Resaerch Methods Flashcards by Lucas Spindler

What is a field experiment

Manipulation of the IV but measure it in the real world

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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

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What is a natural experiment

Conditions already exist eg hair colour eye colour etc

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What are some strengths of a lab experiment

High internal validity

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What are some weaknesses of a lab experiment

Demand characteristics

Low ecological validity

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What are some strengths and weaknesses if a field

experiment

High population and high ecological validity
Low demand characteristics :)

Low internal validity :(

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What are some strengths and weaknesses of a natural experiment

High ecological validity :)

Low internal validity :(

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What is a volunteer sample

Participants willing to take part make and effort/ elect themselves to take part in the advertised study

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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

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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

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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

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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