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AQA A-Level Psychology 2nd Edition > Research methods > Flashcards

Research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A statement of what the researcher believes to be true.

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2
Q

What is an aim?

A

A general expression of what the researcher intends to investigate.

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3
Q

What does operationalisation mean?

A

To make a variable defined and measurable.

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4
Q

Whats the difference between directional and non-directional hypotheses?

A

Directional = changes are greater/lesser, positive/negative.

Non-directional = doesn’t state a direction, just that there is a difference.

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5
Q

What are extraneous variables?

A

Nuisance random variables that muddy the water, make it more difficult to detect an effect.

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6
Q

What are confounding variables?

A

Change systematically with the IV. They obscure the effect of the DV and must be controlled.

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7
Q

What is a demand characteristic?

A

Cues from the researcher/research that may reveal the aim of the study and change N’s behaviour.

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8
Q

What are investigator effects?

A

When the investigator has any effect on the DV.

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9
Q

1) What is randomisation?

2) What is standardisation?

A

1) Use of chance when designing research to control effects of bias. Tackles confounding and extraneous variables.

2) Using exactly the same formalised procedures for all participants in a research study. Tackles extraneous variables.

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10
Q

What do researchers use to see if the IV does have an effect on the DV?

A

Control groups for comparison.

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11
Q

What are independent groups ?

A

One group does condition A, and a second group does condition B.

Positives:
- No order effects
- Will not guess aim

Negatives:
- Participant variables could reduce validity
- Less economical

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12
Q

What is repeated measures design

A

Same participants take part in all conditions of an experiment.

Positives:
- Participant variables controlled
- More economical

Negatives:
- Order effects
- May guess aim

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13
Q

What is matched pairs group design

A

Two groups of participants are used but they are paired on participant variables that matter for the experiment.

Positives:
- Participant variables somewhat controlled
- No order effects

Negatives:
- Pairing is not perfect
- More participants

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14
Q

How do you define a lab experiment?

A
  • An environment whereby EVs and CVs can be regulated.
  • IV is manipulated and the effect on the DV is recorded.

Positives:
- EVs and CVs can be controlled
- Can be more easily replicated

Negatives:
- Lack generalisability
- Demand characteristics

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15
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

A natural setting, IV is manipulated and the effect on the DV is recorded.

Positives:
- More natural environment
- Participants unaware of observation

Negatives:
- Difficult to control EVs and CVs
- Ethical issues

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16
Q

What is a natural experiment?

A
  • Experimenter does not manipulate IV.
  • IV would have varied even without manipulation.
  • DV may be naturally occurring and can be devised and measured by experimenter.

Positives:
- May be the only ethical option for this effect (Romanian orphan study).
- Greater external validity

Negatives:
- Event may only occur once
- Participants not randomly allocated

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17
Q

What is a quasi-experiment?

A
  • IV based on a pre-existing difference between people, e.g. age/gender.
  • DV may be naturally occurring or measured by experimenter.

Positives:
- Often highly controlled
- Comparisons can be made between people

Negatives:
- Participants are not randomly allocated
- Causal relationships not demonstrated

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18
Q

What is an opportunity sample?

A

People who are simply most available, e.g. asking the students in your class to take part.

Positive:
- Quick method

Negative:
- Inevitably biased

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19
Q

What is a random sample?

A

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected, e.g. pulling names out of a hat.

Positive:
- Potentially unbiased

Negative:
- Time-consuming and may not work

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20
Q

What is a volunteer sample?

A

Participants selecting themselves, e.g. placing an ad in a newspaper.

Positive:
- Participants are willing

Negative:
- Volunteer bias

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21
Q

What is a systematic sample?

A

Participants selected using a set ‘pattern’ e.g. every Nth person is selected.

Positive:
- Unbiased

Negative:
- Time-consuming

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22
Q

What is a stratified sample?

