Aims, variables, hypothesis and data types Flashcards
Quantitative data
Information that’s measured in numbers or quantities.
Quantitative data - example
Closed questions in a questionnaire.
Quantitative data - advantage
Quantitative data is easy to analyse.
Enables more conclusions to be drawn.
Quantitative data - disadvantages
The data may oversimplify reality.
A closed question may make someone feel forced to choose an answer that doesn’t accurately represent their feelings.
The conclusions would be meaningless.
Qualitative data
Information in words that cannot be counted or quantified.
Qualitative data - example
Open questions in a questionnaire.
Qualitative data - advantage
Qualitative data provides detailed information.
Can provide an insight into behaviour as the answers aren’t restricted by expectation.
Qualitative data - disadvantage
The complexity of the data makes it harder to analyse and draw conclusions.
Applying quantitative and qualitative data to primary and secondary data
Primary and secondary data can be both quantitative and qualitative.
Primary data
Information observed or collected first hand.
Primary data - method
Designing a study.
Gaining ethical approval.
Carrying out research.
Drawing conclusions.
Primary data - advantage
The researcher has control over the data.
The data collection has been designed to fit the aims and hypothesis of the study.
Primary data - disadvantage
Very lengthy and expensive process.
Designing a study requires a large amount of time.
Secondary data
Information collected for a purpose other than the current one.
Secondary data - examples
Data collected by themselves for another study or data from another researcher.
This may also include government statistics or newspaper articles.
Secondary data - advantages
Simple and cheap to access someone else’s data.
Less time and equipment needed.
Data may have already been statistically tested, so you already know whether it’s significant.
Secondary data - disadvantage
The data may not exactly fit the needs / aims.
Aim
A statement of what the researcher intends to find out in a research study.
Hypothesis
A precise and testable statement about the assumed relationships between variables.
Directional hypothesis
States the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions.
Non-directional hypothesis
Simply predicts that there will be a difference without stating the direction.
Alternative hypothesis
The hypothesis in any study.
It can also be called an experimental hypothesis if the study is an experiment.
It predicts that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable or that there will be a relationship between the variables.
Null hypothesis
This is the opposite of the experimental hypothesis.
It states the independent variable will have no effect on the dependent variable or that there won’t be a relationship between the variables.
Operationalisation
Making something precise and testable.
Independent variable
The variable that is deliberately manipulated or changed by the researcher.
Dependent variable
The variable that the researcher measures.
Extraneous variables
The unexpected ‘‘nuisance’’ variable which gets in the way and impacts some participants but not others .
An extraneous variable may affect the dependent variable but not in a systematic way.
It’s something that happens unexpectedly.
A researcher must try to control the control and extraneous variables as much as possible for the results to have validity.
Confounding variables
Inadvertently introducing another variable.
They tend to vary systemically with the independent variable.
Participant variables
These stem from the ways in which participants may differ from each other.
They may act as confounding or extraneous variables and reduce the validity of the study.
Experimental research
Research carried out in the lab or in the field.
It allows us to draw casual conclusions.
We can make a statement that something causes a change in something else.
Non-experimental research
Research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable.
Confederate
An individual in a study who isn’t a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by the researcher.
Pilot study
A small-scale trial run of a study to test any aspects of the design, with a view to making improvements.
