CH 9 PLANNING AND CONDUCTING

Question 1

EXPERIMENTAL

Answer 1

• Involves the manipulation of one variable (IV) to see what effect it has on another variable (DV), while attempting to control the influence of all other extraneous (uncontrollable) variables
• Ability to infer a cause & effect relationship
• Limitation: artificial results -> not naturally occuring!

Question 2

NON-EXPERIMENTAL

Answer 2

• Doesn’t involve manipulation of an IV to see the effects on a DV
• Collects data on variables that can be analyse and interpreted – but cannot be used to infer cause and effect relationship between variable

Question 3

Scientific

Answer 3

• Creating hypotheses, and creating objective tests using scientific methods to provide evidence
• Is based on verifiable evidence
• Data is collected in a systematic way
• Collecting the data involves following a descriptive set of instructions
• The experiment can be re produced and is reliable

Question 4

Non-scientific

Answer 4

• Conclusions based solely on personal experience and sensible logic
• Evidence is based on tradition, experience of intuition
• Evidence is not collected in a systematic way
• Instructions to conduct experiment are limited to none
• Experiment cannot be reproduced and is limited in reliability

Question 5

population

Answer 5

• entire group of people belonging to a particular category
• provides all possible measurement for variable/s being investigated
• eg. all uni students, all AFL footballers, all Year 11’s

Question 6

sample

Answer 6

• group of participants selected from, and representative of, a population of research interest
• must be representative of the population from which it is drawn
• results wouldn’t be accurate otherwise!!

Question 7

why must a sample be representative of the pop.?

Answer 7

• purpose of research is the learn about pop!!
• data supplied by sample provides info about research question and conclusions may be drawn
  
  • • conclusion = statement based on research results
  • • no value if not related back to pop.

Question 8

generalisation

Answer 8

• The results are statistically significant
• The sample is representative of the population
• The method of sampling is appropriate
• Extraneous and confounding variables have been controlled

Question 9

sampling

Answer 9

• Process of selecting participants to study from target populations
• Samples will be
  
  • • Generalised back to target pop
  • • representative of target pop
  • • of a sufficient size to represent the variety of individuals in target pop

Question 10

types of sampling

Answer 10

• Random
  
  • • Every member of the target pop. has an equal chance of being selected
  • • Quick and inexpensive
  • • Could be biased (no constraints!)
• Stratified
  
  • • Dividing the target pop. into sub categories that need to be represented (race, gender, age)
  • • Eg. If a target population consisted of 75% women and 25% men, a sample of 20 should include 15 women and 5 men
  • • Equal quantities of particular characteristics represented in each sample, therefore un-biased
  • • Can be more time-consuming
• Convenience sampling
  
  • • Selecting participants based on easy accessibility or availability.
  • • Highly biased
  • • Participants are not a representative selection of the population because they are likely to share a particular quality

Question 11

Ethics in psychology research

Answer 11

• role of the experimenter
• participants’ rights
• privacy, anonymity, confidentiality, voluntary participation and withdrawal rights
• informed consent procedures
• deception in research
• professional conduct

Question 12

Role of experimenter

Answer 12

• Assume that experimenter will be objective no effect on results. Rosnow & Rosenthal (1997): experimenter effect
• Experimenters need to acknowledge biases and to minimize
• Experimenters responsibility to protect physical and psychological welfare.
• Experimenters must behave in a professional manner.

Question 13

6 ethical principles

Answer 13

• Privacy: right of protection from unwanted intrusion by government or other people into one’s affair’s. Collection, storage and sharing of personal information.
• Anonymity: protection of identity through non-disclosing their name or not knowing it.
• Confidentiality: professional relationship between doctor/psychologist and patient. Degree of secrecy of information.
• Voluntary participation: decide to participate in an experiment of their free will. MUST NOT EXPERIENCE pressure or negative consequences.
• Withdrawal rights: entitled to withdraw from the study, or their results withdrawn, without experiencing any pressure or negative consequences.
• informed consent: Where a participant gives written consent to participate after being informed of the nature and purpose of the experiment, risks, and rights before experiment commences.

