research / methodology

Question 1

what is a law? and example

Answer 1

DESCRIBES the behaviour of something occuring without explaining why it occurs. It governs a single action e.g. Law of Effect, Thorndike (1898)

Question 2

what is a theory? and example

Answer 2

provides an EXPLANATION of why and how something happens. Theory is more complex and dynamic than a law. e.g. Theory of Social Impact, Latane (1981)

Question 3

What is a null hypothesis

Answer 3

A statement of no effect. There is no relationship between two variables. The independent variable has had no effect on the dependent variable.

Question 4

what is an alternative hypothesis

Answer 4

there is a relationship between two variables. independent variable does have an effect on dependent variable

Question 5

what is a directional hypothesis

Answer 5

States that a relationship between two variables does exist and you are specific about
what the relationship is. It is a 1-tailed alternative hypothesis

Question 6

what is the principle of parsimony

Answer 6

Parsimony is where you choose the least complicated explanation for an observation.
It is the notion that the simplest answer is often the best.

Question 7

what is a falsifiabilitty

Answer 7

Theories and Laws must be falsifiable. That is, there has to be the potential to test
and disprove a theory or law – the potential to find evidence against them. If you
can’t then we wouldn’t consider them scientific theories or laws.

Question 8

example of falsifiable theory

Answer 8

“All men are immortal”. This is easy to test. We only need one person to pass away
and we can prove that this statement is wrong

Question 9

example of non-falsifiable theory

Answer 9

“All people are mortal”. No amount of observation could ever demonstrate that this
statement might be untrue. Perhaps one or more people could live forever but we
wouldn’t be here to know if that was the case. We would also have to carry out
observations forever to test this statement, which no one is in the position to do.

Question 10

name 4 quasi-experimental methods used in psychological research and example study from each one

Answer 10

1) Observational Studies (e.g., Jane Goodall)
2) Case Studies (e.g., Freud, split brain)
3) Surveys and Questionnaires (e.g., Kinsey Reports) or (election polls, Landon vs. Roosevelt 1936)
4) Correlational Studies (e.g., parental warmth and adjustment levels of children)

Question 11

if quasi-experiments are so difficult to interpret and have no casual conclusion why do psychologists do them?

Answer 11

There are many areas of interest where it would not be ethically sound to ever put
people in those positions. As such we study people who already find themselves in
those situations and observe them. For example, looking at the impact of smoking or
taking drugs on prenatal development. It would not be appropriate / safe to ask a
group of women to smoke or take drugs while they were pregnant just to see what
effect that might have on their children. Sometimes it is also difficult to create the
behaviours you are interested in. For example, looking at different parenting styles.
It would be hard to ask a group of people to parent in the way you direct them to (all
the time). It would be easier to observe the parenting styles of a group of mums and
dads and classify what style they were using after your observations.

Question 12

what is the key feature of experiments that distinguish them from other experiments

Answer 12

Experiments examine cause and effect relationships by controlling as many aspects of
the study as possible. None of the other techniques discussed in class can do this.

Question 13

even experiments have problems, name 3

Answer 13

• replication is needed
• experimenter effects could possibly influence results
• results are open to interpretation

Question 14

why have a control group?

Answer 14

A control group allows us to have a base recording that we can compare our
experimental group to. A control group and an experimental group are treated in the
same way except for the variable that we are manipulating (independent variable).
The experimental group is exposed to it, while the control group isn’t. That way, if
we do find a difference between the two groups at the end of the study, we can feel
confident it is because of our manipulation.

Question 15

what is. a variable

Answer 15

a characteristic that can be measured across people/animals

Question 16

what is the i.v. (+ examples)

Answer 16

factor that is being manipulated by experimenter e.g. hours of sleep, amount of exercise…

Question 17

what is the d.v. (+ examples)

Answer 17

factor that is being measured by the experiment e.g. performance/speed of completing task

Question 18

what is an operational definition and why are they important?

Answer 18

It is a definition of the variables in your research so that readers are very clear about
what exactly you are investigating. Many variables can be explained or defined in
different ways so it is essential that you let the reader know how you have defined the
variables in your study. That way they know exactly what you mean and what you
are measuring (e.g. regular exercise = define regular? 3 hours a week.. etc?)

Question 19

what is random assignment…

Answer 19

Random Assignment: participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of
the groups in the study. This helps to ensure that any pre-existing differences
between the participants are balanced across all conditions. It reduces the effects of
random variables (such as people characteristics like motivation levels or the mood of
the participants), making you more confident that your results are true effects. Useful
it you use a between-subjects design

Question 20

what is counter-balancing…

Answer 20

participants carry out the treatment conditions in different orders.
This is a technique to overcome order effects and confounding variables (those are
variables that change systematically with the independent variable). Useful if you use
a within-subjects design

Question 21

(+) and (-) of observational studies

Answer 21

(+)
- natural setting
- overcomes ethical concerns
(-)
-influencing behaviour
- lack of control over situation
- no casual conclusion

Question 22

(+) and (-) of interviews & questionnaires

Answer 22

(+)
- large numberd, quickly
- study attitudes/opinions ( not observable like emotions/feelings)
- standardised format
(-)
- unrepresentative sample/ sample erros
- rely on self-report
- interviewer bias
- no cause and effect

Question 23

(+) and (-) of case studies

Answer 23

(+)
- intensive, large
-rare phenomena
- support intervention programs
- challenge theories
(-)
- low generalisation
- lacks replication
- cannot draw solid conclusions

Question 24

(+) and (-) of correlational studies

Answer 24

(+)
- quantify relationship between variables
- make predicitions
- ethically sound
- identify real world relationships
(-)
-generalisability?
- can’t imply causation

Question 25

what are true experiments ?

Answer 25

a tool for examining cause & effect relationships. we control for aspects of the situation through manipulation.

Question 26

What is the acronym ‘WEIRD’.

Answer 26

Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic

Question 27

what are the “NOIR’ and what central tendency is good for each?

Answer 27

Nominal - (mode)
Ordinal - (median)
Interval & Ratio - (mean)

Question 28

what are the steps in the scientific process?

Answer 28

1) Initial observation -> question
2) Form hypothesis
3) Test hypothesis
4) Analyse data
5) Further research and theory building
6) New hypotheses derived from theory
e.g. Kitty Genovese, then “bystander effect” / “diffusion of responsibility”

Question 29

what is a confounding variable

Answer 29

One or more variables not under experimenter’s control , which vary systematically with IV thereby decreases experimenters ability to isolate cause & effect.

Question 30

What is a moderator variable

Answer 30

An additional variable which determines when the experimental variable does or does not have an effect. A mod. var. changes relationship between d.v and i.v

Question 31

what is a random variable (extraneous/nuisance)

Answer 31

a variable other than the I.v. Which affects the d.v.
(Person variables e.g. motivation/mood)