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research methods Flashcards

Paper 1

1
Q

what is a independent variable?

A

variable that is manipulated and controlled to see if it has an effect on the DV
conditions (control and experimental)

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2
Q

what is a dependent variable?

A

variable that measures the manipulation of the IV.
This is numerical (eg: number of hours slept, number of aggressive behaviours shown)

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3
Q

what is a control variable?

A

something that stays the same in the experiment (something you control)

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4
Q

what is an extraneous variable?

A

a variable which isn’t the IV but can effect the DV through lack of control

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5
Q

types of extraneous vaiables?

A

individual differences - (age, gender, culture)
situational variables- (where, when)

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6
Q

what is a cofounding variable?

A

if an extraneous variable affects the DV it becomes a cofounding variable

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7
Q

what is a laboratory experiment?

A

a experiment where the IV is directly manipulated in a highly controlled/ artificial environment

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8
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a laboratory experiment?

A

strength: very objective (not open to opinion) due to controls over extraneous variables. easier to test cause and effect
weakness: low in ecological validity due to being in an artificial/ controlled environment. more chances of demand characteristics.

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9
Q

what is a field experiment?

A

an experiment where the IV is directly manipulated in a natural environment with some element of control

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10
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a field experiment?

A

strength: high in ecological validity due to being in a natural environment
weakness: less control of extraneous variables- harder to establish cause and effect ethical issue of consent as ppts are in a natural environment

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11
Q

what is a quasi experiment?

A

an experiment where the IV is not manipulated because it is pre determined/ natural (eg; age, gender), in a natural or artificial environment

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12
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a quasi experiment?

A

strength: more ethical as nothing is being manipulated by the researcher
weakness: more time consuming and difficult to carry out for researcher matching up ppts they are comparing if IV already exists

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13
Q

what is a naturalistic observation?

A

where ppts are observed in their natural environment/ real life society

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14
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a naturalistic observation?

A

strength: high in ecological validity due to being in ppts natural environment
weakness: hard to establish cause and effect due to lack of control over extraneous variables

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15
Q

what is a controlled observation?

A

where ppts are observed not in a real life setting

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16
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a controlled observation?

A

strength: more control so less chance of extraneous variables- easier to establish cause and effect
weakness: lacks ecological validity as ppts are in a controlled setting so may not produce natural behaviours

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17
Q

what is a participant observation?

A

where the researcher takes part with the ppts and also observes their behaviour

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18
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a participant observation?

A

strength: researcher gains experience from ppts POV
weakness; difficult for researcher to record data without being discovered, easier to miss behaviours

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19
Q

what is a non participant observation?

A

where the researcher observes ppts from afar.

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20
Q

what is the strengths and weakness of a non participant observation?

A

s- less likely to miss data
w-doesn’t gain experience from the ppts pov

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21
Q

what is a structured observation?

A

the researcher has pre determined behaviour codes

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22
Q

strengths and weaknesses of structured observations?

A

s- easier to record ad establish inter rater reliability
w-observer bias, reductionist

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23
Q

what is an unstructured observation?

A

researcher records everything observed

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24
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a unstructured observation?

A

s- high validity, applicable to a wider range f contexts
w- harder to record and establish cause and effect

