Research Methodd Flashcards
Why is it important to control extraneous variables?
They can effect the DV and so therefore the results
What are experimental methods?
What are the three types?
Refers to the method used to carry out the experiment
Lab, field and natural
What are laboratory experiments?
They are controlled experiments and the IV is manipulated/ ppts are usually randomly allocated
What are field experiments?
They are in a natural environment, the IV is manipulated/ ppts randomly allocated
What are natural experiments?
IVs are controlled naturall, experiment does not manipulate them/ ppts are not randomly allocated to conditions within the experiment
Give two advantages of a laboratory experiment
High levels of control (both of IV and EVs)
Replicate- high
Can conclude cause and effect
Give two disadvantages of a laboratory experiment
Can lack ecological validity
Higher chance of investigator and participant effect
Lack realism
Give two advantages of a field experiment
Can conclude cause and effect
Higher level of ecological validity
Reduction in participant effects
Give two disadvantages of field experiments
Less control over extraneous variables
Often more time consuming
Random allocation to conditions difficult
Give two advantages of a natural experiment
Higher levels of ecological validity
Unethical
Useful when impossible to control the IV
Give two disadvantages of a natural experiment
Low internal validity- extraneous variables cannot be controlled
Cannot conclude cause and effect
No random allocation to conditions
What is mundane realism?
The extent to which it is like real life
What are demand characteristics?
Ppt starts to understand what the experiment is about, this could lead to a change of behaviour
What are investigator effects?
Something the investigator might do to influence the ppts to effect their behaviour
What is the dependent variable?
What is the independent variable?
What are extraneous variables?
DV- what you measure
IV- something you can change/manipulate
EV- extra variables that are better to control and they effect other variables and the results
What are the ethical considerations for lab experiments?
Deception- should always debrief them but can’t always give full consent.
Shouldn’t be in harm
Give some ethical considerations of a field experiment
Harder to get informed consent
Protection for harm?
Can’t break confidentiality
Give some ethical considerationa for a natural experiment
Harder to get informed consent
Protection from harms can’t deceive
Privacy
Describe what a questionnaire is
Which factors should be considered when designing a questionnaire?
SELF REPORT TECHNIQUES
A series of questions designed to find out information Qualitative Age range How many questions What type of question it is (open/close)
Explain what an interview is
Give some factors of what should be taken into consideration when designing an interview
A series of face to face questions What information you need How long to make it The age of ppts Needs to be standardised-'otherwise can't compare data General sim Structured questions Open questions
What is qualitative data?
What is quantitive data?
Data in the form of words/views/opinions
Data in the form of numbers and can analyse data from a questionnaire
Give two weakness of qualitative data
Give one strength
More detailed
Could go of track
Time consuming
Hard to analyse
Give two strengths of quantitive data
More time consuming
Easier to analyse
Less detailed
What is an open question?
Allows the responder to write their own answer. In words. Produces qualitative data
Give three advantages of open ended questions
Provides rich, detailed data
Allows the responder to express what they really think
It is more realistic
Give two disadvantage of open ended question
Nature means that data can be collected can make analysis different
What are closed questions?
When the participant chooses their response from a limited number of fixed responses predetermined by the researcher
Give an advantage of a closed question
Provides quantatitve data which can be statistically changed
Give 3 disadvantages of closed questions
Artificial: questioning is not realistic
Loses the richness of qualitative responses
Not clear as to how the responder has understood the question
What is a naturalistic observation?
OBSERVATIONAL METHODS
An observation carried out in an everyday setting, in which the investigator does not interfere in any way but merely observes that behaviour in question
What is a controlled observation?
OBSERVATIONAL METHODS
A form of investigation in which behaviour is observed but under conditions where certain variables have been organised by the researcher
Give two strengths of a natural observation
Behaviour is natural
Can generalise to everyday life
More true
Give two weaknesses of a natural observation
Might not see behaviour that you expected
Might ruin observing extraneous variables
Give two strengths of a controlled observation
More control over extraneous variables
Able to focus on something specific
Give two weaknesses of a controlled observation
Less ecological validity than a natural one
What are behavioural categories?
