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Psychology A LEVEL > Research methods > Flashcards

Research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an experiment?

A

An investigation where a hypotheses can be scientifically tested.

  • The independent variable (cause) is manipulated and the dependent variable is measured.
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2
Q

Independent variable

A

What we are manipulating

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3
Q

Dependent variable

A

What we are measuring

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4
Q

What can only experiments do?

A

Measure cause and effect

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5
Q

The 4 types of experiment

A
  • Natural
  • Quasi
  • Laboratory
  • Field
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6
Q

what are laboratory experiments?

A
  • Occur in a controlled settin like a lab, participants are randomly allocated to conditions
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7
Q

Laboratory strengths

A
  • Possible to control environment closely making replication easier and incresing validity
  • Participants able to consent as aware they are being studied
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8
Q

Laboratory weakesses

A
  • Artificial environment so behaviour lacks realism
  • Demand charactersitics as they know they are being observed, lowering internal validity
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9
Q

what are field experiments?

A
  • Take place in participants natural environment
  • participants can be randomly allocated to conditions
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10
Q

Field experiment strengths

A
  • Realistic behaviour increasing ecological validity
  • Less prone to demand charactersitcs as do not know they are being studied improving the experimental validity
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11
Q

Field experiment weaknesses

A
  • Environment less controlled so more extraneous variables affecting results
  • May be unaware of being studied so hard to gain consent
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12
Q

what are natural experiments?

A
  • Can take place in labs or natural settings
  • IV controlled by someone other than researcher
  • Often involves exloiting an event that’s happening
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13
Q

Natural experiment strengths

A
  • Change investigated in the IV is not being controlled by experimenter, so removes experimenter bias increasing the validity
  • IV happens naturally so changes in DV are more likely to be realistic and not artificially created
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14
Q

Natural experiments weaknesses

A
  • Experimenter cannot directly control the IV so do not know how reliable the change is and therefore cannot infer with cause and effect
  • Lack of control in changing the IV means higher chance of confounding variables influencing results
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15
Q

what are quasi experiments?

A
  • Can take place in labs or natural settings
  • IV is a variable that occurs naturally in the population and cannot be manipulated
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16
Q

Quasi experiment strengths

A
  • IV is naturally occuring difference between people so changes in the DV have more realism
  • Participants likely to be aware they are being studied making consent easier to gain and so fewer ethical issues
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17
Q

Quasi weaknesses

A
  • Only used when therre is an obvious natural difference between individuals so are difficult to set up
  • Data has little mundane realism as task may be unrealistic
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18
Q

Types of observational techniques

A
  • Naturalistic or controlled
  • Participant or non-participant
  • Covert and overt
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19
Q

What are naturalistic observations

A
  • Conducted in the real world in the location where the behaviour being studied takes place
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20
Q

What are controlled observations

A
  • Conducted under lab conditions and often involve the researcher setting up a situation for the participants to interact with
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21
Q

Evaluation of controlled and natural observations

A
  • As control increases, so does reliability as research is set up to watch for certain behaviours
  • Results in loss of ecological validity because participants not in their natural environment and so behaviour might be affected
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22
Q

What is participant observation

A

Involves researcher becoming part of group being observed. They can record data covertly or overtly

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23
Q

What is non-participant observation

A

Done when researcher outside of the group being observed

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24
Q

Evaluation of participant and non-participant observation

A
  • Data must be recorded accurately which is difficult when observing many at once
  • Process affected by subjective bias as different researchers may interpret behavours differently.
  • If participant observation, difficult to make notes as may be watched
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25
Q

What is covert observation and ethical issue

A
  • Participants do not know they are being watched
  • Cannot gain informed consent
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26
Q

What is an overt observation and an ethical issue?

