research methods

Question 1

independent variable?

Answer 1

the factor under investigation in an experiment which is manipulated to create two or more conditions (levels) and is expected to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable.

Question 2

dependent variable

Answer 2

the factor in an experiment which is measured and is expected to change under the influence of the independent variable.

Question 3

extraneous variable (pp q on this)

Answer 3

a variable which either acts randomly, affecting the DV in all levels of the IV or systematically,
i.e. on one level of the IV (called a confounding variable) so can obscure the effect of the IV, making the results difficult to interpret.
(like the weather or train delays in pilliavin)

Question 4

experimental condition

Answer 4

one or more of the situations in an experiment which represent different levels of the IV and are compared (or compared to a control condition).

Question 5

control condition

Answer 5

a level of the IV in an experiment from which the IV is absent. It is compared to one or more experimental conditions.

• For example, in a comparison of the effect of eating chocolate on paying attention, we might compare either the effect of eating one bar or two bars (two experimental conditions)
• or the effect of eating one bar to no chocolate at all (one experimental and one control condition).

Question 6

independent measures design

Answer 6

an experimental design in which a different group of participants is used for each level of the IV (condition).

Question 7

repeated measures design

Answer 7

an experimental design in which each participant performs in every level of the IV.

Question 8

matched pairs design

Answer 8

an experimental design in which participants are arranged into pairs. Each pair is similar in ways that are important to the study and one member of each pair performs in a different level of the IV.

Question 9

strengths and weaknesses of independent measures design

Answer 9

• different pps are used for each level of IV order effects
• pps only see one level of the IV so reducing demand characteristics
• random allocation to levels of IV can reduce the effects of individual differences
• uses more pps than RMD so the study may be less ethical if pps are harmed or less effective if there is a small sample bc pps are hard to find
• pp variables can distort the results of the study if there are important individual differences btwn pps in diff levels of the IV

Question 10

repeated measures strengths and weaknesses

Answer 10

• pp variables are unlikely to distort the effect of the IV as each pp does all levels
• counterbalancing reduces effects of order effects
• uses less pps than in IMD so is good when pps are hard to find or is pps are at risk
• order effects could distort the outcomes of the study
• as pps see the experimental task more than once they have a greater exposure to demand characteristics

Question 11

matched pairs design strengths and weaknesses

Answer 11

• pps only see one level of the IV reducing the effects of demand characteristics
• pp variables are less likely to distort the effect of the IV than in the IMD as individual differences are matched
• no order effects
• the similarity btwn pairs is limited by the matching process, so the right criteria must be chosen in advance for this to be effective
• availability of matching pairs may be limited, making the sample size small

Question 12

demand characteristics

Answer 12

features of the experimental situation which give away the aims. They can cause participants to try to change their behaviour, e.g. to match their beliefs about what is supposed to happen, which reduces the validity of the study.

Question 13

random allocation

Answer 13

a way to reduce the effect of confounding variables such as individual differences. Participants are put in each level of the IV such that each person has an equal chance of being in any condition.

Question 14

participant variables

Answer 14

individual differences between participants (such as age, personality and intelligence) that could affect their behaviour in a study. They could hide or exaggerate differences between levels of the IV

Question 15

order effects

Answer 15

practice and fatigue effects are the consequences of participating in a study more than once,
e.g. in a repeated measures design. They cause changes in performance between conditions that are not due to the IV, so can obscure the effect on the DV.

Question 16

practice effect

Answer 16

a situation where participants’ performance improves because they experience the experimental task more than once, e.g. due to familiarity or learning the task.

Question 17

fatigue effect

Answer 17

a situation where participants’ performance declines because they have experienced an experimental task more than once, e.g. due to boredom or tiredness.

Question 18

counterbalancing

Answer 18

counterbalancing is used to overcome order effects in a repeated measures design. Each possible order of levels of the IV is performed by a different sub-group of participants. This can be described as an ABBA design, as half the participants do condition A then B, and half do B then A.