Question 14

deception in research

Answer 14

• Deception: withholding information from the participant about a study’s true purpose
• Will influence the behaviour during the study [affects accuracy]
• Deception in research should not occur unless it is necessary (as knowledge of the true purpose of the experiment would be likely to influence participant behaviour)
• Deception must be followed by debriefing (informing participants of the true purpose of the experiment and an explanation of the deception used)

Question 15

professional conduct

Answer 15

• National statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007 (psychological, medical or scientific research)
• Australian Psychological Society’s Code of Ethics (Psychologists only)
• Professional code of conduct required as they undertake research
• Beneficence: the benefits must outweigh the risks
• All institutions where research is conducted: Human Research Ethics Committee

Question 16

requirements of professional conduct in undertaking and publishing psychological research:

Answer 16

• comply with codes, statements, guidelines and other directives applicable at the time of conducting the research
• after research results are published or become publicly available, psychologists make the data on which their conclusions are based available to other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis
• accurately report the data they have gathered and the results of their research
• state clearly if any data on which the publication is based have been published previously.

Question 17

Features of experimental research methods

Answer 17

• independent and dependent variables
• operational hypotheses
• controlled and uncontrolled variables
• experimental and control -groups
• placebo and experimenter effects
• Reliability and validity
• longitudinal and cross‐sectional designs

Question 18

Variables

Answer 18

• Any object, quantity or event that changes or varies in some way
  
  • • Psychologists propose theories and hypotheses about how variables interact with each other
  • • In research studies – measure, manipulate or control variables
• Psychological variables = aggression, intelligence, attraction, memory
• Physical variables = time, height, nose, temp

Question 19

uncontrolled variables

Answer 19

EXTRANEOUS
- Other variables that could potentially influence the DV apart from the IV
- Could spoil the experiment/ are undesirable
- Controls are employed to prevent these variables from affecting the DV
CONFOUNDING
- IF extraneous variables change throughout the experiment confounding variables
- Confounding variables: can give an alternative explanation

Question 20

Minimising EV and CFV

Answer 20

• Important to isolate the IV from other factors that might affect the DV
• Random allocation and research designs are applied to control individual participant differences that might lead to biased groups

Question 21

Random allocation

Answer 21

• The process of dividing participants into groups

- Every member of the sample must have an equal chance of being allocated to any group

Question 22

Research design

Answer 22

• Experimental and control groups need to be as similar as possible. The ONLY DIFFERENCE should be the IV
• To control for participant-related extraneous variables: three research designs can be applied
  
  • • Independent-groups
  • • Matched-participants
  • • Repeated-measures

Question 23

Independent-groups design

Answer 23

• Participants are simply assigned to groups randomly
• Quick and inexpensive
• Bias: due to individual participant characteristics. In a large sample any individual differences should average out to create two very similar groups.

Question 24

Matched-participants design

Answer 24

• When groups are truly equivalent in terms of particular characteristics (IQ, memory ability)
• Participants are matched up in pairs that have the same score for that variable yield two groups with the same average
• Time-consuming, costly, and participants may be reluctant to volunteer for a long and involved task.

Question 25

Repeated-measures design

Answer 25

• The whole sample undergoes experimental and control conditions
• No differences between the ‘groups’
• Significant advantage of eliminating participant-related extraneous variable
• Order effects: participants experiencing procedures repeatedly. Can enhance or impair performance on a task second round.
• Counterbalancing: cancel out any potential order effects, half the sample participates in the control followed by experimental and the other half of sample does the opposite

Question 26

Sources of EV and PCV

Answer 26

• Experimenter effect: the researcher influences the results either knowingly or unintentionally. During IV (project certain cues to participants) or DV (results assessed in line with personal expectations)
• Placebo effect: participant behaviour is affected by their beliefs or expectations. Participants are aware that they are being tested or observed and may therefore not respond spontaneously- Demand characteristics: the situation may elicit or demand that natural responses are modified in some way.
  