A
  • Participants aware they are being studied
  • Consent obtained may lead to decreased validity of results as participants may show demand characteristics
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27
Q

What are the 2 types of self-report techniques

A
  • Interview
  • Questionnaires
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28
Q

What are interviews

A

Described as conversations with a purpose as normally done face to face

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29
Q

Design of interviews

A
  • Structured - questions set in advance and order does not vary. Best used when making comparisons between participants by asking the same question
  • Unstructured - looser, are questions but can deviate from them based on answers, leading the interview in a different direction. Best for exploratory and depth interviews
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30
Q

Evaluation of an interview

A
  • It is possible to get in depth data
  • Time-consuming to gather data as each participant will be interviewed on their own, smaller sample size so less generalisable
  • Time and effort into transcribing data into written format
  • Subjective analysis of data so less reliable
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31
Q

What are questionnaires

A
  • Series of questions that can be set in different formats and require participant to give a written answer
  • Can be opened or closed questions
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32
Q

What are open questions in questionnaires

A
  • Allow participant to reply any way they choose and don’t limit the number of possile response
  • Data will be qualititive
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33
Q

What are closed questions

A
  • Limit number of possible responses by offering scale of agreement for example (likert scale)
  • Data will be quantitive
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34
Q

Questionnaire construction

A
  • Clear and easy to understand ; leading questions must be avoided
  • Type of data needed dictates whether open or closed questions are used
  • Pilot study will check whether questions are reliable and valid for research
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35
Q

Evaluation of questionnaires

A
  • Large amounts of data can be gathered quickly
  • Data from closed questions analysed quickly and comparisons can be made between variables
  • Social desirability bias affects validity
  • No control over situation of which people answer the questions which can lead to unreliability
  • Participants may not give honest answers affecting the validity
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36
Q

What is a correlation?

A

A way of analysing data and test whether a relationship exisits between two co - variables

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37
Q

What are variables in a correlation called and why?

A

Co variables because they are not causally linked

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38
Q

What kind of data are correlations carried out on?

A

Secondary data and they often provide a useful starting point for psychological research

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39
Q

What can correlations measure between co variables?

A

The strength and direction of any relationship between them and the data can be easily displayed on a scattergram

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40
Q

What is a correlation coefficient

A
  • The strength of the correlation can be measured by calculating the correlation coeffiecient which is a number between -1 and +1
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41
Q

What do the +1 and -1 mean on a correlation coefficient

A
  • The closer the score is to -1 the stronger the negative correlation.
  • The closer the score is to +1 the stronger the positive correlation
  • A score of 0 would indicate no correlation
42
Q

Evaluation of correlations

A
  • Can be conducted quickly using secondary data as a way to investigate relationships between co variables
  • Cannot give information on cause and effect
  • Only measure relationships between 2 variables and variables that may influence data is not taken into account
43
Q

What is a case study?

A
  • The give high detail of information about an individual, group of people or event
  • May use multiple methods like interviews etc
  • Can be qualititive/ quantitive and primary/secondary
44
Q

Evaluations of case studies

A
  • Detailed and in depth data so more valid conclusions
  • Can investigate rare events and behaviours without being unethical like other ways
  • Take time
  • Limited sample so not representative of wider population
45
Q

What is an aim?

A
  • The purpose of the study
  • Sets the scene of the study
  • Written as statement - not a prediction of outcome
46
Q

What is a hypotheses?

A
  • Prediction of the likely outcome of the experiment
47
Q

2 types of hypotheses

A
  • Null
  • Alternative / experimental
48
Q

What and when is a null hypotheses used

A
  • Scientific research begins with a null hypothesis.
  • It states there will be no effect of an independent variable on a dependent one or no relationship between 2 co variables being tested
49
Q

When and why is an alternative / experimental hypothesis used

A
  • Alternative predicts there will be some kind of significant outcome from research
  • If doing an experiment it can be referred to as experimental hypothesis
  • Alternative can be directional or non-directional
50
Q

What is a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis?

A
  • States exactly what outcome is expected from the experiment using comparative language
  • Selected when previous research predicts a likely direction of the results
51
Q

What is a non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis

A
  • States there will be a difference in conditions but not what the difference will be
  • Chosen when previosu research gives confounding results
52
Q

How is the IV manipulated to allow comparison to see the effects on the DV?

A

The IV can be manipulated to several conditions which allows them to be compared to see what effects can be measured in the DV

53
Q

What are extraneous variables

A
  • Other variables than the IV that could have an effect on the DV
  • For example: age (participant variables) , lighting levels (situational variables), gender of researcher (experimenter variables) etc
54
Q

What is a control condition?

