Research Methods Flashcards
What is an Aim?
A statement of the study’s purpose. Research should state its aim beforehand so it’s clear what the study tends to investigate.
What is a one tailed hypothesis?
A hypothesis that predicts a difference between your variables
What is a two tailed hypothesis?
A hypothesis that predicts a difference but doesn’t state where the difference lies
What is a null hypothesis?
This is what you assume is true during the study. Any data you collect will either back this assumption or won’t. If the data doesn’t support your null hypothesis, you reject it and go with your alternative hypothesis instead
What will a null hypothesis predict?
There is no difference between variables
What is a correlation?
It is a measure of how closely two variables are related.
What are the advantages of correlational analysis?
Advantages
• Do not need to use a controlled experiment
• Can use sensitive data obtained from hospitals, for example.
What are the disadvantages of a correlational analysis
Disadvantages
• Cannot establish cause and effect – third variable
• Coefficients can be due to chance
What is normal distribution?
symmetrical around the mean- mean, mode and median are the same
What is negative skew?
there are more scores at the higher end of the data set. The tail is on the left side of the peak. The mode is more than the median which is more than the mean.
What is positive skew?
Positive skew: there are more scores at the lower end of the data set. The tail is on the right side of the peak. The mode is less than the median, which is less than the mean.
What is the independent variable?
is the variable directly manipulated by the researcher (what you are changing).
What is the dependent variable?
is the variable you think will be affected by changes in the IV.
What is operationalisation?
describing the process by which the variable is measured. This allows other researchers to see exactly how you are defining and measuring your variables.
What is random allocation? (Control)
means everyone has an equal chance of doing either condition.
What is counterbalancing (control)
mixing up the order of the tasks. This helps with order effects in repeated measures designs
What is randomisation? (Control)
when materials are presented to the participants in random order.
What is standardisation? (Control)
everything should be as similar as possible for all the participants.
What are extraneous variables?
Any variable (other than the IV) that could affect what you’re trying to measure.
What are confounding variables
What are they? Any variables that influence your DV
What is validity?
Accuracy- internal and external
What is ecological validity?
generalisable to real life settings
What is concurrent validity
Results from a new test can be compared to a previously well-established test.
What is population validity?
whether you can reasonably generalise the findings from your sample to a larger group of people
What is temporal validity
assesses to what degree research findings remain over time.
What is face validity?
the extent to which a test appears to measure what it is intended to measure
What is reliability
Reliability is the overall consistency of a measure.
What is informed consent?
participants should always give informed consent (under 16 by parents or guardian). They should be told the aims and nature of the study and the right to withdraw
What is deception?
if participants have been deceived then they cannot give informed consent. Sometimes researchers must withhold information about the study because the participants would not behave naturally if they knew what the aims were.
What is the right to withdraw?
participants are allowed to withdraw from the research at any point.
What is Confidentiality?
none of the participants in the study should be identifiable from any reports that are
produced. Data must be confidential and anonymous.
What is protection from harm
risk of harm to participants should be no greater than they would face in their normal lives
Explain why a debrief can be used as a method of dealing with all other issues?
This should return participants to the state they were in before the researcher. Researchers must fully explain what the research involved and what the results might show.
What are independent groups?
there are different participants in each group
What are the advantages of independent groups?
• No order effects
• Fewer demand characteristics
What are the disadvantage of independent groups?
Participant variables- individual differences
Number of participants- twice as many
What are repeated measures?
all participants do all conditions
What are the advantages of repeated measures?
• Participant variables
• Number of participants
What are the disadvantages of repeated measures?
Order effects
Demand characteristics
What are matched pairs?
there are different participants in each condition but they are matched on important variables.
What are the advantages of matched pairs?
• No order effects
• Participant variables
What are the disadvantages of matched pairs?
• Number of participants
• Practicalities – time consuming and difficult to find people who match
What is a field experiment?
Experiments conducted outside of the lab. Behaviour is measured in a natural environment such as a school. A key variable is still altered so it’s effect can be measured.
What are the advantages of field experiments?
• Causal relationships
• Ecological validity
What are the disadvantages of field experiments?
• Less control
• Ethics
What is a laboratory experiments?
an experiment that controls all relevant variables except one key variable, which is altered to see what the effect is.
What are the advantages of a laboratory experiment?
• controlled
• replicable
What are the disadvantages of a laboratory study
• Artificial
• Demand characteristics
What is an experimental group?
the participants are the experiment who the researcher is testing.
For example, they may receive a drug
What is a control group?
the other condition where participants are taking part in the experiment, but no manipulation is used. For example, they may receive a saline solution instead of the drug that the experimental group received.
What are demand characteristics
Participants may have determined the aims of the study; they might act deliberately to please the researcher
What is meant by the term ‘double blind’ and why is it used?
