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OCR A Level Psycholog > 1 Research Methods > Flashcards

1 Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What is a laboratory experiment?

A

A scientific method that involves testing hypotheses by creating controlled conditions in a laboratory setting

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2
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

A scientific study that is conducted outside of a controlled laboratory setting, in a real world environment.

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3
Q

What is a quasi experiment?

A

Quasi experiment contain a naturally occurring IV, for example, a memory task with a group of clinically depressed people vs non depressed.

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4
Q

Lab experiment advantages?

A
  • very reliable as they are easily replicable due to the controlled nature.
  • has the ability to establish cause and effect
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5
Q

Disadvantages of lab experiment?

A
  • low ecological validity because they are conducted in an artificial study that does not reflect a real life setting.
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6
Q

Field experiment advantages?

A

Higher ecological validity as behaviour occurs in its own natural environment.

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7
Q

Field experiment disadvantages?

A

More difficult to replicate exactly as there are no controls

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8
Q

Advantage of quasi experiment?

A

Useful when it is unethical to manipulate the IV like the experiment with the memory test with depressed and non depressed people, it is unethical to control their mental health.

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9
Q

Disadvantage of quasi experiment

A

Confounding variables are more likely = less reliable.

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10
Q

What are confounding variables?

A

Variables other than the independent variable that may affect results.

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11
Q

What is a structured observation?

A

In which an event or series of events is observed in its natural setting and recorded by an independent researcher.

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12
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of a structured observation?

A

+ likely to produce quantitative which makes it easier to analyse and compare.
+smaller risk of observer bias
- results aren’t as in depth and detailed.
- some behaviours the researcher records may not be important.

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13
Q

What is an unstructured observation?

A

When an observation is to take place without the pre defined plan and characteristics in advance.

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14
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of unstructured observations

A

+ more detailed results
- may be a greater risk of observer bias no behavioural categories)
- produces qualitative data which is more difficult to analyse.

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15
Q

What is a naturalistic observation?

A

Involves observing subjects in their natural environment

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16
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observations

A

+ ecological validity - behaviour is natural so there are no demand characteristics
+ can be a useful way of developing ideas about behaviour that could be tested in more controlled conditions.
- extraneous variables
- ethics - should only conduct observations where people expect to be observed by strangers. Debriefing is difficult, getting informed consent can be tricky.

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17
Q

What is a controlled observation?

A

A research method where researchers watch participants in a contained environment such as a laboratory

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18
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of a controlled observation

A

+ more accurate observations
+ easier to replicate - reliable
- low ecological validity
- demand characteristics

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19
Q

What is a participant observation

A

A research method where the researchers watch participants immerses themself in a particular social setting or group, observing the behaviours, interactions and practices of the participants.

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20
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of participant observations

A

+ high ecological validity
+ rich qualitative data can be obtained.
- observer may become too emotionally involved - too subjective
- cause and effect cannot be inferred.

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21
Q

What is a non participant observation

A

Involved observing participants without actively participating.

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22
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of non participant observations

A

+ observer may be more objective
+ observer can record observations as they occur - more reliable in terms of memory
- actual meaning of the behaviour may not be clear from a distance
- relationship is not formed between the observer and observee - may be less trust.

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23
Q

What is an overt observation?

A

Where those being observed are aware of the fact.

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24
Q

What is covert observation?

A

Where the researcher goes “undercover”, the participants are unaware that they are being observed.

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25
Q

What is a questionnaire?

A

A list of questions or items used to gather data from respondents about their attitudes or opinions

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26
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires

A

+ large amount of data can be collected quickly and easily
+ since they can be done anonymously, responses are more likely to be honest.
- questionnaires may be flawed if some questions are leading
- social desirability issues may arise where participants give incorrect responses to try to put themselves in a socially acceptable light.

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27
Q

What are interviews?

A

Self report techniques that involve experimenter asking participants questions

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28
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of interviews

A

+detailed, qualitative information can be obtained
+ unstructured interviews may encourage the participant to be more honest with their answers
- more time consuming than a questionnaire
- self report data may be untrue

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29
Q

What is a structured interview?

A

A quantitive research method where the interviewer a set of prepared close ended questions.

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30
Q

What is an unstructured interview?

A

Where the interviewer may have a list of topics or questions, but has extra flexibility to lead the conversation further.

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31
Q

Obtaining data for correlational analysis

A

Gathering data to conduct a correlational study is very similar to self report techniques like interviews or tests, this can be used to find relationships with other types of data.

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32
Q

Positive correlation

A

When two variables move in the same direction - when one variable increases, the other does too.

