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Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What does objective mean?

A

Based on facts and not affected by biases

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2
Q

What is the empirical method?

A

The scientific approach based on evidence gathering through direct observation

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3
Q

What is replicability?

A

The extent to which scientific procedures can be repeated by other researchers

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4
Q

What is falsifiability?

A

A theory cannot be proven scientific unless it admits to the possibility of being wrong

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5
Q

What are the stages of Poppers hypothetic-deductive model?

A

Identify a problem
Develop a hypothesis
Devise a study
Analyse and evaluate the results to determine if hypothesis supported
Modify and repeat the process depending on stage 4
Develop a theory

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6
Q

What is a hypothesis

A

A testable statement tested in an experiment
Must reference IV and DV
IV and DV must be operationalised

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7
Q

What is a paradigm

A

A shared set of assumption within science

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8
Q

What is a paradigm shift?

A

The result of scientific revolution - a significant change in the dominant theory within science

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9
Q

What is a lab experiment

A

All variable are controlled - artificial setting

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10
Q

What is a field experiment

A

Experiment carried out in natural setting but IV is still manipulated

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11
Q

What is a quasi-experiment?

A

The IV is naturally occurring but the DV is measured in the lab

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12
Q

What is a natural experiment

A

Carried out completely in a natural setting where there is no manipulation from researcher - just observation

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13
Q

Confounding VS Extraneous variable

A

Extraneous - Any variable other than the IV that may affect the DV
Confounding - A variable other than the IV that has affected your results

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14
Q

What are the 4 types of hypothesis?

A

Experimental / alternative
Null
Directional (one tailed)
Non-directional (two tailed)

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15
Q

What is an experimental / alternative hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis that predicts the results of the experimental group will be very different from the control group

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16
Q

What is a null hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis that predicts no difference between experimental group and control group

Any relationship is due to sampling or experimental error

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17
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis which states the direction of difference between the relationship

Used when previous research has been done

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18
Q

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis that states there is a difference between conditions but the nature of the difference isn’t specified

No previous research

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19
Q

How do you operationalise a variable?

A

Make it measurable

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20
Q

Lab experiment evaluation

A

High internal validity
Low ecological validity
Lack of mundane realism
All variables controlled

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21
Q

Field experiment evaluation

A

Low internal validity
High ecological validity
Extraneous variables
More authentic behaviour

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22
Q

Natural experiment evaluation

A

High ecological validity
Extraneous variables
Limits generalisability since naturally occurring events happen rarely

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23
Q

Quasi-experiment evaluation

A

High internal validity
Replication possible
Cant randomly allocate participants so possible confounding variables

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24
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

A participant guesses the nature of the experiment and adjusts their behaviour to do what the researcher wants

