Paper 2 - Research Methods Flashcards
What is A01?
Describe, Outline and Explain
What is A02?
Link to a scenario
What is A03?
Evaluation points
What is a consent form and what is in it?
Given before a study to obtain permission to take part
Aim of study, task/task time, risks, confidentiality, right to withdraw, any questions, place to give consent
What is a debrief and what is included?
Given added experiment has taken place
Aim/purpose of study, deception (if used) support offered, right to withdraw, confidentiality, any questions
What are the 6 ethical issues and what do they mean?
Informed consent - Ppts are given comprehensive information in relation to the test to make a decision whether to participate
Deception - Where ppts aren’t told the true aim of the test (only done of necessary and support is available after study)
Right to withdraw - Ppts are free to leave at any point or withdraw data up to 4 weeks after the debrief
Protection from harm - Safety and well-being of ppts is protected at all t8me (psychologically and physically)
Confidentiality - Any information provided must be kept confidential and private
Privacy - Do not invade body (observation) or minds of ppts (questionnaires + interviews)
What is the job of the British Psychological Society (BPS)?
Oversees psychologists and develops the code of ethics to …
Protect the welfare of ppts / patients
Act as a framework to practise
Promote professional standards
Guide decisions about appropriate conduct
What is the ethics committee?
Review all research proposals to check it is ethical to conduct or do under the name of psychology
What is cost-benefit?
The benefits of knowledge gained MUST outweigh the cost (psychological and/or physical damage to ppts)
What is control of variables?
When doing experiments we must factor in elements to ensure scientific principles are applied and objective, true data is obtained. Variables must be controlled (IV, DV).
What is control?
Keeping variables constant. Regulated. Factor in potential extraneous variables/something other than the IV that impacts on the DV. (E.g. noise, temperature, keeping conditions the same).
What is mundane realism?
Does the ‘set up’ of the study (the task) reflect the task in everyday life? If not it backs mundane realism. Really important to try to make the study reflect everyday life.
What is generalisability?
Can the results of the study apply to 1. Everyday life? (environment) 2. Everyone? (Ppts).
What is validity?
Measures what it intends to.
What is internal validity?
Does the test measure what it should?
What is external validity?
Ecological - can it apply to other settings, Population - can it apply to other people, Temporal - can it apply to different times
What is an aim?
General statement about the topic you are studying (not testable)
What is a hypothesis?
A prediction (is testable)
What does operationalise mean?
Variables must be clear, specific & measurable
What does IV mean?
The ‘thing’ you change (the 2 conditions)
What does DV mean?
Measurement
What is a 1 tailed / Directional Hypothesis? (experiment + correlation included)
One condition will be better than the other
Experiment : 16-18 yr old boys will have bigger hands (cm) than 16-18 yr old girls
Correlation : There will be a positive correlation between height & shoe size
What is a 2 tailed / Non Directional Hypothesis? (experiment + correlation included)
No past research
Experiment : There will be a significant difference in hand size (cm) between 16-18 yr old males and females
Correlation : There will be a correlation between height and shoe size
What are the 4 experimental methods?
Laboratory - Conducted in carefully controlled environments
Field - In natural environment, IV manipulated
Natural - Used to investigate casual relationship in situations where IV cannot be manipulated by an experimental environment
Quasi - IV not manipulated & based on pre-existing differences in people(age & gender). DV is naturally occurring (exam results)
Strengths & Weaknesses of the 4 experimental methods
L + high controlled environment, infer cause & effect relationship, ethical as ppts know they are taking part, can be replicated
L - artificial situation, lack ecological validity & mundane realism, ppts effect, demand characteristics, low internal validity
F + high ecological validity in real life situations, natural behaviours from ppts
F - less ethical (ppts not alway aware they are part of an experiment
N + research where IV can’t be manipulated for ethical/practical reasons (e.g. studies on privation, so study real problems + increase mundane realism & validity)
N - doesn’t demonstrate casual relationships (IV not directly manipulated), lot of extraneous variables, only used when conditions vary naturally, ppts may know they are studies (ppts effect, investigator effects, demand characteristics)
Q + allow comparisons between types of people, high control
Q - only used when conditions vary naturally, ppts may know studies + not randomly allocated (affects DV) DV may be fairly artificial task, reducing ecological validity
What are the 3 experimental designs
How people are used in conditions
1. Independent measures
2. Repeated measures
3. Matched pairs
What is independent measures? (+/-)
Different people in each condition (random allocation is essential, e.g. names in hat)
+ No order effects, less chance of demand characteristics, fewer materials
- More ppts needed (than repeated measures), individual differences reduce validity
What is repeated measures? (+/-)
Same people in both conditions
+ fewer ppts needed, eliminates individual differences
- Ppts experience order effects & demand characteristics
Way to get around this is counterbalancing (AB/BA) - in experimental design doc
What is matched pairs? (+/-)
Ppts matched in a variable pre-test, then each person in the pair is randomly allocated to condition 1 and condition 2 (results compared)
+ No order effects, one set of materials, no demand characteristics
- time consuming, no two people are exactly the same
What does extraneous variables mean?
