a-level_psychology_research_methods_20240615133023 Flashcards
What does Experiment mean?
Involves the manipulation of IV to measure effects on DV
What is independent variable (IV)?
The variable that is changed by researcher to measure effects on DV
What is Dependent Variable (DV)?
The variable measured
What is the Control Condition?
The condition of an experiment where the independent variable isn’t manipulated
What is the experimenter variable?
The variable where IV is manipulated
What are results from Experimental condition compared with?
The control condition (and vice versa)
What does Aim mean?
The purpose of a study
What does a research hypotheses do?
It predicts statistically significant effect of IV on DV
What is a Directional Hypotheses?
It’s a hypothese that states the actual difference between two conditions (e.g. when you eat more junk food, more unhealthy)
What is a Non-Directional Hypotheses?
- It doesn’t predict direction of results
- Just states there will be a difference
What is a Correlation Hypotheses?
There’s a relationship between two variables
What is a Difference Hypotheses?
States difference between two conditions
What two things can come under Directional and Non-Directional Hypotheses?
- Correlational Hypothese
- Difference Hypothese
When is a directional hypotheses appropriate?
When there’s already a range of research carried out, which suggests a particular outcome.
What does Operationalise mean?
When the researcher clearly defines the variables in terms of how they are being measured (makes it more defined)
Operationalise confidence levels.
1-5 scale
What does Extraneous Variable mean?
- Any variable that isn’t IV that affects DV and doesn’t systematically vary with IV - nuisance variables
- E.g. age of participant
What should happen to any variables that affect DV other than IV?
It should be:
- Removed from the experiment
- Be well controlled
What is a Confounding Variable?
- Any variable that isn’t IV which affects DV and systematically varies with IV
- It’s hard to be sure of origin of impact of DV
- E.g. time a task is done
What are Demand Characteristics?
Any cue the researcher/reasearch situation may give which makes participant feel like they can guess aim of investigation
What can Demand Characteristics cause?
- Can lead to participant change behaviour consciously/unsconsciously to try and fit situation
- Please-U
- Screw-U
What are Investigator Effects?
Any unwanted influence from researcher’s behaviour, conscious or unconscious, on DV measured
Give examples of Investigator Effect.
[3]
- Design of study
- Selection of participants
- Interaction with each participant during research investigation
What two things can be used to minimise effect of extraneous/confounding variables?
- Standardisation
- Randomisation
What is Standardisation?
- Using the exact same formalise procedures and instructions for every single participant involved in research process
- Can reduce extraneous and other unwanted variables
What is Randomisation?
- The use of chance to reduce the effect of bias from investigator effects
- E.g. when designing materials
What is a Single Blind Procedure? What does it reduce?
[3]
- Where only researcher know who is who in an experiment
- Participants don’t know
- Reduces demand characteristics
What is Double Blind Procedure?
[2]
- When participant and researchers don’t know conditions
- Reduces demand characteristics and investigator effects
What are the three types of Experimental Design?
[3]
- Independent Group Design
- Repeated Measures Design
- Matched Pairs design
Describe the Independent Groups Design
The participants only perform in one condition of the independent variable (IV)
What happens in Repeated Measures?
The same participant take part in all conditions of the IV
What happens in Matched Pairs?
Pairs of participants are first matched on some variable that has been found to affect the DV, then one member of each pair does one condition and the other does another
What are the Strengths of Independent Groups Design?
[2]
- No order effects
- Participants are less likely to guess aim of investigation - demand characteristics eliminated
What are the Limitations of Independent Group Design?
[2]
- No control over participant variables which means different abilities of participants in conditions cause changes to DV
- You need more participants than other design to gather same amount of data (more expensive)
Explain a solution to Limitations of Independent Groups Design.
[2]
- Random Allocation solves participant variables
- it ensures each participant has equal chance of being selected in one condition of Iv or another
What are strengths of Repeated Measures?
[2]
`
- Eliminates participant variables
- Fewer participant needed, so less time consuming
What are Limitations of Repeated Measures?
Order effects presented - boredom, so participant may have different behaviour in another task
What is solution to Repeated Measures?