Question 19

standardisation

Answer 19

keeping the procedure for each participant in an experiment (or interview) exactly the same to ensure that any differences between participants or conditions are due to the variables under investigation rather than differences in the way they were treated.

Question 20

reliability

Answer 20

the extent to which a procedure, task or measure is consistent, for example that it would produce the same results with the same people on each occasion.

Question 21

validity

Answer 21

the extent to which the researcher is testing what they claim to be testing.

Question 22

describe Laboratory experiments

Answer 22

The participants are not in their usual environment for the behaviour they are performing, and there are strict controls over the situation.

• use many controls
• standardisation, which means that the procedure for each participant can be kept exactly the same.
• Both controls and standardisation help to make the findings of the experiment reliable, that is the researchers would be more certain that the procedures and measures they are using are consistent.
• Controlling variables also improves validity – how certain the researcher can be that they are testing what they claim to be testing.
• By keeping the situation the same, the researcher can be more certain that any differences in the DV really are due to the differences between levels of the IV rather than due to any extraneous variables.

Question 23

define what a lab exp is

Answer 23

a research method in which there is an IV, a DV and strict controls. It looks for a causal relationship and is conducted in a setting that is not in the usual environment for the participants with regard to the behaviour they are performing.

Question 24

define field experiments

Answer 24

an investigation looking for a causal relationship in which an independent variable is manipulated and is expected to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable. It is conducted in the normal environment for the participants for the behaviour being investigated.

Question 25

describe field experiments

Answer 25

• It is a little harder to control variables and standardise procedures in a field experiment than a laboratory experiment.
• Reliability and validity may therefore be lower.
• However, validity might be improved because the participants are performing a task that seems normal in a familiar environment.
• Another advantage, if the participants are unaware that they are in an experiment, is that there may be fewer demand characteristics than there would be in a laboratory experiment.
• These are any features of the experiment that give away the aims and cause participants’ behaviour to change, for example to try to ‘make the experiment work’.

Question 26

define generalisability

Answer 26

apply the findings of a study more widely, e.g. to other settings and populations.

Question 27

define ecological validity

Answer 27

the extent to which the findings of research in one situation would generalise to other situations. This is influenced by whether the situation (e.g. a laboratory) represents the real world effectively and whether the task is relevant to real life (has mundane realism).

Question 28

define Natural experiments

Answer 28

an investigation looking for a causal relationship in which the independent variable cannot be directly manipulated by the experimenter. Instead they study the effect of an existing difference or change. Since the researcher cannot manipulate the levels of the IV it is not a true experiment.

Question 29

define an uncontrolled variable

Answer 29

a confounding variable that may not have been identified and eliminated in an experiment, which can confuse the results. It may be a feature of the participants or the situation.

Question 30

strengths of a lab exp?

Answer 30

• good control of extraneous variables , raising validity
• casual rs can be determined
• standardised proc can raise reliability and allow replication

Question 31

weaknesses of lab exp

Answer 31

the artificial situation could alter pps behaviour

pps could respond to demand characteristics and alter their behaviour

Question 32

strengths of a field experiment

Answer 32

• results are representative as are pps in their normal sitation for the activity being studied they are likely to behave naturally
• less demand characteristics if pps are unaware they are in a study compared to a lab exp

Question 33

weaknesses of field exp

Answer 33

• lower reliability and making replication harder as control of extraneous variables is harder than in a lab
• will be less sure that changes in the dv is caused by the changes in the iv than in a lab exp
• ethical issues as pps may unaware

Question 34

strengths of natural exp

Answer 34

can be used to study real world issues

representative behaviour as pps are in their natural environment

less dc if they are unaware they are in a study

enable researchers to investigate variables that would not be practical or ethical to manipulate

Question 35

weaknesses of natural exps

Answer 35

only possible when differences arise naturally

control over extraneous variables is v difficult

less sure of cause and effect as researcher not manipulating the iv

hard to replicate as controls and standardisation are hard to implement so reliability will be low

Question 36

what are the ethics in experiments

Answer 36

privacy
confidentiality
right to withdraw
informed consent

Question 37

informed consent

Answer 37

knowing enough about a study to decide whether you want to agree to participate.
- However, it may be necessary to deceive them in order to avoid them working out the aim of the study and altering their behaviour, i.e. to reduce demand characteristics.