A
  • Sometimes a control condition is used where no IV is tested to compare the other changes
55
Q

What is operationalising variables?

A
  • Defining variables and making them measurable and observable so cause and effect relationships can be seen
56
Q

What are confounding variables?

A
  • If a variable has been found to influenced the results, then it was be said to have confounded the results
57
Q

What are investigtor effects?

A
  • Researchers presence could effect the results as they could unconsciously try and change the participants behaviour
  • Anything from smiling more at certain participants or encouraging them to talk more at an interview
58
Q

How could you reduce demand characteristics?

A

Use an independent groups design so participants are only exposed to one condition of the experiment, making it harder for them to predict the aim of the study

59
Q

How could you reduce investigator effects?

A
  • Double-blind procedure
  • Both researcher and participant unaware of the condition of the study so investigator cannot influence participant
60
Q

What are the different sampling techniques?

A
  • Stratified
  • Random
  • Opportunity
  • Systematic
  • Self-selecting
61
Q

Who do you sample?

A

The target population

62
Q

What is random sampling?

A
  • Each member of target population has equal chance of being selected
  • By picking names out of hat, random generator etc
  • Low bias, high effort required and high representativeness
63
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A
  • Target population broken down into demographic componenents and participants selected form each strata according to relative size of population
  • A lot of effort required, very representative, low bias
64
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A
  • Sample consists of whoever happens to be available at the time
  • High bias, low effort and representativeness
65
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A
  • Researcher picks people according to a system e.g. every 4th person is chosen
  • medium bias, representativeness and effort
66
Q

What is self-selecting sampling?

A
  • Volunteer sampling so made of people who choose to respond to a request for participants often made through advertising
  • High bias, low effort and representativeness
67
Q

Evaluation of sampling

A
  • Samples must represent target population (some are more representative than others). So it is possible to generalise to the entire target population
  • Should not take too much effort as will impact resources needed to do study
  • Rule out possibility of research bias in selection process
68
Q

What are the experimental designs?

A
  • Independent groups
  • Matched pairs
  • Repeated measures
69
Q

What are independent groups?

A
  • Involves different groups doing different conditions
  • So participants less likely to know the aim and show demand characteristics
  • But individual differences between groups might influence results
70
Q

What is repeated measures?

A
  • Involves the group doing all conditions.
  • Reduces individual differences to act as confounding variable
  • Participants may be affected by order effects
71
Q

What are matched pairs

A
  • Different groups in each condition but the groups are matched on key factors
  • Individual differences reduced as groups in each condition are matched on key participant variables
  • Impossible to remove all individual differences
72
Q

Experimental control by counterbalancing

A
  • Order effects can be overcome by an ABBA design
    • Group split into 2 smaller groups, half do condition A then B and half B then A.
    • So potential effects of doing repeated measures design counteracted
73
Q

Experimental control by random allocation

A
  • Individual differences in each group can cause problems, to reduce bias participants can be randomly allocated to a condition
74
Q

Experimental control by standardisation

A
  • Process where participants experience the research process in the same way
  • E.g list of instructions whose steps are the same for everyone
75
Q

Experiemental control by randomisation

A
  • Standardised procedure can lead to extraneous variable in the order things are done, so researchers randomise parts of the procedure to remove any bias making it all down to chance
76
Q

What are pilot studies?

A
  • Small scale trial run of an experiment allowing to check if it will work and indentify any problems.
  • Changes can be made to make sure study runs run smoothly and fewer errors occur
77
Q

What does observation research involve?

A
  • Watching and recording relevant behaviour to a research aim
78
Q

What are behavioural categories?

A
  • Researcher decides what behaviour is relevant to the research question and sets up at a tally chart to record it
    • Consists of categories of target behaviour that the researcher ticks when they see it coming
79
Q

What is event sampling

A
  • Observer watches for target behvaiours in sample and records all instances of the behaviour in the appropriate column when they occur
80
Q

What is time sampling

A

Observer watches and records all the occurences of relevant behaviour at set or randomly set intervals

81
Q

How do researchers make (behavioural categories) tally chart data reliable

A
  • Conduct pilot observation to check categories are easy to identify and nothing’s missing
  • Observers trained in advance to know what to look for and reliably identify it
  • Multiple observers used to wtach same behaviour and inter-rater reliability should be tested
82
Q

