research methods Flashcards
strengths/weaknesses of lab experiment
strengths:
- high level of control leading to high internal validity
- high level of control leads to greater reliability and easier replication
Weaknesses:
- artificial setting lacking generalisability and ecological validity
- demand characteristics
strengths/weaknesses of field experiment
Strengths:
- higher mundane realism and ecological validity
- reduction in demand characteristics
Weaknesses:
- less control of extraneous variables (lower internal validity)
- lower replicability and generalisability
strengths/weaknesses of natural experiment
strengths:
- higher ecological validity
- reduction in demand Characteristics
Weaknesses:
- confounding variables leading to low internal validity
- difficult to replicate
strengths/weaknesses of Quasi-experiment
strengths:
- allows investigation in areas where manipulation of variables would be unethical/impossible
- comparisons can be made between people
Weaknesses:
- Participants are not randomly allocated
- Causal relationships not demonstrated
What is a correlational analysis and what are the strengths/weaknesses?
- a statistical technique to analyse data to measure the strength of the relationship between two variables resulting in a number between +1 and -1
- neither variable is manipulated by the experimenter
strengths:
- identifies relationships between variables and the strength and direction of this
- can use secondary data so no collection of data involved
Weaknesses:
- can’t be used to establish cause and effect
- cannot be used to study non-linear/curvilinear relationships
What is an interview?
- a self-report technique involving a live encounter where a researcher askes a series of questions to assess an individual’s thoughts and experiences
- can be structured or unstructured
What is a questionnaire and what are the strengths/weaknesses?
- a self-report technique where a set of written questions/statements is used to assess a person’s thoughts/experiences
Strength:
- allows collection of large amounts of data (cost-effective)
- reduced investigator effects
Weaknesses:
- social desirability bias
- response bias
What is content analysis and what are the strengths/weaknesses?
- a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce
- the aim is to summarise and describe the communication so that conclusions can be drawn
- coding: categorising the information - produces quantitative data
- thematic analysis: identifying explicit or implicit ideas that recur in the information - produces qualitative data
Strengths:
- can produce both sets of data
- circumvents ethical issues because information is already public
Weaknesses:
- material analysed out of context
- lack of objectivity
Strengths/weaknesses of closed questions
Strengths:
- easier to analyse
Weaknesses:
- responses are restricted
Strengths/weaknesses of open questions
- responses aren’t restricted
- difficult to analyse
process of designing interviews
- interview schedule
- quiet room
- Rapport
- Ethics
what is a pilot study?
- small-scale trial run of a research design using a small number of participants
- aims to find out if certain things don’t work so you can correct them before spending time and money on the real thing
Strengths/weaknesses of Qualitative data
- richness in detail
- difficult to analyse
Strengths/weaknesses of Quantitative data
- easier to analyse
- narrower in meaning
Strengths/weaknesses of primary data
- directly relevant
- requires time and effort
Strengths/weaknesses of secondary data
- cheaper
- quality may be poor
What is a meta-analysis and what are its Strengths/weaknesses
- a type of secondary data that involves combining data from a large number of studies
- increases validity of conclusions
- publication bias
Strengths/weaknesses of using the mean
- sensitive measure
- may be unrepresentative
Strengths/weaknesses of using the median
- less affected by extreme scores
- less sensitive than the mean
Strengths/weaknesses of using the mode
- relevant to categorical data
- an overly simple measure
Strengths/weaknesses of using the range
- easy to calculate
- does not account for the distribution of the scores
Strengths/weaknesses of using standard deviation
- more precise than the range
- it may be misleading
what are the aims of peer review
- funding: allocate research funding
- validation of the quality and relevance of research
- improvements and amendments are suggested
Strengths/weaknesses of peer review
- protects quality of published research
- Anonymity may be used to criticise rival research
- Publication bias
- Ground-breaking research may be buried
What are correlations?
A mathematical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between two variables, called co-variables
Strengths and weaknesses of case studies
- offers rich and detailed data
- contributes to understanding of normal functioning
- lacks generalisability
- Lacks internal validity
What are the ways in assessing reliability?
- test-retest
- inter observer
What is ecological validity?
The extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other settings and situations
What is temporal validity?
The extent to which findings can be generalised to other times and eras
What is face validity?
A measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears to measure what it’s supposed to
What is concurrent validity?
The extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure
How to choose a statistical test?
- Difference or correlation
- What experimental design
- The level of measurement
What are the levels of measurement?
Nominal - categories
Ordinal - order and ranks
Interval - numerical scales
What is a type 1 error?
The incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis (false positive)
What is a type II error?
The failure to reject a false null hypothesis (false negative)
What’s included in an abstract?
- aims and hypotheses
- method/procedure
- results and conclusions
What’s included in an introduction?
