design types Flashcards
correlation studies
investigation of variables that already exists in the world. no control over the settings, no IVS, DV or groups, no manipulation
- to determine the relationship of one thing to another, NOT the influence.
pros of correlation studies
- easy to conduct experiment as nothing is to be gathered or administered
FILL
corelation coefficient
the strength of two variables (between -1 and 1)
-positive refers to that it has a positive corelation, means that when one variable increases the other increases
- negative refers to when one variable increases, the other decreases
- if there is no corelation then the number sits around 0
corelation vs causation
- corelation refers to the relationship between variables, does not state that once variable cause the other
- causation indicates that one event is the result of the occurrence of another variable
cons of correlation studies
- do not permit the researcher to draw form conclusion and cause and effect relationships
- not a legitimate research method of studying causality
- difficult or impossible to control unwanted variables such as other variables that can offer possible alternative explanation
self reports
- participants answers to questions presented by the researcher
- can be done written or spoken
- can be free response ( allow to speak in their own terms and words which can be difficult for the researcher to summarise or graph)
- can be fixed response (participants are given an option to chose an answer (limits their thinking)
- two types: interviews and questionaries
pros of self reports
- useful for measuring behaviours or other characteristics that cannot easily be directly observed.
- efficient means of collecting data from a large number of people in a relatively short period of time.
- cost effective, easy adn quick to administer
questionnaire
- written set of questions that participants answer
- used for a large number of participants
- rating scale
interview
- involves questions that are asked by the researcher with the intention of prompting and obatain specific info
structured - list of questions and asked directly
unstructured - more informal
semi structural
-The researcher aims to cover all issues but there are no set questions to be asked.
observational study
how to observe people in their natural environment
types: structured, semi structured, unsturctures
-reveal relationship
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cons of self reports
- rely on assumptions that people are providing honest answers
- participants may intentionally give false or misleading answers to create a favourable impression of themselves
- participants may be embarrassed to report their true attitudes especially for personal topics
- limitation with non english speaking background participants to fully express themselves
case studies
- an intensive, in-depth investigation or some behaviour, activity, event or problem of interest
- the ‘case’ is the subject of the ‘study’
- used when large amounts of participants are not available for an investigation
pros of case studies
-obtaining detailed information on behaviour and mental processes.
- usually no manipulation or control of variables
- provide a ‘snapshot’ of the actual or real-life experience of one or more individuals at a particular time in a particular situation
- provide insights into how others may think, feel or behave under similar circumstances
cons of case studies
- cannot test or establish a cause–effect relationship as does a controlled experiment
- Their small sample size is another limitation
- can never be fully confident that the conclusions drawn from their study are representative of similar instances
- painstaking and time-consuming.
- as case studies are often susceptible to biased information from the the participants or the researcher influence the accuracy of the information
