Research method Flashcards
What is a lab experiment
Conducted in a controlled environment where IV observed by researcher to see effects on the DV
What is a field experiment
In a natural environment, IV still manipulated but done in an environment which is typical for behaviour being studied
What is a natural experiment
In natural environment but IV not directly manipulated but naturally occurring
What is a quasi experiment
IV based on existing differences between people all naturally occurring
Define aim
Identifies purpose of investigation
Define independent variable
Thing that is manipulated/changed
Define dependent variable
What’s measured
Define extraneous variable
Anything that impacts the DV that’s not the IV
What is operationalism
Explaining how the variables could be manipulated/measured
Define hypothosis
Testable statement often generated from a theory with either a predicted difference or predicted relationship between variables
What is a directional hypothosis
States the way they predict the results will go
What is a non-directional hypotheses
States there will be a difference but not what that will be
What is a null-hypothesis
no difference or difference down to chance
What are the 5 ethics a study must have
Deception, withdrawal, consent, protection from harm, privacy
What is Demand characteristics
Participants acting how they think they are supposed to act
What is a single blind design
Participants unaware of researchers aims
what is deception
lying about studys aim
what is the indirect investigator effect
cues from investigator that encourages curtain behaviour
what is a double blind trial
ppt and conductor both blind to aims and hypothosis
what are situational variables
features of research situation that influences behaviour
what are extranous variables
found beforehand and accounted for
what are confounding variables
didnt account for or eliminate beforehand that damages validity and changes DV
what is a pilot study
small scale study done before main study to look for improvments
what is a control group
neutral group to formulate comparisons with or set a baseline
what is experimental design
way participants are used or arranged in experiments
what are independent group studies
study with 2 separate groups each doing different conditions of the study
pros of independent group studies
- order effects avoided as pps not used multiple times
- data collection less time consuming
- harder to guess aim
cons of independent group studies
- high recruitment needed
- participant variables decreases validity
- usually more expensive
what is a repeated measure study
all pps do all conditions
pros of repeated measure study
- cheaper and quicker
- less effect of participant variables
cons of repeated measure study
- if pps drop out all data has to go
- time consuming
- boredom as do multiple tasks
- work out aim of study
what is a matched pairs study
pps paired together on a variable based on study
one pps then allocated to different condition
pros of matched pairs study
- order effects minumised
- tailored participants
what is a population
large group researcher is interested in studying
cons of matched pairs studies
- can never match exactly
- time consuming
- expensive
*complex to organise
what is a sample
small portion of target population
what is random sampling
all have equal chance of selection
evaluate random sampling
- unbiased
- hard and time consuming to do
- could be unrepresentative
- selected pps could refuse participation
what is systematic sampling
every nth member selected from list
evaluate systematic sampling
- researcher has no control
- time consuming
- participation refusal
what is stratified sampling
researcher identifies subgroup and randomly chooses a sample of them
evaluate stratified sampling
- representative so can generalise
- subgroup cant represent ways people are different
what is opportunity sampling
select anyone willing and able
evaluate opportunity sampling
- convenient
- cheaper and quicker
- could be unrepresentative so cannot generalise
- researcher has complete control
what is volunteer sampling
participants select themselves
evaluate volunteer sampling
- easy to do
- quick
- higher engagement from pps
- attract those who want to please researcher
what are naturalistic observations
naturally occurring variables but no IV
pros of naturalistic observations
- high external validity
- generalisable
cons of naturalistic observations
- lack of control
- replication hard
- uncontrolled extraneous variables
what is a controlled observations
some variables controlled by researcher
done in lab
pros of controlled observations
- repeatable
cons of controlled observations
- findings cannot be applied in real life settings
what are covert observations
pps dont know being observed
pros of covert observations
- natural behaviour increases validity
cons of covert observations
- ethical issues - need to be in public places
what are overt observations
pps know being observed
pros overt observations
more ethical as have concent
cons overt observations
may behave differently if know being watched
what are participant observations
observer takes part in behaviour being studied
pros of participant observations
experiencing it first hand so higher validity
cons of participant observations
may identify too strongly with group and loose focus
what are non-participant observations
observer just watches behaviour
pros non-participant observations
easier to keep objectives in mind
cons of non-participant observations
may miss insights into behaviours that can only be found from inside
what is event sampling
counting the number of times a curtain behaviour occurs in an individual
pro of event sampling
good when target behaviour happens infrequently
con of event sampling
if event too complex important details could be overlooked
what is time sampling
recording behaviours in a given time frame
pro of time sampling
reduces number of observations that have to be made
con of time sampling
could be unrepresentative sample
how can you graphically present data
- summary table
- bar chart
- scattergrams
- histogram
- line graph
what is qualitative data
thoughts feelings and opinions
what is quantitative data
numerical data
pros of qualitative data
- more detail
- ideas more clear
- more meaningful insight so increases external validity
cons of qualitative data
- hard to analyse
- patterns and comparisons hard
- bias interpretations
pros of quantitative data
- easily to analyse
- less open for bias
cons of quantitative data
- data narrower in meaning
- low external validity
pros of correlations
- quick and economical
- can be used when unethical to manipulate variables to see if affect each other
- research can be justified if correlation is found
cons of correlation
- doesn’t determine cause and effect relationships
what is correlation coefficient
number representing strength of correlation