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Psychology > Paper 2: Research Methods > Flashcards

Paper 2: Research Methods Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a lab experiment?

A

experimental method. Laboratory experiment - this is an experiment conducted in a highly controlled environment. A lab experiment does NOT mean that it is conducted in a lab - just a controlled room

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2
Q

pros/cons of lab experiments?

A

Advantage - extraneous variables are closely controlled, meaning the IV is likely to have affected the DV. This increases the internal validity
Research can be easily repeated because there is a standardised procedure, increasing reliability as a result.
Disadvantage - lab experiments often lack mundane realism - reduces external validity of a study. High likelihood of demand characteristics

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3
Q

what is a field experiment?

A

experimental method. this is where the investigator manipulates the IV in a more natural setting.

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4
Q

pros/cons of field experiments?

A

Advantage - high mundane realism, therefore higher external validity. Ppts often won’t know they are being tested, so less likelihood of demand characteristics.
Disadvantage - hard to control extraneous variables. Harder to know if the IV caused the DV.

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5
Q

what is a naturalistic experiment?

A

experimental method. Natural experiment - experimenter studies the effect of naturally occurring IV, eg rutter’s attachment study - ages of adopted children is the IV - but rutter doesn’t change this

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6
Q

pros/cons of naturalistic experiments?

A

Advantage - high external validity bc the IV is naturally occurring. Can test factors that couldn’t be manipulated by a researcher, eg ages of adopted children
Disadvantage - no control over extraneous variables.

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7
Q

what is a quasi experiment?

A

experimental method. Quasi experiment - when the IV is based on an existing difference between people, eg hair, eye colour, gender etc

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8
Q

pros/cons of quasi experiments?

A

Advantage - can often test under controlled conditions (lab) - same advantages as lab exp
Disadvantage - ppts cannot be randomly allocated to conditions due to the differences being predetermined.

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9
Q

what is naturalistic observation?

A

observational technique. Naturalistic observation - observation in a natural, non-manipulated environment

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10
Q

pros/cons of naturalistic observation?

A

Advantage - high external validity
Disadvantage - lower levels of control

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11
Q

what is controlled observation?

A

observational technique. Controlled observation - more manipulated environment eg lab

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12
Q

pros/cons of controlled observation?

A

Advantage - more control over variables, higher int validity
Disadvantage - lower external validity

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13
Q

what is covert observation?

A

observational technique.
Covert observation - ppts are unaware they are being watched

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14
Q

pros/cons of covert observation?

A

Advantage - less demand characteristics, ppts don’t know they are being watched. Less subject to social desirability bias
Disadvantage - ethical issues, lack of informed consent due to ppts being unaware of being watched

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15
Q

what is overt observation?

A

observational technique. Overt observation - ppts are aware they are being watched (and have consented to exp)

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16
Q

pros/cons of overt observation?

A

Advantage - more ethical, informed consent
Disadvantage - ppts subject to demand characteristics/social desirability bias - may change their behaviour

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17
Q

what is participant observation?

A

observational technique. Participant observation - when the researcher observes the study by taking part in it as a ppt, eg Zimbardo.

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18
Q

pros/cons of participant observation?

A

Advantage - researcher gets a greater insight into the experience of the ppts
Disadvantage - may lose objectivity, due to increased researcher bias - becoming friendly with ppts etc

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19
Q

what is non-participant observation?

A

observational technique. Non-participant observation - when the researcher does not participate, they just observe

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20
Q

pros/cons of non-participant observation?

A

Advantage - researcher is more likely to remain objective
Disadvantage - may lack the extra insight gained from being a ppt themselves.

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21
Q

what are questionnaires?

A

self-report technique. Questionnaires - can have open (ppt can answer in any way they wish, eg “why do you think people follow orders?”) or closed (prescriptive set of answers ppt can give eg yes/no or a/b/c/d) question

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22
Q

pros/cons of questionnaires?

A

Advantage - can be anonymous - ppts may feel more comfortable being truthful, eg may ask embarrassing or legally compromising info. Responses are easy to analyse especially with closed questions. Can gather very large sample w/o the need for a researcher to be present
Disadvantage - response bias - ppts may answer all questions in a similar way, not reading them properly. MAY be subject to social desirability bias

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23
Q

what are structured interviews?

A

self-report technique. Structured - when the interviewer asks a set of predetermined questions that they do not deviate from

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24
Q

pros/cons of structured interviews?

A

Advantages - very easy to repeat - increases replicability/reliability
Disadvantages - subject to social desirability bias. Inflexible - cannot accommodate for less predictable answers (cannot enquire further)

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25
Q

what are unstructured interviews?