A specific type of behaviour which is defined before the study takes place. It allows researchers to focus their investigation on a specific behaviour in order to gather the most valid and reliable data.
What are participant observations
What are non participant observations
Researcher is involved
Researcher is not directly involved- observed from outside
What is observer bias?
Observers expectations effect what they see or hear, this reduces the validity of the observations.
What is inner observer reliability?
The extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observe rites of behaviour
What is time sampling?
An observational technique in which the observer records behaviour in a given time frame, e.g noting what a target individual is doing every 15 seconds to 20 seconds or one minute. The observe may select one or more behavioural categories to
What is event sampling?
An observational technique in which a count is kept for the number of times a certain behaviour occurs,
What is overt observation?
When participants know they are being observed
+not being deceived
- ecological validity
What is a covert observation?
When participants don’t know they are being observed
+more realistic
- unethical
What is an aim?
A general statement about the purpose of the investigation
What is a hypothesis?
A precise, testable statement about the exacted outcome of an investigation
What is a one tailed directional hypothesis?
A directional hypothesis states which direction the results will go in and usually contains the words ‘there will be…’
What is a non directional hypothesis?
Is less clear of the direction the results will go in and tends to use the word ‘There will be a difference ‘
What is an extraneous variable and why is it important to control them?
A variable that can influence the DV, it can change the result, can change the cause and effect
What is a experimental design?
Once the researcher has chosen the experimental method which best suits the nature of the study, they then have to choose what type of design it will have.
What is repeated measures?
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
The same ppts are used in both conditions
What are independent groups?
Ppts are randomy allocated to different groups which represent the different conditions
What are matched pairs?
Pairs of ppts are closely matched and are then randomly allocated to one of the experimental conditions.
What are the strengths of repeated measures?
Less Particioants
Less time
Ppts variables are eliminated
What are the weaknesses of repeated measures?
More than one stimulus
The order effect
Increased chance of demand characteristics
What is the order effect?
When the order of the the experiment effects performance, so therefore effects the results
What is counterbalancing?
An experimental technique used to overcome order effects when using a repeated measures design, counterbalancing ensures that each condition is tested first or second equal in equal amounts
What is opportunity sampling?
SAMPLING TECHNQIUES
consists of people available to the researcher at the time of carrying out the research (most convenient)
What is volunteer sampling?
SAMPLING TECHNQIUE
When the ppts gathered have volunteered to take part e.g via a poster advertising (self selecting)
What is random sampling?
When ppts are picked without strategy e.g randomly picked out of a hat
Give some an advantage and disadvantage of opportunity sampling
This is the easiest for the researcher as you get the first suitable ppts you can find
Biased- small part of the population/ limited/ less valid/ can’t generalise
Give an advantage of volunteer sampling
Give a disadvantage of volunteer sampling
Good variables of ppts/ less chance of withdrawal
Biased in that those stat are more likely to be motivated with extra time/ need money will be similar- volunteer bias (population validity)
Give an advantage and disadvantage of random sampling
Unbiased- all members have an equal chance of being selecte
May take time- list of population and then contact those selected
What is stratified sampling?
Give an advantage and disadvantage of stratified sampling
A sample in which sub groups are identified and ppts are chosen randomly from each sub group
+representative and proportional
- time consuming
What is systematic sampling?
Give an advantage and disadvantage
When the researcher used a pre determined system to randomly select ppt e.g choosing the 1st 4th and 8th person from a list
+unbiased- selected using an objective system
- not truly unbiased/ random less you select a number using a random method and start with this person, and the select ever nth person
What is reliability?
How consistent the results are/ can they be repeated
What is validity?
Whether an experiment can measure what it is supposed to be measure, cause and effect
What is interval validity
The degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation rather than extraneous variables
What is external validity?
The degree to which a research finding can be generalised
What is ecological validity?
How much the findings can be used to other settings
What is population validity
How much findings can be used to generalised to other people
what are demand characteristics?
A cue that makes ppts unconsciously aware of the aims of a study or helps ppts work out what the researcher expects to find
What are investigator effects?
Anything that an investigator does that has an effect on a participant performance in a study other than what is intended
Direct effects- investigator interacting with the ppts
Indirect- investigator the study
What is social desirability?
