AO1 Research Methods Flashcards

Question

What are order effects

Answer 1

An extraneous variable arising from the order in which the conditions are presented E.G fatigue, demand characteristics, practise, boredom

Answer 2

Solution to order effects -Half participants experience the conditions in one order and the other half experience them in the opposite order (ABBA)

Answer 3

An attempt to control for participant variables in an independent group design which ensures each participant has the same chance of being in one condition as any other Removes interviewer bias For example, random number generator

Answer 4

A trial run of a research method, usually with a very small sample, with the aim of checking that the procedures and materials are standardised

Answer 5

How consistent the findings from an experiment are ( need to be able to replicate it and standardise it)

Answer 6

Does the study measure what it intended to measure?

Answer 7

Whether the effects of the experiment are down to the manipulation of the IV and not some other factor

Answer 8

-Experiment conducted in a controlled artificial environment -The IV is manipulated , the researcher observes the effect on the DV

Answer 9

-Milgram (1963)- IV: Situation (authority figure) DV: Obedience to authority

Answer 10

-Extraneous variables are controlled= high validity -Standardised= easier to replicate -More scientific and objective -Researcher is detatched

Answer 11

-Lacks external validity (artificial environment) -Investigator effects can occur -Demand characteristics can occur

Answer 12

-Experiment in an everyday real life setting (E.G shopping centre) -IV is manipulated, researcher observes effect on DV

Answer 13

Bickman (1974)- Social power of uniform IV: Uniform worn DV: Level of obedience

Answer 14

-Eliminates demand characteristics (unaware they are being observed) -High external validity

Answer 15

-Extraneous variables are difficult to control# -Unethical - unaware they are being observed -Low internal validity so less replicable

Answer 16

Experiment where the researcher has not changed the IV but it has occured 'naturally'. -Researcher does not measure its effect on DV -Used when it's not ethical to manipulate IV

Answer 17

-Hodges and Tizard's attachment research (1989): Compared the long-term development of children who had been adopted, fostered or returned home

Answer 18

-High external validity- involves the study of real world issues (for example effect of natural disaster on stress levels) -More ethical

Answer 19

-Less likely to be randomly allocated to experimental conditions. Researcher may be less sure if the IV affected the DV. -Ethical issues -Participant variables -Investigator effects -Demand characteristics

Answer 20

Conducted when the IV is based on existing difference between people (can be manipulated by the researcher e.g. gender, race, IQ)

Answer 21

-A specific group of people who are the focus of research .From this group a small sample is drawn

Answer 22

A small group of people drawn from target population, represent this target population in a research investigation

Answer 23

The extent to which the results of the investigation can be applied to the target population

Answer 24

-A sample where each member of the target population has the same chance of being chosen for the sample -E.G assign each person a random number and select participants with a random number generator

Answer 25

-Researcher numbers the participants in a sampling frame (e.g 1,2,3) and then picks their participants at a set interval -E.G every nth member of the target population

Answer 26

-Researchers divide participants into sub groups called strata, based on characteristics they share -E.G Age, race, gender

Answer 27

-Researcher selects the most convenient and available people for the experiment -E.G in the streets

Answer 28

-Participants self-select to become part of the study after seeing it being advertised

Answer 29

-No researcher bias as they have no influence over who is selected, meaning EVs are controlled, enhancing internal validity -Equal chances of getting selected -Simple -

Answer 30

-Time consuming -Selected participants may chose not to take part -Difficult to obtain a complete list of the target population

Answer 31

-No researcher bias -Produces a representative sample -simple

Answer 32

-Could refuse to participate -Time consuming -Difficult to obtain a complete list of the population -May as well use random sample

Answer 33

-No researcher bias -Produces a representative sample (generalised), more generalisable than other methods

Answer 34

-Complete representation of target population can not be achieved -Could refuse to participate -Strata can not reflect all the ways in which people are different

Answer 35

-Convenient -Quick -Cheaper

Answer 36

-Could refuse to participate -Unrepresentative of the target population ( drawn from a specific area so cannot be generalised) -Researcher bias as they ask people to participate

Answer 37

-Easy -less time consuming

Answer 38

-Could refuse to participate -Volunteer bias can't be generalised ( asking for volunteers might attract a certain 'profile' of a person E.G someone helpful, keen)

Answer 39

-A conflict between the rights of the participants in an investigation and the goals of the research to produce valid data E.G -Deception -right to withdraw -Informed consent -Protection from harm -Privacy and confidentiality

Answer 40

-Purposely keeping information about the investigation from the participants or misleading them

Answer 41

-Briefing and debriefing: making participants aware of the aims and any other details they were not provided with before

Answer 42

-Making sure participants are aware that they can withdraw from the experiment at any stage, if they wish to do so

Answer 43

-Provide participants with a form beforehand about all info they may need, including about how they can withdraw at any point -Reminded throughout and at the start of each stage

Answer 44

-Making participants aware of the investigation that they are going to be involved in, including all details, and ensuring they still want to participate

Answer 45

-Providing participants with a form beforehand about all information they need about the experiment, including anything that may affect their decision to participate -Sign a form if they agree -Parental signature for anyone under 16

Answer 46

-Putting measures in place to ensure participants are not harmed physically or psychologically from the investigation

Answer 47

-Participants must be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal, should they have any concerns related to their performance in the experiment -If participants have been subject to stress or embarrassment during the experiment, they may require counselling. Researchers must provide this.