A
  • Participants selected according to their frequency in the target population, e.g. gender/age.
  • Relative % of the subgroups are reflected in the sample.

Positive:
- Representative method

Negative:
- Stratification is not perfect

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23
Q

What is ethical conflict?

A

When conflict exists between the rights of the participant and the aims of the research.

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24
Q

What is informed consent?

A

Giving the participants full knowledge of the aims and purposes of the study so they can consent (or not) knowing what they will be doing.

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25
Q

What is deception?

A

Deliberately misleading or withholding info so consent is not fully informed.

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26
Q

How would a researcher overcome deception?

A
  • Giving a debrief at the end of the study.
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27
Q

What should a debrief include?

A

1) True aims of the study and details not given during it.

2) Use of data acquired (about participant) and participant right to with-hold data.

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28
Q

How would protection from harm be enabled?

A
  • Right to withdraw at any stage
  • Reassured that their behaviour was typical/normal during debriefing
  • Provide counselling if necessary
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29
Q

How would a researcher ensure privacy/confidentiality?

A

1) If personal details are kept, they must be protected and cannot be shared with other researchers.

2) Refer to participants using numbers, initials or false names.

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30
Q

What is a natural observation?

A

Taking place where the target behaviour would normally occur.

Positive:
- High external validity

Negative:
- Low control

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31
Q

What is a controlled observation?

A

Some control/manipulation of variables, including control of EVs.

Positive:
- Can be replicated

Negative:
- May have low external validity

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32
Q

What is a covert observation?

A

Participants are unaware they are being studied.

Positive:
- Demand characteristics reduced

Negative:
- Ethically questionable

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33
Q

What is an overt observation?

A

Participants are aware of being studied.

Positive:
- More ethically acceptable.

Negative:
- Demand characteristics

34
Q

What is a participant observation?

A

When the researcher becomes part of the group they are studying.

Positive:
- Can lead to greater insight.

Negative:
- Possible loss of objectivity.

35
Q

What is a non-participant observation?

A

When the researcher remains separate from the group they are studying.

Positive:
- More objective.

Negative:
- Loss of insight.

36
Q

In terms of observation, what are behavioural categories?

A

Target behaviours to be observed broken up in to a set of observable categories (operationalised).

Negatives:
- Difficult to make clear and unambiguous.
- Dustbin categories.

37
Q

In terms of observation, what is time sampling?

A

Observations made at regular intervals, e.g. once every 15 seconds.

Positive:
- Reduces number of observations.

Negative:
- May be unrepresentative.

38
Q

In terms of observation, what is event sampling?

A

A target behaviour/event is recorded every time it occurs.

Positive:
- Useful for infrequent behaviour.

Negative:
- Complex behaviour oversimplified.

39
Q

What are questionnaires?

A

A pre-set list of written questions to which a participant responds. Can be used to assess DV.

Positives:
- Can be distributed to lots of people
- Straightforward to analyse

Negatives:
- Responses may no always be truthful
- Response bias

40
Q

What is an unstructured interview?

A

No set questions in face-to-face interview but there is a general topic.

Positive:
- Greater flexibility

Negative:
- Increased risk of interviewer bias

41
Q

What is a structured interview?

A

There is a list of pre-determined questions asked in a fixed order.

Positive:
- Easy to replicate

Negative:
- Interviewers cannot elaborate

42
Q

What 3 things should questionnaires avoid having or doing?

A

1) Using jargon
2) Using double-barrelled questions
3) Using leading questions

43
Q

What are closed questions?

A

Respondent has limited choices and data tends to be quantitative/ can be converted.

Positive:
- Easier to analyse

Negative:
- Responses are restricted

44
Q

What are open questions?

A

Respondent provides fully worded answers. Data is qualitative.

Positive:
- Responses not restricted

Negative:
- Difficult to analyse

45
Q

How can validity of an interview be improved?

A

1) Interview schedule
2) Quiet room
3) Rapport
4) Ethics

46
Q

What is a pilot study?