When ppts answer questions or act in a certain way that will be favoured by others or to get the response that the researcher wants
How can demand and investigator effects be controlled?
Using a single/ double blind effect
Single- ppt doesn’t know the aim of the study
Double- both don’t know
What is a pilot study?
A small scale study conducted on a small sample, it helps the researcher to identity any potential problems with the research method ect
Why is it important to carry out a pilot study before conducting the actual experiment?
So that the hypothesis and the method is correct, to test the reliability of the data ect
What are the five different sampling methods?
Volunteer/ oppourinity/ stratified/ random / systematic
How do researchers select which behaviours to observe in an observation?
they use sampling procedures-
Which method should be used in an observation to select behaviours?
in most observations there would be too much data to record, therefore a systematic method should be used
Give two examples of sampling procedures
time sampling and event sampling
What is time sampling?
recording behaviours in a given time frame e.g noting what a target individual is doing every 30 seconds / observers might tick from one or two categories
What is event sampling?
Counting the number of times a certain behaviour occurs from a target within a given time frame/ e.g counting how many times someone smiles in ten minutes
Give three strengths of time sampling
they had time to record what they have seen/ it is convenient/ it is less time consuming/ can observe more than one behaviour/ more data
Give a weakness of time sampling?
Might miss other behaviours outside of that time frame
Give a strength of event sampling
you get in depth detail about the specific behaviour/ lots of data about that behaviour
Give two weaknesses of event sampling
might miss other behaviours if there are a lot at the same tine/ more time consuming
What is reliability?
consistency, the consistency of measuremnts/ if measurement produces same data the study is reliable
What are two ways of assessing reliability during observations?
comparing the data from two or more observes/ using behavioural categories
What is inter-observer reliability?
the extent to which observes agree with eachother about the behaviour they observes/ the consistency of data to two or more observers
what is a way of improving reliability during observations?
ensure all behavioural categories are specifically operationalized to ensure there is no confusion
Give two examples of self report techniques
interviews and questionnaires
Give a way of assessing/ improving reliability in self report techniques?
test-retest reliability/ do the test/ retest the results to see if they are reliable after short interval to see if results are the same as last time
Give a way of assessing/ improving reliability in interviews?
using a second interviewer/ could ask second interviewer to do the same interview/
What does assessing/ improving reliability ensure for interviews?
ensures no research bias had occurred and that a comparison can be made
Give a way of assessing/ improving reliability in self report techniques? the third way
reduce ambiguity/ questions should not be confusing to read or answer/ some Qs may need to be rewritten if they are ambigious
What are the three examples that could effect internal validity?
social desirability/ demand characteristics/ investigator effects
What is social desirability?
when ppts will alter their behaviour to make themselves more desirable to the study
what are demand characteristics
when the ppts know what the study is about so they alter behaviour/ picked up aim
What are investigator effects?
Something the investigator does/says that can effect the behaviour of ppts
What is temporal validity?
Whether it can be generalised to other periods of time
What is face validity?
Whether a measure looks like it is measuring what it is meant to measure
What does face validity require?
Intuitive measure,net
What is concurrent validity?
Whether the current measure is accurate when compared to previous validated, measure
When can concurrent validity be confirmed?
If the data gathered is the same using both measures
How can quantitative data be analysed?
Using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion
How is qualitative data analysed?
Content analysis
What does content analysis do?
Anyalyses the content of something
What is the aim of content analysis?
To identify patterns and trends/ may look to discover different themes (thematic analysis)
What is step 1 of content analysis?
Sampling the data (choosing which data to analyse/ select context to use)
What is step 2 of carrying out content analysis?
Coding the data/ using behavioural catergories to code certain behsviifs
What is step 3 of content analysis?
Representing the data
How do you represent the data using the quantitative method?
Counting the instances in each category
How do you represent the data using the qualitiatuve method?
Describing the instance in each carver oh
Why is it good that copies and duplicates can be created for content analyse?
Other people can analyse and assess it/ can be replicated which gives it high inter rate reliability
Why is it good that content analysis comes from real observations from real people?
The content then has high ecological validly because it is true to life, the results can then measure what they are supposed to measure
Why is content analysis subject to bias?