Behavioural categories evaluation

A
  • Must be clear and objetive so anyone can identify when the target behvaiour has happened
  • Should be comprehensive in covering all possible behaviour that is relevant to the research aim
  • Limitation of event sampling: difficult to do accurately when lots of action to record reducing reliability of data
  • Limitation of time sampling: possible to miss important events as they happen outside the time frame for recording behaviour
83
Q

What is ethical informed consent

A
  • Participants should be aware they are being studied and the full aim of the study before they take part
  • They should formally agree by signing a form and consenting to participation
84
Q

What is deception

A
  • Participants should be aware of all elements of the investigation before they take part and should never be lied to
  • If participants must be decieved (justified) it must be adressed in a full debrief at the end
85
Q

What is protection from harm

A
  • They can be harmed if they are put under stress, embaressed, frustrated or hurt
  • To avoid this make clear to participants they have the right to withdraw at any time including at the end when data can be taken with them
  • Counselling offered or support if needed
86
Q

What is debriefing

A
  • After taking part in research the participants should be informed on exactly the aim of the investiagtion
  • Important if they have been decieved
  • Offer support and or counselling
87
Q

What is confidentiality

A
  • Names and personal details of participants should not be revealed to others beyond researchers
  • Can be acheived by using numbers for participants and no locations
  • Popular strategy is to use a pseudonym or fake name
88
Q

Clinial psychology on the economy

A
  • Produced effective treatments for many disorders
    • drug treatments
    • talking cures
    • cognitive behvaioural behaviours
  • Has enabled people to live independently staying in community rather than in institutions for long periods of time
89
Q

Health psychology on the economy

A
  • Uses research to improve healthy so less demand for health services so saves money
    • Treating addiction
    • Running health promotion campaigns
90
Q

Occupational psychology on the economy

A
  • Made big changes to work place like
    • Stress management programmes to reduce days lost to illness
    • Research into biorythms led to chnages in shift patterns increasing productivity and reducing time off work
    • Developing efficient recruiting strategies to ensure the right people are emplyed
91
Q

Developmental psychology on the economy

A
  • Research by Bowlby etc has highlighted the importance of early childhood experience on child development
    • Caused a change in way children without parents are treated
    • So children grwo up to be psychologically healthy adults earning their own money and contributing to the environment
92
Q

Primary data

A
  • Information gathered first hand by the researcher in order to answer their specific research question
  • Involves: designing, piloting, getting a sample, gathering and analysis
  • more reliable and valid than secondary
93
Q

Secondary data

A
  • Info already gathered for other purposes including other studies down by researchers
  • identified and analysed that allows researcher to draw conclusions relevant to their research aim
  • provides greater insight as from more sources
  • less reliable than primary
94
Q

What is meta analysis

A
  • uses secondary data and combines it from several studies that have same research aim
  • Pooled and re-analysed using statistical techniques that allow a conclusion to be drawn
  • allows trends and differences to emerge that would not be seen in a small sample
95
Q

Qualititive data

A
  • Form of words and descriptions
  • Self-report methods through use of open questions
  • Bhevaiour not measured but explored and tried to interpret and understand its meaning proviing deeper insight into feelings
  • Can be converted to quantitive
96
Q

Quantitive data

A
  • Numerical data
  • Experiments and correlations gather numerical data as do observations and closed questions in self-report methods
  • Behaviour is quantified so comparisons can be made
  • More scientific and objective than qualitive data
97
Q

What are scattergrams used for

A

Correlational data

98
Q

What are data tables used for?

A
  • Descriptive statistics like central tendency and dispersions, or could be limited to percentage calculations
99
Q

What are bar charts used for

A

Categorical data

100
Q

What are histograms used for

A

X axis shows continuous data while y axis shows frequency of occurrence

101
Q

What are normal distributions

A
  • Mean, median and mode at same point
  • Data is symmetrical around mean
  • Bell shaped curve
  • (0.26% at either end of curve) only tiny proprotion of population will have that score
102
Q

What are skewed distributions

A
  • Non-symmetrical as scores not distributed equally on each side of mean
  • common when only a few measures have been taken

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