Resaerch Methods Flashcards
What is a field experiment
Manipulation of the IV but measure it in the real world
What is a lab experiment
A manipulation of the IV to see the effect on the DV
Controlling of extraneous variable to stop them be coming confounding variables.
Random allocation of participants to the conditions of the independent variables
What is a natural experiment
Conditions already exist eg hair colour eye colour etc
What are some strengths of a lab experiment
High internal validity
What are some weaknesses of a lab experiment
Demand characteristics
Low ecological validity
What are some strengths and weaknesses if a field
experiment
High population and high ecological validity
Low demand characteristics :)
Low internal validity :(
What are some strengths and weaknesses of a natural experiment
High ecological validity :)
Low internal validity :(
What is a volunteer sample
Participants willing to take part make and effort/ elect themselves to take part in the advertised study
What is a opportunity sample
Participants that are available at the time for that study that are from the target audience are asked to take part and if Willing proceed
What is random sampling
Participants all have an equal chance of getting selected as did people from the target audience who Weren’t picked everyone in target audience is identified.
How do you write a experimental hypothesis
1- this group of people in this condition
Who have this characteristic
2- will do/be/more/less/higher/lower/worse on a measure
Or
Will be different in a measure of behaviour
3- than that group of people in that condition who have that characteristic are treated in that way.
How do you write a correlational hypothesis
1- there will be 2- positive or negative (directional) A ( non directional) 3- correlation Between operationalised variable (1) And operationalised variable (2)
What is a correlational study
A process rather than an actual method It is the way the data is analysed which is important The method of collecting data could be Questionnaires Interviews Observational Content analysis (Qualitative form)
What are some strengths of a correlational study
Allows to look at the link between variables when it would be unethical to test
Allows to see strength of variables & relationship between them
What are some weaknesses of a correlational study
Makes think there’s no link between variables
When there is
Cannot draw cause and effect conclusions from correlational data
What are the three types of observational studies
Overt
Covert
Participant
Non participant
What is a covert observation
Involves the researcher not informing members of the group the reason for their presence / keeping their true intentions secret
This raises ethical issues
What is a overt observation
Refer to the research being open about their intentions in the field & ensuring all members of the social group are aware of what is happening
What is a participant observation
Participant observation the observer participates in the going on activities and records observations. Participation observation extends beyond naturalistic observation because the observer is a player.
What is non participant observation
Non participant is where data is collected by observing behaviour without interacting with the participants.
What are the stats of observational techniques
Time efficiency - can take months to finish
Demand characteristics - covert no
Overt yes
Repleciablity - low people won’t act the same
Generaliseablity - not vet because people all act differently
Ethical issues - cover - deceitful
Researcher bias - researcher might what they want to see
Ecological - depends on how many observed
Analysis of data - hard because different people get different data
What are ways to approach a study when using questionnaires
Fixed choice for easy analysis
Open choice for more individual data
Keep questions And instructions clear and easy to understand
Pre code closed questions for quick analysis of awnser’s
Carry out test run first making changes if needed
Use attitude scales to test strength of feeling
Positives of questionnaires
People tested quickly It's time saving Easy to analyse Can collect large amounts of data Ps are not rushed and convenient and researcher does not need to be present When awnser's were given
Negatives of questionnaires
Social desirability : lies
If researcher is present can affect awnser’s
Surveys may have low response rate
Difficult to phrase questions properly can be misinterpreted
What is an interview
Interviews are a face to face conversation these can be unstructured and structured apparently informal chats or formal when structured with predetermined questions
What are the positives of an interview
Detailed Info can be gained and avoids over simplifying complex issues
Greater attention to individuals point of view
This is important in clinical psychology and unstructured
What are some negatives of interviews
Difficult to analyse unstructured and qualitative in nature
Time consuming
Expensive
Possible interviewer effects such as attractiveness of the interviewer
What are case studies
They are a in depth investigation of a single person group event or community
Typically data are gathered from a variety of sources by using several different methods
What are some strengths of a case study
It provides detailed rich qualities data
Gives an insight for further research that Permits and investigation of otherwise impractical or ethical studies
What are some weaknesses of case studies
Can't generalise findings Subjective feeling could influence the study Difficult to Replicate Time Consuming
What are the characteristics of independent groups
Control of participants - poor because there are different ps in each conditions so could be participant variables that affect behaviour not IV
Order effects - good due to the separate groups in two separate
conditions
Demand characteristics - good each group only does one condition and ps randomly selected
Time - good takes less time cause both conditions occur at the same time
Nof ps needed/amount of data collected
What are the characteristics of matched pairs
Control of ps - okay (better than repeated measures but worse than independent groups.) due to similarity of ps
Order effects - good two separate groups doing separate tasks
Demand characteristics - okay better than RPM but worse than IG cause ps doing only one test rather than two
Time - bad takes time to match ps together
Nof ps / amount of data collected - bad if one of the ps drop out two sets of data is lost
What are the characteristics of repeated measures
Control of p variables - good as one person doing both conditions same for both groups
Order effects - bad order effects could reduce internal validity behaviour in c1 could affect behaviour in c2
Demand characteristics - bad ps experience both Cs and could guess the study and change there behaviour
Time - takes twice as long as IG
No of ps needed / the amount of data collected - good don’t need many ps