Question 38

right to withdraw

Answer 38

a participant should know that they can remove themselves, and their data, from the study at any time.

Question 39

confidentiality

Answer 39

participants’ results and personal information should be kept safely and not released to anyone outside the study.

Question 40

privacy:

Answer 40

participants’ emotions and physical space should not be invaded, for example they should not be observed in situations or places where they would not expect to be seen.

Question 41

define a self-report

Answer 41

a research method, such as a questionnaire or interview, which obtains data by asking participants to provide information about themselves.

Question 42

questionnaire

Answer 42

a research method that uses written questions

Question 43

open questions

Answer 43

questionnaire, interview or test items that produce qualitative data. Participants give full and detailed answers in their own words, i.e. no categories or choices are given.

Question 44

inter-rater reliability

Answer 44

the extent to which two researchers interpreting qualitative responses in a questionnaire (or interview) will produce the same records from the same raw data.

Question 45

social desirability bias

Answer 45

trying to present oneself in the best light by determining what a test is asking.

Question 46

filler questions

Answer 46

items put into a questionnaire, interview or test to disguise the aim of the study by hiding the important questions among irrelevant ones so that participants are less likely to alter their behaviour by working out the aims.

Question 47

strengths of questionnaires

Answer 47

• Questionnaires using mainly closed questions are easier to analyse than interviews (using more open questions) as they can be used to produce totals of each category of answers so making it simple to summarise the findings
• Also, possible to work out averages, which can help to describe the patterns in the results.
• Where qualitative data is gathered from questionnaires, it produces more detailed, in-depth information.

Question 48

weaknesses of questionnaires

Answer 48

• Answers to open questions must be interpreted, and this can lead to a lack of reliability as the researcher may not be consistent in their interpretation.
• It is easy for participants to ignore them, which means the return rate may be very low.
• people who do reply to a questionnaire may all be quite similar, for example have time to spend because they are unemployed or retired. This would mean all the people who filled out the questionnaire would be quite similar.
• Another problem with questionnaires is that participants may lie. They may do this because they want to look more acceptable; this is called a social desirability bias

Question 49

define Interviews

Answer 49

a research method using verbal questions asked directly, e.g. face-to-face or on the telephone.

Question 50

whatre structured interview

Answer 50

an interview with questions in a fixed order which may be scripted. Consistency might also be required for the interviewer’s posture, voice, etc. so they are standardised.

Question 51

unstructured interview

Answer 51

an interview in which most questions (after the first one) depend on the respondent’s answers. A list of topics may be given to the interviewer.

Question 52

semi-structured interview

Answer 52

an interview with a fixed list of open and closed questions. The interviewer can add more questions if necessary.

Question 53

weaknesses of interviews

Answer 53

• may lie either because they want to seem more acceptable (a social desirability bias) or because they think they know the aim of the study,
• often time consuming and this can be a problem if it restricts the types of participants who volunteer for the research because it would give a narrow representation of feelings, beliefs or experiences.
• When interpreting participants’ responses to questions in an interview, researchers must be careful not to be subjective, that is, to produce findings which are based on a personal perspective. Instead, they should aim for objectivity, i.e. taking a view that is not led by one’s own feelings or beliefs. To achieve this, the interviewer may ask other researchers, who are experienced but unaware of the aims of their research, to interpret the findings.

Question 54

subjectivity

Answer 54

a personal viewpoint, which may be biased by one’s feelings, beliefs or experiences, so may differ between individual researchers. It is not independent of the situation.

Question 55

objectivity

Answer 55

an unbiased external viewpoint that is not affected by an individual’s feelings, beliefs or experiences, so should be consistent between different researchers

Question 56

define Case studies

Answer 56

A case study is a detailed investigation of a single instance, usually just one person, although it could, for example, be a single family or institution.