Neither the participants or the researchers know which condition the participants are in. This is used in medical trials
What is meant by the term ‘single blind’ and why is it used?
The participants do not know what condition they are in. This is used for the experiment and control groups.
What is a natural experiment
where the researcher look at how the IV, which is not manipulated by the researcher, effects the DV. The IV is an event that occurs naturally., for example, single-sex schools and mixed schools.
What are the advantages of a natural experiment
• Demand characteristics
• Ecological validity
What are the disadvantages of a natural experiment?
• Causal relationship
• Ethics
What is a quasi experiment?
the researcher is not able to use random allocation to put participants into different conditions. Naturally occurring IV, for example, biological sex.
What are the advantages of a quasi experiment?
Advantages:
• Control
• Ecological validity
What are the disadvantages of a quasi experiment?
• Participant allocation
• Causal relationships
What are behavioural categories?
Categories defined by the researcher to observe during the experiment. For example, aggression in children.
What is event sampling?
Researcher records every event (if a behaviour category) when observed in the research.
What is time sampling?
Researcher records every behaviour within a certain time frame, for example, 10 minutes.
What is controlled observation?
Takes place in a laboratory so the researcher can control the conditions
What are the advantages of controlled observation?
• Replication is possible due to highly controlled procedure
• Extraneous variables can be controlled
What are the disadvantages of controlled observation?
• Lower ecological validity
• Participants may alter their behaviour if they know they are being observed.
What is naturalistic observation?
Take place in a natural environment. They can be structured in advance to make sure no behaviours as missed.
What are the advantages of naturalistic observation?
• Ecological validity
• Theory development
What are the disadvantages of naturalistic observation?
• Extraneous variables
• Observer bias
• Ethics
What is covert observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
researchers’ presence is unknown to the participants
Strengths: The participants are more likely to behave naturally
Weaknesses: gaining ethics can be difficult
What is overt observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
researcher’s presence is obvious to participants
Strengths: more ethically sound than other methods because the participants are aware of the research.
Weaknesses: people might change their behaviour if they know they are being observed.
What is participant observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
when the researcher participates in the study
Strengths: the researcher develops a relationship with the group in the study
Weaknesses: the researcher loses objectivity by becoming part of the group
The participants might act differently if they know there is a researcher amongst them.
What is a non-participant observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
when the researcher observes the activity without getting involved in it
Strengths: the researcher can remain objective throughout the study
Weaknesses: the researcher loses a sense of the group dynamics by staying separate from the group.
What is structured observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
The researcher determines precisely what behaviours are to be observed and uses a standardised checklist to record the frequency with which they are observed within a specific time frame
Strengths
• Controlled
• Can be repeated
Weaknesses
• Might miss relevant information if too controlled
What is unstructured observation and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
The observer recalls all relevant behaviour but has no system
Strengths
• All behaviour is recorded.
Weaknesses
• Not controlled or repeatable
What is inter-rated reliability?
The test should give consistent results regardless of who administers it. This can be assessed by correlating the scores that each researcher produces and comparing them. Consistency is key- 80%
What is a self report: interview
Used to gather qualitative research- can be face-to-face or over the phone
Advantages and disadvantages of an interview
Advantages:
• Rich data
• Pilot study
Weaknesses
• Impractical
• Ethics
What is a Structured interview?
Fixed set of questions that are the same for all participants
What are the strengths of a structured interview?
• Can be easily repeated
• Requires less skill
• Easier to analyse
What are the disadvantages of a structural interview?
• Interview bias can still occur
• Social desirability
• Data collection is restricted by pre-determined questions
What is an unstructured interview?
The interview starts with some general aims and questions and then lets the interviewee’s answers guide subsequent questions.
What are the strengths of an unstructured interview?
• Detailed information can be obtained
• High validity – good rapport
• Deeper insight into thoughts and feelings
What are the weaknesses of an unstructured interview?
• Interviewer bias
• Requires training
• Harder to analyse
What are investigator effects?
These can be anything that the researcher does which can affect how the participant behaves. If a researcher’s expectations influence how they behave towards their participants, the participants might respond to demand characteristics.
What is researcher bias?
The researchers’ expectations can influence how they design their study and how they behave towards the participants. Their expectations may influence how they take measurements and analyse their data, resulting in errors that can lead, to accepting a hypothesis that is actually false.
How can you avoid bias?
A research assistant can conduct the research using standardised procedures to avoid bias/ effects.
What is content analysis?
Research analysing secondary data and data you have already collected. Data is split into categories
Describe the process involved in content analysis
A representative sample of qualitative data is collected, for example, from an interview, magazine
Coding units are identified to analyse the data. A coding unit could be, for example, an act of violence.
The qualitative data is then analysed to see how often each coding unit occurs.
What are Secondary data strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths:
• Inexpensive
• Ethics – participants are not directly involved, so less ethical issues.
