Research Method Key Vocab AO1 Flashcards
Aim
States intent of study in general terms
Hypothesis
Prediction of investigation outcome that references independent and dependent variables
Independent Variable
Characteristics manipulated or changed by researcher
Dependent Variable
Variable measured in experiment
Null Hypothesis
No difference or no relationship between variables
Eg) predicting no effect
Operational Variable
Measurable variables
Extraneous Variable
All variables that are not the IV but may effect the DV
Confounding Variable
Not the IV but does vary systematically with it.
Cause change in DV
(controlling EV)
Standardisation
All aspects of environment standardised as much as possible
(controlling EV)
Single Blind
Participant has no knowledge of what to expect for outcome
(controlling EV)
Double Blind
Participant has no knowledge of study and experimenter doesn’t know the aim
(controlling EV)
Random Allocation
Randomly allocate participant to each condition of IV
Situational Variables
Factors in environment that can unintentionally effect DV
Eg) noise, temp, lighting etc
Participant Variable
Individual characteristics of each participant that may impact how they respond to experiment
Demand Characteristics
Participants finding out the aim of experiment and changing behaviour
Investigator/Experimenter Variable
Experimenter conveys to participant how they should behave
Eg) smile and nod at participant when they do what they’re expected
Order Effects
Any effect that comes from participants doing both conditions of experiment
Eg) boredom, improved performance due to practice
Social Desirability
When participant wants to come across well to researchers
Eg) not complete questionnaire truthfully about prejudice to seem more moral
Placebo Effect
Brain tricking people into thinking they feel a certain way due to drug working, as they expect to feel this way. Mind over matter
Participant Observation
researcher joins in becoming part of group they are studying
Non Participant Observation
Researcher remains detacthed from observation
Structured Observation
Clearly defined way of measuring behaviour
Unstructured Observation
No set categories to look for
Observer Bias
Only see what you want to see based on prior knowledge or subjective feelings
Naturalistic Observation
takes place in setting where behaviour naturally occurs. Nothing manipulated
Ecological Validity
population Validity
Historical Validity
Measures how generalisable experiment findings are to;
real world
other people
other times
Controlled Observation
Standardised procedure
Covert Observation
Participant unaware that they are being watched
Overt Observation
Aware of being watched
Event Sampling
Record observation when target event behaviour occurs
Time Sampling
recording all behaviours during specified time period
Counterbalancing
Balances out order effects.
Half do condition 1 other half do condition 2 first.
Standardised Instructions
Same instructions for all participants
Ensuring Anonymity
Participants know results anonymous
Vicarious reinforcement
indirect learning through others experience of reward and punishment
Modelling
Someone influential on individual
Limitation
Observe and copy behaviour
identification
Wanting to be like role model depending on extent of similarities
Retention
Memory of behaviour must be formed to be performed by observer
Motivation
Behaviour likely to be imitated by observer if perceived reward outweighs perceived cost
Attention
Pivotal in whether behaviour has influence on others imitation
reproduction
recreation of behaviour
Descriptive statistics
Anything that describes data
Standard deviation
Measures amount of variation from mean
What does a small standard deviation suggest?
Participants respond in similar way
Test was reliable
Conditional probability
Probability of an event if something else occurs
Sampling bias
When sample does not reflect characteristics of target population
Opportunity sampling
Uses people from target population willing to take part in
Systematic sampling
Choose subject in orderly way from target population
Stratified sampling
Identify people making up target population and work out proportions needed for representative samples
Random sampling
Everyone in target population has equal chance of selection
Volunteer sampling
People who offer to be in study
When do ethical issues exist?
When there is a conflict between participants rights and researcher gaining valuable findings
Cost benefit analysis
Comparing potential cost and benefit of behaviour possible to predict which behaviour will occur
Inter-rater reliability
Level of agreement between different ‘raters’
How do you obtain good IRR?
Compare and agree on categories to use
How do you check for IRR?
Conduct content analysis separately and compare tallies to check for reliable ratings
Statistical tests check for correlation
Peer review
Where research is judged by experts in same field of study
Why is peer review necessary?
To avoid fraud and false information
Fabrication
Making up data
Falsification
Changing data
Plagiarism
Presenting someone else’s work as your own without their consent
Scientific fraud
Act of deception and violating codes of scholarly conduct
Publication bias
When outcome of research influences weather to publish it
The file-drawer effect
Researchers not publishing studies that have no statistical significance
Inferential tests
Mathematical tests allowing to accept or reject hypothesis
Significant
Strong enough to accept hypothesis
Interval data
Standardised measurement Eg) kg,cm,secs
Ordinal data
Subjective, ranked in order Eg) scale 1-10
Nominal data
Category and frequency
Eg) tally, tickbox, bar graph
Related design
Matched pairs or repeated measures
Unrelated design
Independent groups
Parametric test
Normal distribution (internal only)
Independent groups
Participants experience one type of IV
Matched pairs
Participant’s experience one type of IV
Repeated measures
Participant experiences both conditions of IV
Lab study
Manipulated IV
Artificial environment
Field study
Manipulated IV
Natural environment
Natural study
Non-manipulated IV
Natural environment
Quasi Study
Non-manipulated IV
6 ethical issues are
Confidentiality
Deception
Debrief
Consent
Withdrawal
Participant harm
Content analysis
Indirect observational method used to analyse human behaviour through studying human artefacts
How do you perform a content analysis?
- Decide a research question
- Select sample
- Coding
- Work through data by tally number of times pre determined categories appear
- Data analysis to search for patterns
What is an advantage of content analysis?
External validity because artefacts taken from real world
What is a disadvantage of content analysis?
Researcher/observer bias
Basic design
comparisons between values of IV
Systematic review
Psychologists review studies that have already been done
Meta-analysis
Calculating overall finding on the basis of multiple previous studies
Positive correlation
Scores rise and fall together
Negative correlation
Scores rise and fall in opposite directions
Structured interview
Set questions with limited answers
Semi structured interview
Set questions but allow follow up questions
Unstructured interview
No set questions and detailed answers
Fixed choice
Tick box that applies to
Likert scale
Indicates agreement with statement
Rating scale
Strength of feeling towards topic
What is an experiment?
Controlled situation where researcher manipulates IV to find effect on DV
Type l error
False positive
Type ll error
False negative
Concurrent validity
Test produces the same result to benchmark test
Face validity
Being able to tell what test is supposed to measure
Ecological validity
How well test reflects real life situation
Temporal validity
How well test results stand over time
External reliability
Test-retest should produce the same results
Internal reliability
Split half method to find strong positive correlation between both halfs
Inter-observer reliability
Same research for all participants
Standardised procedure
Reductionism
Reduced explanation into a simple one