  • • Reactivity: behaving in a more negative way than usual due to knowing the one’s behavior is being scrutinized
  • • Hawthorne effect: performance is enhanced when a participant is aware of being investigated.
  • • Due to social desirability participants respond artificially in order to project a favorable impression of oneself.

Question 27

controlling ev and dv

Answer 27

• Single blind: minimizing the amount of information given to the participant. Participants are unaware of crucial details that might distort their normal responses. Unknown whether in experimental or control group
• Double blind: participants and experimenter. The experimenter is unaware of crucial details. Does not know who is in the control or experimental group. Therefore cannot communicate cues.

Question 28

operational hypothesis

Answer 28

• A hypothesis is created based on prediction of outcomes for the study
• Needs to state how changes in the IV will affect the DV
• Should state population
• In psychology, these hypotheses need to be operationalised
• Makes them more specific in the outcomes predicted
• Describes the actions that will be used to measure or control a variable
  
  • • A number
  • • A statistical measurement
• Example: BMI, weight loss by pound, % of body fat, Recording the number of punches thrown/murders committed for the variable of ‘aggression’

Question 29

Reliability

Answer 29

• Reliability = measurement consistency of a test
  
  • • Repeated measurements should yield reasonably similar results
• Validity = refers to the ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure
  
  • • Content (degree to which content in test represents what has been learnt)
• internal consistency
  
  • • 20 item scale - find that ppl’s responses to 1st 10 items consistent with responses to 2nd 10 items
• test-retest reliability
  
  • • comparing how ppl performed on test at one time with how they performed at later time

Question 30

Validity

Answer 30

• Validity = refers to the ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure
  
  • • Content (degree to which content in test represents what has been learnt)

Question 31

types of validity

Answer 31

• face validity
  
  • • does test appear to be measuring what it claims to measure?
• construct validity
  
  • • examine whether test items keep within constructs on which test was based eg. if theory has 3 sections, all 3 sections need to be included
• concurrent validity
  
  • • compare ppl’s performance on scale interested in with their performance on one that we know about - look @ rel. b/w them
• predictive validity
  
  • • extent to which test can predict other attributed/beh.s thought to be related to constructs tested

Question 32

Placebo and experimenter effects

Answer 32

• Placebo: a harmless substance given as if it were a treatment. Given to control group.
• Placebo effect: when the participants behavior is affected by their beliefs or expectations.
• Experimental effect: when the researcher influences the result, on purpose or accident. During both IV or DV

Question 33

Longitudinal and cross-sectional designs

Answer 33

• In developmental psychology: one problem is that children grow and develop, and show behavioural change as they become more skilled socially, emotionally and mentally.
• Cross-sectional designs: take into account age-related developmental changes by comparing children of different ages. Participants at each age-level are different people.
• Cohort effect
• Longitudinal methods: study the same group of people at different points in time
• Cross-sectional generational problem
• Longitudinal methods: study the same group of people at different points in time
• Cross-sectional generational problem

Question 34

observation

Answer 34

Precise measurement of spontaneously occurring behaviour in an objective way

observational studies

• watching beh. of participants
• can be naturalistic (in natural envir.) or in a lab (more controlled)
• • = participant beh. is spontaneous and natural; large amounts of data collected
• • = observed might be biased by expectations

Question 35

interviews & questionaires

Answer 35

• Correct people’s self reports about their behaviours (in oral, face2face, written way)
• Interviews = direct verbal questioning of participants by researchers
• Questionnaires = written methods of gaining self-report data from participants

Question 36

case studies

Answer 36

• In-depth study of one person
• Nearly every aspect of the subjects life and history is analysed to seek patterns and causes for behaviour
• • = provides detailed info about each case
• • = Can be highly subjective; difficult to generalise results to a larger population
• widely used in psychology and amongst the best known were the ones carried out by Sigmund Freud
• conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses

