P2: Research Methods Flashcards
Define: Aim
General expression of what the researcher wants to investigate
Define: Hypothesis
Statement of what the researchers believes to be true
Define: Experimental method
Researcher causes the IV to vary and records the effects on the DV
Define: Extraneous variable
‘Nuisance’ variables that do not vary systematically with the IV
Define: Confounding Variable
variables changes systematically with the IV
Define: Demand Characteristics
Cues from the researcher/ research situation that may reveal the aim of the study
Define: Investigator effects
Any effect of the investigators behaviour on the outcome of the research(the DV)
Define: Randomisation
Use of chance when designing investigations to control the effects of bias
Define: Standardisation
Using the exact same formalised procedure for all participants in a research study
Define: Control groups
Act as a baseline and used for the purpose of setting a comparison
Define: Single blind
A participant doesn’t know the aims of the study so that demand characteristics are reduced
Define: Double blind
Both participant and researcher don’t know the aim of the study to reduce demand characteristics and investigator effects
Define: Independent groups
One group does condition A, second group does condition B
- Randomly allocated to experimental groups
State the benefits of using Independent groups
- No order effects, only tested once , can’t become bored
- Reduces demand characteristics, only tested once
State the limitations of using independent groups
- Participant variables, EV/CV different people different effects/reactions
- More participants , mean more time and expensive
Define: Repeated measures
Same participants take part in all conditions of an experiment
State the benefits of using repeated measures
- participant variables, controls an important CV
- fewer participants , save money
State the limitations of using repeated measures
- Order effects, doing a task twice has familiarity bias
- participants may guess aims , demand characteristics
Define: Matched pairs
Two groups of participants are used but they are also related to each other by being paired on participants variables
State the benefits of using matched pairs
- Participant variables, matched , better validity
- No order effect , only tested once
State the limitations of using matched pairs
- imperfect matching, time-consuming , can’t control all variables
- More participants , more money
Define: Population
Large group of people that the researcher is interested in studying
Define: Sample
A smaller group chosen to represent a larger population
Define: Generalisation
Sample drawn should be representation of population so generalisations can be made
Define: Bias
Majority of samples are biased in that certain groups may be over-or-under-represented
Define: Opportunity sample
- People who are simply most available
- how? Ask people nearby
State 1 benefit and limitation of using opportunity sample
- quick method
- Inevitably biased , as it is unrepresentative of the target population
Define: Volunteer sample
-Participants select themselves
Via advertising
State 1 benefit and limitation of using volunteer sample
- participant are willing , more engaged
- biased, may share certain traits .e.g. curiosity
Define: Random sample
Every person in target population has an equal chance of being selected
Can be achieved via lottery method
State 1 benefit and limitation of random sample
- Free from researcher bias
- Representation not guaranteed
Define: Systematic sample
Participants are selected using a ‘set’ pattern ,e.g. nth person from a list
State 1 benefit and limitation of using systematic sample
- unbiased
- effort and time required
Define: Stratified sample
Participants selected according to their frequency in the target population,
Typically ‘strata’ are identified (use of percentages)
State 1 benefit and negative of using stratified sample
- Representative method
- stratas cannot reflect all ways in which people are different
Define: Conflict in terms of ethics
Clash of rights between participants and aims of a study
List ways in which you can deal with ethical issues in terms of consent
- Informed consent
- Deception
- Protection from harm
- Privacy/ confidentiality
List different types of observational techniques
Naturalistic Controlled Covert Overt Participant -(researcher part of study) Non-participant
List different types of observational designs
- Behavioural categories -(target behaviour broken up into observation categories)
- Time sampling
- Event sampling
