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Psychology Year 1 > Chapter 6 - Research Methods > Flashcards

Chapter 6 - Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What are aims?

A

General statements that describe the purpose of an investigation

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2
Q

What is an experiment?

A

An experiment involves the manipulation of an independent variable to see what effect it has on the dependent variable, while at the same time controlling other variables which might affect the result

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3
Q

Explain the Stroop Experiment

A
  • a pair sat together will label themselves 1 or 2.
  • 2 needs to have something to be able to tell the time (clock/watch) and time their partner
  • 1 will be facing the whiteboard and shown a list of 10 words to read out, with 2 timing how long it takes them to
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4
Q

What is a variable?

A

Something that can change or vary

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5
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

The variable that you manipulate

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6
Q

What is the dependant variable?

A

The variable that you measure

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7
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

What the researcher expects

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8
Q

What is an alternate hypothesis?

A

A testable statement which predicts how one variable will effect another, its predicts the difference between conditions in an experiment

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9
Q

What is a Null Hypothesis?

A

Doesn’t state a difference and any differences will be due to chance not the IV

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10
Q

What is a directional hypotheses?

A

Predictions that state the direction results will go in

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11
Q

What is a non-directional hypotheses?

A

Predictions dont state the direction the result will go in

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12
Q

What is operationalisation of variables?

A

Stating a clear way of how the independent variable is going to be manipulated and how the dependent variable is to be measured

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13
Q

What is a pilot study?

A

Small scale trails run of the actual investigation

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14
Q

Why do we do pilot studies?

A

It saves money in the long run and allows you to identify any issues and modify the design

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15
Q

What are controls and what are they used for?

A

They are used by the researcher to make sure that the experiment is reliable

A control is something that is kept the same for each participant doing the experiment.

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16
Q

What are extraneous variables?

A

These are variables that need to be kept the same in an experiment.

They keep it the same so it doesn’t impact the results

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17
Q

What is a confounding variable?

A

If a extraneous variable is not controlled then it becomes a confounding varaiable

It needs to be controlled or it can effect the results

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18
Q

What is are extraneous variables divided into?

A

2 types:
Situational variable - eg time, heat and light
Participant variable - eg personality, gender and intelligence

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19
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

A feature of a procedure that influences a participants to attempt to guess what the study is about and act a certain way by using clues.

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20
Q

What is the investigator effect?

A

Term used to describe subtle cues or signals from the experimenter that affect the performance of participants in studies

These cues may be unconscious such as muscle tension or vocal cues

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21
Q

How to control demand characteristics?

A

Single blind
Double blind

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22
Q

What is a single blind?

A

When either the ppt or the person conducting the investigation doesn’t know the aims

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23
Q

What is a double blind?

A

When be the ppt and the investigator is unaware of the aims

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24
Q

What is randomisation?

A

Using chance whenever possible to reduce the researchers influence

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25
Q

What is standardisation?

A

When everything is kept the same for each participant

Standardised procedures
Standardised instructions

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26
Q

What is experimental design?

A

Experimental design refers to the way in which participants are arranged in relaxation to the different experimental conditions

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27
Q

What is independent group design?

A

Participants only taking part in one condition of the experiment
(2 groups)

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28
Q

What is repeated measure design?

A

Participants take part in both conditions of the experiment
(1 Group)

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29
Q

What is matched pairs design?

A

Participants are matched on variables relevant to the experiment such as IQ and Gender. One of each participants is allocated to a different condition.

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30
Q

What are independent groups strengths?

A

No order effect
Less demand characteristics

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31
Q

What are independent groups weaknesses?

A
  • differences between conditions could be because of participant variables ( can be controlled by random allocation)
  • more expensive because you need twice as many groups
32
Q

What is repeated measures strengths?

A
  • any difference are likely to be due to change in IV not participant variables
  • less participants needed
33
Q

What are repeated measures weaknesses?

A
  • order effects may occur because the participants are taking part in all of the conditions
  • demand characteristics = easy to guess the aim because they have done it twice
34
Q

What are the strengths of matched pairs?

A
  • no order effects
  • Participants variables are reduced because they are matched
35
Q

What are the weaknesses for matched pairs?

A
  • can’t be matched exactly
  • time consuming as well as expensive
36
Q

What are order effects?

A

Carrying out a task repeatedly leads to changes in performance

37
Q

What are the 2 different types of order effects?

A

Boredom effect - deteriorariation of performance across conditions

Practice effects - improvement across conditions through familiarity of the task or enviroment

38
Q

How can we control order effects?

A
  • leave big gaps
  • counterbalance design
  • matched pairs or independent groups design
39
Q

What is counterbalancing?

A

Splitting a sample in half and group 1 will do condition A then B and Group 2 will do condition B then A.

This doesn’t remove or prevent it but attempts to balance it

40
Q

What are the 4 types of experiment?

A
  • lab experiments
  • field experiments
  • natural experiments
  • quasi experiments
41
Q

What is a laboratory experiment?

A

An experiment that is carried out in highly controlled conditions, it involves the manipulation of the IV.

A lab can be anywhere where variables can be well controlled

42
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

An experiment that is conducted in the real world, that involves the manipulation of the IV

43
Q

What is a Natural experiment?

