Research Methods 1+2 Flashcards
Advantages and disadvantages of Qualitative
Rich in detail
Difficult to analyse
Adv and disadvantage of quantitative
Easy to analyse
Lacks detail
Experimental methods
Laboratory -aim to establish cause and effect between IV and DV in a controlled environment using standardised procedures (easy to replicate)
Field aims to establish cause and effect between IV and DV in real life environments
Natural establish cause and effect relationship between IV and DV however IV changes naturally and is not manipulated.
Quasi established cause and effect relationship between IV and DV however the IV does not vary at all and is instead predetermined
Advantages and disadvantages of natural and quasi
QUASI and NATURAL.
A: High ecological validity
Provides opportunities to conduct research that may otherwise not take place
D: difficult to replicate
Random allocation to conditions is not possible
What are extraneous variables and the types of.
Any variable other than the IV that may affect the DV if not controlled.
Participant variable: any characteristics or traits of the participants
Investigator effects: any cues from investigator that may encourage certain behaviours
Environmental conditions- any aspect of the research environment or situation that may unfairly influence results
Demand characteristics- any cues that recall the aims of the study.
When controlling variables you must
Standardisation ensuring every aspect of the environment is the same for all participants this involves creating a standardised environment using standardised procedures (e.g. same materials) and instructions
Randomisation - ensuring all research choices are selected by chance rather than being determined by the researcher e.g. ensuring random allocation of participants to conditions
Confounding variables are
Any extraneous variable that is not controlled and may have spoiled the results as it is no longer clear where the change in DV was caused by the IV or the confounding variable- this makes it invalid
What is meant by validity
Validity refer to the accuracy -
Internal validity refers to whether the research measured what it intended to measures (controlling EV’s and CV)
External validity refers to whether the research findings can be generalised to the outside world and whether it is representative of people and places and times in outside world.
Real life settings (ecological validity)
Other people in target population (population validity)
Modern times and modern world (temporal validity)
Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency.
The results are reliable if when the study is replicated similar results are produced.
How can reliability be tested
Using test retest method
Involves: using the exact same study again (same participants and same conditions) to see if results are similar
