research methods

Question 1

describe a lab experiment

Answer 1

• artificial setting
• high manipulation of variables so reduced risk of extraneous variables
• experimental and control group
• standardised procedure

Question 2

what is a strength of lab experiments (PEE)?
- reliability

Answer 2

a strength of lab experiments is that they have high reliability. for example, they use standardised procedures with high control over extraneous variables. therefore, it is easy to replicate these experiments and test for consistency.

Question 3

what is a weakness of lab experiments (PEE)?
- validity

Answer 3

a weakness of lab experiments is that they lack ecological validity. for example, they take place in controlled, artificial environments which is unnatural for the participants. therefore, their behaviours may not reflect real life. additionally, there is the risk of demand characteristics as the participants are often aware of being in a study.

Question 4

what is a weakness of lab experiments (PEE)?

Answer 4

a weakness of lab experiments is that they lack ecological validity. for example, they take place in controlled, artificial environments which is unnatural for the participants. therefore, their behaviours may not reflect real life. additionally, there is the risk of demand characteristics as the participants are often aware of being in a study.

Question 5

what is a strength of lab experiments (PEE)?
- ethics

Answer 5

a strength of lab experiments is that it minimises the ethical issues. for example, participants are aware that they are taking part in a study so will have given informed consent. however, sometimes the researchers use deception to reduce the chance of demand characteristics so that behaviour is more likely to reflect real life. therefore, this is an ethical issue which is a weakness of lab experiments.

Question 6

describe a field experiment

Answer 6

• natural setting
• some extraneous variables can be controlled for
• can still have standardised procedures

Question 7

what is a weakness of a field experiment (PEE)?
- generalisability

Answer 7

a weakness of field experiments is that they often have low generalisability. this is because they mainly use opportunity samples which is where participants are available at that time. those who are in the same place at the same time would usually share similar traits. therefore, the findings are not representative of a wider population.

Question 8

what is a strength of field experiments (PEE)?
- reliability

Answer 8

a strength of field experiments is that they have high reliability. this is because standardised procedures are used where participants receive the same conditions. therefore, this makes them easy to replicate and test for consistency. however, they lack internal validity. for example, due to being a natural setting, there could be low control over extraneous variables because the researcher cannot manipulate all aspects of the setting. therefore, findings may be due to a third variable instead of the IV which reduces the accuracy.

Question 9

what is a strength of field experiments (PEE)?
- validity

Answer 9

a strength of field experiments is that they have high ecological validity. for example, the setting is natural to the participant so they are more likely to behave naturally. therefore, findings will be more representative of real life behaviour. additionally, as the setting is familiar, ppts are less likely to guess the aim of the study so there is less chance of demand characteristics.

Question 10

what is a weakness of field experiments (PEE)?
- ethics

Answer 10

a weakness of field experiments is that they have ethical issues. for example, as the setting is natural and deception is used, they may be unaware that they are in a study. therefore, there is no informed consent and right to withdraw is compromised.

Question 11

describe a natural experiment

Answer 11

• natural setting
• variables are not manipulated
• limited standardised procedure

Question 12

what is a weakness of natural experiments? (PEE)
- generalisability

Answer 12

a weakness of natural experiments is that they lack generalisability, for example, opportunity samples are often used which is bias as those in the same place at the same time might share characteristics. therefore, this cannot represent a wider population.

Question 13

what is a weakness of natural experiments (PEE)?
- reliability

Answer 13

a weakness of natural experiments is that they lack reliability. as it is a naturally occurring setting, the researcher does not manipulate the variables, meaning that standardised procedures are limited. therefore, this makes it difficult to replicate and test for consistency.

Question 14

what is a strength of natural experiments (PEE)?
- validity

Answer 14

a strength of natural experiments is that they are high in ecological validity. for example, the setting is natural which will reflect behaviour in everyday life. additionally, the reduced controls limits the risk of demand characteristics altering the way a ppt responds. therefore, the findings are an accurate representation of how the ppts would act if the experiment wasn’t going on.

Question 15

what is the ‘independent variable’?

Answer 15

• manipulated/changed
• to demonstrate a difference between conditions

Question 16

what is the ‘dependent variable’?

Answer 16

• measured
• see if IV change has an effect

Question 17

what is an extraneous variable?

Answer 17

variables that aren’t the IV or DV

Question 18

what is a confounding variable?

Answer 18

an extraneous variable which provides an alternative explanation for the effects on the DV

Question 19

what is a situational variable?

Answer 19

variables from the environment

Question 20

what is a participant variable?

Answer 20

any characteristic or aspect of a participant’s background

Question 21

what are demand characteristics?