Often there is only one researcher analysing the content so could be researcher bias/ interpretative and subjective/ observer bias
Why are there less chance of investigator effects in content analysis?
The participants don’t need to be present/ this makes it cheaper and easier to carry out
What is the problem of analysing material/ content from other cultures?
Could create culture bias sue to ethnocentrism/ might find findings more negative/
How is content analysis limiting?
You are limited by the availability of material that you have which may not reflect reality
What is a paradigm?
A shared set of beliefs/ assumptions about a paticular subject matter
What is a Paragdigm shift?
When these beliefs change
When is thematic analysis used?
When analysing qualitative data in order to identify themes
What are the four stage of thematic analysis?
Read every transcript carefully/ break the data up in smaller units and code the units/ combine the smaller codes into larger themes/ identify the most common themes
What does reading every transcript involve?
All items are included and info is often reread/ trying to understand the meaning communicated and the perspective of the ppt
What will the researcher do when reviewing the data?
Will develop some idea of codes- each unit will have a code
How are larger themes created?
grouping together the smaller codes which then allows stances to becoun ted
How does the researcher identify the most common themes?
can make a conclusion and summarise the data by presenting it into tables
What are the five features of scientific knowledge?
empirical methods/ objectivity/ replicability/ theory construction/ hypothesis testing
what is science?
A systematic approach to creating knowledge
What are empirical methods?
When information is gained through direct observation or experiment rather than from beliefs- info is meaningful
What is objectivity?
when data is not affected by the expectations of the researcher/ data should be measureable
What is replicability?
whether it can be repeated
What is theory construction?
Building of a theory-gather all facts
What is hypothesis testing?
modifying hypothesis to fit theory/
What is Induction?
Induction involves reasoning from the ‘particular to the general’ i.e starts with an observation and then a theory is generated
What is deduction?
Reasoning from the ‘general to the particular’ ie. starts with a theory and looks for observation to support it
Give an example of an inductive construction
Pavlov observing dogs salivating and then generates his theory
Give an example of an deductive construction
researchers accept Darwin’s thoeu and seek evidende to support it
What is probability?
A numerical measure of likelihood that a certain event will happen
What is significance?
A statistical term used to indicate whether the research findings are sufficiently strong enough to reject the null hypothesis
What is a type 1 error?
When a researcher rejects a null hypothesis when there is one
What is a type 2 error?
When a researcher accepts a null hypothesis (there is no significance between the two variables) but this is not true
What is a null hypothesis?
A null hypothesis is a hypothesis that says there is no statistical significance between the two variables in the hypothesis. It is the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to disprove
When are statistical tests used in Psychology?
They are used to determine whether a significant difference or correlation exists
what are the four types of statistical tests which test for a difference between variables?
MannWhItney, Wilcoxon, unrelated TTest, related T-Test
What order do induction scientific processes go?
Observations/ testable hypothesis/ conduct a study to test the hypothesis/ draw conclusions/ propose theory
What is needed in a report investigation?
The abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion and references
What is an abstract?
Allows the reader to get a quick picture of the study and the results/ a summary of the research
What is an introduction in a report investigation?
The section of the report that allows the reader to understand why the research is being conducted and an indicator of the result/ includes aim and hypothesis/ often uses previous research as their rationale for doing the investigation
What is the method in a report investigation?
the section that informs the reader in detail of how the research was conducted/ the design, the ppts, procedures
What are the results in a report investigation?
allows the reader to gain an insight of what was found/ specific details usually in the form of statistics, test reports or results from content analysis
What is the discussion part of the report investigation?
informs the reader of a more detailed account of what they wanted/ what could be different next time/ allows that researcher to interrupt the results into a sumar/
What are references?
allows the reader to access wider reading if they ish/ provides full detail of all sources/ prevents plagiarism
What is nominal data?
when data is represented in the form of categories e.g how many girls or boys are in your year group
What is ordinal data?
When data is ordered in some way- does nor have equal intervals between each unit e.g a questionnaire
What is interval data?
When data is measured on a scale/ based on numerical scales that include units of equal, defined size e.g temperature
What are three types of numerical data?
ordinal, interval and nominal
