Research in Psychology Flashcards
What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative research?
Quantitative research
o Concerned with measurements and numerical results
o Ignore important factors in human experience
Qualitative research
o Richness of experience and narrative results
o But may be hard to measure
What are some examples of experimental and non-experimental methods?
Experimental Methods
o The psychology experiment
Non-Experimental Methods o Correlational method o Naturalistic observation o Case study o Survey
What is the goal of having psychology experiment? Elaborate more on the method.
The goal of the psychology experiment is to find out cause and effect.
o Well-controlled method and usually lab-based
o Can claim causal relationships with sequence of events: manipulate IV -> measure DV
What are the different variables of the psychology experiment
o Independent variable (manipulate)
o Dependent variable (measure)
o Control extraneous variable (confounding variable)
Elaborate more on the correlational method.
o Looks for relationships between variables: How are variables related to one another?
o No manipulation of variables but observe things as they are
o Not causation: third-variable problem and directionality
Why use the correlational method?
o Useful in initial, exploratory stages of research
o Inability to manipulate variables (unethical)
o See how naturally occurring variables relate in the real world
Elaborate more on naturalistic observation.
o Systematically observing individuals or groups either in their natural environment or in other situations
o Naturalistic observation: researcher studying behaviour as it occurs naturally without intervention
o Data can be quantitative or qualitative
Elaborate more on case study method.
o In-depth analysis of behaviour of a single person or small group of people
o Great for studying rare or unusual events
Elaborate more on survey method
o Provide a ‘snapshot’ of how people think and behave at a given point in time
o Ask individuals to respond to questions on a phenomenon under study
o Data can be quantitative or qualitative.
What does the survey method study and what is it interested in?
o Study relationships among variables and how attitudes and behaviours change over time
o Interested in people’s thoughts, opinions, feelings
What is the difference between population and sample?
o Population: an entire group that is of interest to the researcher
o Sample: smaller subgroup drawn from the population
What is high external validity?
High external validity is the ability to generalise findings from sample to a larger population -> depends on representativeness of the sample
What is a representative sample and what is a biased sample?
o Representative sample is a sample that closely matches the characteristics to the population
o Biased sample is a sample that is not representative of the bigger population
What are the two bias in survey method? Elaborate.
o Selection bias: procedure used results in over- or under-representation of population
o Response bias: unrepresentative section of population responds to recruitment efforts
