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Psychology Chapter 1 > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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1
Q

experiment

A

an investigation looking for a casual relationsjop in which an independent varaiable is manipulated and expected to be responsible for the changes in the dependent variable

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2
Q

indenpendent variable

A

the factor under investigation in an experiment which is manipulated to create two or more conditions (levels) and is expected to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable.

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3
Q

dependent variable

A

the factor in an experiment which is measured and is expected to change under the influence of the independent variable.

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4
Q

extraneous variable

A

a variable which either acts randomly, affecting the DV in all levels of the IV or systematically

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5
Q

experimental condition

A

one or more of the situations in an experiment which represent different levels of the IV and are compared (or compared to a control condition)

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6
Q

control condition

A

a level of the IV in an experiment from which the IV is absent. It is compared to one or more experimental conditions.

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7
Q

laboratory experiment

A

a research method in which there is an IV, a DV and strict controls. It looks for a causal relationship and is conducted in a setting that is not in the usual environment for the participants with regard to the behaviour they are performing.

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8
Q

experimental design

A

the way in which participants are allocated to levels of the IV.

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9
Q

independent measures design

A

an experimental design in which a different group of participants is used for each level of the IV (condition)

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10
Q

repeated measures design

A

an experimental design in which each participant performs in every level of the IV

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10
Q

matched pair design

A

an experimental design in which participants are arranged into pairs. Each pair is similar in ways that are important to the study and one member of each pair performs in a different level of the IV

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10
Q

demand characteristics

A

features of the experimental situation which give away the aims. They can cause participants to try to change their behaviour, reduces the validity of the study

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11
Q

random allocation

A

a way to reduce the effect of confounding variables such as individual differences. Participants are put in each level of the IV such that each person has an equal chance of being in any condition.

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12
Q

participant variables

A

individual differences between participants (such as age, personality and intelligence) that could affect their behaviour in a study. They could hide or exaggerate differences between levels of the IV

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13
Q

order effects

A

practice and fatigue effects are the consequences of paticipating in a study more than once,
e.g. in a repeated measures design. They cause changes in performance between conditions that are not due to the IV, so can obscure the effect on the DV.

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14
Q

practice effects

A

a situation where participants’ performance improves because they experience the experimental task more than once, e.g. due to familiarity or learning the task`

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15
Q

fatigue effect

A

a situation where participants’ performance declines because they have experienced an experimental task more than once, e.g. due to boredom or tiredness.

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16
Q

counterbalancing

A

is used to overcome order effects in a repeated measures design. Each possible order of levels of the IV is performed by a different sub-group of participants. This can be described as an ABBA design, as half the participants do condition A then B, and half do B then A.

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17
Q

standardisation

A

keeping the procedure for each participant in an experiment (or interview) exactly the same to ensure that any differences between participants or conditions are due to the variables under investigation rather than differences in the way they were treated

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18
Q

reliability

A

the extent to which a procedure, task or measure is consistent, for example that it would produce the same results with the same people on each occasion.

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19
Q

validity

A

the extent to which the researcher is testing what they claim to be testing.

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20
Q

uncontrolled variable

A

a confounding variable that may not have been identified and eliminated in an experiment, which can confuse the results. It may be a feature of the participants or the situation.

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21
Q

informed consent

A

knowing enough about a study to decide whether you want to agree to participate.

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22
Q

right to withdraw

A

a participant should know that they can remove themselves, and their data, from the study at any time.

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23
Q

privacy

A

participants’ emotions and physical space should not be invaded, for example they should not be observed in situations or places where they would not expect to be seen.

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24
Q

confidentiality

A

participants’ results and personal information should be kept safely and not released to anyone outside the study.

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25
Q

self-report

A

research method, such as a questionnaire or interview, which obtains data by asking participants to provide information about themselves.

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26
Q

questionnaire

A

a research method that uses written questions.

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27
Q

closed questions

A

questionnaire, interview or test items that produce quantitative data. They have only a few, stated alternative responses and no opportunity to expand on answers.

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28
Q

open questions

A

questionnaire, interview or test items that produce qualitative data. Participants give full and detailed answers in their own words, i.e. no categories or choices are given.

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29
Q

inter-rater reliability

A

the extent to which two researchers interpreting qualitative responses in a questionnaire (or interview) will produce the same records from the same raw data.

30
Q

social desirability bias

A

trying to present oneself in the best light by determining what a test is asking.

31
Q

filter questions

A

items put into a questionnaire, interview or test to disguise the aim of the study by hiding the important questions among irrelevant ones so that participants are less likely to alter their behaviour by working out the aims.

32
Q

naturalistic observation

A

a study conducted by watching the participant’s behaviour in their normal environment without interference from the researchers in either the social or physical environment.