Counterbalancing - when half of participant do conditions in one order and other half do it in other order
What are Strengths of Matched Pairs?
[2]
- No order effects
- Demand characteristics are less of a problem
What are Limitations of Matched Pairs?
[3]
- Time consuming and expensive to match
- A large pool of people needed which is hard
- Diffuclt to know which variables are appropriate for participants to be matched
What is participant variables?
Different abilities of participants in conditions cause changes to DV
What are the 4 types of Experiment?
- Laboratory
- Field
- Quasi
- Natural
What happens in Laboratory Experiment?
An experiment that takes place in a controlled environment, where different variables can be carefully controlled
What happens in Field Experiment?
An experiment conducted in a more natural environment, not in a lab, but with variables still being well controlled
What happens in Quasi Experiment?
An experiment where IV hasn’t been determined by researcher, but it naturally just exists
What happens in Natural Experiment?
An experiment where IV isn’t brought about by researcher, so it would’ve happened anyways even if researcher wasn’t involved
What is Strengths of Lab?
[2]
- High degree of control - experimenter controls all variables, IV is precisely replicated
- Replication - researchers can repeat experiments and check results
What are Limitations of Lab?
[2]
- Experimenter’s bias - bias can affect results, and participants can be influenced
- Low ecological validity - high degree of control, so artificial situation
What is Strengths of Field?
[2]
- Naturalistic - higher ecological validity
- Controlled IV
What are the Limitations of Field?
[2]
- Ethical Considerations - invasion of privacy and no informed consent
- Loss of control - less easy to replicate
What are the strengths of Quasi experiment?
Controlled conditions - highly replicable, high internal validity
What are the Limitations of Quasi experiment?
Can’t randomly allocate participants - confounding variables may be present. Harder to conlucde that IV caused DV
What is the strengths of Natural experiment?
[2]
- Provides oppurtunities - that may have been impossible otherwise due to ethical/practical issues
- High external validity - you’re dealing with real life issues
What are the Limitations of Natural Experiment?
[2]
- Natural occuring events may be rare - so experiment is less replicable, and hard to generalise findings
- Veery difficult to randomise participants into groups so confounding/extraneous variables become a problem
What does ecological validity mean?
How easy it is to generalise findings of a study into real life
What are the 5 different types of sampling?
- Oppurtunity
- Random
- Systematic
- Stratified
- Volunteer
What does Population mean?
Refers to large group of individuals a researcher is interested in studying (e.g. students in 6th Form)
What does Target Population mean?
A particular subset of overall population from which a sample is taken (e.g. 6th Form students in Newcastle)
What does Sample mean?
[2]
- The group of people who take part in investigation
- Drawn from target population - representative
What does Representative mean?
Contains same characteristics as target population
What does Oppurtunity Sampling mean?
Participants happen to be available at the time the study is being carried out - recruited conveniently
What does Random Sampling mean?
[2]
- When all members have equal chance of being selected.
- Random number generator
What happens in Systematic Sampling?
Predetermined system where every nth member is selected from sampling frame
What happens in Stratified Sampling?
- The composition reflects proportions of people in particular subgroups
- Percentage
What does Volunteer Sampling mean?
Self selection where participant volunteers to take part in response to advert
What is Strengths of Oppurtunity Sampling?
Easy recruitment - time saving, saves money
What are Limitations of Oppurtunity Sampling?
- Not representative of whole population, so low generalisability
- Researcher bias - they are biased in choosing
What are the Strengths of Random Sampling?
No researcher bias
What is a Limitation of Random Sampling?
[2]
- Time consuming - need to have list of members of population
- Volunteer bias - participants can refuse
What is Strength of Systematic Sampling?
[2]
- Avoids researcher bias
- Usually representative of population
What is Limitation of Systematic Sampling?
Not truly unbiased unless you use random number generator
What is Strengths of Stratified Sampling?
[2]
- No researcher bias
- Produces representative data due to proportional data
What are Limitations of Stratified Sampling?
[2]
- Time consuming
- Identified strata can’t reflect all differences between people of wider population
What are Strengths of Volunteer Sampling?