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25
What are investigator effects?
The researcher provides cues to the participants about expected behaviour (often without realising) which then brings about the researchers predicitions
26
Single VS double blind
Single - participant isn't aware of the research aims Double blind - Neither participant or researcher are aware of the research aims
27
What is experimental realism?
The extent to which a controlled study is meaningful and engaging to participants
28
Naturalistic VS Controlled observation
Natural - Observing behaviour in a natural setting where everything is left as is Controlled - Some variables are controlled by researcher
29
Covert VS Overt
Covert - Behaviour is observed and recorded without obtaining consent Overt - Behaviour is observed and participants are aware they are being watched
30
Participant VS Non-participant observation
Participant - Observe becomes part of group they ares studying Non-participant - The observer remains seperate
31
What is time sampling?
Recording behaviour shown within a time frame e.g. recording every 30s
32
What is event sampling?
Counting the number of times a behaviour takes place
33
What is qualitative data
Non-numerical data which is word based collected through interviews
34
What is quantitative data?
Numbers More objective
35
Primary VS secondary data
Primary - collected first hand Secondary - Originally collected for another study - now being used by you
36
Primary / secondary data evaluation
+ Primary - Very controlled Secondary - Simpler and cheaper to use others data - Primary - Lengthy and expensive to collect Secondary - Data may not fit purpose
37
What are the measure of central tendency? Why would you choose them?
Mean - Most sensitive Median - Won't be affected by anomalous data Mode - Most commonly occurring value
38
What are the measures of dispersion?
Range Standard deviation - the spread of the scores around the mean
39
How do you collect a random sample?
List of members of target population obtained Each name assigned a number Sample is generated using lottery method e.g. random number generator
40
How do you collect an opportunity sample?
You select anyone available and willing to participate
41
How do you collect a stratified sample?
Identify strata Calculate proportion of each stratum Random simple sample of each strata Using a random selection method
42
How do you do a systematic sample?
Every nth member of a population is selected A sampling frame is made
43
How do you do a volunteer sample?
Participants sign up to do the study Maybe newspaper advert etc
44
What are the 3 types of experimental design?
Independent groups Repeated measures Matched pairs
45
Evaluating experimental design
Independent groups + No order effects - Participant variables Repeated measures + Participant variables are controlled - Order effects like the practice effect Matched pairs + Order effects aren't a problem - Matching is time consuming
46
What are the types of self report design?
Questionnaires Interviews
47
Questionnaire evaluation
Do lots of them Reveal info that would be uncomfortable face to face People have to be able to read and write Not many people return them
48
What are filler questions?
Questions in a questionnaire designed to stop a participant from working out the nature of the study
49
Interview evaluation
Can be unstructured - follow up questions Repeatable More skill on behalf of interviewer People may be embarrassed answering personal questions
50
Why is a correlation not a true experiment?
Lacks cause and effect
51
How is a correlation measured
+/- 1 = perfect positive / negative correlation +/- 0.5 = weak correlation 0 = no correlation
52
Correlation evaluation
Lacks cause and effect Easy to replicate Used to establish if there is a relationship before research How the behaviours are operationalised may be an issue
53
What is counterbalancing? Why is it used?
Used to overcome repeated measure designs - half the group does task 1 first  order effects are likely to occur  if you performed the first task in the first week you may still be thinking about it in the second week, resulting in different behaviour
54
What are the features of a positively skewed graph
Tail goes right Mean greater than the median
55
What are the features of a negatively skewed graph
Tail goes left Mean is less than the median
56
What is content analysis?
Analysing content like tv A form of indirect observation
57
What is coding?
Operationalise behaviour categories Watch the episode and record each time a behaviour happens Count up total number of findings
58
What is thematic analysis?
Collects qualitative data If a topic comes up, the quote is recorded Themes and sub themes are made
59
Content analysis evaluation
Avoids any ethics Produce qualitative and quantitative data Very subjective People studies out of context
60
What are the ethics in psychology
D eception C onsent C onfidentionality O bservation W ithdrawal P rotection from harm A dvice D ebrief
61
What is cost benefit analysis
One way that psychologists can protect participants is by using ethical committees. When a psychologist wants to carryout research they send an ethics form to the committee which sets out their aims and any areas of potential ethical concern. The committee carryout cost-benefit analysis to decide whether the research should be allowed to be conducted. They must decide whether the ethical issues it raises are worth the benefits it might produce.
62
What is peer review
An important part of the scientific method to protect the public from fraudulent scientific findings
63
What are the 3 main purposes of peer review
Allocation of funding Publication of research Assess the research rating of UNI's
64
Peer review evaluation
Better quality research made No bias due to anonymity May not be an appropriate expert to assess the researcher Doesn't help with research that has already been published
65
What is reliability?
How consistent something is
66
How can we assess reliability?
Test-retest - People do task, after an amount of time where they have forgotten the original test, they redo it, compare 2 sets of results and do statistical test Inter-rater - Several observers independently watch the behaviour and tick of the behavioural categories
67
What is validity?
The extent to which an observed effect is genuine
68
Internal VS External validity
Internal - Ho much the experiment is assessing what it aims to assess External - How we can apply findings to other scenarios
69
What are 4 types of validity
Face - Does it look like it makes sense Concurrent - The psychological tool being used in your test produces similar results to an existing test e.g. comparing your intelligence test with IQ test Ecological - the extent to which behaviours observed and recorded in a study reflect the behaviours that actually occur in the real world. Temporal - The extent to which findings from research can be applied to other historical times
70
What are the 2 ways you can asses validity?
Face Concurrent
71
What is the order of a psychological investigation
Title Abstract - written at the end - brief overview Intro (hypothesis) Method Results Discussion References
72
What are the types of experimental method
Lab Field Quasi Natural
73
How can replicability be increased
Standardised procedures to increase replicability and increase validity
74
How can a questionnaires concurrent validity be improved
* the researcher could compare the two questionnaires and note any differences * the researcher could (identify and) remove/deselect any items on his questionnaire that are problematic * items might be problematic because they are leading, ambiguous, too complex, double-barrelled etc
75
Why should mean be used for some pieces of research
No extreme values Most representative of sample
76
What are pilot studies and why are they used
Pilot studies are small-scale investigations conducted before research. to identify whether there needed to be any modifications in the design, eg whether the interview questions were sufficiently relevant to dream content
77
How can investigator effects be reduced
 provide a standardised script for the interviewers to use so that they all asked the same questions in the same way to avoid any bias in the students’ responses  the interviewers could have been trained to greet the students in the same way and ask questions with a neutral tone  ensure all interviewers were female or all interviewers were male
78
Why are repeated measures designs used
 necessary to avoid the effects of individual differences  habits, gender, time doing what research is measuring, personality, etc, can have a big impact on the studies outcome.
79
How can a sample be split randomly into 2 groups
All names put in a hat A name is drawn from the hat at random and assigned to the first group A name is drawn from the hat at random and assigned to the second group This is repeated as many times as necessary
80
How can method validity be increased
 include more than one question in the questionnaire/interview message. This would make the aim of the experiment less obvious to guess which would in turn reduce demand characteristics and improve the validity of the experiment  make the conditions less obvious.  guarantee anonymity so people will give honest answers and not feel embarrassed  use a broader sample, not just one demographic to avoid a self-selected sample and thus avoid volunteer bias as that may make them more susceptible to demand characteristics.
81
Why may it be better to use a correlation rather than an experiment
It may be more ethical to conduct a correlation rather than an experiment
82
Why is the 5% significant level used
Convention as it balances type 1 and type 2 errors
83
Discuss features of science
* objectivity and the empirical method * replicability and falsifiability * theory construction and hypothesis testing * paradigms and paradigm shifts. —————————— * use of research studies/theories/approaches to discuss the features of science * comparison of approaches to discuss features of science, eg Freud’s psychodynamic approach is unfalsifiable * difficulties of the subjective nature of psychological investigations
84
When sampling, what must operationalised behaviours be
Clearly observable
85
How to time sample
Record every ** time in the total period Tick what behaviour person is doing Ignore behaviours that happen in-between
86
Pros and cons of time sampling
Easier to manage as not recording all the time Important behaviours may be skipped
87
What is a reasonable correlation coefficient
0.8
88
Why may S.D be better than range?
Less sensitive to anomalies Uses all data Not just highest and lowest
89
How do you write a journal reference
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year) Article title. Journal Title
90
How do you reference a book
Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Location: Publisher, Page numbers

Psychology (14 decks)

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