research methods Flashcards
describe a lab experiment
- artificial setting
- high manipulation of variables so reduced risk of extraneous variables
- experimental and control group
- standardised procedure
what is a strength of lab experiments (PEE)?
- reliability
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.
what is a weakness of lab experiments (PEE)?
- validity
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.
what is a weakness of lab experiments (PEE)?
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.
what is a strength of lab experiments (PEE)?
- ethics
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.
describe a field experiment
- natural setting
- some extraneous variables can be controlled for
- can still have standardised procedures
what is a weakness of a field experiment (PEE)?
- generalisability
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.
what is a strength of field experiments (PEE)?
- reliability
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.
what is a strength of field experiments (PEE)?
- validity
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.
what is a weakness of field experiments (PEE)?
- ethics
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.
describe a natural experiment
- natural setting
- variables are not manipulated
- limited standardised procedure
what is a weakness of natural experiments? (PEE)
- generalisability
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.
what is a weakness of natural experiments (PEE)?
- reliability
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.
what is a strength of natural experiments (PEE)?
- validity
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.
what is the ‘independent variable’?
- manipulated/changed
- to demonstrate a difference between conditions
what is the ‘dependent variable’?
- measured
- see if IV change has an effect
what is an extraneous variable?
variables that aren’t the IV or DV
what is a confounding variable?
an extraneous variable which provides an alternative explanation for the effects on the DV
what is a situational variable?
variables from the environment
what is a participant variable?
any characteristic or aspect of a participant’s background
what are demand characteristics?
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
what is ‘experimenter effect’?
influence that the experimenter has on the results of research. this could be from procedural errors or characteristics/attitudes affecting ppt behaviour.
what is ‘researcher bias’?
unintended errors in the interpretation of results that are due to a researcher’s expectancies or preconceived beliefs
what is a single blind trial?
a procedure in which participants are unaware of the conditions under which they are operating
what is a double blind trial?
a procedure in which both the participants and the experimenters interacting with them are unaware of the particular conditions
how does single/double blind remove bias?
ppts are not influenced by the knowledge of the conditions so there is less chance of demand characteristics
define ‘aim’
the intentions of the study with clarity of the purpose and what the researcher wants to achieve
define ‘hypothesis’
measurable statement/prediction of the significant difference/relationship between the variables
define ‘experimental hypothesis’
measurable prediction that states there will be a significant difference/relationship between the variables
define ‘null hypothesis’
measurable prediction that states there will be no significant difference/relationship between the variables
define ‘directional hypothesis’
hypotheses which states the kind of difference/relationship that is expected to occur between the variables
define ‘non directional hypothesis’
hypotheses which states a difference/relationship between the variables being tested but not what it will be
define ‘participant design’
describes how ppts are distributed between experimental conditions
define ‘order effects’
order of the conditions having an effect on the ppts’ behaviour
- fatigue
- practise
- boredom
how are order effects managed?
counterbalancing = ppts split into different conditions and do them in different orders
randomisation = ppts split into different conditions and do them in random orders
evaluate counterbalancing & randomisation (PEE,CA)
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.
define ‘independent measures’
ppts take part in only one condition
what is a strength of independent measures (PEE)?
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.
what is a weakness of independent measures (PEE)?
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.
define ‘repeated measures’
all participants do all conditions
what is a strength of repeated measures(PEE)?
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.
what is a weakness of repeated measures (PEE)?
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.
define ‘matched pairs’
two or more sets of study participants that are matched to one another in terms of relevant variables such as gender/age
what is a strength of matched pairs (PEE)?
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.
what is a weakness of matched pairs (PEE)?
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.