A

self-report technique. Unstructured - when the interviewer creates questions in response to the answers; more like a conversation

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26
Q

pros/cons of unstructured interviews?

A

Advantages - allow flexibility, to investigate answers in more depth
Disadvantages - unstructured interviews are very difficult to repeat. Ppts subject to social desirability bias

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27
Q

what is correlation?

A

Correlation - a relationship between two variables. Correlations can be positive or negative
Positive - when two data points are increasing
Negative - when one increases, the other decreases
You can measure correlation graphically

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28
Q

pros/cons of using correlation in research?

A

Advantages - correlations are a good starting point for future research - if there is no relationship, there is no reason to conduct further research. Easy to conduct - just need 2 data sets to compare
Disadvantages - you cannot demonstrate a cause and effect link. They often lead to misinterpretations of data, which could lead to mistakes.

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29
Q

what is content analysis?

A

Content analysis:
Observational research in which something that has been produced, eg newspaper ad is studied to detect trends and produce quantitative data from qualitative data.

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30
Q

pros/cons of using content analysis in research?

A

Advantage - because material being analysed is being consumed in real life, it has high external validity
Disadvantage - doesn’t take into account motivations of people who made the content in the first place - potentially weakening the validity

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31
Q

what is peer review?

A

Peer review is the process of subjecting a piece of research to independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field who consider the research in terms of its validity, significance and originality.

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32
Q

what is the test-retest method?

A

Test retest improves reliability - test ppts then retest at a later date. Relies on the ppts forgetting the questions

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33
Q

what is the split half method?

A

Split half method to improve reliability - randomly choose half the qs of the tests for each ppt - compare with the other half - if there is a positive correlation between the halves then the test is reliable. Better than test-retest method bc no waiting time for ppts to forget questions.

34
Q

what is face validity?

A

Face validity - is this research measuring what it claims to measure? Subjective

35
Q

what is concurrent validity?

A

Concurrent validity - compare test with previous test of same data - if results match the research is valid.

36
Q

what are case studies?

A

Case studies - a case study is an in-depth investigation usually of one person or a small group - they often produce qualitative data as interviews are often used. However they may also be asked to complete lab exps. Eg HM or Clive wearing it for memory.
Case studies are often longitudinal - ppts studied over many years.

37
Q

pros/cons of case studies?

A

Strength - case studies produce rich, detailed and in-depth data which gives a closer insight into particular behaviours
Weakness - difficult to generalise findings because the sample sizes are so small. Data is often collected retrospectively, so relies on recall of ppts.
Usually, comparing to a control group is impossible

38
Q

what is a hypothesis and the different types of hypothesis?

A

Hypothesis - the prediction of what the results will be. This can be directional or non directional.
Directional hypothesis - when you state the expected effect of the variable. Eg young people will do better in a memory test than older people
Non-directional hypothesis - when a difference is predicted, but not the nature of the difference. Eg there a will be a difference between young and old people in memory test
Null hypothesis - where you predict no difference between the conditions. Eg there will be no difference between young and old people in performance on a memory test.

39
Q

what is operationalisation?

A

Operationalising variables - operationalisation is clearly defining a variable, putting data into a form that is measurable. Eg instead of “do better” say “obtain a higher score.”

40
Q

what are the different types of variables?

A

Independent variable - the thing that you CHANGE
Dependent variable - the thing that you MEASURE
Control variable - the thing that STAYS THE SAME, this is to make sure the IV is the only thing affecting the DV

41
Q

what are extraneous variables?

A

Extraneous variables - variables other than the IV that may affect the DV, if not controlled for .
Eg in a memory exp the intelligence level may affect the score. Controlling for this may be giving ppts an IQ test beforehand, and making sure there is an equal number of the same IQ in both conditions.

42
Q

what are demand characteristics?

A

Demand characteristics - clues that ppts respond to when in an exp where they try to guess the aim/outcome of the study, and therefore change their behaviour accordingly. Eg older ppts may guess the aim of the study is to prove young people have better memory, and therefore try much harder to prove hypothesis wrong.

43
Q

what are investigator effects?

A

Investigator effects - any unwanted influences that the investigator communicates to the ppts, which affects their behaviour. Eg being very encouraging towards young people in memory test.

44
Q

what is standardisation?

A

Standardisation - this is where the experience of the experiment is as far as possible kept identical for every ppt. This reduces the effects of extraneous variables massively.
Randomisation - this is allocation of ppts and selecting samples, etc as far possible left to chance.

45
Q

what is single blind research?

