Last minute research methods

Question 1

Sign test

Answer 1

Non parametric

• test of difference
• Repeated measures
• Data is nominal

Question 2

Wilcoxon

Answer 2

Non-parametric

• Test of difference
• Repeated measures
• Data is at least ordinal

Question 3

Unrelated t test

Answer 3

Parametric test

• Test of difference
• Independent groups design
• Data is at least interval

Question 4

Chi- squared

Answer 4

Non-parametric

• Test of difference
• Independent groups design
• Data is nominal

Question 5

Mann-Whitney U

Answer 5

Non-parametric

• Test of difference
• Independent groups
• Data is at least ordinal

Question 6

Related t test

Answer 6

Parametric

• test of difference
• repeated measures design
• Data is at least. interval

Question 7

Pearson’s r

Answer 7

Parametric

• test of relationship
• Data is at least interval

Question 8

Spearman’s rank

Answer 8

Non-parametric

• test of relationship
• Data is at least ordinal

Question 9

Assessing reliability (observations)

Answer 9

Inter observer reliability

• correlate the observations of the observers
• use spearman’s rank
• If there is enough agreement it would be +0.80 (high inter observer reliability)

Question 10

Assessing validity (observations)

Answer 10

Concurrent validity

• correlate the scores from the observation from another known observation with high validity.
• A stronger correlation means it has high validity

Question 11

Improving reliability (observations)

Answer 11

Do a pilot study

Make sure the behavioural checklists are fully operationalised.

Question 12

Improving reliability (observations)

Answer 12

Train observers

So that there is no misunderstanding between the behavioural categories

Question 13

Assessing reliability (experiment)

Answer 13

Test retest

• Repeat the test at a different time with the same ppts
• If the correlation of the data is positive then the reliability is high.

Question 14

Assessing validity (experiment)

Answer 14

Face validity

• Look at whether the study is measuring what it was meant to measure.
• See if the measures used for the study are relevant to its aims.

Question 15

Improving reliability (experiment)

Answer 15

• Fully standardising the procedure.
• Strict control over different aspects of the research, can increase the reliability of the study.
• A replication of the precise method will lead to high test-retest reliability.

Question 16

Improving validity (experiment)

Answer 16

Improving ecological validity:

• make stimulus material as similar as possible to what would happen in real life- memory- avoid word lists and use meaningful info of the type that people would have to remember.

Question 17

Assessing reliability (Self-report)

Answer 17

Test retest reliability

• Ppts should complete self report multiple times and have short intervals in between tests.
• Then correlate the results to see any strong correlation. - Similar results means there is a high test-retest reliability

Question 18

Assessing validity (Self-report)

Answer 18

Look at whether the self report measure is measuring what it was meant to measure.

For example if the question was obviously related to the study and its aims.

Question 19

Improving reliability (Self- report)

Answer 19

Pilot study

identify any ambiguous, unclear questions and then remove these questions so that they are not interpreted incorrectly.

Question 20

Improving validity (Self-report)

Answer 20

Single blind

Make the ppts unaware of the aims of the questionnaire/interview and therefore less likely to answer untruthfully and social desirability bias is not a factor.