Research methods

Question 1

What is content analysis?

Answer 1

• Turning qualitative data into quantitative data.

- Look for recurring themes and tally/count them up to turn them into data.

Question 2

What are two strengths of Content analysis?

Answer 2

-Flexible method; can be adapted to produce both quantitative and qualitative data. It is a flexible approach as can be suited to aims of the study or research.

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Question 3

What makes psychology a science?

Answer 3

• replicability; results are consistently the same.
• objectivity; Data should be free from interpretation. for example many memory experiments. examples of unobjective research includes Frued and Zimbardo.
• empirical method; Any method that gives you observable data. Experiments and observations are empirical. e.g content analysis is not empirical.
• hypothesis testing; Whether a hypothesis can be directly tested. For example learning theory can be tested, however Evolutionary thoery can not.
• Theory construction; Has to falsifiable

Question 4

What can be done to reduce confounding variables and extraneous variables?

Answer 4

• Random allocation
• Counterbalancing- test-retest, mix up condition to rid of order effect.
• Randomisation
• Standardisation; e.g. standard questions, environment and same instructions.

Question 5

What are behavioural categories?

Answer 5

-Behaviours chosen before a study and these behaviours are counted to see how many times they happen.

Question 6

What is event sampling?

Answer 6

-Watching a natural setting and recording when something happens

Question 7

What is time sampling?

Answer 7

-watch and record every nth min/hour to observe behaviour.

Question 8

What are the points that need to be made when reporting psychological research?

Answer 8

• Abstract (summary of study, usually 1 paragraph)
• Introduction (Writes about similar research in the same field and explain study briefly)
• Method
• Result
• Discussion
• Reference

Question 9

What is involved with the method section?

Answer 9

• Design
• Procedure (step by step exactly what you do)
• Method
• Materials

Question 10

What are the different levels of measurement?

Answer 10

• nominal; categories
• Ordinnal (can order)
• Interval (natural and with interval intervals, e.g time/space)

Question 11

What are some strengths of controlled observations?

Answer 11

• High replicability as other researchers can conduct same observation by using same observation schedule. Increases reliability of a study.
• The data obtained from structured observations is easier and quicker to analyze as it is quantitative; less time-consuming method compared to naturalistic observations.

Question 12

What is one limitation of controlled observations?

Answer 12

-Low internal validity; participants may suffer from demand characteristics or the Hawthorne Effect (the phenomenon whereby participants change behaviour as they know they are being observed)

Question 13

What is a type 1 error in terms of stats tests?

Answer 13

-Saying you have a significant result when your result is not significant.
For example they might set the bar too low for a significance test.

-Reject the null hypothesis where they should in fact accept the null hypothesis.

Question 14

What is a type 2 error in terms of stats tests?

Answer 14

• Type 2 error is when there is a significant result but a researcher accepts the null hypothesis.
• They might have set the bar too high and the significance was not recorded.

Question 15

What is the difference between a hypothesis and an aim of a study?

Answer 15

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation of something that has to be verified and tested before it can be widely accepted as fact.

An aim while is the goal or the purpose of the process.

-A hypothesis cannot always be right, but an aim must always be true and specific in order to effectively prove a hypothesis.

Question 16

What makes a theory strong?

Answer 16

-If it can survive the most attempts to be falsified.

Question 17

Why must a hypothesis always be accompanied by a null hypothesis?

Answer 17

• A null hypothesis is the opposite of the hypothesis.
• The null hypothesis means the hypothesis can be tested and falsified as it shows the alternative theory and gives way for the original hypothesis to be proven wrong.

Question 18

How can a scientific theory be ‘trusted’?

Answer 18

-It can be be ‘trusted’ if findings from it are shown to be repeatable across a number of different contexts and circumstances.

Question 19

How can replication lead to higher validity?

Answer 19

-By repeating a study over different contexts and crincumstacnes we can measure the extent to which findings can be generalised.

Question 20

What is objectivity in psychology?

Which methods in psychology are thought to be most objective?

Answer 20

• A researcher must strive for objective results, by that keeping a ‘safe-distance’ when conducting research and not letting personal beliefs and bias ‘discolouring ‘ data obtained from research.
• Methods in psychology that are associated with greatest level of control (e.g. lab experiments) are thought to be most objective.

Question 21

What is Karl Popper’s Falsification Principle?

Answer 21

• Distinguishes between science and non-science.
• For a theory to be considered scientific it must be able to be tested and conceivably proven false.
• For Popper science should attempt to disprove a theory, rather than attempt to continually support theoretical hypotheses.
• He denied induction as it can not yield certainty, always the future possibility that an observation could refute a theory or principle.

Question 22

What is a theory in psychology?

Answer 22

-A theory is a set of general laws or principles that have ability to explain particular events or behaviours.

Question 23

Outline hypothesis testing.

Answer 23

• An essential component of a theory is that it can be scientifically tested.
• A hypothesis can be tested using systematic and objective methods to determine whether it is supported.

Question 24

What is deduction?

Answer 24

-Deduction is process of deriving new hypotheses from an existing theory.

Question 25

Explain what paradigms and paradigm shifts are in relation to psychology.

Answer 25

• A paradigm is a shared set of assumptions and methods.
• Psychology lack a universally accepted paradigm and as a result are more seen as ‘pre-sciences’. There is too much internal disagreement for psychology to qualify as a science.

Question 26

Outline the anonymity of peer review.

Answer 26

-If the researcher remains anonymous then appraisers are more likely to produce an honest report.

Some reviewers use anonymity to criticise other research which goes against their research. Psychologists are all always fighting for funding and as a result of this competition they will prioritise their research over other contradictory research.

-This is why many peer review journals will prefer an open system of reviewing as this limits competition.

Question 27

Outline publication bias when it comes to peer review.

Answer 27

• Journals may wish to prioritise headline grabbing research as a way of catching the eyes of the public and as a result the readership and support of their organisation.
• Journals are also a lot more likely to publish positive results and peer review may be prone to file drawer problem. When presenting data or results from research an investigator may choose research support. and findings that support their findings.

As a result peer review may be biased as it only includes some of the relevant information from the study. Creates a false impression of the current state of psychology if researchers are selective about what is included in journals.

Question 28

How might peer review slow down the rate of change within a particular scientific discipline?

Answer 28

• Established scientists are the most likely to be chosen to be reviewers.
• They may choose to prioritise the importance of research which fits with the status quo and are more likely to dismiss or be highly critical of research that does support the mainstream ideas of psychology.
• Many psychologists would also be highly protective of their own work as many give their whole lives to psychology and would be reluctant to see their work overturned in pursuit of a different approach.

Question 29

What is the layout for referencing in psychology?

What is the numeric?

Answer 29

Author, date, title of book, place of publication, publisher

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Question 30

What is the strength of content analysis to do with ethical issues?

Answer 30

• It can circumnavigate the ethical issues that are normally associated with psychological research.
• Much of what is analysed by content analysis is already in the public domain so researchers would not need to gain permission for the use of materials.
• Data used also has extremely high external validity as it comes from the real-life environment of what is being studied, and may also gain access to information of a sensitive subject, permitting the author’s permission.

Question 31

Can findings from content analysis be easily generalised?

Answer 31

-No. Findings from content analysis can only be generalised to the context from which the analysis took place. e.g. if the analysis was conducted in a sixth form via analysis of conversations, findings could only be generalised to a sixth form setting.

Question 32

Does content analysis have high reliability?

Answer 32

• Content analysis can be easily replicated by others.
• As long as artefacts being analysed are available to others, the analysis can be easily replicated and reliability can therefore be measured using inter-rater reliability.