A

The researcher monitoring an inevitable event that has a pre-existing IV, can be in a lab or out on the field.

44
Q

What is a Quasi Experiment?

A

An experiment that has an IV which is a difference between people such as age.This variable just exists it isn’t manipulated.

45
Q

What are the strengths of a lab experiment ?

A
  • it has high control over extraneous variables, so that its more likely the effect on the DV is from the manipulated IV (high internal validity)
  • its easy to replicate because of the level of control, so they can see if the results are valid or are a one off
46
Q

What are the weaknesses of a lab experiment?

A
  • lack in generalisability because of the artificial environment, this means participants may act differently (low external validity)
  • the participants will be aware that they are in an experiment so may act differently (demand characteristics)
  • no real life experience (low mundane realism)
47
Q

What are the strengths of a field experiment?

A
  • it has a higher mundane realism because of the natural environment, and results in real-behaviour which will be valid.If they are unaware they are being studied it increase the external validity.
48
Q

What are the weaknesses for a field experiment?

A
  • loss of control of extraneous variables, so replication is often impossible.
  • ethical issues, some participants may be aware they are involved in the study and invades their privacy
49
Q

What are the strengths for natural experiments?

A
  • provides opportunities for experiments to take place that may not be done for ethical and practical reasons
  • it has high external validity because it involves real life
50
Q

What are the weaknesses of natural experiments?

A

-occurs rarely so little opportunity for study
- participants may not be randomly allocated so researcher may be unaware whether the IV is effecting the DV or another factor

51
Q

What are the strengths of the Quasi experiment?

A
  • carried out under controlled conditions and share strengths of lab study
52
Q

What are the weaknesses of a Quasi experiment?

A
  • Connor randomly allocated participants and therefore may have confounding variables
53
Q

What is a target population?

A

a group of people from whom the sample is drawn.

54
Q

Why do psychologists use sampling techniques?

A

to choose people who are representative of the population as a whole. So results can be generalised for the target population.

55
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A

consists of taking the sample from people who are available at the time of the study and fit the criteria you are looking for.

56
Q

What is random sampling?

A

every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen, first everyone needs to be identified and the number needed will be picked.

57
Q

What is volunteer sampling?

A

consists of participants becoming part of a study because they volunteer when asked or in response to an ad.

58
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A

every nth number of the target population is selected

59
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A

classifying the population into groups and then choosing a sample which consists of participants from each group in the same proportions as the population, then a selection is done random.

60
Q

What is an advantage and disadvantage for opportunity sampling?

A

+ quick and easy to select sample
- could be a biased sample

61
Q

What is an advantage and a disadvantage for random sampling?

A

+ everyone has an equal chance of being picked
- you would need a list of the whole target population

62
Q

What is an advantage and a disadvantage for volunteer sampling?

A

+ relatively easy way of achieving a sample
- may not represent the target population

63
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of systematic sampling?

A

+ unbiased
- but not truly unbiased

64
Q

What is the advantages and disadvantages of stratified sampling?

A

+ likely to be the most representative
- requires a lot of work

65
Q

What are ethics?

A

ethical issues arise when there is a conflict between the participants rights and the researchers need to gain valuable research

do the ends justify the means?

66
Q

What are the ethic issues recorded on BPS’s guideline?

A

lack of informed consent
deception
right to withdraw
protection from harm
privacy and confidentiality

67
Q

What is informed consent and how can we make sure that there isnt a lack of it?

A

It is making the participants aware of the aims of the research however researcher don’t want to do this as they may act differently, so

participants can sign a consent form

68
Q

What is deception an dhow do we avoid it?

A

deliberately misleading information or withholding it from participants

deception can be justified

a debrief can solve this so they can learn the aims afterwards

69
Q

What is the right to withdraw and how do we avoid the participants being unaware of it?

A

Participants must be made aware that they can withdraw themselves and information even if paid, this may be included at the beginning and in the debrief.

70
Q

What is protection from harm and how do we enforce it?

A

Protection from both physical and psychological harm such as, embarrassment, stress and any risk that lead to injury

This can be avoid by using health and safety standards and having a debrief at the end of the experiment

71
Q

What is the privacy and confidentiality rules?

A

data is protected by law, we can use initials to mark different people

72
Q

What is validity?

A

refers to how legitimate something is as an explantiation of behaviour

73
Q

What is internal validity?

A

what goes on within the experiment and does it effect the relate to the manipulation of the IV

74
Q

What are the factors that affect internal validity?

A
  • control of extraneous variables = will it cause change to the DV?
  • whether the researcher tested what was intended
  • demand characteristics
  • investigator effects
75
Q

What is external validity?

A

looks for factors outside the experiment, its directly affected by the internal validity so the results are unable to be generalised if it has low external validity

76
Q

What are external validity concerns?

A
  • ecological validity = concerns for generalising the results
  • mundane realism = how does the experiment mirror the real world
  • temporal validity = does it hold against time
77
Q

What are ethics?

A

Ethics arise when there is a conflict between the participants rights and the researchers need to gain valuable information

Psychology Year 1 (6 decks)

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