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Flip to reveal answersWhat is the independent variable (IV)?
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All 13 Flashcards — Establishing cause and effect
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Question
What is the independent variable (IV)?
Answer
The one thing the researcher changes on purpose to see its effect.
Question
What is the dependent variable (DV)?
Answer
The thing the researcher measures to see the effect of the IV.
Question
How does an experiment show cause?
Answer
It changes the IV and keeps everything else the same, so a change in the DV can only come from the IV.
Question
What is a control group?
Answer
A group that does not get the IV, used as a comparison.
Question
What is random allocation?
Answer
Assigning participants to groups by chance, so the groups start out similar.
Question
Why does random allocation matter?
Answer
It spreads third variables evenly across groups, so they can't explain the result.
Question
What are extraneous variables?
Answer
Other factors that could affect the DV; they must be controlled (kept equal).
Question
What is internal validity?
Answer
Confidence that the IV, and nothing else, caused the change in the DV.
Question
Why can an experiment claim cause but a correlation can't?
Answer
The experiment controls other factors and uses random allocation, ruling out third variables and reverse causation.
Question
What is external validity?
Answer
How far a finding holds outside the study: for other people, places and real life.
Question
What is a placebo for?
Answer
It gives the control group the same expectation of being treated, so expectation cannot explain a difference.
Question
What is a wait-list control?
Answer
A control group that gets the treatment later. It is used when no placebo exists, as with therapy.
Question
What does "statistically significant" mean?
Answer
The difference is unlikely to be due to chance alone. It does not mean large or important.
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Causality
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