| correlational research | The study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables.
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| dependent variable | The variable being measured, so-called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable.
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| experimental realism | Degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants.
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| experimental research | Studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variables) while controlling others (holding them constant).
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| field research | Research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory.
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| hypothesis | A testable proposition that describes a relationship that may exist between events.
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| independent variable | The experimental factor that a researcher manipulates.
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| informed consent | An ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.
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| mundane realism | Degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations.
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| random assignment | The process of assigning participants to the conditions of an experiment such that all persons have the same chance of being in a given condition. (Note the distinction between random assignment in experiments and random sampling in surveys. Random assignment helps us infer cause and effect. Random sampling helps us generalize to a population.)
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| theory | An integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events.
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