General Flashcards
what are the 4 types of experimental research methods?
laboratory experiment
field experiment
natural experiment
quasi experiment
what is a laboratory experiment?
an experiment conducted in a laboratory under highly controlled conditions
what is a field experiment?
an experiment conducted in the everyday and natural environment of the participant
the iv is still controlled
what is a natural experiment?
an experiment conducted in the everyday and natural environment of the participant
the iv is not controlled
what is a quasi experiment?
an experiment where the iv cannot be randomly assigned so participants are not randomly assigned either
give 4 advantages of a laboratory experiment
- easy to replicate and repeat in order to get reliable results
- high internal validity as variables can be controlled and monitored very precisely
- dependent variable can be measured accurately
- extraneous variable can be controlled and reduces the likeliness they’ll interfere with results
give 5 disadvantages of a laboratory experiment
- artificial setting of a laboratory may result in unnatural behaviour and demand characteristics that don’t reflect real life behaviour so results may be hard to generalise and not be entirely accurate
- low ecological validity which makes it hard to generalise findings into real life
- experimenter bias may interfere with results, investigator may give clues as to the research aims, etc
- possibly unethical due to deception or lack of informed consent
- can only use small samples, very hard to test across cultures and countries
give 3 advantages of a field experiment
- less likely for demand characteristics to be an issue as participants are less likely to behave a certain way due to natural surroundings - behaviour is more reflective of real life
- high ecological validity and therefore easier to generalise
- can use a much larger sample so results can be more easy to generalise and more representative of the whole population
give 3 disadvantages of a field experiment
- not all variables can be controlled, confounding variables may interfere and ruin results - lower internal validity
- hard to replicate and repeat experiment in the same way to ensure reliability of results
- issues of deception and lack of informed consent especially if they’re unaware they’re being studied
give 4 advantages of a natural experiment
- behaviour is more likely to be reflective of real life so results may be more valid and accurate - high ecological validity
- less likely for demand characteristics to be an issue if participants don’t know they’re being studied
- eliminates experimenter bias as iv is not being controlled
- can be used in situations where it would be unethical to manipulate the iv (for example, if it was anxiety)
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give 3 disadvantages of a natural experiment
- more expensive and time consuming as experimenter doesn’t control the iv, it’s just there
- extraneous and confounding variables have a high chance of interfering with results - low internal validity
- difficult to replicate and repeat to ensure reliability of results
give 3 advantages of a quasi experiment
- more genuine and natural behaviour that’s reflective of real life when put in natural settings
- reduces ethical issues regarding the manipulation of iv as in this case, it’s not able to be randomly assigned
- useful when it’s otherwise unethical or not possible to manipulate iv
give 3 disadvantages to a quasi experiment
- participants are not randomly assigned and this could lead to inequivalent/unrepresentative groups as well as experimenter bias
- not all variables are tightly controlled or carefully monitored - low internal validity
- iv is not manipulated, it simply exists
what is an experiment?
an experiment involves manipulating the iv to see the effect it has on the dv while controlling all other variables
establishes and demonstrates cause and effect relationships
what are the 4 types of variable?
- independent - the variable being controlled and manipulated, affects the DV
- dependent - the variable being measured to see if it’s been affected (the results)
- extraneous - any other variables apart from the IV that might have an effect on the DV and can be controlled
- confounding - variables that can’t or haven’t been controlled and do effect/ruin the results
what does operationalise mean?
how something would be tested, measured or defined accurately
we would test memory by doing some sort of memory test like a word list
give examples of EVs and CVs
EVs = age of participants, time limit for tasks
CVs = weather, mood of participants, etc
what is deception and lack of informed consent?
in order to get natural behaviour, people may not know the full extent of the experiment or know they’re being monitored at all
can therefore not give full informed consent
what makes a true experiment?
must have/be….
no bias
carefully controlled
random allocation
what are research aims?
stated intentions of what questions are planned to be answered
why a study is carried out and what it’s intended to find out
what is a hypothesis?
a formal and unambiguous statement of what is predicted
the prediction of the relationship between two variables
testable statements
what are the 2 types of hypothesis?
NULL HYPOTHESIS = a statement of no difference and no effect, stating that nothing will happen
ALTERNATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS = prediction of the effect of the IV on the DV, stating that there will be an effect
what are the 2 types of alternative/experimental hypotheses?
DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS = predicts that there will be an effect on the DV, also predicts the direction of the effect (how it’ll be affected)
NON DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS = anticipates a difference but not a direction, doesn’t include how the DV will be affected
what may a directional hypothesis be referred to as?
one tailed
what would you use a non directional or directional hypothesis?
because previous research suggested it was the most likely outcome
- non directional = used if no previous research was done or there’s contradictory research
- directional = used if previous research suggests that direction and outcome
what is reliability?
consistency of results
if you repeated the experiment, similar results would be obtained each time
what is validity?
accuracy of study
what are demand characteristics?
a participant guesses the nature of the experiment and what behaviour the experimenter is looking for
they change their behaviour and ruin the validity of the results
what does generalised mean?
results being extended beyond the present study and into real life by assuming existing trends will continue
what are 2 types of validity?
internal validity = how accurately an experiment has been carried out in order to be reliable/accurate
external validity = the extent to which experimental results and findings can be generalised to populations, places and times beyond the present study by assuming existing trends will continue
what are 3 types of external validity?
ecological validity = the extent to which findings and results can be generalised to settings beyond the present study
population validity = the extent to which findings and results can be generalised to other populations as a whole beyond the present study
historical validity = the extent to which findings and results can be generalised over time and to different periods of time beyond the present study
what are 2 ways to assess validity?
FACE VALIDITY
CONCURRENT VALIDITY
what is face validity?
how well the experiment appears to test what it claims to, how suitable the experiment is for the purpose of the experiment
> ask participants to directly rate the experiment validity, suitability and purpose via a questionnaire
> high face validity = purpose is clear to all and the experiment must be suitable for that purpose
what is concurrent validity?
how well the experiment corresponds to existing findings that are already known to have good validity
> compare results to older and similar research with good validity
> high concurrent validity = results for this experiment are very similar to other, older experiment results that are known to be very valid and accurate
how can we improve validity? 4 ways
control as many variables as possible so results aren’t interfered with
conduct experiments in natural settings so behaviour is reflective of real life
use large and representative samples
randomise experiment
what are 2 types of reliability?
external reliability = the extent to which results and findings vary from one use to another
internal validity = the consistency of results and findings across items within a test, consistent within itself
what are 2 ways to assess reliability?
TEST RETEST
INTER RATER/OBSERVER
what is test retest?
testing the same participant twice on the same test over a period of time
similar scores/results would suggest the test has internal reliability
what is inter rater testing?
testing how different observers give constant estimates of the same behaviour
researchers would observe the same behaviour independently and compare data
similar data would suggest high external reliability
how can we improve reliability? 5 ways
increase sample size
control test conditions for precisely
training observers in relevant observation techniques
ensuring behaviour categories are correctly operationalised
assessing reliability of tests through test retest method
what are the 3 types of experimental design?
independent groups
repeated measures
matched pairs
what is an experimental design?
how participants are allocated to different IV conditions/levels in the experiment
what are order effects?
the order that participants do the tasks may affect the results (e.g. practise or tiredness)
what are independent groups?
participants are usually split in half and placed in separate and independent groups
each group is in a different IV condition (e.g. group A does task with tv on, group B does it with no tv)
allocation is done randomly
what are repeated measures?
all participants take part in all of the conditions by repeating the tasks in all of the conditions
e.g. each participant does a task with the TV on and then a few days later they do a similar task with the TV off
what is counterbalancing?
where each condition is either tested first or second in equal amounts
half of the group does task in condition A while the other half does it in condition B and then they swap
ABBA or AB then BA
why do we use counterbalancing?
to overcome order effects
what are matched pairs?
match participants based on key and relevant characteristics which may affect the DV
one member of the pair is randomly allocated to a group while the other is allocated to the other group
each group experiences a different condition
what are 2 advantages of independent groups?
avoids order effects such as practise or fatigue because participants only participate in one condition - they won’t get as tired or bored as if they were doing several conditions
each participant has an equal chance of being assigned any group as it’s done randomly, reduces investigator bias
what are 2 disadvantages of independent groups?
more participants are needed to its more time consuming and will cost more money
participant variables (age, gender, etc) may affect results and it’s not always possible to equally separate participants based on this
2 advantages of repeated measures
fewer people are needed as they all take part in all of the conditions, saves time
participant variables are reduced because each group takes part in all of the conditions
2 disadvantages of repeated measures
high chance of order effects, participants may do worse in second condition because they’re more tired or they might do better because they know what to do and have now had practise
participants may do second test, guess purpose of experiment and change their behaviour (they might do purposefully worse, etc) - demand characteristics and ‘screw you effect’ which ruins results and reduces validity
2 advantages of matched pairs
reduced participant variables because researcher has tried to pair them up so that each group has an equal spread of people with similar abilities and characteristics
avoids order effects because each of the participants only participate in one condition - counterbalancing is not necessary
2 disadvantages of matched pairs
very time consuming as it’s hard to closely match pairs based on key characteristics
not possible to control all participant variables, you can only match variables known to be revealing - couldn’t not realised an important characteristics until after the experiment
what are investigator effects?
any impact the researcher may have on the results
e.g. experimenter bias (if they’re trying to prove a theory they believe in), appearance, personality, body language, verbal communication
how can we deal with investigator effects? 3 ways
single blind design
double blind design
experimental realism
what is a single blind design?
the participants don’t know what condition they’re in or the research aims of the study
eliminates demand characteristics
what is a double blind design?
neither the experimenter or the participants know what condition they’re in or the research aims of the study
eliminates potential bias, demand characteristics and investigator effects
e.g. used with placebos in drug trials
what is experimental realism?
if an experimenter makes a task real and engaging enough, the participant will pay more attention to the task that the fact that they’re being observed
why is random allocation important?
ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group, therefore reducing investigator effects like bias
what is randomisation and standardisation?
randomisation = making the allocation of participants to each group random (e.g. by a computer generator)
standardisation = keeping everything the same for all of the participants so the investigation is fair
what is a pilot study?
a small scale, practise investigation before the real thing to check that it works
a trial run of a study to test any aspects of the method design
what do pilot studies improve?
quality of methodology and avoids unnecessary work, saving money and time in the long run
what might be done after a pilot study?
may interview participants afterwards so they can suggest appropriate changes
e.g. the instructions were too confusing and vague
why are pilot studies carried out?
allows researchers to check all aspects of the method and see if it works effectively
may lead to changes and improvements to the method
what are 4 advantages of pilot studies?
reduces amount of time needed and potentially wasted in the real study, particularly when things go wrong.
saving money and time in the long run
can identify errors in the study easily in order to improve quality of methodology
ensures higher validity, checks for reliability and can help identify variables to control
what is a confederate?
someone acting as a participant who knows the full extent of the study
not a real participant but someone who has been instructed how to behave by the investigator
what should the sample taken represent?
the type of people in the target population
what’s the target population?
target population = the group of people the researcher wishes the generalise their findings to
what is are 5 types of sampling?
opportunity volunteer stratified systematic random
what is opportunity sampling?
use whoever is immediately available, most convenient and willing to take part
e.g. people in your school or passers by on the street
what’s an advantage of opportunity sampling?
easiest way to get participants, just use first suitable people you find so you don’t spend as much time locating your sample
therefore saves time and money
what’s a disadvantage of opportunity sampling?
inevitably bias and harder to generalise as it only has participants from a specific and small part of the population
sample may also be bias as researcher may have chosen a specific area to prove their point
what is volunteer sampling?
use whoever puts themselves forward through an advertisement in a newspaper, notice board or on the internet
advantage of volunteer sampling
less likely to drop out as they’ve signed up for it and know what they have to do
2 disadvantages of volunteer sampling
increased demand characteristics as they’re more motivated, they might try to be helpful or appear a certain way
might not be representative of the population as the method of advertisement may only attract a certain type of person e.g. younger people
what is stratified sampling?
identify subgroups within a population (age groups, gender, etc)
participants are obtained from each group in proportion to their occurrence in the population
done randomly
advantage of stratified sampling
likely to be much more representative of the target population due to proportional representation of subgroups
therefore more easy to generalise to the target population
disadvantage of stratified sampling
more time consuming as you have to identify subgroups, randomly select participants and contact them
what is systematic sampling?
participants are selected systematically from the population
selecting every nth person from the list, starting at a random number
advantage of systematic sampling
unbiased as participants are selected using an objective system
2 disadvantages of systematic sampling
more time time consuming
not truly unbiased or random unless you select a number using a random method and start at that number, selecting every nth person
what is random sampling?
