Research methods 1 Flashcards
what is an experiment?
where the iv is manipulated to measure its effect on the dv
what are aims?
identifies the purpose of the investigation
what is a hypothesis?
a prediction made by researcher of the outcome of the research, how the iv will affcet the dv
two-tailed
what is a non-directional hypothesis?
predicts that there will be a difference but does not specify what direction the difference will go in
one tailed
what is a directional hypothesis?
predicts there will be a difference and what direction it will be in
e.g more less, higher slower etc
what is an independent variable?
the variable that is manipulated
what is the dependent variable?
variable that is measured
what are levels of the iv?
the differnet groups or conditions in an experiment etc
what is validity?
measuring what we claim to measure
what does operationalise variables mean?
clearly defining the variables in terms of how they are being measured
what is internal vailidity?
a measure of whether the changes in the dv are soely due to changes in the iv and not other factors
what are extraneous variables?
all variables, which are not the iv but could affect the dv
extraneous variables
what are situational aviables?
aspects of the environemnt that may affect the participants behaviour e.g noise lighting temp etc
extraneous variables
what are particpiant vairables?
participants own individual differnces e.g age, gender, mood, intelligence etc
what are confounding variables?
ev that change systematically with the iv making us unsure of the true source of change to the dv
influence both the iv and dv to the extent where it may cause a diff in the dv which appears to be due to the iv
what are demand charecteristics?
leads to an ev- where the participants are affected by their awareness that they are part of a study
may try to please the researcher or deliberately skrew the results
what is social desirability?
particpants being worried about being negatively judged so threy behave intetionally well
what are investigator effects?
the researcher unintetionally or unconsicously influencing the outcome of any research they are conducting e.g facial expressions, appearence such as gender or race
what is standardistaion?
using the exact same formalised procedures and instructions for every single participant involved in the research
what is randomisation?
using chance to reduce the effects of bias from investigator effects by taking away control from the researcher
what is ecological validity?
the ability to generalise study findings to the real world
what are observations?
a study where the researcher watches and/or listens to particpants engaging in what behaviour being studied- no manipulation but can be used as a gathering tool in an experiment to measure the dv
observation
what is a naturalistic observation?
takes place in the setting where the target behaviour would usually occur
observations
what is a controlled observation?
takes place in a controlled environment e.g a lab
observations
what is an overt observation?
participants are aware that they are part of an observation
observations
what is a covert observation?
participants are not aware that they are part of an observation
observations
what is participant observation?
observer actively involved in the activities of the study
observations
what is non-participant observation?
researcher observing the behaviour from a distance meaning they are not actively involved
observation design
what are unstructured observations?
researcher records all behaviours that they see there is no system used with small scale observations
observation design
what are structured observations?
used with large scale observations- simplifying target behaviours using behavioural categories
observation design
what are behavioural categories?
structured observations
target behaviour observed is broken up into more observable and measurable components- these are recorded
e.g aggressive behaviour being broken down into punching swearing etc
observation design- sampling methods
what is the difference between time sampling and event sampling?
structured observations
event- involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs
time- recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame
why are self report techniques used?
best way to understand ppl behaviours is by simply asking them about it
includes interviews and questionares
self report techniques
what are questionares?
set of pre written questions used to assess thoughts and feelings
self report techniques
what is the differnce between open and closed questions?
open- no fixed answers giving respondent freedom to answer however they want producing qualitative data
closed- fixed number of responses limiting how much participant can give produces quantitiave data
types include:
likert scale, fixed choce and semantic differentiation