CHP1: Science skills and research methods (E-H)

Question 1

Ethics

Answer 1

Refers to the standards that guide individuals to identify good, desirable or acceptable conduct. They help us to make judgments about which behaviors are wrong and which are right. In research, it also applies to how participants, whether human or animal will be treated and protected.

Question 2

Ethics committee

Answer 2

A group of people who review research proposals, consider the potential risks, benefits, and implications in order to either approve or disapprove them for research based on whether they are ethical to conduct or not.

Question 3

No harm-principle

Answer 3

The role of the research to ensure that all participants within an investigation do not experience mental or physical harm.

Question 4

Voluntary participation

Answer 4

The right of the participant to freely choose to willingly participate in an experiment.

Question 5

Informed consent

Answer 5

The right of the participant to have a thorough understanding of the nature of the experiment, including potential risks, research implications and benefits as well as their rights as participants before agreeing to participate.

Question 6

Withdrawal rights

Answer 6

The right of the participant to leave the study at any point without fear of consequence.

Question 7

Confidentiality

Answer 7

The right of the participant for their personal details to remain private, ensuring participants anonymity when publishing research.

Question 8

Deception

Answer 8

Deception is the act of purposefully misleading the participants in regards to the nature of the experiment when participant knowledge of the true purpose or the details of the experiment may affect their behaviour and the validity of the experiment.

Question 9

Debriefing

Answer 9

Occurs at the end of an experiment and involves the researcher outlining the details of the experiment to participants which could involve revealing the data/ findings of the experiment and includes ensuring that participants do not leave the experiment with lasting harm.

Question 10

Why do researchers use animals for studies?

Answer 10

When studies are deemed too dangerous for human participants due to the risk of physical/ psychological harm; when suitable human participants are not available; they have a shorter life expectancy therefore we can see the effects of ageing quicker;

Question 11

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using animals for studies?

Answer 11

It is not possible to generalise the results of research with animals because the species are not the same, even though there may be seen similarities, particularly with primates. But the behaviour of animals can usually be controlled to an extent not possible with human participants.

Question 12

Primary data collection

Answer 12

A method of data collection involves the data being collected directly by the experimenter through an investigation.

Question 13

Secondary data collection

Answer 13

The researcher uses data collected elsewhere, or by someone else for their research. It could be used for a basis of a hypothesis, strengthen finings, explore trends and patterns and much more.

Question 14

Quantitative data

Answer 14

Data concerning numerical amounts that are expressed numerically.

Question 15

Qualitative data

Answer 15

Data that describes the characteristics of something, that can be measured non-numerically. This data is often collected through description or language.

Question 16

Subjective data

Answer 16

Data that relies on the personal experience of participants and is often measured through self-report.

Question 17

Objective data

Answer 17

Data that can be observed or measured by multiple people, obtaining the same results.

Question 18

Describe the strengths and limitations of quantitative data

Answer 18

Data can be compared and analysed to identify trends so that conclusions to be readily drawn; Researchers may not have a holistic or detailed understanding of what they are researching since they are just numerical values;

Question 19

Describe the strengths and limitations of qualitative data

Answer 19

It can provide more background information to which the data was collected through descriptions and language; It is hard to statistically analyse making it hard to compare data to other groups, also making it more time consuming to do so;

Question 20

Describe the strengths and limitations of subjective data

Answer 20

Allows for experimenters to better understand the perspective of the participants and provides researchers with an insight into unobservable events (e.g. motives, perceptions etc); Data can be difficult to validate and can be unreliable (e.g. some participants may respond with what they think researchers want to hear rather than what they truly believe);

Question 21

Describe the strengths and limitations of objective data

Answer 21

Does not rely on experimenter interpretation therefore it can be more valid; Doesn’t allow for researchers to see perspective of the participants, which could provide more insight for experimenters;

Question 22

Descriptive statistics

Answer 22

Statistics that describe the sample of the investigation.

Question 23

Inferential statistics

Answer 23

Statistics that assist in judging to what extent the results of the experiment are meaningful and might apply or be able to be generalised to the population of interest.

Question 24

Mean

Answer 24

A descriptive statistic and a measure of central tendency that represents the average of a data set.

Question 25

Standard deviation

Answer 25

A descriptive statistic and a measure of central tendency that represents the spread of data around the mean or how much the data deviates (differs from) the mean. The larger the standard deviation number, the more the data set varies or differs from the mean, meaning the data set has more variance.

Question 26

Outlier

Answer 26

Data points that differ or lie far away from the other results or values in a data set.

Question 27

Conclusion

Answer 27

A statement regarding the results of an investigation as to whether the hypothesis was supported or not, including the results generalisability.

Question 28

What three factors affect generalisability?

Answer 28

If the sample is representative of the population, the sample size, the reliability and validity of results found.

Question 29

Reliability

Answer 29

Refers to the consistency, dependability and stability of the results obtained from the study, because if you were to do the test again, you would get similar results. Reliability also refers to the consistency of the measurement tools used to assess a particular behaviour or characteristic.

Question 30

Inter-rater reliability (external)

Answer 30

How consistently a method measures results over time when repeated by the same or different administrators.

Question 31

Internal consistency reliability (internal)

Answer 31

Whether all the assessment tools in a study contribute equally to what they are meant to be measuring or if a measure is consistent within itself.

Question 32

Validity

Answer 32

The extent to which the investigation measures what it intends to measure.

Question 33

Internal validity

Answer 33

Whether the researcher can demonstrate a causal relationship between two variables that is unaffected by other unwanted variables such as extraneous and confounding variables.

Question 34

External validity

Answer 34

Whether a study’s research findings can be generalised to other relevant settings or groups.

Question 35

Generalisability

Answer 35

The extent to which the results of an investigation can be applied to the wider research population.