[2]
- Quick access - easy and not time consuming
- More likely to cooperate
What are Limitations of Volunteer Sampling?
[2]
- Volunteer bias - study may attract particular person (less generalisable)
- Motivated by money - doesn’t take study seriously
What are Ethical Issues?
Issues that arise when there is a conflict between rights of participant and needs of researcher to produce valid data
Who judges whether an experiment is ethical or not?
British Psychological Society (BPS)
What type of documents are BPS code of ethics?
Quasi-legal documents
What does BPS do?
Instructs psychologists about what behaviour is acceptable and what isn’t
What are the 4 major principles of BPS?
- Respect
- Competence
- Responsibility
- Integrity
What are the 5 Ethical Issues?
- Informed Consent
- Right to Withdraw
- Confidentiality
- Deception
- Protection from psychological and physical harm
Explain Informed Consent
[2]
- Participants have right to be told compehensive information on nature and purpose of investigation
- So they can make informed decision to participate or not
Why might researchers not give out Informed Consent?
It could bring out demand characteristics and so result bias
Explain Deception
[2]
- Deliberately witholding info from participants or misleading them
- Only acceptable if the participant could know true nature of experiment and guess aims
Explain Protection of Harm.
- Participants must be protected from physical and psychological harm
Explain Confidentiality
[2]
- Participant have right to control how much info is released and used
- They have right to have data protected
Explain Right to Withdraw
[2]
- Participant need right to withdraw from participating in study if they’re uncomfortable
- They also have right to refuse permission for data used
What are the ways of dealing with problems of Informed Consent?
[3 + explain]
- Prior General consent - participant give permission to take part in many studies but one of them involves deception, so they basically agree to deception
- Presumptive Consent - when a researcher gathers opinions from a group like participant in study but doesn’t ask real ones. Less demand characteristics
- Retrospective - when participants are asked for consent after study is done
What is a way to deal with problems of Deception?
[Explain]
Debriefing - participants must be debriefed after study. The true nature must be said, and participants should be told for what data will be used. After study, participants have right to withdraw data
What is a way of dealing with problems of Protection of Harm?
[2]
- If participants have any harm (physical or psychological), the researcher should provide counselling
- Cost Benefit Analysis - pros and cons of study are weighed up to determine whether study is ethical
What is a way of dealing with problems of Confidentiality?
[2+ explain]
- Anonymity - achieved by researchers not recording personal details, so no data traced back to them
- Participants should be reminded during briefing and debriefing that data will be protected
What are the ways of dealing with problems of Right to Withdraw?
Make sure participant knows they have the right to withdraw at any moment in study
What is the definition of observations?
It’s a non-experimental method which means they can’t establish cause and effect relationships
What do observations provide psychologists in terms of people?
It provides psychologists with a way of seeing what people do without having to ask them
By observations, complex interaction between variables can be studied in a more _______ way.
Natural
What are the 6 different types of observations?
1) Naturalistic
2) Controlled
3) Covert
4) Overt
5) Participant
6) Non-Participant
What does Naturalistic Observations mean?
Watching and recording behaviours in settings where it normally occurs
What does Controlled Observations mean?
Watching and recording behaviour in a structured environment
What does Covert Observations mean?
Participant behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent
What does Overt Observations mean?
Participant’s behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent
What does Participant Observations mean?
The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he wants to watch and record
What does Non-Participant mean?
The researcher remains out of the group whose behaviour he/she is recording
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) External Validity
3) Reliability (Replication)
4) Demand Characteristics
For Naturalistic Observations.
1) Decreases - It’s an uncontrolled environment so extraneous variables
2) Increases - high ecological validity. Natural environment
3) Low - uncontrolled environment and extraneous variables
4) Low - lack of control, random environment
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) External Validity
3) Reliability (Replication)
4) Demand Characteristics
For Controlled Observations.
1) Increases - variables can be controlled and manipulated (less extraneous variables)
2) Decreases- low ecological validity. Can’t be readily applied in real life.