Answer 48

-Protecting any personal information about the participants that they do not wish to share with anyone else and respecting their privacy

Answer 49

-Researcher does not record any personal details (remain anonymity) -Refer to the participants using numbers or initials when writing up the results of the investigation -During debriefing and briefing they should be reminded that only data will be protected -Given the right to withold data

Answer 50

-A quasi legal document produced by the British psychological society -Instructs psychologists in the UK what behaviour is and isn't acceptable when dealing with participants -Built around 4 major principles: Respect, competence, responsibility and integrity

Answer 51

-Participants are unaware of the aim and the other condition of the experiment, however the researcher is aware

Answer 52

neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment.

Answer 53

-A neutral group to formulate comparisons with or set a baseline

Answer 54

-Non experimental This means there is no manipulation of variables. The researcher observes behaviour and looks for patterns

Answer 55

-Naturalistic or controlled -Structured or unstructured -Participant or non participant -Overt or Covert

Answer 56

-An observation where behaviour is studied in a natural situation where everything has been left as it normally is (an everyday situation)

Answer 57

-Some variables are controlled by the researcher, reducing the naturalness of the behaviour being studied. Participants are likely to know that they are being observed and it is likely to take place in a lab

Answer 58

-The observer acts as part of the group being observed

Answer 59

-The experimenter does not become part of the group being watched (It is easier to record data and the observer can remain unbiased)

Answer 60

(Open observation) -Participants know they are being observed and why

Answer 61

(Closed observation) -The observation is kept secret from the participants The observer is undercover and this can be done by CCTV or a one way mirror

Answer 62

- The researcher has a system that is used to record behaviour called a coding system to tally the number of times a behaviour has occured and will use various sampling procedures to decide what to observe and when

Answer 63

-The researcher will record all relevant behaviour but has no system. The results can be used to create a coding system that can be use for further structured observations

Answer 64

- When behaviour is operationalised by being divided into different behavioural categories

Answer 65

A way of sampling the behaviour that is being observed by recording specific behaviours at set time intervals. E.g noting what a target individual is doing every 30 seconds

Answer 66

-Counting the number if times a particular behaviour (the 'crent') occurs in a target individual or group

Answer 67

-Dividing a target behaviour into a subset of specific and operationalised behaviours

Answer 68

-When you change your behaviour when you know you are being watched (Demand characteristics)

Answer 69

-The Hawthorne effect -Too many behavioural categories -Need to be well trained to use

Answer 70

The degree of agreement between different people observing an individual Use multiple observers. -Calculated by correlating their observations. If there is more than 80% agreement between observers, the data has inter observer reliability

Answer 71

-Researcher gains insight into the lives of the people as they are part of the group. This means the results will be more valid. -Becoming part of the group may mean that they identify too strongly with the group. This means they may lose their objective interpretation and bias the results

Answer 72

-The results are less likely to be influenced by bias and so be more valid as they are not part of the group -Lose insight that they would gain if they participated in the group so results may not be realisitic

Answer 73

-More ethical as participants are aware they are being observed so they would have given consent beforehand -Demands characteristics could occur so will lead to invalid results

Answer 74

-Removes issue of demand characteristics making results more valid -Participants may not have given consent so less ethical

Answer 75

-Researcher manipulates aspects of the situation so variables are controlled and results can be replicated -Lacks external validity. Possibly know they are being observed so demand characteristics

Answer 76

-High external validity so results can be generalised to real life -Less control over extraneous variables so more difficult to judge patterns of behaviour and makes reliability an issue

Answer 77

-Conduct further observations in different settings with varied people so the results can be more generalisable -Multiple observers so observer bias can be reduced and nothing is missed -Double blind technique to remove observer bias

Answer 78

-Inter observer reliability- -Training observers on how to use the coding system through practise

Answer 79

The participant can answer however they wish ( usually gives long detailed answers)

Answer 80

-There are set number of responses which the participant selects from

Answer 81

-A scale of responses to a question, often 1 to 5 demonstrating a level of agreement

Answer 82

Participants identify the value that represents their strength of feeling (e.g between 1-10)

Answer 83

-Data that focuses on numbers and frequencies which can be counted

Answer 84

-Data that describes meaning and experiences which is expressed in words

Answer 85

-A list of questions that the researcher reads out to the participant in order -They typically contain closed questions and so largely produce quantitative data

Answer 86

-The interview has ideas and general topics to cover, there are no set questions -It is less formal and so rapport is built between participant and interviewer

Answer 87

Combines both structured and unstructured interviews

Answer 88

Quantitative data

Answer 89

-A set of questions designed to collect information about a topic or topics

Answer 90

-Easy to repeat so data can be collected from a large number of people -May feel more able to reveal personal information than they would face to face

Answer 91

-Sample bias because only certain types of people fill in questionnaires -Social desirability bias as some may deliberately respond with socially desirable answers -They are not flexible so the researcher is unable to tailor it to their needs

