1. Research Methods

Question 1

experiment

Answer 1

investigation looking for a cause and effect relationship

Question 2

Independent Variable and Dependent Variable

Answer 2

the factor under investigation in
an experiment which is manipulated to create two or more conditions (levels) and is expected to be responsible for
changes in the dependent variable.

the factor in an experiment which is
measured and is expected to change under the influence of
the independent variable.

Question 3

experimental and control condition

Answer 3

control condition: a level of the IV in an experiment from which the IV is absent. It is compared to one or more
experimental conditions (situations in an experiment which represent different levels of the IV)

Question 4

laboratory experiment

Answer 4

a research method in which there is
an IV, a DV and strict controls. conducted in a setting that is not in the usual environment for the participants, but artificial

Question 5

validity and reliability

Answer 5

validity - the extent to which the researcher is testing what they claim to be testing

reliability - the extent to which a procedure, task or measure is
consistent, for example that it would produce the same results
with the same people on each occasion.

Question 6

field experiment

Answer 6

an independent variable is manipulated
and is expected to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable. It is conducted in the normal environment
for the participants for the behaviour being investigated.

Question 7

natural experiment

Answer 7

the independent variable cannot be
directly manipulated by the experimenter. Instead they
study the effect of an existing difference or change. Since the researcher cannot manipulate the levels of the IV it is not a
true experiment.

Question 8

experimental design:
independent measure

Answer 8

where a different group of participants is used for each level of the IV

Question 9

experimental design:
repeated measures design

Answer 9

each participant performs every level of the IV

Question 10

experimental design:
matched-pair design

Answer 10

participants are arranged into pairs. each pair is similar in ways that are important to the study and one member of each pair performs a different of the IV

Question 11

demand characteristics

Answer 11

demand characteristics: features of the experimental situation which give away the aims, which reduces
the validity of the study.

Question 12

confounding and participant variables

Answer 12

Confounding variables are those that affect other variables in a way that distorted associations between two variables. They confound the “true” relationship between two variables.

Example: You collect data on sunburns and ice cream consumption. You find that higher ice cream consumption is associated with a higher probability of sunburn. Does that mean ice cream consumption causes sunburn?

participant variables: individual differences between
participants (such as age, personality and intelligence) that could affect their behaviour in a study. They could hide or
exaggerate differences between levels of the IV.

Question 13

order effects and a solution?

Answer 13

practice effect: performance
improves because they experience the experimental task more
than once

fatigue effect: performance
declines because they have experienced an experimental task, due to boredom or tiredness.

counterbalancing (used to overcome
in a repeated measures design):
Each possible order of levels of the IV is performed by a different sub-group of
participants. This can be described as an ABBA design, as half the participants do condition A then B, and half do B then A.

Question 14

aim and hypothesis

Answer 14

aim - tells you the purpose of the
investigation. It is generally expressed in terms of what the
study intends to show.

hypothesis - a testable statement predicting a difference between levels of IV in an experiment/relationship between variables in a correlation

• main/alternative hypothesis - the hypothesis in a particular investigation. needs to be falsified (can be proven wrong)

Question 15

non-directional and directional hypothesis

Answer 15

non-directional - predicting only that one variable will be related to another
e.g: that there will be a diff in the DV between levels of the IV in an experiment

directional: predicting the DIRECTION of a relationship between variables

Question 16

null and main hypothesis

Answer 16

main/alternative hypothesis:
the hypothesis in a particular investigation. needs to be falsified (can be proven wrong)

null:
saying that there won’t be any difference or correlation in results or that the diff will be due to chance

Question 17

operationalisation

Answer 17

the definition of variables so that they
can be accurately manipulated, measured or quantified and
replicated. This includes the IV and DV in experiments and the
two measured variables in correlations.

for example a study testing the eff ect of age on susceptibility to false
memories:

operationalising the IV:
young –> 20 - 30; 30 - 40…
old –> 40 - 50; 50 - 60…
operationalising the DV:
counting the number of details ‘remembered’ about the false memory

Question 18

standardisation

Answer 18

standardisation: keeping the procedure for each participant in an experiment (or interview) exactly the same to ensure that any differences between participants or conditions are due to
the variables under investigation rather than differences in the way they were treated.

Question 19

population

Answer 19

the group, sharing one or more characteristics,
from which a sample is drawn.

Question 20

opportunity sample
(sampling technique)

Answer 20

participants are chosen because they
are available

e.g. university students are selected because they
are present at the university where the research is taking place.

Question 21

volunteer (self-selected) sample
(sampling technique)

Answer 21

participants are invited to
participate
e.g. through advertisements via email or notices. Those who reply become the sample.

Question 22

random sample

Answer 22

all members of the population (i.e. possible participants) are allocated numbers and a fixed amount of
these are selected in a unbiased way, e.g. by taking numbers
from a hat.

Question 23

naturalistic observation

Answer 23

a study conducted by watching
the participants’ behaviour in their normal environment
without interference from the researchers in either the social or
physical environment.

Question 24

controlled observation:

Answer 24

a study conducted by watching
the participants’ behaviour in a situation in which the social or physical environment has been manipulated by the researchers. It can be conducted in either the participants’ normal environment or in an artificial situation.

Question 25

structured and unstructured observation

Answer 25

unstructured observation: a study in which the observer
records the whole range of possible behaviours, which is
usually confined to a pilot stage at the beginning of a study to refine the behavioural categories to be observed.
structured observation: a study in which the observer
records only a limited range of behaviours.

Question 26

participant and non participant observer

Answer 26

participant observer: a researcher who watches from the
perspective of being part of the social setting.

non-participant observer: a researcher who does not
become involved in the situation being studied, e.g. by
watching through one-way glass or by keeping apart from the social group of the participants.

Question 27

behavioural categories

Answer 27

the activities recorded in an
observation. They should be operationalised (clearly defined) and should break a continuous stream of activity into discrete recordable events. They must be observable actions rather than inferred states.

Question 28

overt and convert observer

Answer 28

overt observer: the role of the observer is obvious to the
participants.

covert observer: the role of the observer is not obvious,
e.g. because they are hidden or disguised.

Question 29

correlation

Answer 29

a research method which looks for a causal
relationship between two measured variables. A change in one variable is related to a change in the other (although these changes cannot be assumed to be causal).

Question 30

quantitive and qualitative data

Answer 30

quantitative data: numerical results about the quantity of
a psychological measure such as pulse rate or a score on an intelligence test.

qualitative data: descriptive, in-depth results indicating the
quality of a psychological characteristic, such as responses to open questions in self-reports or case studies and detailed observations.

Question 31

measure of central tendency, of spread

Answer 31

measure of central tendency: a mathematical way to find
the typical or average score from a data set
(mode, median, mean)

measure of spread: is an indicator of how varied the
results are within a data set, a mathematical way to describe the variation or dispersion within a data set.
(range, standard deviation)

Question 32

bar chart, histograms, scatter graph, normal distribution curve

Answer 32

bar chart: there are gaps between each bar that
is plotted on the graph because the columns are not related in a linear way.

histogram: a graph used to illustrate continuous data, e.g. to show the distribution of a set of scores. It has a bar for each score value, or group of scores, along the x-axis. The y-axis has frequency of each category.

normal distribution curve:
* has the mode, median and mean together in the centre
* has 50% of the scores to the left and 50% to the right of
the mean
* is symmetrical.

Question 33

Ethical guidelines relating to the use of animals

Answer 33

housing, replacement, species and strain, no of animals, procedures:pain and distress, Reward, deprivation and aversive stimuli, anaesthesia, analgesia and ethanasia