A

Single blind - when ppt does not know aim of study (this reduces demand characteristics)

46
Q

what is double blind research?

A

Double blind - when the ppts AND investigator does not know the aim (this reduces investigator effects)

47
Q

what are control groups?

A

Control groups - used for the purpose of comparison. Gets rid of the IV to make sure that nothing else impacts the DV. eg

48
Q

what is random sampling? + pros and cons

A

Random sampling - every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected
Strengths: researcher cannot influence selection of ppts
Weakness: the sample could by chance end up being unrepresentative

49
Q

what is systematic sampling + pros and cons?

A

Systematic sampling - a ppt is selected in a systematic way, eg every 10th person from a list is selected
Strengths - researcher cannot influence selection of ppts and it is likely to be representative
weakness - may under-represent particular patterns in data. Risk of data manipulation - researchers could easily construct their systems to artificially increase likelihood of a particular outcome.

50
Q

what is stratified sampling + pros and cons?

A

stratified sampling - this is where the makeup of the sample reflects the makeup of the target population for a particular characteristic, eg if in real life 40% of teachers are men and 60% are women, this percentage would be replicated in the sample.
Strengths - researcher cannot influence selection, random techniques are used - is definitely representative of population
Weakness - cannot represent all the ways that people are different.

51
Q

what is opportunity sampling + pros and cons?

A

Opportunity sampling - ppts are selected by whoever is most easily available, eg standing on the street and asking passers by.
Strengths - convenient, less time consuming and less costly
Weakness - very high chance of an unrepresentative sample - large groups of the pop have no chance of being involved, eg people who don’t go to particular street corner. Prone to researcher bias.

52
Q

what is volunteer sampling + pros and cons?

A

Volunteer sampling - ppts put themselves forward to take part in a study. Eg a newspaper ad recruits ppts.
Strengths - easy and convenient to the researcher
Weaknesses - open to volunteer bias. This is where only certain types of people will put themselves forward. Reduces representativeness of sample

53
Q

what is the sign test?

A

type of inferential testing - A sign test will be used for repeated measures design with nominal data when investigating a difference, rather than a correlation.

The 5 steps of the sign test
1. Give the pairs of scores a + if there is an increase or a - if there is a decrease
2. Ignore ones with no change and add up the number of the less frequent sign. This is called the S value
3. Calculate the number of ppts whose score did change in either direction. This is called the N value.
4. Use the table of critical values
to see if the result is significant. In order for the result to be significant, S should be less than or equal to the critical value.
5. Using the result, we either accept or reject the null hypothesis.

54
Q

pros/cons of using the sign test?

A

Strengths - very easy to carry out. It can be applied across a range of situations where a normal distribution can’t be assumed.
Weaknesses - nominal data is the least powerful type of data, meaning the sign test can be unreliable. It might not be suitable for small samples.

55
Q

what are the inferential tests which should be used for each type of data?

A

scoffing chips will make someone really under perform

Sign test
Chi-squared
Wilcoxon
Mann-whitney
Spearman’s rank
Related t-test
Unrelated t-test
Pearson’s

         related   unrelated  correl nominal  S               C ordinal   W             M               S  interval  R              U               P
56
Q

how to recognise related data?

A

Related data - matched pairs/repeated measures design

57
Q

how to recognise unrelated data?

A

Unrelated data - independent groups design (different people doing different things therefore unrelated)

58
Q

what is the meaning of P in the sign test?

A

P = 0.05 means the probability level set by the researcher. It means that there is only a maximum 5% probability that the results occurred due to chance. In other words it is 95% probability that the DV was caused by the IV. therefore if the result is equal to or less than the critical value, they are likely not caused by coincidence.

59
Q

what is qualitative data?

A

Qualitative data - data in the form of words which is rich and detailed. Often produced from case studies, unstructured interviews and observations

60
Q

pros/cons of using qualitative data?

A

Strengths - rich in detail, therefore can better reflect human experience and behaviour meaning it is higher in internal validity (how well something measures what it set out to measure. Eg asch’s line study had very good control over extraneous variables, it knew the IV was controlling the DV and therefore high int validity. However had low external validity, due to lack of mundane realism)
Weaknesses - quantitative data is much easier to analyse and draw conclusions from, and is less open to bias and subjective opinion.

61
Q

what is quantitative data?

A

Quantitative data - data in the form of numbers, often produced from lab exps or closed questions.

62
Q

pros/cons of using quantitative data?

A

Strengths - easier to analyse and draw conclusions from, and is less open to bias and subjective opinion.
Weaknesses - lower in internal validity due to less rich detail; may not reflect human experience as well

63
Q

what are the features of science?

