The document provides an overview and review of the key topics that will be covered on the final exam for an Experimental Methods psychology course. It outlines 15 chapters that cover scientific research methods, research design and analysis, and ethics. The chapters include topics like research approaches, problem identification, experimental controls, validity, sampling, statistics, and qualitative research methods.

1. Final Exam Review
Experimental Methods
PSYC 2950.002
Spring 2012

2. A note:
• You are welcome to review your previous
exams in preparation for the final exam.
• If you’re interested in doing so, e-mail me @
shanasouthard-dobbs@my.unt.edu to
schedule a time.

3. Chapter 1
Intro to Scientific Research
• What is a theory?
• Methods of conducting science
– Induction/Deduction
– Hypothesis Testing
– Naturalism
• Assumptions Underlying Research
– Determinism
– Reality in Nature
– Discoverability

4. Chapter 2
Research Approaches and Data Collection Methods
• Non-experimental quantitative research
• Claiming cause and effect
• Psychological experiment
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research
• Mediator/Moderator
• Experimental research settings

5. Chapter 3
Problem Identification and Hypothesis Formation
• Parts of a research paper
• Sources of research ideas
– Literature review
• Research idea, research problem/question, hypothesis
• Order of operations
– get research idea
– review the literature
– determine feasibility of study
– formulate the research problem
– formulate the hypothesis
– collect the data

6. Chapter 5
Measuring Variables & Sampling
• Scales of Measurement
• Reliability
• Validity
• Relationship between reliability & validity
• Sampling
– Benefits of random sampling

7. Chapter 6
Research Validity
• Types of validity
• Threats to validity
* Internal/External validity
– relationship between

8. Chapter 4
Ethics
• Areas of ethical concern
• Informed Consent
• Assent
• Debriefing
• Role of IRB

9. Chapter 8
Experimental Research Design
• Weak experimental designs
– What’s missing?
• Strong experimental designs
– What makes them strong designs?
• Between-participant designs
• Within-participant designs
• Factorial designs

10. Chapter 7
Control Techniques in Experimental Research
• Random assignment vs. random selection
• Control by matching
– For what kind of design?
• Counterbalancing
– For what kind of design and what kind of effects?
• Control for Participant Effects
• Control for Experimenter Effects

11. Chapters 14 & 15
Statistics Review
• Inferential Statistics
• Graphical representation of data
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Nature of hypothesis testing
– Type I / Type II error
• What’s the appropriate statistical test?
– Correlation -- one-way ANOVA
– Ind. Samples t test -- factorial ANOVA
– Paired samples t test

12. Chapter 10
Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Where do quasi-experimental designs fit in
the continuum of weak to strong designs?
• What is the primary difference between quasi-
and strong experimental designs?
• What conditions are required to infer
causation from quasi-experimental designs?

13. Chapter 11
Single-Case Research Designs
• Single case designs
– ABA
– ABAB
– Multiple baseline design
– Changing criterion design

14. Chapter 12
Survey Research
• When to use survey research?
• Primary survey designs
– Cross-sectional, longitudinal
• Primary data collection methods
– Questionnaires, interviews, web-based, paper-
based
• Guidelines for evaluating (or creating) surveys
• Sampling issues

15. Chapter 13
Qualitative & Mixed Methods Research
• Definition of qualitative research
• Nature of qualitative research
– Vs. quantitative
• Validity in qualitative research
– Types & strategies to improve
– ways to reduce researcher bias
• Types of qualitative studies
• Importance and types of triangulation