A

A small-scale trial run. Used to find out if certain things don’t work so you have time for corrections before the real thing.

47
Q

What is quantitative data?

A

Numerical data

Positive:
- Easier to analyse

Negative:
- Narrower in meaning

48
Q

What is qualitative data?

A

Non-numerical data expressed in words

Positive:
- Richness of detail

Negative:
- Difficult to analyse

49
Q

What is primary data?

A

‘First hand’ data collected for the purpose of the investigation

Positive:
- Fits the job

Negative:
- Requires time and effort

50
Q

What is secondary data?

A

Data collected by someone other than the person who is conducting the research.

Positive:
- Inexpensive

Negative:
- Quality may be poor

51
Q

What is a meta-analysis?

A

A type of secondary data that involves combining data from a large number of studies.

Positive:
- Increases validity of conclusions

Negative:
- Publication bias

52
Q

What are the 3 measures of central tendency?

A

Mean
Positive:
- Sensitive measure - includes all values
Negative:
- Easily distorted by extreme values

Median
Positive:
- Less affected by extreme scores
Negative:
- Sometimes extreme values are important

Mode
Positive:
- Relevant to categorical data
Negative:
- An overly simple measure

53
Q

What are the 2 measures of dispersion?

A

Range
Positive:
- Easy to calculate
Negative:
- Does not account for the distribution of the scores

Standard deviation
Positive:
- More precise than the range
Negative:
- Can be distorted by extreme values

54
Q

What are the three types of distribution?

A

Normal:
- Bell shaped

Negative skew:
- Tail of bell to the left

Positive skew:
- Tail of bell to the right

55
Q

How is significance shown in Psychology? How is it found?

A
  • Difference/association between two sets of data is greater than what would occur by chance.
  • Statistical tests.
56
Q

What is determined at 5% or 0.05 in Psychology?

A

Accepted level of probability to decide whether we accept/ reject the null hypothesis.

57
Q

What are calculated and critical values?

A

Calculated value is the outcome of the test.

The critical value is in the values table.

58
Q

What three things are needed to find the critical value?

A

1) Significance level
2) Number of participants (N value) and degree of freedom (df)
3) Directional or non-directional hypothesis.

59
Q

When would the sign test be used?

A

To analyse:
- A difference in scores
- Related design
- Nominal data

60
Q

Note all the steps of the calculation of the sign test

A

1) Score for condition B is subtracted from condition A.

2) Total number of pluses and total number of minuses should be added up (separately).

3) Participants who achieved the same score in condition A and B are deducted from the N value.

4) The S value is the total of the less frequent sign.

  • If S is equal to or less than the critical value, then S is significant and the alternate hypothesis is retained.
61
Q

What is a peer review?

A

Before publication, experts in the field (who are not known to the researchers to maintain objectivity) review in depth the research.

Positive:
- Protects quality of published research

Negatives:
- Anonymity may be used to criticise rival research.
- Publication bias
- Ground-breaking research may be buried

62
Q

What are the aims of peer review?

A

1) Funding allocation
2) Quality control
3) Suggest improvements

63
Q

How does psychology benefit the economy?

A

1) Attachment research into the role of the father.
- Modern parents better equipped knowing flexibility of roles, so both can still work.

2) Development of treatment for mental illness
- 1/3 of all days off work are caused by mental disorders, treatment aids workers contributing to economy.

64
Q

Describe what a case study is

A

Detailed, in-depth study of individual/ group/ institution/ event and is longitudinal. They are used to research usual and unusual cases. They often produce mostly qualitative data.

Positives:
- Rich in detail so can provide new insight
- Allows for study of unusual behaviour

Negatives:
- Prone to researcher bias
- Small samples lack generalisability

65
Q

What is a content analysis?

A

Type of observational research in which people are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced, e.g. conversation. newspaper reports.

Positives:
- Ethical issues avoided, consent not always needed.
- Flexible method, adapts to aims of research.