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33
Q

Negative correlation

A

A relationship between two variables in which the value of one variable increases, the value of the other decreases.

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34
Q

No correlation

A

As the amount of one variable increases, the other decreases (and vice versa) there is no relationship between the two variables.

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35
Q

What is a correlation coefficient?

A

A number between -1 and 1 that tells how strong the relationship is

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36
Q

Correlation coefficient examples

A
  • 0.0 to 0.3 is weak correlation
  • 0.3-0.7 is moderate correlation
  • above 0.7 is strong correlation
  • 0 is no correlation
    For example
  • +0.9 is strong positive correlation
  • -0.4 is moderate negative correlation
37
Q

What is a research aim?

A

Identifies the purpose of the investigation - straightforward expression of what the researcher is trying to find out from conducting an investigation

38
Q

Null hypothesis meaning

A

The hypothesis states that there is no difference between groups or no relationship between variables.

39
Q

What is an alternative hypothesis

A

States that there is a relationship between the two variables being studied - opposite of null hypothesis

40
Q

One tailed hypothesis (directional hypothesis) meaning

A

Points to what direction the effect will appear in for example, if we were studying whether students’ attendance affects their grades, one tailed hypothesis states that the students with higher attendance will have better grades than the students with lower attendance.

41
Q

Two tailed (non directional) hypothesis

A

A two-tailed hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable without specifying a direction.

42
Q

Random sampling, advantages and disadvantages

A

sampling technique where every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
+ highly representative, everyone has the same probability of being picked
- minority subgroups may not be present in the sample

43
Q

What does snowballing sampling mean? Advantages and disadvantages

A

A recruitment technique in which research participants are asked to assist researchers in finding further participants who meet the required criteria for the study
+ ability to reach smaller groups - such as finding people with Tourette’s
- sample bias, people may recommend people who have similar characteristics result in lack of diversity.

44
Q

Opportunity sampling meaning, and Tanges and disadvantages

A

A sampling technique used to select participants from a target group to take part in a study. Consists of a researcher selecting anyone who is available and willing to take part in a study.
+ easy and inexpensive to carry out
- may be unethical as participants may feel as though they have to take part
- can be less representative

45
Q

Self selected sampling

A

Sample consists of people who have volunteered to be in the study.
+ ethical as participants are willing to take part.
- less representative as it may not reach all types of people, (people who are busy may ignore the opportunity to take part whereas uni students would more likely take part as they have more time.)

46
Q

What is repeated measures design, advantages and disadvantages?

A
  • repeated measures design is when the same participants are being tested under the same conditions.
    + no participant variables as the same people are being tested.
  • order effects are likely = practice effect and fatigue effect.
47
Q

What is practice and fatigue effect?

A
  • practice effect - participants perform a task better in later conditions because they had a chance to practice it.
  • fatigue effects - a decline in performed on a prolonged or demanding research task, the participant becomes bored or tired with the task.
48
Q

What is independent measures design, advantages and disadvantages

A

independent measures design is when different groups do different conditions.
+ avoids order effects as participants do the conditions once, no chance to get better or bored.
- participant variables are likely as the groups have different characteristics, makes it harder to compare performance.

49
Q

What is matched participant design? Advantages and disadvantages

A

An experimental design where pairs of participants are matched in terms of key variables such as age, and IQ
+ may help to reduce participant variables if characteristics are similar
- hard to match participants 100% as no one is the same, so participant variables still exist.

50
Q

What is an operationalised IV and DV?

A

When the variables have been turned into something that can be measured, they become operationalised. For example,
‘Memory as measured by the number of items correctly recalled from a list after 5 minutes’

51
Q

What are extraneous variables, how to control them?

A

Any variables other than the independent variable that may affect the dependent variable in some way. Example, temperature.
If temperature is an extraneous variable that affects participants focus if they’re doing a memory recall, the temperature would have to be control so they dont potentially affect results.

52
Q

Rating scales

A
  • likert rating scale, semantic differential rating scale.
  • likert rating scale and semantic differential rating scale - rating things from maybe 1 to 5 for example. Quick and easy to do but lack detail
  • semantic differential rating scale -
53
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of open questions

A

+ lots of detail - qualitative data
- time consuming as participants may take time to write feedback

54
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of closed questions?

A

+ collect quantitive data, easy to compare
- less detail, may not accurately represent participants experience or opinions.

55
Q

What are the measures of central tendency?

A

Mode, median, mean

56
Q

What are the measures of dispersion?

A

Variance, range, standard deviation

57
Q

What is nominal level data?

A

Data which can be separated into discrete categories which do not overlap, for example male and female.

58
Q

What is ordinal level data?

