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CPSY 102 > Chapter 2 - Research Methods > Flashcards

Chapter 2 - Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

Quantitative research methods

A

Data that is measured
Numbers
ex. height, weight, volume, etc.

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2
Q

Qualitative research methods

A

Data that is observed (beauty, smell, texture, etc)

Deals with descriptions

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3
Q

What is a Case Study?

A
  • In-depth background from single person

- Exceptional cases (serial killers, special abilities, etc)

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4
Q

Example of case study?

A

Phineas Gage - went from normal to impulsive and rude when an iron bar damaged his left frontal lobe

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5
Q

Case studies: advantages/disadvantages

A

Advatages:

  • Existence proofs
  • Ability to study rare phenomena impossible to recreate in lab
  • Insights for later study

Disadvantages:

  • Doesn’t answer why something occurred
  • Difficult to generalize to other people (anecdotal)
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6
Q

What is Naturalistic or Direct Observation

A

-Observing in natural setting

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7
Q

Naturalistic Observation Advantages/Disadvantages

A

Advantages:
-High external validity

Disadvantages:

  • Low internal validity
  • Reactivity (when subject knows they’re being observed)
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8
Q

Naturalistic Observation: 3 Types

A
  • Participant observation: observer is one of the crowd, with subjects’ knowledge
  • Unobtrusive observation: without subjects’ knowledge
  • Laboratory observation: controlled but not natural; reactivity potential so potentially lower external validity, higher internal validity so can infer cause/effect
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9
Q

What are Questionnaires and Surveys?

A
  • Another type of self-report

- Phrasing must be accurate (no leading questions, etc)

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10
Q

Questionnaires and Surveys: advantages and disadvantages

A

Advantages:

  • Inexpensive and fast collection of large amount of data
  • Anonymity

Disadvantages:

  • Sample bias- hard to obtain truly random sample
  • Response sets: positive impression management and malingering
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11
Q

What are malingering and positive impression management?

A
  • ”Response sets”, or tendencies to distort answers to surveys/questionnaires
  • Malingering: making oneself seem psychologically disturbed, with a clear goal
  • Positive impression management: making ourselves look better than we are
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12
Q

What are Standardized Tests?

A
  • IQ, personality, memory/cognitive functioning

- Type of self-report method

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13
Q

What is Reliability (ie, test reliability)?

A
  • Consistency; same results every time, everywhere

- Must be demonstrated first (before validity)

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14
Q

Test-Retest Reliability

A

-Questionnaire yields similar scores over time

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15
Q

Inter-rater Reliability

A

-Extent to which different people (psychologists, observers?) make similar behavioural observations

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16
Q

What is Validity (ie, test validity)?

A
  • Measures what it claims to measure
  • External/internal, ecological, etc
  • Must be demonstrated second, after reliability
17
Q

Between-subject vs Within-subject design?

A
  • Between-subject design: participants assigned to either test (independent variable) group, or control (placebo) group
  • Within-subject design: participants act as their own control group; measurement taken before and after independent variable
18
Q

What is population? (in experimental design)

A
  • Designated by uppercase “N”
  • Total group you want to study
  • ex, homeless teenagers, retirees, etc
19
Q

What is a population sample? (in experimental design)

A
  • Participants of study/experiment
  • Denoted as lowercase “n”.
  • Randomly selected, representative subset of N/total population
20
Q

What are the two characteristics of an experiment?

A
  • Random selection and assignment of participants to an;

- Independent variable manipulated by researcher

21
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

A variable that an experimenter manipulates

22
Q

What is a dependent variable?

A

The variable that the experimenter measures to see whether manipulation has an effect.

ex, school grades, health, conviction rates, etc

AKA “outcome variable”

23
Q

Internal validity vs external validity

A

Internal validity: extent to which we can infer cause and effect

  • Low in naturalistic, case studies, correlational design
  • High in experimental design

External validity: extent to which we can generalize findings to the real-world

  • Can be low in experimental design
  • High in naturalistic design
24
Q

Advantages of experiment

A
  • Manipulate variables
  • Show cause and effect
  • Conclude that any difference in DV was caused by IV
25
Q

Disadvantages/pitfalls of experiment

A
  • Placebo
  • Nocebo
  • Hawthorne effect (reactivity)
  • Rosenthall effect (experimenter expectancy=biased outcome)
26
Q

When would one use a correlational instead of an experiment?

A
  • unethical (pepsi in pregnant women)

- impossible

27
Q

What is positive correlation?

A

When both variables move in the same direction (UP or DOWN)

28
Q

What is negative correlation?

A

When variables move in opposite directions

29
Q

What is the range of r values?

A

-1.0 to +1.0

30
Q

What are the strengths of some correlations?

A 
(in absolute values + or -)
1 perfect
0.8 strong
0.5 moderate
0.3 weak
0 none
31
Q

Can you infer cause and effect from correlational studies (IV or DV influence each other)?

A

No. But it’s possible if the correlation is strong enough.

32
Q

What are some guidelines for research ethics?

A
  1. Informed consent (explanation of purpose, duration, risks, etc)
  2. Right to withdraw (without conditions)
  3. Debriefing
  4. Anonymous and confidential
  5. Suggest resources
33
Q

Define “mean”

A
  • Type of central tendency:
  • Average (sum, divided by n)
  • Influenced by outliers
34
Q

Define “median”

A
  • Type of central tendency:

- Middle score in an ordered data set; 50th percentile

35
Q

Define “mode”

A
  • Type of central tendency:

- Most frequent score in the data set

36
Q

Low variability vs high variability?

A

Low var. = values clustered around middle

High var. = values spread out toward extremes

37
Q

What are range and standard deviation?

A
  • Ways of calculating variability
  • Range: difference between lowest and highest value
  • Standard deviation: Average distance from mean
38
Q

What is statistical significance?

A
  • Typically a calculation based on on number of values (n) and standard deviation (SD)
  • ex, “95% confidence” “p < 0.05”

CPSY 102 (11 decks)

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