personal investigation Flashcards

1
Q

what is the experiment

A

a non-participant observation of mobile phone use

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what is the hypothesis

A

gender effects how much time sixth formers spend on mobile phones during breaktime
- there is no difference in the amount of time spent by male and female sixth formers on their mobile phones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

what type of hypothesis is this

A

non-directional hypothesis - non conclusive evidence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

what are the extraneous variables

A
  1. time of day
  2. number of people in the common room
  3. day of the week
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

variables

A

no IV or DV as it is an experiment
the variables being studied are gender (male and female) amount engaged (operationalised)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

cofounding variables

A
  1. day of the week
  2. who are the participants with
  3. personality
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

how were the variables controlled

A
  1. done at breaktime
  2. few people ( hard to control)
  3. day that most people are in ( monday)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

potential cofounding variables

A

we cant deal with everyone in sixth form, same ages , being in sixth form gives them similarities

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what was the methodology/design

A

there is no experimental design.
The observation will consist of 10 participants (first 5 males to walk in + first 5 females to walk in)
each will be assigned to a researcher - to record who will use their phones in the first mins/secs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

strengths of methodology

A

(non participant observation)
ecological validity
no demand characteristics

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

weakness of methodology

A

lack of reliability, no cause or effect relationship

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

procedures

A

idea was put to an ethical committee
permission from head teacher + sixth former
presumptive consent obtained
1. 10 researchers sat in varying places
2. each person was debriefed
observing 1st male and first female

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

event sampling

A

p’s were observed throughout the ‘event’ of breaktime
- so wont miss any phone acitivity
- just a snapshot

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

target population

A

males and females in sixthform
5 males and 5 females first to enter common room

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

issues of access

A

head teacher and head of sixth form

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

sampling technique

A

opportunity sampling - first 5 males and 5 females to enter

14
Q

strengths and weakness of opportunity sampling

A
  1. convenience= participants from the target population are available and the researcher are able to observe but NOT REPRESENTATIVE
15
Q

descriptive statistics

A

ratio data was collected in form of time
to work out mean, median and mode of each group= to calculate range

16
Q

graphical representation

A

mean is in a table for comparison + pie chart to show division of use and non-use for males and females

17
Q

inferential statistics

A

independent groups design (males females)
and times spent on mobiles (ratio data)
Mann Whitney U test
for 2 tailed test with 10 p’s the critical value of u = 2
observed value is 6.2
higher than critical value

18
Q

accept null hypthesis ?

A

ACCEPT NULL
REJECT HYPOTHESIS
no difference in amount of time spent on males and female

19
Q

issues of validity

A
  1. operationalisation of mobile phones
  2. demand characteristics
  3. researcher bias
20
Q

why is timings/accuracy and issue
how was this controlled?

A

some researchers are more accurate than others
how was this controlled?
strict instructions were given all time

21
Q

why is individual differences and issue
how was this controlled?

A

may affect outcome if there is a reason such as uni offers / parent to call
make sample as large as possible for obersvation

22
ethical issues
1. lack of informed consent 2. potential psychological harm 3. confidentiality 4. deception 5. lack of right to withdraw
23
issues of reliability
1. time of day 2. timings/accuracy 3.individual differences of participants
24
two ethical issues and how they were dealt with
1. lack of informed consent- as participants were unaware they were being observed but this was dealt with being informed after observation during debriefing 2. lack of privacy - as participants privacy was invaded, dealt with by observing participants in common room (public area) therefore no expectation of privacy
25
issues of validity
1. demand characteristics 2. researcher bias 3. operationalisation of mobile phone use
26
operationisation of mobile phone use
just looking at time is superficial - no reasons why dealt- content validity
27
demand characteristics - IVal
p's may spot the researchers watching them dealt- be as inconspicuous as possible- blend in
28
researcher bias IVal
may influence outcomes if we know who uses mobile alot dealt- first 5 males and females to walk in
29