individuals of the research team can identify the responses of individual subjects

- either the project does not collect identifying information of individual subjects (e.g., name, address, Email address, etc.), or the project cannot link individual responses with participants’ identities

Exempted review: secondary data, surveys, interviews, public observations, educational tests

- In educational settings using normal educational practices

Expedited review: studies involving minimal risk, vulnerable populations, biological samples w/o invasion, recorded data

Full review

All research should be reviewed

Participant must be aware of what they will be asked to do in the study, must freely choose to particpate.

Consent must come from guardian for minors and those with diminshed capacity.

Participants are free to withdraw at any time.

Information should be given in a language the participant can understand.

Information should include risks and benefits, should help them decide whether to participate

Respect for Persons: requirement to acknowledge autonomy and protect those with diminished autonomy

Beneficence: Do no harm; maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms; benefits must outweigh risks

Justice: Requires that people be treated fairly; selection of participants as well

In most instances, researchers do not use deception. 

Deception is never used when there is a reasonable expectation of pain or severe emotional distress

The purpose of deception needs to be made explicit in the IRB application.

If deception is used, a debriefing of the true nature of the study needs to occur as soon as possible

Research plans must be approved

Do no harm (physically or mentally)

Informed consent

Confidentiality of data

"Legitimate educational interest"

Define and give examples of variables

Differentiate between variables and constants

A concept that varies in a class of objects. A variable among students might be hair color.

Student = constant, Hair color = variable

Categorical variables: differences in quality, not degree (e.g. male/female)

Continuous variables (quantitative): describes differences of degree

Nominal: groups data (gender, place of birth)

Ordinal: ranks data (SES, student rank)

Interval: equal difference between score points (test scores, personality scale)

Ratio: equal differences plus a true zero point (weight, length)

*Treat interval/ratio variables similarly in social sciences research

Independent variable: variable that affects change; hypothesized causal variable

Dependent variable: variable changed by intervention

Extraneous variables: might influence the dependent variablel; we want to control for extraneous variables

Hypothesis: a proposed explanation for a phenomenon; a prediction of the outcome of the study; based on theory

Directional: an indication of the outcome in a specific direction

Nondirectional: a change will occur but not sure how or which direction, more ambiguous

The extent to which the findings from a sample can be generalized to the entire population; 

The degree to which the findings can be generalized from the study sample to the entire population

Random: "A simple random sample choses in such a way that every set of n individuals has an equal chance to be the sample actually selected

Non-random: convenience or purposive sample (who is available or volunteers and when the researcher decides who in the population to collect data from)

Define and describe validity as a concept

Explain measurement validity

The degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores entailed by proposed uses of tests

How well does it test what it sets out to test? (accuracy)

Measurement validity: the ways we interpret and use measurements; some interpretations are more or less valid

Content validity: is my assessment focused on the content I wish to measure? Focus, format isses (printing, font, spacing, language, directions)

Criterion validity: can the scores on the assessment predict performance on a task? (predictive evidence) 

Do the scores on the assessment relate to the scores on another well-known assessment? (concurrent evidence)

Construct validity: Is the underlying cognitive skill measured reflected in the measurement scores? Evidence: clear definition of construct (tested empirically) comparison between individuals with high & low levels of construct

Test-retest: theoretically useful but not practical

Equivalent forms: two different tape measures (high concurrent validity)

Interrater: two raters using same form/criteria to measure (ACT Writing portion)