CNIT 322 Exam 2 Questions With Complete Solutions Graded A+

Independent variable - The variable actively manipulated by the researcher to see what its impact will be on other variables. Dependent variable - The variable hypothesized to be affected by the independent variable manipulation (the outcome variable). Constant / control variable - Any variables that are prevented from varying. Confound - A variable that influences the independent and dependent variable. Validity - The findings truly represent the phenomenon being measured. Statistical conclusion validity - The conclusions are reasonable and dependable based on analytic strategies. Threats to statistical conclusion validity - - Scales used to assess the dependent variable are unreliable - Violation of statistical assumptions which distorts the p-value, making the decision unreliable Construct validity - Hypotheses are constructed in a theoretical context. External validity - The ability to generalize the results of a study to other participants, conditions, times, and/or places. This is also known as generalizability. Generalization - The process of inferring something about a population on the basis of findings.Internal validity - The ability of experiments to strengthen the logical rigor of a causal explanation between the independent variable and dependent variable by eliminating plausible alternate explanations (PAEs). Threats to validity - - Selection (groups are not equivalent) - History (something occurs that effects the dependent variable) - Maturation (natural process of growth) - Testing (process of being measured in a pretest impacts the dependent variable) - Instrumentation (scale/treatment changes or is not stable) - Experimental mortality (attrition) - Statistical regression (extreme values tend to move toward the average) - Sequence/order of events - Diffusion of treatment - Experimenter expectancy - Demand characteristics (reactivity) Ecological validity - Refers to whether the results generalize from the laboratory to the real world.