Answer 92

-Provide qualitative data, which gives valuable insight that closed questions would not give and can answer however they wish -Qualitative data is more difficult to analyse, making it difficult to compare and draw conclusions

Answer 93

-Provides quantitative data which is easier to analyse and draw conclusions from -May feel forced to select answers which may not represent their thoughts and feelings, meaning the data has less reliability -Gives less detailed responses

Answer 94

-Produces qualitative data -Requires less interviewing skill so can be done by non professional interviewers -Less formal so rapport can be built between interviewer and respondent so feels more like a conversation = more inclined to reveal more -Qualitative data

Answer 95

-Interviewer bias as they are making up questions on the spot and interviewers own opinions may influence their answers -Less reliable= different interviewers asking different questions and may behave differently on different occasions -Harder to compare and draw conclusions

Answer 96

-Easier to analyse as the answers are more predictable -Can easily be repeated because the questions are standardised -Quantitative data is easier to compare and analyse

Answer 97

-Quantitative data lacks detail -Interviewers cannot elaborate -reliability may be affected by the interviewer behaving differently on different occasions -Different questions may be interpreted in different ways by different participants

Answer 98

-A relationship between 2 variables -Plotted on a scatter graph

Answer 99

-A number between -1 and 1 that tells you the strength and direction of a relationship between variables a correlation can be +, - or have no correlation

Answer 100

-It doesn't. A correlation does not mean causation -We know that there is an association between variables but we do not know which co variable caused the other to change

Answer 101

-There will be a relationship between calories eaten and weight gained

Answer 102

-There will be a positive relationship between calories eaten and weight gained

Answer 103

Means that as one variable increases, the other also increases /

Answer 104

Means that as one variable increases, the other decreases \

Answer 105

-A correlation of 0 or close to 0 means that there is no relationship between the two variables -correlation coefficient= 0 or close to 0

Answer 106

-Allows predictions to be made -Allows quantification of the relationship- correlations can show the strength of a relationship -Some hypothesis can not be tested experimentally -Do not require the manipulation of behaviour so are quick and ethical method of data analysis

Answer 107

-Cannot be assumed that one variable can cause another. Interpretation of results is therefore difficult -Other variables may influence both variables, affecting the outcome of the results so may not be entirely accurate

Answer 108

-Information that has been obtained first hand. This data is also known as field research

Answer 109

-Information that has already been collected by someone else This data is also known as desk research and has already been subject to statistical testing -For example, Government statistics, NHS and the criminal justice system

Answer 110

-Designed to meet the researchers aims- Directly relevant -Time consuming and requires more effort, planning and preparation

Answer 111

-Inexpensive exists and requires a minimum amount of effort to access ( can access within minutes) -Can access statistics that you may not otherwise be able to get first hand ( E.G from 1920s) -Might be out of date and so unreliable

Answer 112

-Mean -Median -Mode

Answer 113

-Range -Standard deviation

Answer 114

-A single value that tells us how much a score varies from the mean

Answer 115

Large SD= Not all participants were affected by the IV in the same way

Answer 116

Data is tightly clustered around the mean, which means participants responded in a similiar way

Answer 117

The variables investigated in a correlation

Answer 118

Any extraneous variables that influences the relationship between the IV and the DV, leading to unreliable results

Answer 119

-Scattergram -Histogram -Line Graph -Bar chart -Table

Answer 120

To determine whether the difference found in the research is significant or not

Answer 121

-Test of difference -Repeated measures design -Nominal data (Data that can be organised into catrgories

Answer 122

-The least frequently occuring sign (+ and -)

Answer 123

No. of participants - any who got the same result in both conditions (0, no change)

Answer 124

If the S value if less than or equal to the critical value, results are significant

Answer 125

One Tailed: directional hypothesis Two tailed: Non directional hypothesis

Answer 126

-The assessment of scientific work by other psychologists to ensure that any research intended for publication is of high quality. -The report is considered in terms of its validity, significance and originality.

Answer 127

-To ensure quality and relevance of article and accuracy of findings -To evaluate the research (methodology, data analysis etc) -To ensure appropriate allocation of research funding

Answer 128

-Author submits their manuscript to a journal editor -The journal editor determines whether it is of sufficient quality and appropriate content. If they accept it, then the manuscript is sent to two or more independent reviewers who are experts in the same field as the author. -The reviewers evaluate the manuscript for its quality, considering its originality, significance and validity to the field. They check for any errors or flaws in the results. -The reviewers then provide feedback to the editor, who relays it to the author and the author may be asked to revise the manuscript based on the feedback received. -This process may continue until the manuscript reaches an acceptable standard for publication.

Answer 129

-Protects the quality of published research -Preserves the reputation of psychology as a science and increases the credibility and status of the subject

Answer 130

-Anonymity: A minority of reviewers may use their anonymous status to criticise rival research. -Publication bias: Tendency for editors of journals to want to publish 'headline grabbing' findings. This means that research that does not meet this criteria is ignored -Maintaining the status quo: Reviewers may be more critical of research that contradicts their own view.