PSY 1101 - Chapter 02: Methods (Pt. 2)

Question 1

What is a Survey?

Answer 1

can be part of descriptive research and they can also be part of correlational research
- Researchers are going to ask a large sample of people questions about topics they want to know the answer to

Question 2

How are Surveys done?

Answer 2

researchers extract a sample from the population of interest and they survey them.

• they use their answers to draw general conclusions about the population of interest

Question 3

What is a Representative Sample?

Answer 3

the sample must be representative of the population of interest in order for the survey to have value or scientific value
- done through random sampling

Question 4

What is Random Sampling?

Answer 4

1. Every single person in the population of interest has an equal chance to be included in the sample of being part of the survey
2. Chance and only chance and nothing but chance will determine who will be part of the sample

Question 5

What is Simple Random Sample?

Answer 5

when researchers extract a sample from the population of interest using random sampling

Question 6

What is Stratified Sample?

Answer 6

we take the population of interest and then we divide it into the different groups we’re interested in.

Then from every single one of those groups we choose a sample using random sampling

Question 7

What are the Advantages of Surveys?

Answer 7

• Cheap to do
• easy to administer
• allows us to include people who usually aren’t included in research
• is sometimes the only way to know something

Question 8

What are the Disadvantages of Surveys (1)?

Answer 8

1. Truth: just because we are asking doesnt mean the subjects are going to give us the truth… some of them will lie for a variety of different reasons

Question 9

What are the Disadvantages of Surveys (2)?

Answer 9

2. results can be easily affected by the wordings we use and the characteristics of the person asking the questions

Question 10

What is Acquiescence Bias?

Answer 10

Tendency for a subject to agree with whatever the researcher is asking
- no variety in the answers
- agree or a ‘yes’

Question 11

What is Social Desirability Bias?

Answer 11

Subjects provide politically correct and socially desirable answer and hide their true opinion, attitude and behaviours

Question 12

What is Volunteer Bias?

Answer 12

Volunteers may not be representative of the population of interest

Question 13

What is Illusory Superiority?

Answer 13

Tendency for most people to perceive themselves as better than average
- sexier, smarter, kinder, etc. than average

Question 14

What is Naturalistic Observation?

Answer 14

Researchers are going to do their research in the real world outside of the lab
- a type of descriptive research

Question 15

What is the Fundamental Rule of Naturalistic Observation?

Answer 15

They absolutely cannot interfere with what they’re observing.
- They can only observe

Question 16

What are the Advantages of Naturalistic Observation?

Answer 16

• We are doing research in the real world
• sometimes it is the only research we can do
• We may discover information that we may not be able to acquire otherwise

Question 17

What is the Disadvantages of Naturalistic Observation?

Answer 17

Both humans and animals are affected when something is observing them
- mere presence of the researcher can influence and affect the results/ behavior of the thing being observed. They are going to feel self conscious etc.

Question 18

What is Correlational Research?

Answer 18

to observe, describe and make predictions (see later).

It is to help us determine if there is a systematic and reliable relationship between two ot more variables.

Question 19

What does Correlational Research answer?

Answer 19

If one variable changes, does the other variable also change?

Question 20

What is Positive Correlation?

Answer 20

Tells us there is a relationship between the variables and both change in the same direction

Question 21

What is Negative Correlation?

Answer 21

There is a systematic and reliable relationship
- the two variables are going to change in opposite directions

Question 22

What is Correlation Coefficient r?

Answer 22

Allows us to answer every question
- value of r varies between -1 to 1

• Minus does not mean weak, it means negative correlation
• Plus does not mean plus it means positive correlation
  1 means a perfect relationship
• 0 means no correlation at all

The closer r is to zero, the weaker the relationship is. The closer r is to 1, the stronger the relationship is.

Question 23

What are the Advantages of Correlational Research (1)?

Answer 23

Excellent first step: because doing an experiment can be very expensive, it is smart to do a correlational study before the study to see if there is a correlation, and if there is one then you can do the research.

Question 24

What are the Advantages of Correlational Research (2)?

Answer 24

The only option: it may be unethical (wrong) to do an experiment

ex: don’t actually do an experiment to know if there is a relationship between pregnancy drinking and birth defects

Question 25

What are the Advantages of Correlational Research (3)?

Answer 25

Describe and predict: correlations allow us to describe and make predictions.

Once we know there is a correlation between two variables and if we have information on one of them, we can make a prediction about the other variable with a certain degree of confidence (prediction)

Question 26

What are the Advantages of Correlational Research (4)?

Answer 26

Take: now that we know there is a correlation, this allows us to take precaution of preventive measures.

ex: we know that there is a correlation between death and no seat belts therefore, wear a seatbelt = precaution of preventive measures

Question 27

What is the Disadvantage to Correlational Research?

Answer 27

• we cannot infer causality
• We can infer that there is a relationship but we cannot say that variable A causes a change in variable B.
• they may be related but they are not causes