3) Increases - Extraneous variables, replicability is easier
4) Higher - more controlled environment
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) Ethical Issues
3) Demand Characteristics
For Covert Observations.
1) Increases - removes participant reactivity and in natural environment
2) Some people don’t want behaviour noted down
3)No - unknown observation
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) Ethical Observation
3) Demand Characteristics
For Overt Observations.
1) Decreases - they know that researcher is observing has significant influence
2) More ethically acceptable
3) Increases - they know that researcher is observing behaviour
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) Objectivity
For Participant Observations.
1) Increases - experience experience situation particpant go through
2) Researcher can identify with findings and lose objectivity
Describe:
1) Internal Validity
2) Objectivity
For Non-Participant Observations.
1) Objective (decreases) - psychological distance from participants
2) High - not part of group so objective free
What are the two option for designing operations?
1) Unstructured Observations
2) Structured Observations
What happens in unstructured observations?
When the researcher is writing down everything they see
When is unstructured observations appropriate to do? (2)
When observations is:
-Small-scale
-Few participants
What kind of data does unstructured observations produce?
They produce qualitative data
What’s a negative of unstructured observations?
[2]
1) It’s more difficult to analyse
2) Observer bias - It’s more prone to bias as researchers may only record behaviour that “catch their eye” and these may not be the most important or useful
What’s the positive of unstructured observations?
More richer and in depth data
When is structured observations used?
When there’s too much going on for the researcher to record everything
What does structured observations allow the researcher to do and what’s a positive of this?
It allows a researcher to quantify their observations and this means it’s straightforward to analyse
What kind of data does structured observations produce?
Numerical/quantitative data
What’s a positive of structured observations?
1) Easier since systematic
2) Quantitative data is easier to analyse and compare with other data
3) Less risk of observer bias
What is observer’s bias?
When an observer’s expectations impact what they see or hear
What is a negative of observer’s bias?
Since it’s when an observer’s expectations impact what they see or hear, this reduces the validity of the observation
What kind of design is more likely to be affected by observer’s bias?
Unstructured design is more likely to be affected by observer bias because they may only write certain cases
What is target behaviour?
The behaviour that is the main focus of observation
The target population must be clearly _______ before an observation
defined
What is behavioural categories?
A pre-determined list of target behaviours and sampling methods that’s been operationalised
What do target behaviours have to be put into?
Behavioural categories
What is the positive of behavioural categories? (2)
It makes data collection more:
1) Structured
2) Objective
What should behavioural categories be like and why?
They should be clear (1) and unambiguous (2) so they don’t require further interpretation by the researcher as this will be different for each person
What’s a dustbin category?
A category where different behaviours are “deposited” because they don’t have their own behavioural category
Why shouldn’t a dustbin category be in a behavioural checklist?
Because it means that researchers aren’t actually observing what they want to and haven’t created appropriate behavioural categories
Why shouldn’t behavioural categories overlap?
Because then you don’t know which category a behaviour belongs to
What happens if behavioural categories aren’t clearly defined?
Two observers might interpret it differently which makes it less reliable
What should the researcher ensure about the target behaviour before an observation begins?
The researcher should ensure they have included all the ways in which the target population may occur in the behavioural checklist
What happens in Event Sampling?
This involves the counting of the number of times a particular behaviour is carried out by the target group or the individual that you’re watching. Uses a tally chart
What are the strengths of Event Sampling?
Good for infrequent behaviours that are likely to missed if time sampling was used
What are the limitations of Event Sampling?
1) If complex behaviour is being observed, important details of the behaviour may be overlooked by the observer
2) If the behaviour is very frequent, there could be counting errors
3) Difficult to judge the beginning and ending of a behaviour
What happens in Time Sampling?
When you record behaviour within a pre-established timeframe
What are the strengths of Time sampling?
It reduces the number of observations that has made it so it’s less time consuming. It’s used when there’s lots of people to observe
What are the limitations of Time Sampling?
1) The small amount of data collected within a small time frame is unrepresentative as a whole
2) Some behaviours can be missed if not within timeframe
Why would you use Inter-observer reliability?