Negative:
- Communications studied out of context, reduces validity.
- May lack objectivity, choice of categories may depend of researchers personal views.

66
Q

What are the two types of content analysis?

A

Coding
- Quantitative data
- Categorise information into meaningful units and the count number of words or phrases.

Thematic analysis
- Qualitative data
- Identify recurrent ideas - more descriptive than coding units, broader categories.

67
Q

What is reliability and give two ways of testing it.

A

Reliability is a measure of consistency.

1) Test-retest
2) Inter-observer

Measured using correlation, two sets of scores from the tests above should produce a correlation of at least +.80 for reliability.

68
Q

How would you improve the reliability of:
1) Questionnaires
2) Interviews
3) Experiments
4) Observations

A

1) Test-retest method

2) Use same interviewer each time

3) Strict control of standardised procedures

4) Operationalised behavioural categories

69
Q

What is validity and is it possible to obtain reliability without validity?

A

Validity is a measure of legitimacy (genuine effect).

Yes, e.g. broken scales may report additional weight - but it’s not true to life.

70
Q

What are the two types of validity and their divisions?

A

1) Internal validity = Control within study

2) External validity = Generalisability
- Ecological validity = Can it be generalised to specific situations, everyday life.
- Temporal validity = Findings remain true over time, not historically specific.

71
Q

What 2 ways would you assess validity?

A

1) Face validity
- Test looks like it measures what it should. Its eyeballing.

2) Concurrent validity
- Findings similar to well-established test.

72
Q

How do you improve validity of;
1) Experimental research
2) Questionnaires
3) Observations
4) Qualitative methods.

A

1) - Using a control group/s and standardised procedures, single/ double blind.

2) Incorporating a lie scale within the questions and ensure participants of confidentiality.

3) Well-defined categories with no overlap. Covert observations for greater authenticity.

4) Interpretive validity and triangulation (use multiple sources).

73
Q

What are statistical tests used for and what 3 criteria must you take into consideration before choosing a statistical test?

A

Used to determine whether difference or association/ correlation is significant.

1) Difference or correlation
2) What experimental design is being used.
3) Level of measurement.

74
Q

Picture the statistical test box, flip the card when ready and see if you got it right…

A
75
Q

What are the 3 types of data?

A

1) Nominal data - Data presented in categories.

2) Ordinal data - Data in order on numerical scale but the intervals are variable.

3) Interval data - Based on numerical scales with units of equal, precisely defined size.

76
Q

If the statistical test is not significant, what hypothesis is accepted?

A

The null hypothesis is accepted and the alternative hypothesis is rejected.

The null hypothesis is accepted or rejected at a particular level of probability.

77
Q

What 3 criteria do you need when studying a table of critical values?

A

1) One-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis?
2) Number of participants in study (N) or degrees of freedom (df).
3) Level of significance (p value).

78
Q

What is a Type I error?

A

When the null hypothesis is rejected even though it is true, false positive result.

79
Q

What is a Type II error?

A

When the null hypothesis is accepted even though it is false, false negative result.

80
Q

When are you likely to accept each type of error?

A

Type I - significance level too lenient, e.g. 10%

Type II - significant level too stringent, e.g. 1%

81
Q

What are the sections of a scientific report?

A

1) Abstract
- Short summary of the study.

2) Introduction
- Review of literature, logical progression to hypothesis.

3) Method
- Design, sample, materials, procedure, ethics, detailed replication. Detailed enough for replication.

4) Results
- Descriptive and inferential statistics, raw data in appendix.

5) Discussion
- Summary, links to earlier research, limitations and implications of research.

6) Referencing of work informing the research.

82
Q

What are the features of science?

A

1) Objectivity

2) Empirical method

3) Replicability

4) Falsifiability

5) Theory construction

6) Paradigms/ shifts

AQA A-Level Psychology 2nd Edition (19 decks)

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