Research Methods Flashcards
What are the two forms of hypothesis?
Directional - indicates a direction in prediction (1 tailed)
Non-directional - no indication in direction (2 tailed)
What are the forms of sampling?
Volunteer - participants volunteer to take part for free
Opportunity - participants are people who are in the vicinity of the experiments location
Random - participants are randomly selected from those who apply and meet the sample criteria
Systematic - participants are selected at a fixed interval e.g. every 3rd applicant is selected
Stratified - participants are separated into groups (strata’s) based off of characteristics or traits
What are the types of test?
Lab - all extraneous variables are controlled in a pre-constructed environment
Field - extraneous variables cannot be controlled as the study takes place in a real life environment, such as in a school or park
Quasi - when the experiment takes advantage of participants with a specific trait or disposition e.g. going to a mental hospital to test individuals with schizophrenia
What are the types of experimental design?
Independent measures - when the sample is split in half. One half will complete one test, and the other half will complete the other test
Repeated measures - when the whole sample will do both tests
Matched pairs - when the sample is put into pairs of participants who are very similar to one another. Each pair is then split to make two groups who then undergo the independent measures design
What types of validity are there?
Concurrent validity - when previous results to a study are similar to newer results of the same study
Face validity - when the test works as intended
Ecological validity - when the study can be referenced to real life e.g. the study uses humans rather than animals, or uses a field study rather than a lab study
Temporal validity - how generalisable the study is to current periods of time e.g. the little Albert study by Watson and Rayner may lack temporal validity as it took place in the early 1900’s
What are the ways of assessing the reliability of a study?
Test retest - performing the study twice on the same participant in order to see if the results stay constant (this cannot be applied to most field studies as if the participant is made aware that they are actually apart of a study, they cannot be re-tested)
Inter-observer reliability - when the study is observed by a panel who also agree with the findings of the test
What are the two errors that can be made during statistical testing
Type 1 error - when the hypothesis is rejected incorrectly due to a lenient significance level
Type 2 error - when the hypothesis is accepted incorrectly due to a stringent significance level