Question 57

strengths of case studies

Answer 57

-case studies are highly valid, as the individual is explored in great depth and within a genuine context such as their work or family. Validity may be improved further using triangulation.

-One way that the validity can be improved is though triangulation, where different methods are used within the case study to obtain the same information: for example, finding out about the participant’s behaviour by observing them, interviewing them and asking their relatives to fill out a questionnaire.
If the same results are obtained by all the methods, this suggests that the results are valid.

Question 58

weaknesses of case studies

Answer 58

-researcher bias- one potential problem is the development of a close relationship with the researcher. This may make the researcher subjective in their outlook, which would reduce the validity of the study (researcher bias)
- The level of detail can also be an ethical threat, as the questions asked may intrude into the participant’s private life and they may feel unable to refuse to answer them.
- Reliability is also an issue, as there is a single participant and perhaps one or only a few researchers. This, and their involvement with the case, means that they may find it hard to be objective, that is to take an external, unbiased view of the findings,
for example when they interpret what the participant has said. This means that the findings may be limited to only this case, or to very few others.

Question 59

Observations

Answer 59

involve watching human or animal participants.

Question 60

naturalistic observation

Answer 60

a study conducted by watching the participants’ behaviour in their normal environment without interference from the researchers in either the social or physical environment.

Question 61

controlled observation

Answer 61

a study conducted by watching the participants’ behaviour in a situation in which the social or physical environment has been manipulated by the researchers. It can be conducted in either the participants’ normal environment or in an artificial situation.

Question 62

unstructured observation

Answer 62

a study in which the observer records the whole range of possible behaviours, which is usually confined to a pilot stage at the beginning of a study to refine the behavioural categories to be observed.

Question 63

structured observation

Answer 63

a study in which the observer records only a limited range of behaviours

Question 64

behavioural categories:

Answer 64

the activities recorded in an observation. They should be operationalised (clearly defined) and should break a continuous stream of activity into discrete recordable events. They must be observable actions rather than inferred states.

Question 65

inter-observer reliability

Answer 65

the consistency between two researchers watching the same event, i.e. whether they will produce the same records.

Question 66

participant observer

Answer 66

a researcher who watches from the perspective of being part of the social setting.

Question 67

non-participant observer

Answer 67

a researcher who does not become involved in the situation being studied, e.g. by watching through one-way glass or by keeping apart from the social group of the participants.

Question 68

overt observer

Answer 68

the role of the observer is obvious to the participants.

Question 69

covert observer

Answer 69

the role of the observer is not obvious, e.g. because they are hidden or disguised

Question 70

strengths of observations

Answer 70

• Naturalistic observations have the advantage that the behaviours seen are true to life. They are more likely to reflect the way the individuals really behave than if there is interference in the situation from researchers, as is the case in controlled observations.
• The role played by the observer, and the participants’ awareness of this, affect validity. If participants are unaware of the observer, or can ignore them, their activities are more likely to reflect their normal behaviour. This means that covert observers would produce more valid results than overt ones.

Question 71

weaknesses of observations

Answer 71

• in the case of covert participant observers there is an ethical issue of deception. The participants may interact with the observer in ways that they might have chosen not to if they had been aware that the individual was a researcher. This could invade their privacy and cause distress.
• However, an overt observer is likely to alter the behaviour of the participants as they are aware that they are being watched. This would reduce the validity of the findings as the activities being recorded are less likely to reflect real-world behaviour.

Question 72

Correlations

Answer 72

a research method which looks for a causal relationship between two measured variables. A change in one variable is related to a change in the other (although these changes cannot be assumed to be causal)

Question 73

positive correlation

Answer 73

a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one accompanies an increase in the other, i.e. the two variables increase together.

Question 74

negative correlation

Answer 74

a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one accompanies a decrease in the other, i.e. higher scores on one variable correspond with lower scores on the other.