A

Data which can be placed into some kind of order or scale, for example rating happiness on a scale of 1 to 10

59
Q

What is interval level data?

A

Data measures in fixed units with equal distance between points on the scale, for example, temperature measured in centigrade.

60
Q

What is quantitative data, advantages and disadvantages

A

measures of values or counts that are expressed as numbers.
+ minimizes researcher bias and delivers clear, reliable data.
-They are not good at capturing feelings.

61
Q

What is qualitative data, advantages & disadvantages

A

Data representing information and concepts that are not represented by numbers.
+detailed information
- data collection is usually time consuming

62
Q

Primary data meaning,example, advantages and disadvantages

A

Data collected for the first time through personal experiences or evidence.for example interviews surveys
+Data collected is up to date, relevant and specific to research objectives
- time consuming and take a long time to complete.

63
Q

Secondary data, example, meaning, advantages and disadvantages

A

Data collected by someone else earlier. For example, the internet, hospital records.
+ easy to collect
- outdated

64
Q

What are behavioural categories, advantages and disadvantages

A

An observational technique wherein participants’ possible behaviours are separated into more specific components.
+easier to record as there is a specific focus on certain behaviours
- behaviours that may be important may be missed due to i not being part of the planned behaviours.

65
Q

What are coding frames, advantages and disadvantages

A

Allow for more specific behaviours to be observed in a behaviour category. Codes and abbreviations can be used to record the severity of behaviours or a different sub type within a category.
+ allows researchers to perform statistical analysis on originally qualitative data
- researchers can easily miss important data

66
Q

What is time sampling, advantages and disadvantages

A

A data collection method during which a researcher records behaviours that occur during a time interval.
For example observing a group of children every 5 minutes for 10 seconds.
+ observer has time to record what they’ve seen, easier to record
- if an important event occurs outside the time intervals the researcher is paying attention to, the researcher misses out.

67
Q

What is event sampling, advantages and disadvantages.

A

Involves observation of targeted behaviours or specific events.
+ behaviours wont be missed unlike time sampling
- if too many observations happen at once, it may be difficult to record everything.

68
Q

What is representativeness

A

A sample from a larger group that accurately represents the characteristics of a larger population

69
Q

What is generalisability?

A

To what extent to which the findings of a study can be applied to other situations

70
Q

What is internal reliability

A

The measure has consistency within itself

71
Q

What is external reliability?

A

Ability of a test to yield the same results both over time and from each individual who takes it.

72
Q

What is inter-rater reliability?

A

A measure of consistency and agreement between two or more observers in their assessments or judgements of a particular behaviour.

73
Q

What is internal validity?

A

How well a study establishes a casual relationship between variables by minimising confounding variables.

74
Q

What is external validity?

A

To the extent to which the study results can be generalised to other situations, people.

75
Q

What is population validity?

A

Whether the sample of people are representative of the wider population.

76
Q

What is ecological validity?

A

A measure of how test performance predicts behaviours in real world settings.

77
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

Cues that might indicate the study’s aims to the participants. This can lead to participants changing their behaviours to what they think the study is about.

78
Q

What is social desirability?

A

When respondents give answers to questions that they believe will make them look good to others, concealing their true opinions or experiences.

79
Q

What is researcher/observer bias?

A

When the researcher’s beliefs or expectations influence the research design or data collection process.

80
Q

What is researcher/observer effects?

A

When a researcher unintentionally or unconsciously influences the outcome of any research they are conducting.

81
Q

What are the ethical considerations, including the British psychology society’s code of ethics and conduct?

A

Respect - informed consent, right to withdraw, confidentiality
Competence
Responsibility - protection of participant, debrief
Integrity - deception

82
Q

What is falsification?

A

Principle that a proposition or theory could only be considered scientific if in principle it was possible to establish it as false.

83
Q

What is replicability?

A

A study should produce the same results if repeated exactly, either by the same researcher or by another.

84
Q

What is objectivity?

A

Based on facts and data and avoids bias.

85
Q

What is induction?

A

A form of reasoning that takes specific knowledge through observation and experience and then creates a general conclusion

86
Q

Deduction

A

A logical approach where are you progress from general ideas to specific conclusions. (Hypothesis first, observation after.)

87
Q

What is hypothesis testing?

A

A systematic procedure for deciding whether the results of a research study support a particular theory which applies to a population.

88
Q

How do you control variables?

A

Holding them constant throughout a study. For example, controlling the room temperature in an experiment to ensure it does not affect results.

89
Q

What is standardisation?

A

The process of making a test uniform or setting it to a specific standard.

OCR A Level Psycholog (2 decks)

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