analogue study

an experimental design in which the procedures or participants used are similar but not identical to the situation of interest. For example, if researchers are interested in the effects of therapist gender on client perceptions of therapist trustworthiness, they may use undergraduate students who are not clients and provide simulated counseling dialogues that are typed and identified as offered by a male or female therapist. The results of such studies are assumed to offer a high degree of experimental control. Also called analogue model.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

best fit

the theoretical pattern that best accounts for the relationships among variables in a data set. For example, a regression equation having the best fit to sample data is the one that minimizes differences between observed and predicted values. On a scatterplot, a line of best fit provides a visual depiction of this pattern, allowing extrapolation to values not part of the original data set. It is important to note that the best-fitting pattern is not necessarily the one that generated the observed data, as other patterns not considered may provide a superior fit.