Critical Appraisal Flashcards
Hawthorne Effect
When the participant responds in a way they think is desirable because they realise they are a participant in a study
Actor-Observer Bias
When you attribute the behaviour of others to internal factors but the same thing in yourself to external factors: an attribution bias
Confirmation Bias
When the experimenters own beliefs result in them being more prone to reporting findings in their beliefs favour
Information / measurement biases
Where one of the key variables is inaccurately measured
Recall Bias
When participants are asked to (self-report) recall events from the past. This is biased because recall will lean towards more unusual info than more routine info
Observer Bias
The tendency for the experimenter to observe what they expect to happen rather than what’s actually happening
You can reduce observer bias by….
…using single or double blinding
Recall Bias can be reduced by…
…ensuring the Control group has the same level of Recall Bias
Performance Bias
Where partipant pre-knowledge of their assigned intervention affects how they perform
Performance Bias can be reduced by…
Blinding
John Henry effect
When participants alter their behaviour because they are aware they are being compared to the experimental group
Regression to the Mean
When an initial measurement of the variable is extremely far from the mean and a second measurement is closer to the mean: so you wrong infer that change has happened.
What’s a
Interviewer Bias
When either 1) the method of interviewing or 2) characteristics of the interview could bias the data captured
Publication Bias
When studies tend to only report statistically significant results
Researcher bias
When the researchers beliefs or expectations impact (however consciously or not) the data collection + whole study