Weaknesses:
• Data analysis- can be very time consuming
• Subjectivity
What is thematic analysis?
Making summaries of data and identifying key themes and categories.
What are the strengths of thematic analysis?
• Qualitative data preserves the detail in the data
• Creating hypotheses during the analysis allows for new insights to be developed
• Some objectivity can be established by using triangulation – other sources of data are used to check conclusions
What are the weaknesses of thematic analysis?
• Deciding which categories to use and whether a statement fits a particular category
• Deciding what to leave out of the summary- data can be lost
• Subjective
What are the Advantages and disadvantages of mean?
Advantages:
- Uses all scores in the data
- It is a very sensitive statistic because it takes account of the exact distance between all the values of all the data
Weaknesses
• If one of the values is extremely high or low (anomalous), then the overall mean can be very distorted and therefore misrepresent the data.
• It cannot be used with nominal data
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the mode?
Advantages
• Shows the most common score
• Unaffected by extreme values and is
useful for discrete data and is the only method which can be used for nominal data
Weaknesses
• Sometimes there are so many modes that the data cannot be described using this statistic.
• Has little further use in data analysis
What is a pilot study?
a ‘feasibility’ study, is a small-scale preliminary study conducted before any large-scale quantitative research in order to evaluate the potential for a future, full-scale project. Pilot studies are a fundamental stage of the research process. Pilot studies allow researchers to check the methodology, standardise the instructions and allow the research can be conducted.
Nature and use of a questionnaire
Can be written, face-to-face, on the phone or online.
Design: open questions are questions that allow the participants to respond in any way and in as much detail as they like. This gives detailed, qualitative information. Closed questions limit the answers that can be given. They give quantitative data which is easier to analyse.
What are the Advantages and disadvantages of a questionnaire?
Advantages:
• Practical – you can collect a lot of data
Disadvantages:
• Bad questions – leading questions or unclear questions can be a problem
• Biased samples
• Self-report
What is Social Desirability?
People usually try to show themselves in the best possible light. They might not be completely truthful
but give answers that are more socially acceptable.
How does social desirability affect validity?
Not a true representation of someone’s opinions/ thoughts/ feelings.
Case studies nature and use
case studies have intensive descriptions of a single individual or case. Case studies allow researchers to analyse unusual cases in a lot of detail.
Advantages and disadvantages of case studies
Advantages
• Rich data
• Unique cases
Weaknesses
- Causal relationship – cause and effect cannot be established
- Cannot be generalised
What is a sample?
A representative group of people from a target population
What is meant by a population?
All the people in a particular group- for example, a certain age or
background
What is random sampling?
this is when every member of a target group has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. This could be done either manually or by a computer.
Advantages and disadvantages of random sampling?
Advantages
Fair – everyone has a chance of being selected
Sample is likely to be representative
Weaknesses
Not guaranteed to have a representative sample
The researcher may end up with a biased sample because the sample is too small.
What is a volunteer sampling?
this is when people actively volunteer to be in a study by responding to a request for participants advertised by the researcher, for example, in a newspaper or on a notice board.
Advantages and disadvantages of a volunteer sampling
Advantages
• A large number of people may respond • In-depth analysis and accurate results if
larger sample
•
weaknesses
Not representative- only sample of
people who have responded
What is opportunity sampling?
when the researcher samples whoever is available and willing to be studied. Since many researchers work in universities, they often use opportunity samples made up of students
Advantages and disadvantages of opportunity sampling
Advantages Weaknesses
• Quick and practical • Unlikely to be a representative sample
• Cannot generalise the findings
What is stratified sampling
this is where important subgroups in the population, for example, different age groups, are identified and a proportionate number of each is randomly obtained.
Advantages and disadvantages of stratified sampling
Advantages
• Fairly representative sample
Weaknesses
• It is time-consuming because all potential participants need to be assessed and categorised.
• Some groups within a sample may not be represented if a small sample is used
What is systematic sampling?
this is where every nth name from a sampling frame (a record of all the names in a population) is taken, for example, every 3rd name from a register, or every 50th name from a phone book.
Advantages and disadvantages of systematic sampling
Advantages
• Simple and effective way of generating a sample with a random element
• Population is more likely to be evenly sampled
Weaknesses
• Subgroups might be missed
• Not necessarily representative if the pattern used for the sample coincides with a pattern in the population.
What is presumptive consent?
ask a similar group of people for consent.
What is prior general consent?
consent for different studies, including one that may involve deception.
What is retrospective consent?
ask for consent during debrief.
What is nominal data?
data represented in the form of categories. For example, how many students in the 6th form drive to school, how many walk etc.
What is ordinal data
data which is ordered in some way. Ask everyone in the class how much they like the 6th form on a scale of 1 – 10.
What is interval/ratio data?
based on numerical scales that include units of equal precisely defined size. Units of measurements for height, time and temperature for example.