[2]
Because single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that confirm their opinions and introduce bias
What is Inter-Observer reliability?
It’s the extent to which there’s an agreement between two or more observers involved in observations of behaviour
What does Inter-observer reliability do to data?
It makes it more objective and unbiased
Observers should take part in the same ________ before the observation to ensure they’re interpreting behavioural categories in the same way
Training
What are the 4 stages in inter-observer reliability?
1) Observers should familiarise with the behavioural categories to be used
2) A pilot study should be completed to allow the observers a chance to practice using the behavioural categories, so that any changes can be made if the categories don’t work
3) after observation of study, observations of two or more observers should be correlated to check for reliability
4) A positive correlation of above +.80 would deem the observations to be reliable
What is a self report technique?
A self-technique method is when a person is asked to state or explain their own feelings, opinions, behaviours and/or experiences related to a given topic
What are the two types of self report technique?
1) Questionnaires
2) Interviews
What is a Questionnaire?
A set of written questions used to assess a person’s thoughts and/or experiences. The participant writes their responses to the questions
A questionnaire may be used as part of an experiment to assess the __.
DV
What are the two types of Questionnaires?
- Open Questions
- Closed Questions
What happens in Open Questions?
Questions for which there is no fixed choice of response and respondents can answer in any way they wish
What type of data is Open Questions likely to be?
Qualitative
What happens in Closed Questions?
Questions for which there is a fixed choice of responses determined by the question setter
What type of data is Closed Questions more likely to be?
Quantitative
What is a positive and negative of Open Questions?
Positive:
* Rich in depth and detail
Negative:
* Difficult to analyse and summarise data
What is a positive and negative of Closed Questions?
Positive:
* Easy to analyse quantitative data
Negative:
* May lack depth and detail
What are the 3 main types of rating scales with Closed Questions?
- Fixed Choice Questions
- Likert Scale
- Rating Scale
What happens in a Likert scale?
Likert scale is where respondent shows their agreement with a statement using a scale of 5 points, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree
What happens in a Rating Scale?
It gets respondents to identify a value that represents their strengths of feeling about a topic. (e.g. how entertaining is this movie from 1-10)
What happens in a Fixed Choice Option?
It includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate which one applies to them
____ is key when designing questionnaires.
Clarity
What are the 5 common errors in question design?
1) Overuse of jargon
2) Emotive language
3) Leading Questions
4) Double Barelled Questions
5) Double Negatives
What is Jargon and how do you counter this?
- It refers to technical terms that may be too overcomplicated for a person not studying in a certain field, and it may confuse them
- The best questions are simple and easily understood
What happens in Emotive Language?
Where the author is biased by using emotive words suggesting author doesn’t like sport
What happens in a Leading Questions?
Guides the respondent to a particular answer that’s biased
What happens in Double-Barrelled Questions?
They contain two questions in one: respondents may agree with one and disagree with the other one
What are Positives of Questionnaires?
- They’re cost-effective - can gather large amounts of data quickly
- Can be completed without the researcher being present - less effort
- Data Questionnaire is straightforward to analyse - graphs and chart
What are Negatives of Questionnaires?
- It may not be always be truthful - since, respondents may be keen to present themselves in a positive light and might be influenced
- Can produce response bias, where respondents reply in a similiar way (complete it too quickly)
What is Social Desirability Bias?
Particicpants want to present themselves ina positive light, and causes demand characteristics
What is acqueiscence bias?
The tendency to agree with items of questionnaires regardless of content of question
What does Standardised mean?
Uses same procedures and functions for all participants
What does Interview mean?
A live encounter where a set of questions is asked by an interviewer to an interviewee to assess their thoughts and experiences
What happens in a Structured Interview?
Where pre-determined questions are asked during an interview. Basically a questionnaire delivered by a person
What happens in a Unstructured Interview?
An interview where there’s no pre-determined questions, but it starts out general questions. The interaction is free-flowing and tailored to individuals
What happens in a Semi-Structured Interview?
An interview that combines some pre-determined questions (structured interview) and some questions in response to answers (unstructured interview). Allows interviewer to ask follow up questions.