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25
what is an overt observation?
where the ptts know they are being observed
26
evaluate overt observations?
s- reduces ethical issues such as consent, deception w-lowers validity chance of demand characteristics
27
What is a covert observation?
ppts don't know they're being observed
28
evaluate covert observations?
s- less chance of demand characteristics, increases validity w-less ethical as ppts don't give consent
29
what is event sampling?
every occurrence of behaviour as specified on a pre determined checklist is observed and recorded within a specific period of time
30
what are the strengths and weaknesses of event sampling?
s-quantative easier to record w- reductionist, reduces validity
31
what is time sampling?
behaviour as specified on a pre determined list is recorded at specific intervals
32
what are the strenghts and weaknesses of time sampling?
s-reliable w-might miss behaviour
33
what does it mean to operationalise variables?
the process of turning abstract concepts into measurable variables and indicators is called operationalization
34
evaluate questionares
s- can access ppts thoughts and feeling, high in construct validity quiciker w- social desirability, ppts may misunderstand a question,
35
what is a structured interview?
have pre determined questions asked when ppts are face to face with a interviewer
36
evaluate structured interviews?
s- high in reliability as everyone gets asked the same questions in the same order# w- can't follow up on things of interest mentioned in ppts answer
37
what is a unstructured interview?
don't have pre determined questions, questions are likely to be based upon the responses the ppt gives, more like a conversation
38
evaluate unstructured interviews?
s-more valid as they allow more in depth answers w-low in reliability as not all ppts will get asked the same questions. hard to compare data across multiple ppts
39
what is a semi structured0 interview?
have a combination of pre determined questions given to every ppts, but the interviewer can ask additional questions if they find something of interest.
40
evaluate the interview method as a whole?
s-can assess thoughts and feelings compared to questionaries, the ptts can check with the interviewer if a question is unclear. w- social desirability as ptts may lie or exaggerate answers, relies on ptts being able to express their thoughts and feelings verbally which can be hard b for some to do
41
alternate hypothesis?
there will be a difference
42
null hypothesis?
no difference
43
one tailed hypothesis?
directional
44
two tailed hypothersis?
not directional
45
what is a research aim?
the purpose of the study- what the researcher wants to find out
46
what is a research question?
a specific inquiry which the research seeks to provide a response to
47
what is a target population?
where the sample is took from, the group of people that the researcher wants to generalise the research to.​
48
what is a sample?
The group of participants in a study are called the sample and these are selected from the target population and should represent that population​
49
what is random sampling
Where all participants in the target population have an equal chance of being chosen.​
50
what is opportunity sampling?
participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study.​
51
what is self selecting sampling?
A sample of participants who volunteer to take part in an investigation.​
52
what is snowball sampling?
Where an initial participant then recruits further participants for the study and so forth.​
53
strength and weakness of snowball sampling?
s- Enables a researcher to locate groups of people that might be difficult to access, such as drug addicts etc as a friend can recommend someone they know to take part.​ w-The sample is less likely to be a good cross section from the population because it is friends of friends etc.
54
strengths and weaknesses of random sampling?
s- Less likely to obtain a biased sample as all members of the target population have an equal chance of selection w- time consuming because you need to obtain a full list of all the members of the target population, then identify the sample and then contact the people identified to gain consent.​
55
strengths and weaknesses of opportunity sampling?
s-Easiest method as you just use the first participants you can find. This means it is less time consuming as it will take less time to locate your sample.​ w-likely to generate a biased sample because the sample is drawn from a small part of the target population and these people often tend to be very alike
56
strengths and weaknesses of self selecting sampling?
s- Participants are less likely to drop out – Attrition effect​, no issue of ethics/consent w-biased smaple
57
What are the sections of a psychological report?
abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, refrences, appendices
58
how do you write a reference?
surname first then initials year in brackets title of book/journal publisher location edition page no
59
what are the 3 levels of data?
nominal, ordinal, interval
60
what is nominal data?
mode categorical data that is totals of two or more named categories that is unrelated. creates a frequency of totals.
61
what is interval data?
mean scores on a linear scale where the difference between points are equal
62
what is ordinal data?
median data where it involves points on a scale. data can be ranked in order from smallest to biggest
63
strengths and weaknesses of nominal data?
+quick +easy to generate from closed questions +increases reliability -ppts are unable to express degrees of response
64
strengths and weaknesses of ordinal data?
+more detail than nominal data +indicates values on a linear scale -gaps between value aren't equal, so can't be used to access central tendency
65
strengths and weaknesses of interval data?
