booklet 2 pt 1

Question 1

What are the 4 types of experiments?
Outline them?

Answer 1

Controlled=Researcher directly manipulates the IV in a controlled environment.
Field=Researcher directly manipulates the IV within a realistic background
Natural=Researcher CANNOT directly manipulate the IV as it’s NATURALLY occuring
Quasi=IV is based on PRE-EXISTING differences between people and cannot be changed e.g. sex, age

Question 2

Why are experiments commonly used by psychologists?

Answer 2

Experiments allow them to show cause and effect between the IV and DV.

Question 3

What is the difference between mundane realism and ecological validity?

Answer 3

( ___ mirrors everyday life)
Mundane realism=task
Ecological validity=setting/environment

Question 4

What 6 things should you avoid using in order to make a good questionnaire?

Answer 4

-Jardon (using technical terms others may not understand e.g. validity)
-Emotive language
-Leading questions (suggests certain answer)
-*Double-barrelled questions (2 topics in one)
-Double negatives (e.g. he did it, didn’t he)
-Ambigious questions (open to interpretation)

Question 5

What 2 additional things should a good questionnaire include?

Answer 5

-Questions cover all options
-Respects confidentiality

Question 6

What are the 3 types of interviews?

Answer 6

-Structured interviews
-Unstructured interviews
-Semi-structured interviews

Question 7

Explain a structured interview
What type of data does it use?

Answer 7

-Questions are decided in advance
-Questions are asked in the same order for each interviewee
-Quantitative

Question 8

Explain an unstructured interview
What type of data does it use?

Answer 8

-Conducted like a conversation
-Little is decided in advance
-Qualitative

Question 9

Explain semi-structured interviews
What type of data does it use?

Answer 9

-Questions are decided in advance
-Questions are asked in the same order for each interviewee
-Interviewer can DEVIATE from original questions
-Quantitative and qualitative

Question 10

What are 3 limitations of questionnaires? Give examples
What do these decrease?

Answer 10

-Social desirability bias=not being truthful to present yourself in a better light e.g. how often do you give to charity.
-Response bias=answering all questions in a SIMILAR way, not reading properly e.g. putting all 5/5 in questionnaire.
-Acquiescence bias=AGREEING with things e.g. just putting ‘yes’ in a survey>questionnaire is now measuring tendency.
ALL OF THESE DECREASE VALIDITY

Question 11

What are 3 strengths of questionnaires?

Answer 11

-Anonymity: questionnaires are usually annonymous>likely to answer honestly>valid.
-Large scale: questionnaires can be sent out to infanate people>easy to replicate>reliable.
-Do not require an interview presence or skill: unlike interviews=more time consuming and requires a trained interviewer>expensive.

Question 12

What are interviewer effects? (3)

Answer 12

-Interviewee will be influenced by the presence of the interviewer.
-Giving responses they think are desired.
-Rather than sharing their honest opinions.

Question 13

What are the 2 question types?
What type of data does each of them give?
Explain

Answer 13

-Open questions:
Allow ppts to answer however they wish
Qualitative data
-Closed questions:
Restrict ppt to a pre-determined set of responses
Quantitative data

Question 14

What are the 3 types of closed questions?
Briefly outline them with examples

Answer 14

-Checklist
ppts tick what applies to them
e.g. tick what qualification you hold
GCSES (box) ALEVELS (box) DEGREE (box)
-Likert response scale
ppts rate, on a scale, their views/opinions
e.g. agree, not sure, disagree
-Ranking scale
ppts place a list of items in their preferred order
e.g. rank (1=least)

Question 15

What are 2 strengths and 1 weakness of open questions

Answer 15

S=less chance of researcher bias, especially true if the questionnaire is anonymous
S=rich in detail (qualitative)
W=higher chances for social desirability>lacks validity

Question 16

What is 1 strength and 2 weaknesses of closed questions

Answer 16

S=easy to analyse (quantitative)>researcher can look for patterns and trends
W=researcher is unable to explore responses in a particular interest
W=response bias, ppt doesn’t take time to read all questions, lacks INTERNAL validity

Question 17

What is an observation?

Answer 17

Researcher watching and recording behaviour of ppts.

Question 18

What are the 6 types of observations?

Answer 18

Covert and overt.
Participant and non-participant.
Naturalistic and controlled.

Question 19

What is the difference between covert and overt observations?
Give examples.

Answer 19

Covert=undercover observation without their knowledge
E.g. watching behind glass screen
Overt=open observation, ppts are aware
E.g. openly observing

Question 20

What is the difference between participant vs non-participant observations?
Give examples.

Answer 20

Participant=conducter takes part in the activity being observed
E.g. going undercover
Non-participant=conducter doesn’t participate
E.g. observing

Question 21

What is the difference between naturalistic and controlled observations?
Give examples.

Answer 21

Naturalistic=uncontrolled setting, observer doesn’t interfere
E.g. classroom
Controlled=strict conditions, EVs can be controlled>avoid intereference with behavior being observed
E.g. lab

Question 22

What’s an evaluation point that goes for ALL types of observations? Explain

Answer 22

Observer bias=when the researcher only gives attention to behaviours they expect to see.

Question 23

What’s a strength and weakness of naturalistic and controlled observations. (vv)

Answer 23

Naturalistic:
S=high ecological validity, more generalised to everyday life.
W=lack of control over extraneous variables, difficult to show cause and effect and detect patterns.
Controlled:
vv

Question 24

What’s a strength and weakness of participant and non-participant observations. (vv)

Answer 24

Participant:
S=researcher gains greater insight as they are experiencing the same experiences the ppts do, increasing the validity
W=researcher may become too involved aka ‘going native’, findings are less objective
Non-participant:
vv

Question 25

What’s a strength and weakness of covert and overt observations. (vv)

Answer 25

Covert:
S=demand characteristics are reduced
W=unethical, ppts privacy is being invaded
Overt:
vv

Question 26

What are behavioural categories?
What must these be? E.g?

Answer 26

-Target behavior that is being observed should be broken up into a set of observable categories.
-Operationalised (can be easily measured).
E.g. dogs aggressive behaviour:
1. barking 2. biting 3. growling

Question 27

What are the 2 issues with behavioral categories?
Explain

Answer 27

Difficult to make clear and unambiguous:
-categories should be self-evident and not overlap or open to interpretation
-e.g. a baby crying and distressed
Dustbin categories:
-all behaviours should be covered by behaviour categories
-unoperationalised behavior goes to dustbin

Question 28

What is time sampling?
What’s a weakness of this?

Answer 28

-Observations are made at regular intervals e.g. once every 10 seconds.
-Unrepresentative: if target behaviour is infrequent/happens outside time scale, they may be missed> decreases validity.

Question 29

What is event sampling?
What’s a weakness of this?

Answer 29

-Target behavior is recorded every time it occurs.
-Complex behaviors become oversimplified: if behavior is too complex>important details may go unreported or may be overlooked.