A

what THE FORK?
Theory construction
Hypothesis testing
Empricism
Falsifiability
Objectivity
Replicability
Kuhn (paradigm shifts)

Features of science
Objectivity and the empirical method
Objectivity means not letting personal bias affect the results of studies.
The empirical method refers to using observable evidence to draw conclusions.
Replicability - this is the ability to repeat studies to check the findings are reliable.
Falsifiability - the ability to be proved wrong.
Theory construction/hypothesis testing - a theory is a set of general laws or rules to explain events or behaviours. These form the basis of a hypothesis. Once you have conducted a study, you can accept or reject the hypothesis.
Paradigms and paradigm shifts - initially proposed by kuhn. a paradigm is a set of assumptions or accepted ways of thinking within a subject. Every so often a paradigm shift takes place, which is where a new way of thinking takes over.

64
Q

what are the arguments for psychology being a science?

A

Arguments for:
Theories are based on empirical evidence; arguably it has gone through paradigm shifts, eg the move from cognitive psychology to cognitive neuroscience.
Theories developed have led to successful treatments.

65
Q

what are the arguments against psychology being a science?

A

Arguments against:
Psychological methods are prone to bias, eg demand characteristics from ppts. Also it may not be possible to produce universal laws in psychology, because studies are drawn from samples which may not apply to everyone.
Some theories are not falsifiable, role of the unconscious or psychosexual stages.

66
Q

what is the structure of a psychological report?

A

Title - should be concise and informative
Abstract - a brief summary of the report, covering the aim, hypothesis, procedure, result, and conclusions.
Introduction - this is to introduce the reader to the topic and its background.
Method - describes how the study was conducted. Should have enough detail to allow for replication.
Results - here you report the findings clearly and accurately
Discussion - this summarises the findings, then offers explanations of what was observed, and considers the implications of the research.
references/bibliography - this is a list of documents that were used in the paper.
Appendix - where you comprise a copy of all the resources used in the study, and the raw data.

67
Q

what is primary data?

A

Primary data - data that is collected by the researcher, for the purpose of the study.

68
Q

pros/cons of using primary data?

A

Strengths - has been designed for the specific purpose of the study. The researcher has control over exactly what needs to measured.
Weaknesses - requires more time, effort and money in most cases

69
Q

what is secondary data?

A

Secondary data - data collected by someone other than the researcher. It already exists, eg a meta-analysis uses secondary data

70
Q

pros/cons of using secondary data?

A

Strengths - less time consuming, less effort, less expensive
Weaknesses - quality of data collection cannot be controlled by the researcher.

71
Q

what is the mean?

A

Measure of central tendency. Mean - sum of data divided by number of variables

72
Q

pros/cons of using the mean?

A

Strengths - takes into account all of the data, meaning it is the most sensitive measure.
Weaknesses - is strongly affected by extreme values or outliers.

73
Q

what is the mode?

A

Measure of central tendency. Mode - most common value

74
Q

pros/cons of using the mode?

A

Strengths - easy to work out
Weaknesses - not very sensitive, there may be several modes.

75
Q

what is the median?

A

Measure of central tendency. Median - the value in the middle. order data neumerically, and eliminate the highest and lowest item alternately. remaining value is the median

76
Q

pros/cons of using the median?

A

Strengths - is less affected by extreme scores than the mean
Weaknesses - not all scores are taken into account.

77
Q

what is the range?

A

Measure of dispersion. Range - the largest value minus the smallest value.

78
Q

pros/cons of using the range?

A

Strengths - easy to calculate
Weaknesses - because it only takes the highest and lowest scores into account, it is easily affected by outliers.

79
Q

what is standard deviation?

A

Measure of dispersion. Standard deviation - measures the spread of scores around the mean. The higher the SD, the more spread out the scores. If SD is low, ppts scores were similar.

80
Q

pros/cons of using standard deviation?

A

Strengths - more precise measure of dispersion than the range
Weaknesses - bc the mean is being used, it can be affected by extreme values if the mean is distorted.

81
Q

how to calculate a percentage?

A

Percentages - calculated by dividing a score by the total, then multiplying by 100.

82
Q

what are the ways of presenting data?

A

Scattergram - used to represent correlational data. Shows the relationship betxz
ween two variables.
Bar chart - used for categorical (nominal) data. Bars should always be separate in a bar chart
Histogram - display continuous data, in which the bars are touching. Used for interval data.
Line graph - also used for continuous data - specifically used to represent something changing over time.

Psychology (13 decks)

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