Psychology 2 - Research Methods Flashcards
What 2 things does a question have to be and why?
It must be clear and unambiguous so that the people know exactly what is being asked (increases ecological validity)
Can’t be emotive because this could upset the people and cause then to give biased answers
What is the difference between open and closed questions?
Closed questions limit the possible answers that can be given
Open questions allow the person to give an individual answer which is never limited by the question
What is the advantage and disadvantage of open questions?
They make sure that a more truthful answer is given that is not limited by bounds in the question
However, the results are qualitative meaning that they can be hard to put into categories, group together or put into a numerical system
What is the advantage and disadvantage of closed questions?
The results are easy to put into a numerical system such as a graph
People might not give the answer that they actually think because their answer isn’t one of the options
What is the advantage and disadvantage of questionnaires in general?
A lot of data can be collected very quickly
We don’t know if the answers given are actually true (people make themselves look good)
What is the difference between a structured and an unstructured interview?
Structured interviews are where all of the questions are pre-set and given a fixed order (every interviewee has same questions)
Unstructured interviews are where only the first question is set and the other questions depend on the answers of the interviewee
What is the advantage and disadvantage of structured interviews?
Data can be collated and analysed easily
Interviewer can’t ask questions that might help
What is the advantage and disadvantage of unstructured interviews?
Results are detailed and have ecological validity
Difficult to collate and analyse
What is the advantage and disadvantage of interviews in general?
Produce large amounts of data in short time
Can’t be sure if interviewee is telling truth
What are the 3 advantages of the observation method?
Very high ecological validity because you are observing real world behaviours
In interviews etc. people make up answers to make themselves look better, in this method, people don’t even know they are being observed so this won’t happen
Observation records whole behaviours that people do regularly instead of very small, minimised behaviours
What are the 3 disadvantages of observation studies?
You can record a behaviour but you don’t always know why it happened
People being watched can become aware of this and change their behaviour as a result
Ethical issues of watching people who want to be watched
What is inter-observer reliability?
This means that every time a behaviour that fits the behavioural categories occurs, it is recorded
This causes all records done by the different observers to have the same behaviours recorded on their sheets
In what 3 ways is inter-observer reliability ensured?
The researcher designs a record sheet with suitable behaviour categories for observation that want to conduct
Two observers each have a copy of the same record sheet and watch the same behaviour / location at the same time recording what they see on their individual sheet
At the end of the observation, the observers compare their record sheets
What is the case study method?
An in-depth study of an individual or a unique group in order to either learn about the specific person or the human behaviour in general
What are the 3 advantages of case studies?
Provide detailed information about individuals rather than collecting just a score from a test from a person
Record behaviour over time so changes in behaviour can be seen
A single cause study that tells us that a theory is incorrect is very useful because it will encourage researchers to change the theory and make it more accurate