+more reliable +more comprisable as points are equal +scientific measures are used -the scale may not demonstrate a specific variable
66
what is the level of significance?
A level of significance of p=0.05 means that there is a 95% probability that the results found in the study are the result of a true relationship/difference between groups being compared. 5% is extraneous variable or that the results have arisen by chance
67
what comes under the the ethic responsibility?
debriefing, protection from harm
68
what comes under the the ethic integrity?
deception, appropriate relationships
69
what comes under the the ethic respect?
right to withdraw, informed consent, confidentiality
70
what comes under the the ethic competence?
professionalism
71
what is variance?
spread of scores around the mean
72
what is standard deviation?
average amount a number differs from the mean
73
what is validity?
has the research measured the behaviour what it set out to test
74
what is internal validity?
is it a good way of measuring behaviour or could there have been other factors affecting the results
75
how is internal validity increased?
having a high controlled procedure and trying to reduce demand characteristics eg covert observations, no self report, natural observations
76
how is internal validity decreased?
demand characteristics being present in methods such as overt observations, observer bias in non participant observations, social desirability in self report methods
77
what is face validity?
does something look like it will measure what it is supposed to measure. eg will and an IQ test really measure intelligence
78
what is construct validity?
do the measures relate to the characteristics of what is being assessed
79
what is concurrent validity?
when a test correlates well with a measure that has previously been validated. so you would compare results with an alternative measure
80
what is criterion validity?
the extent to which a measure can predict the performance or behaviour of the measured thing
81
what is external validity?
whether the research is generalisable to wider populations or situations
82
what is ecological validity?
refers to whether the study reflect those of real life situations. can the results be generalised to what would happen in real life.
83
what is population validity?
whether the sample is representative of the wider target population of the research
84
what is reliability?
refers to the idea of consistency and replication
85
what is internal reliability?
whether the procedure of a study is standardised so each participant experiences the same thing
86
how is internal reliability increased?
research methods that have high levels of control such as lab experiments
87
how is internal reliability decreased?
research methods that are hard to replicate such as case studies and unstructured interviews
88
when should you use a chi squared test?
looking for a difference nominal data independent measures design
89
what is a strength and weakness of a matched pairs design ?
strength-individual differences are accounted for weakness- time consuming
90
when should you use a spearman's rho stats test?
when it is a correlation data is ordinal or interval
91
when would you use a mann whitney U test?
when it is looking at a difference has ordinal or interval data has an independent measures design
92
strengths and weaknesses of the experimental method?
+test cause and effect, more objective -demand characteristics
93
strengths and weaknesses of correlations?
+can predict behaviour -can't test cause and effect, more subjective
94
strengths and weaknesses of the self report method?
s- ppts can be asked about their feelings and thoughts than simply observing behaviour alone. Scenarios can be asked about hypothetically w-only useful if participants are willing to disclose thoughts to the experimenter. - social desirability bias
95
what is a repeated measures design?
where ppts take part in both conditions
96
what is an independent measures design?
where ppts only take part in one condition
97
what is a matched pairs design?
where ppts are matched by characteristics then assigned to conditions
98
evaluate repeated measures?
s- less chance of individual differences w- more chance of order effects such as fatigue, practice effects, demand characteristics
99
evaluate independent measures?
s-less chance of order effects w-more chance of individual differences affecting results
100
evaluate matched pairs design?
s- individual differences are controlled for, no order effects w- time consuming to match up ppts
101
what is a likert scale?
how far ppts agree or dissagree, typically odd-numbered to allow for a neutral answer between opposite responses
102
what is a semantic differential scale?
uses opposing adjectives such as hot(5) cold(1) on a scale
103
what is a closed question?
has a predetermined response
104
what is an opened question?
doesn't have a predetermined response
105
what is quantitative data?
data that can be measured numerically
106
what is qualititative data
data that can be measures non numerically, eg with words pictures ect
107
secondary data?
information that has been collected, processed, and published by someone else
108
primary data?
data collected firsthand by the researcher
109
evaluate quan data
s-easy to analyse and spot trends w-lacks detail and construct validity as there is no degrees of response
110
evaluate qual data
s- high detail, high in construct validity w-not easy to analyze
111
what is a type 1 error
false positive incorrectly REJECT the null hypothersis when it is true can occur when p value is to lenient eg p<0.1
112
what is a type 2 error
false negative incorrectly ACCEPT the null hypothersis when it isn't true can occur when p value is to strict eg p<0.01

Psychology (22 decks)

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