Answer 21

cues that might indicate the aim of a study to participants which lead to them changing their behaviours based on what they think the research is about

Question 22

what is ‘experimenter effect’?

Answer 22

influence that the experimenter has on the results of research. this could be from procedural errors or characteristics/attitudes affecting ppt behaviour.

Question 23

what is ‘researcher bias’?

Answer 23

unintended errors in the interpretation of results that are due to a researcher’s expectancies or preconceived beliefs

Question 24

what is a single blind trial?

Answer 24

a procedure in which participants are unaware of the conditions under which they are operating

Question 25

what is a double blind trial?

Answer 25

a procedure in which both the participants and the experimenters interacting with them are unaware of the particular conditions

Question 26

how does single/double blind remove bias?

Answer 26

ppts are not influenced by the knowledge of the conditions so there is less chance of demand characteristics

Question 27

define ‘aim’

Answer 27

the intentions of the study with clarity of the purpose and what the researcher wants to achieve

Question 28

define ‘hypothesis’

Answer 28

measurable statement/prediction of the significant difference/relationship between the variables

Question 29

define ‘experimental hypothesis’

Answer 29

measurable prediction that states there will be a significant difference/relationship between the variables

Question 30

define ‘null hypothesis’

Answer 30

measurable prediction that states there will be no significant difference/relationship between the variables

Question 31

define ‘directional hypothesis’

Answer 31

hypotheses which states the kind of difference/relationship that is expected to occur between the variables

Question 32

define ‘non directional hypothesis’

Answer 32

hypotheses which states a difference/relationship between the variables being tested but not what it will be

Question 33

define ‘participant design’

Answer 33

describes how ppts are distributed between experimental conditions

Question 34

define ‘order effects’

Answer 34

order of the conditions having an effect on the ppts’ behaviour
- fatigue
- practise
- boredom

Question 35

how are order effects managed?

Answer 35

counterbalancing = ppts split into different conditions and do them in different orders
randomisation = ppts split into different conditions and do them in random orders

Question 36

evaluate counterbalancing & randomisation (PEE,CA)

Answer 36

a strength of using counterbalancing or randomisation is that it has high internal validity. this is because it minimises order effects such as practise or fatigue. therefore, the findings are likely to be due to the direct manipulation of an IV so increases credibility. however, using random orders of conditions reduces the reliability. this is because it limits the standardisation of the procedures. therefore, it is harder to replicate and test for consistency.

Question 37

define ‘independent measures’

Answer 37

ppts take part in only one condition

Question 38

what is a strength of independent measures (PEE)?

Answer 38

a strength of independent measures is that there are no order effects. this is because participants only take part in one condition. therefore, they won’t become fatigued, get bored or practise and improve performance which would affect results. additionally, there is less chance of demand characteristics. this is because by doing one condition, they are less likely to guess the aim and behave in favour of this. this then increases internal validity.

Question 39

what is a weakness of independent measures (PEE)?

Answer 39

a weakness of independent measures is that there is the effect of participant variables. for example, participants one condition may have a higher IQ which could impact on their performance. this can lead to false conclusions that the different conditions caused results when it was really just individual differences between the participants. therefore, this lowers internal validity.

Question 40

define ‘repeated measures’

Answer 40

all participants do all conditions

Question 41

what is a strength of repeated measures(PEE)?

Answer 41

a strength of repeated measures is that it has high internal validity. for example, because all participants do both conditions, the effect of ppt variables/individual differences is reduced. therefore, the findings are more likely to be due to the manipulation of the IV. additionally, a smaller sample size can be used because they participate in all conditions so only one group is needed. therefore, this saves time so is quick and efficient.

Question 42

what is a weakness of repeated measures (PEE)?

Answer 42

a weakness of repeated measures is that there is a risk of order effects. for example, because the participants take part in both conditions, they might become bored or fatigued, or they could practise so performance improves. therefore, this could create false conclusions even though the results are due to order effects rather than the manipulated IV.

Question 43

define ‘matched pairs’

Answer 43

two or more sets of study participants that are matched to one another in terms of relevant variables such as gender/age

Question 44

what is a strength of matched pairs (PEE)?

Answer 44

a strength of matched pairs is that they eliminate the effect of participant variables. this is because the pairs act as controls for each other, so variables such as age/gender will not have an effect. therefore, this increases the internal validity as the findings are more likely to be a result of the manipulated IV.

Question 45

what is a weakness of matched pairs (PEE)?

Answer 45

a weakness of matched pairs is that it can be time consuming. this is because researchers have to find and match participants together and if one ppt drops out, two are lost. additionally, the matches can never all be perfect. for example, they might be of similar age but all the pairs won’t share exact birthdays. therefore, this might reduce the internal validity.