Quantitive research Flashcards
What is experimental design?
How participants are allocated to different conditions in an experiment. Must be randomly allocated.
The only way to explore causal relationships.
Cause and effect
What are the different types of experimental design?
Between-groups - compare participants from group A to participants from group B
Within-groups - compare same participants in both conditions A and B
Types of sampling?
random sampling
- common forms
- simple random sampling
- stratified sampling
non-random sampling
- common forms
- voluntary sampling
- convenience sampling
what is simple random sampling?
every person in population has equal chance of being picked.
what is stratified sampling?
population divided into meaningful groups, following this, simple random sample conducted on each group
what is voluntary sampling?
population self-select to participate in research
what is convenience sampling?
population who are easy to reach are asked to participate in research
What is quantitive research?
is concerned with quantifying the collection and analysis of data.
formed from a deductive approach, emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies.
Variables, what are they?
A variable is something that can be changed or varied, such as a characteristic or value.
Variables are used in experiments to determine if changes to one variable result in changes to another.
What are the different types of variables?
Independent variable - is the variable you think is going to cause an effect.
Dependent variable - is the variable you think will be effected by the cause
Extraneous / confounding variable - variables which could cause an effect to the DV
what is validity / reliability?
concepts used to evaluate quality of research and indicate how well a method, technique or test measure
reliability - the consistency of results a measure produces
validity - the extent of accuracy of the measure
What is hypothesis testing?
- State null hypothesis
- the IV will have no effect on DV. (not required to state, null hypothesis is implicit) - State experimental (alternate) hypothesis
- manipulation of IV will cause effect in DV
What are the different types of studies?
Experiments - aim of research - cause and effect
Observations - aim of research - initial investigation
Qualitative - aim of research - in-depth understanding
Cross-sectional - aim of research - looking for relationships
Longitudinal studies - aim of research - looking for relationships over extended period of time
What does effect size mean?
it is the quantitive measure of the magnitude of the experimental effect.
A large effect size, the stronger the relationship between the variables.
What other potential problems can researchers face?
Demand characteristics - participants guess hypothesis and change behaviour to support (unconsciously / consciously)
Observer bias / experimenter effects - observer / experimenter influence outcomes to support hypothesis (unconsciously / consciously)
Acquiescence bias - also referred to as agreement bias. Respondents to survey tend to go for a positive response
Social bias - positive and negative, refers to favour for or against individuals based on social identities.