Variables other than the IV, but could affect the results (DV) of the experiment.
What are the main 3 extraneous variables?
Participant Variables - How do people differ?
People alter in terms of age, gender, mood and experience. The researcher needs to consider this for ‘control’ to ensure the experiment reduce extraneous variables (changes relate to the research)
Situational Variable - How can a situation differ?
Practice/fatigue effect can occur in repeated measures (control through counterbalancing)
Participant Effects - How can a person affect the study?
Investigator Effects (Cues from the investigator that encourage certain behaviour to the ppts on how to act - a way around this is video record instructions or have written instructions)
Demand Characteristics (Ppts look for cues on how to behave in the study & will respond to these (help or hinder the study) therefore reducing validity.)
What are the 3 ways to deal with extraneous variables?
Double Blind - Ppts & researcher doesn’t know what condition they are in (reduces investigator effects)
Single Blind - Ppts ONLY doesn’t know what condition they are in (rescues demand characteristics)
Standardised Procedures - Every ppt does exactly the same thing in the same order. Instructions are pre-recorded or written down.
What is confounding variable?
A third Variable : When an extraneous variable have not been properly controlled, it affects the DV (it confounds the results)
What is structured observations in relation to observational techniques?
You need to define behaviour categories
These need to be objective, over all possible behaviours and be mutually exclusive (separate)
They must be operationalised (clear, specific and measurable)
They lead to a testable hypothesis
They allow for high reliability
Quantify data = easier to analyse
What are the next stages of structured observations in relation to observational techniques? How do you define record/sample?
You then need to define how you will record/sample:
Event sampling : every time the behaviour happens you record
Good for infrequent behaviour (get all behaviour) - complex behaviours are simplified
Time sampling : Reckre behaviours in a given time frame, (e.g. first 10 seconds of each minute
Good for really busy observations, data recorded as intervals
Record using a tally system (increase reliability as can replicate)
What are the 6 types of observation?
Overt, covert, participant, non-participant, controlled, naturalistic
What does overt observation mean? (+/-)
Ppts are aware they are being studied
+ more ethical (than covert)
- demand characteristics (reduces external validity)
What does covert observation mean? (+/-)
Ppts are NOT aware they are being studied
+ demand characteristics are reduced (increases internal validity)
- ethically questionable, privacy may be affected
What does participant observation mean? (+/-)
Researcher takes part in their study
+ greater understanding (increases external validity)
- lose objectively, reduces internal validity (Zimbardo)
What does non-participant observation mean? (+/-)
Researcher remains separate from the research group being study
+ more objective (than ppt observation)
- loss of insight at researcher is too far removed from the situation (reduces external validity)
What does controlled observation mean? (+/-)
Some control/manipulation of variables
+ can be replicated due to standardised procedures
- behaviour may be artificial due to setting (low external validity)
What does naturalistic observation mean? (+/-)
Takes place where the target behaviour naturally takes place
+ in a natural context, high external validity (generalisable)
- low control making it hard to identify patterns
Self report is …
Subjective, BUT it is the only way to get info about what someone is thinking
What are the 2 methods for self report?
Questionnaires
Interviews