every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected
selected from a computer generator
advantage of random sampling
least likely to have sample bias as all members of the sample have an equal chance of selection
disadvantage of random sampling
time consuming, need to have a list of all the members of the population and then contact everyone selected, asking if they wish to take part
BPS ethical guidelines
the British Psychological Society (BPS) has put safeguards in place to protect participants in studies, their are ethical guidelines that need to be stuck to:
- informed consent
- privacy
- deception
- protection from harm
- right to withdrawal
informed consent
4 types of consent:
- informed consent = must obtain informed consent before research is conducted, parental consent is needed for participants under 16 years old
- presumptive consent = consent from someone else with a similar background or someone who knows the participant
- retrospective consent = consent obtained afterwards, only if an alternative procedure is not possible, usually used in conjunction with presumptive consent
- prior general consent = consent obtained before participation without detailed knowledge of the whole procedure, participants only know the basics
privacy
keeping participants information private
anonymity = using code numbers instead of names, no names or addresses are given
confidentiality = no information is shared with anyone else
deception
should be avoided as far as possible
if the experiment will obtain more robust results with participants being deceived (for example, avoiding demand characteristics) then investigators may gain retrospective, presumptive or prior general consent
protection from harm
protection from both physical and psychological harm
participants are supposed to leave the study in a similar or better state
if in doubt, the experimenter is responsible for checking that it’s safe to continue the experiment
study must be stopped if harm occurs
right to withdraw
should always let participants know that they can withdraw at any time
participants have a right to withdraw personally or withdraw their data from the study at any time, even afterwards
experimenter is responsible for stopping data collection if participants show signs of distress
briefing and debriefing
used to address ethical issues
briefing itself is only an ethical issue if it does not occur or fails to gain informed consent, etc
involved briefing participants before a study by proving relevant information of the procedure
debriefing provides support after the research if necessary, such as counselling — important especially if deception occurred or participants did not give fully informed consent, debriefing about the true nature of the experiment is essential
BPS codes of ethics and conduct
respect
competence
responsibility
integrity
strategies to deal with ethical issues
cost benefit analysis — comparing the benefits of the studies with the costs, the benefits should always outweigh the costs
ethics committees — a group of people who must approve a study before it begins, they look at all possible ethical issues and how they’ll be dealt with
consent form layout
- basic aim
- procedure
- right to withdraw
- assurance of confidentiality
- opportunity to ask questions
- signature of participant, says they have read and understood the information
debriefing form layout
- thank participant
- aims and purpose of study
- possible applications of study
- remind them of confidentiality and right to withdraw
- explain deception if it occurred
- suggests counselling if necessary
- contact information
8 types of non experimental research methods (observation techniques)
naturalistic
controlled
overt
covert
participant
non participant
structured
unstructured
what is an observation?
researcher watches or listens to participants engaging in whatever behaviour is being studied
naturalistic observation
observation conducted in everyday, natural settings
everything has been left as it would be normally and the researcher does not interfere in any way
naturalistic observation evaluation
- gives a relative and reflective view of natural behaviour, high ecological validity which makes it easier to generalise
- avoids researcher bias
- not all variables can be controlled
controlled observation
may be in a laboratory
variables can be controlled and regulated by the researcher
reduces naturalness of environment and behaviour of participants
participants are likely to know they’re being studied (overt observation)
controlled observation evaluation
- variables can be controlled
* unnatural environment
overt observation
obvious observation in which the participants are aware that they’re being observed
researchers try to be an unobtrusive as possible
but it’s likely to affect how natural the participant’s behaviour is
overt observation evaluation
- unnatural behaviour
* easier to gain consent
covert observation
hidden observations in which the participants are unaware they’re being observed
will be informed afterwards
covert observation evaluation
- more natural behaviour
* lack of informed consent
participant observation
the researcher is observing while taking part in the task
participant observation evaluation
- provides special insight into behaviour from inside the group
- more likely to be overt, issues of unnatural behaviour but it’s its covert then there are issues of deception
non participant evaluation
the research observes from a distance and doesn’t interact with the participants
non participant evaluation
- unnatural behaviour if participants are aware of observation
- harder to gain accurate results when observing from a distance
structured observation
set categories of behaviour with systems to record behaviour and organise observations
behavioural categories and sampling procedures are used
structured observation evaluation
- produces more reliable data
* behavioural categories are subjective
unstructured observation
all behaviour is observed but there is no systematic way of recording
unstructured observation evaluation
- too much info to record, not all is relevant which makes it hard to analyse
- behaviours recorded will be the most eye catching and visible, not necessarily the most relevant ones
- detailed data, includes unexpected behaviours found to be important
what are behavioural techniques?
recording behaviours in an objective and systemic way using various codes and categories
dividing a target behaviour such as aggression into a subset of specific and operationalised behaviours
should avoid waste basket, irrelevant categories of behaviour while being mutually exclusive (should not have to mark 2 categories at one time)
observational design
event sampling — recording the number of times a behaviour occurs
time sampling — recording the behaviours in a given time frame (e.g. every 30 seconds the observer noted what the individual is doing)
event sampling evaluation
able to focus on specific behaviours
ignores other possibly important behaviours
time sampling evaluation
difficult to record everything if a lot of behaviours happen at once
avoids overlooking other behaviours as it doesn’t focus on specifics
self report techniques
questionnaires
interviews
questionnaires
a set of written questions designed to collect information on a topic or number of topics
open questions — likely to receive a long and opinion based answer
closed questions — can be answered by a single word or short phrase, usually requires a yes or no response
open questions evaluation
gives more detail as well as insight into opinions and feelings
can generate quite vague and often irrelevant answers
closed questions evaluation
gives objective facts that are clear and relevant
easy and quick to answer
lacks detail given by open questions
interviews
involves face to face interaction and spoken questions in order to collect information
structured interview — pre determined questions decided in advance, no deviation from original questions
unstructured interview — less structure