Question 37

surveys

Answer 37

• data collection tool used to gather info about individuals
• commonly used to collect self-report data from study participants
• can be administered by
  
  • • structured interview
  • • questionnaire
• • = large amounts of info about variety of issues gathered; large sample can be surveyed simultaneously; quick and efficient
• • = data collation problematic if qualitative; may not always get truthful responses

Question 38

correlational studies

Answer 38

• Method of analysis that compares 2 or more behavioural variables, which have been measured on a scale (2 variables - Bivariate correlation, more than two - multivariate correlation)
• Find pattern of relationship they have with each other
• Can be positive (both increase @ same time) or negative (one variable increases as another one decreases) or no correlation
• visualise by drawing a scatter plot

Question 39

archival research

Answer 39

• Performed by analysing studies conducted by other researchers or by looking at historical patient records
• eg. private documents (diaries and letters); public documents; magazines
• descriptive; can be used experimentally
• • = cheaper to use archival than new data; access to very large scale representative samples
• • = time consuming; knowledge and skill required to analyse complex data sets

Question 40

archival research advantages

Answer 40

• data has already been collected – save resources
• do not need to go through as many ethics processes as data exists
• rare behaviours/scenarios can be studied
• shows changes over longer periods
• reduces response bias as the researcher is not present when data was being collected
• helps to investigate real-world scenarios, not just in a laboratory or experimental settings
• can be used as a launchpad for future research.

Question 41

archival research disadvantages

Answer 41

• data can be biased – e.g. letters to editors might be topical
• participants not randomly selected
• some archives get lost
• errors in data input and difficult to check on ordinal data
• information might be affected by definitions at the time (e.g.definition of family being married mother and father with children)
• data collected by non-scientists
• data usually correlational at best.

Question 42

self-report

Answer 42

qualitative
self report: involves the participants providing spoken or written answers in response to questions asked by researcher
- acceptance of the data is based on the assumption that the respondents have been honest and accurate in their reports
- can measure attitudes
-

Question 43

focus groups

Answer 43

qualitative

• • researcher asks group members about their ideas, perceptions, opinions
• • used by market researchers to gauge opinions on product
• • sessions are recorded and transcribed
• • group discussion provides info that might not be obtained through individual interview

Question 44

interviews

Answer 44

qualitative

• interviews: asking a series of open-ended questions and receiving answers to those questions.
  
  • • structured: involved predetermined questions in a pre-set order. The use of open-response questions.
  • • semi-structured: involves predetermined questions but the order can vary depending on the circumstances. Wording of questions can be varied and explanations.
  • • unstructured: involves a conversation around the researcher’s general area of interest.

Question 45

qualitative data collection

Answer 45

In general, qualitative interviews are suitable in the following circumstances:

• the study focuses on the meaning of a particular phenomenon to the participants
• the study wishes to obtain historical perspectives on a phenomenon
• exploratory work is required prior to an experimental study
• qualitative data is required to validate the results of a quantitative study and help interpret results.

Question 46

Objective Quantitative methods

Answer 46

• generally physiological responses

- e.g. brain waves, heart rate, body temperature, electrical conductivity of the skin

Question 47

Subjective Quantitative methods

Answer 47

• fixed response interview questions
  
  • • interviewee given limited choice of answers in response to a question
  • • eg. “do you think that old growth forests should be logged” = yes, no, undecided
• can produce quantitative data
• researchers can determine the % of ppl who fall into each of the 3 categories

Question 48

rating scale

Answer 48

rating scales
- provide series of fixed choice questions which respondents indicate the strength of their opinions
- can provide info about intensity of an attitude
common form of rating scale: likert scale
- measures responses to a series of statements about an issue
- each statement represents a +ive or -ive positive with respect to an issue
- eg. choose from strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree