Basics

Question 1

What is quantitative data? Give a strength and weakness of collecting quantitative data.

Answer 1

Quantitative data is numerical data
Strengths- easier to analyse as statistics so averages can be calculated, allows comparisons to be made
Weaknesses- no reasons behind answers, no detailed understanding of behaviour which reduces validity.

Question 2

What is qualitative data? Give a strength and weakness of collecting qualitative data.

Answer 2

Qualitative data is non-numerical data
Strengths- participants can provide rich, detailed answers, allows understanding for reasons behind behaviour.
Weaknesses- more difficult to analyse such as calculating statistics, comparisons can’t be made.

Question 3

What is primary data? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 3

Primary data is collected directly by the researcher(first hand).
Strengths- can ensure data is valid, if they did this themselves they should be able to easily replicate(increases reliability)
Weaknesses- time-consuming, expensive

Question 4

What is secondary data? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 4

Secondary data is collected by by someone else then used by the researcher(second hand).
Strengths- saves time, saves money
Weaknesses- may not exactly fit needs of researcher, not always reliable(could be out of date)

Question 5

What are the ethical guidelines for respect? Briefly explain them.

Answer 5

Informed consent- telling your participants what they are taking part in, letting them know any risks and getting their consent, could be verbal or written down.
Confidentiality- your results are used not names, kept anonymous.
Withdrawal- tell you participants that they can withdraw(leave) at any time and even withdraw their results when the study is finished.

Question 6

What are the ethical guidelines for responsibility? Briefly explain them.

Answer 6

Protection of participants/from harm- not harming your participants in anyway (mentally, physically etc)
Debriefing- after research is complete tell your participants what they just took part in(true nature of study, they can withdraw their data etc)

Question 7

What are the ethical guidelines for integrity? Briefly explain them.

Answer 7

Deception- telling your participants you are researching something when you are actually researching something else.

Question 8

What are the ethical guidelines for competence? Briefly explain them.

Answer 8

Awareness of professional ethics- must work within their own capabilities.

Question 9

What is random sampling? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 9

Every member of the target population has a equal chance of being selected eg: gathering everyone’s name and putting them into a hat and randomly selecting people.
Strength- really representative and you get different people taking part.
Weakness- difficult to get access to names.

Question 10

What is opportunity sampling? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 10

Opportunity sampling is anyone who is available and agrees to take part can become a participant.
Strength- easy to do, quick and convenient.
Weakness- some people could say no, may not exactly get who you need.

Question 11

What is self selected/volunteer sampling? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 11

It’s where people chose to take part, for example responding to an advertisement.
Strength- people’s chose to take part so less likely to withdraw, quick and convenient.
Weakness- might not get a lot of people, only getting outspoken people.

Question 12

What is snowball sampling? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 12

It’s where the researcher finds a couple of participants who fit the target population and asks them to find other participants.
Strength- other people find participants for you.
Weakness- could all have similar results, biased results(not representative).

Question 13

What is an independent variable?

Answer 13

What the experimenter manipulates and is assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.

Question 14

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 14

What the experimenter measures after making changes to the IV.

Question 15

What are extraneous variables? Name the three types and give examples of each.

Answer 15

EV’s are other variables apart from the IV that affect the DV. The three types are participant, situational and researcher.
Participant- tiredness, age, food and drink intake, personality, order effects, demand characteristics.
Situational- temperature of room, time of day, noise levels, order effects, demand characteristics.
Researcher- tone of voice, body language, personality, bias, demand characteristics.

Question 16

What is an experimental/alternate hypothesis? Explain one-tailed and two-tailed hypotheses as well.

Answer 16

This is predicting a difference between the two or more conditions can either be one-tailed or two-tailed.
One-tailed- Predicting there will be a difference between the conditions and what the difference will be.
Two-tailed- Only predicting there will be a difference between the conditions.

Question 17

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 17

This is predicting there will be no difference between the conditions or any difference found is due to chance.

Question 18

What is a lab experiment? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 18

It’s is a highly controlled setting where the researcher can control the variables(manipulate the IV).
Strength- high control means it has high reliability, cause and effect relationship established.
Weakness- lacks ecological validity, ethical concerns, high chance of demand characteristics.

Question 19

What is a field experiment? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 19

It’s conducted in a natural environment, still manipulating the IV but participants are less likely to know they are in an experiment.
Strength- greater ecological validity, less demand characteristics.
Weakness- low reliability, ethical issues, difficult to control EV’s.

Question 20

What is a quasi experiment? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 20

It’s where the IV isn’t being manipulated, it’s naturally occurring.
Strength- greater ecological validity
Weakness- no control over IV, impossible to replicate(low reliability)

Question 21

What is independent measures design? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 21

It’s where there are different participants in each condition, they only take part in that one condition. Therefore, the performance of different groups of people are being compared.
Strength- decreases demand characteristics, decreases order effects.
Weakness- large sample needed, time-consuming, large amount of participant variables which decrease validity of results.

Question 22

What is repeated measures design? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 22

It’s where all the participants take part in each condition of the experiment. Therefore, you are comparing each participants performance in one condition with their performance in the other.
Strength- smaller sample size, get rid of participant variables(it’s the same people)
Weakness- increases demand characteristics, increases order effects.

Question 23

What is matched pairs design? Give a strength and weakness.

Answer 23

It’s where two separate groups but each participant in one group is matched on certain characteristics as a participant in the other group.
Strength- avoiding demand characteristics, reduces participant variables
Weakness- time-consuming, if one participant drops out you lose two, very difficult to match exactly.