What is an Interview Schedule?
A set of pre-set questions for an interviewer to use
What is Interviewer Bias?
Bias that happens due to interviewer. May be the way they respond to participants and affects the results of interview
What happens in a Group Interview?
More than one participant is interviewed at one time
Why are interview schedules standardised?
To reduce the effect of interviewer bias
Where should interviews be conducted and why?
- In quiet rooms away from other people
- Increases likelihood that interviewer will be open
What type of questions do interviewers usually start with?
They start with neutral questions to make participants feel relaxed (builds up rapport)
What should the interviewers remind the interviewees that the answers are?
They are confidential (in case if topic is sensitive)
C____ key when designing interviews.
Clarity
What can a lack of Clarity cause?
It can cause respondents to be confused by particular questions, and will have a negative impact on quality of info recieved
What are the Strengths of Structured Interviews?
- Easy to replicate since it can be standardised
- No interviewer bias - can’t deviate topic
- Easier to analyse data
What are Limitations of Structured Interviews?
- Social desirability bias is higher
- Not being to elaborate can be frustrating for participants
What are Strengths of Unstructured Interviews?
- Lots of data is collected with more depth and detail
- More tailored so can provide more insight
What are Limitations of Unstructured Interviews?
- Skilled interviews needed - to decrease social desirability bias
- Harder to replicate
- Data Analysis isn’t straightforward so researcher may have to sift through irrelevant info
What are properties of Semi-Structured Interviewers?
- Mixed Bias
- Mixed reliability
- Mixed comparing data
What is the definition of Validity?
Validity concerns the accuracy of something
What is internal validity?
Whether the findings are due to changes of IV and haven’t been impacted by any other factor
What is internal validity influenced by? [3]
- Confounding and extraneous variables
- Participant variables and demand characteristics
- Investigator bias
What are demand characteristics?
Any cue the researcher/ study may give to a participant that makes them feel like they can guess the aim of the investigation
How do demand characteristics impact internal validity?
It changes behaviour because of confounding behaviour, not real IV - affects results
What are confounding variables?
A variable that changes systematically with the IV. So, it’s hard for the researcher to be sure of the origin of the DV
How do confounding variables impact validity?
Makes the studies less valid because it’s not the IV that’s affecting
What is External Validity?
Relates to factors otside the investigation - is it generalisable to other settings, populations & eras.
What are three different types of External Validity?
- Ecological Validity
- Temporal Validity
- Population Validity
What is ecological validity?
The extent to which findings can be generalised to other settings and situations
Why does a laboratory experiment have a lower ecological validity?
Lab is an artifical setting and therefore it has low ecological validity, because it’s harder to generalise findings
What is mundane realism?
A task that’s used to measure the DV in an experiment that isn’t like everyday life
What study has low mundane realism? Why?
- Moscovici’s study
- Reliance on artificial tasks because tasks don’t reflect real life
What is temporal validity?
Generalisability to other historical times and eras
Which study has low temporal validity?
Milgram
How can Validity be improved for Experiments? [3]
- Use a control group - researcher is better able to assess whether changes in DV were due to IV
- Standardise procedures - minimise investigator effects
- Single blind procedure
How can Validity be improved for Questionnaires?
- Incorporate a lie scale within questions to assess consistency of participants response to control effects of social desirability bias
How can Validity be improved for Observations? [4]
- Research may produce findings that have high ecological validity
- Because there’s minimal intervention by researcher
- Especially case if observer remains undetected in covert observations
- Behaviour observed is more accurate
How can Validity be improved for Qualititative Methods? [3]
- High ecological validity
- Depth and detail is better able to reflect participant’s reality
- Triangulation - use of number of different sources as evidence
What is Face Validity?
When a measure is scrutinised to see whether it really appears to measure what it’s supposed to
How can something be checked using face validity? [2]
- Is the question relevant to study
- Hire experts to see if it’s good
What does Concurrent Validity mean?
Whether the tests can relate to an existing measure that we know to be valid
What is the score for a concurrent validity present?
+0.8
What does Predictive Validity mean?
How well a test can predict future events or behaviours