33
Q

controlled observation

A

a study conducted by watching the participants’ behaviour in a situation in which the social or physical environment has been manipulated by the researchers. It can be conducted in either the participants’ normal environment or in an artificial situation.

34
Q

unstructured observation

A

a study in which the observer records the whole range of possible behaviours, which is usually confined to a pilot stage at the beginning of a study to refine the behavioural categories to be observed.

35
Q

structured observation

A

a study in which the observer records only a limited range of behaviours.

36
Q

behavioural categories

A

the activities recorded in an observation. They should be operationalised (clearly defined) and should break a continuous stream of activity into discrete recordable events. They must be observable actions rather than inferred states.

37
Q

inter-observer reliability

A

the consistency between two researchers watching the same event, i.e. whether they will produce the same records.

38
Q

participant observer

A

a researcher who watches from the perspective of being part of the social setting.

39
Q

non-participant observer

A

a researcher who does not become involved in the situation being studied, e.g. by watching through one-way glass or by keeping apart from the social group of the participants.

40
Q

overt observer:

A

the role of the observer is obvious to the participants.

41
Q

covert observer:

A

the role of the observer is not obvious, e.g. because they are hidden or disguised.

42
Q

correlation

A

a research method which looks for a causal relationship between two measured variables. A change in one variable is related to a change in the other (although these changes cannot be assumed to be causal).

43
Q

positive correlation:

A

a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one accompanies an increase in the other, i.e. the two variables increase together.

44
Q

negative correlation

A

a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one accompanies a decrease in the other, i.e. higher scores on one variable correspond with lower scores on the other.

45
Q

hypothesis

A

a testable statement predicting a difference between levels of the independent variable (in an experiment) or a relationship between variables (in a correlation).

46
Q

alternative hypothesis

A

the testable statement which predicts a difference or relationship between variables in a particular investigation.

47
Q

non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis

A

a statement predicting only that one variable will be related to another, e.g. that there will be a difference in the DV between levels of the IV in an experiment or that there will be a relationship between the measured variables in a correlation.

48
Q

directional (one-tailed) hypothesis

A

a statement predicting the direction of a relationship between variables, e.g. in
an experiment whether the levels of the IV will produce an increase or a decrease in the DV or in a correlation whether
an increase in one variable will be linked to an increase or a decrease in another variable.

49
Q

null hypothesis:

A

a testable statement saying that any difference or correlation in the results is due to chance, i.e. that no pattern in the results has arisen because of the variables being studied.

50
Q

operationalisation

A

the definition of variables so that they can be accurately manipulated, measured or quantified and replicated. This includes the IV and DV in experiments and the two measured variables in correlations.

51
Q

situational variable

A

a confounding variable caused by an aspect of the environment, e.g. the amount of light or noise.

52
Q

control

A

a way to keep a potential extraneous variable constant, e.g. between levels of the IV, to ensure measured differences in the DV are likely to be due to the IV, raising validity.

53
Q

population

A

the group, sharing one or more characteristics, from which a sample is drawn.

54
Q

sample

A

the group of people selected to represent the population in a study.

55
Q

sampling technique

A

the method used to obtain the participants for a study from the population.

56
Q

opportunity sample

A

participants are chosen because they are available, e.g. university students are selected because they are present at the university where the research is taking place.

57
Q

volunteer (self-selected) sample􏰀

A

participants are invited to participate, e.g. through advertisements via email or notices. Those who reply become the sample.

58
Q

random sample

A

all members of the population (i.e. possible participants) are allocated numbers and a fixed amount of these are selected in a unbiased way, e.g. by taking numbers from a hat.

59
Q

quantitative data

A

numerical results about the quantity of a psychological measure such as pulse rate or a score on an intelligence test.

60
Q

qualitative data

A

descriptive, in-depth results indicating the quality of a psychological characteristic, such as responses to open questions in self-reports or case studies and detailed observations.

61
Q

measure of central tendency

A

a mathematical way to find the typical or average score from a data set, using the mode, median or mean.

62
Q

mode

A

the measure of central tendency that identifies the most frequent score(s) in a data set.

63
Q

median

A

the measure of central tendency that identifies the middle score of a data set which is in rank order (smallest to largest). If there are two numbers in the middle they are added together and divided by two.

64
Q

mean

A

the measure of central tendency calculated by adding up all the scores and dividing by the number of scores in the data set.

65
Q

Ethical issues

A

problems in research that raise concerns about the welfare of participants (or have the potential for a wider negative impact on society).

66
Q

ethical guidelines

A

pieces of advice that guide psychologists to consider the welfare of participants and wider society.

67
Q

debriefing

A

giving participants a full explanation of the aims and potential consequences of the study at the end of a study so that they leave in at least as positive a condition as they arrived.

68
Q

protection of participants

A

participants should not be exposed to any greater physical or psychological risk than they would expect in their day-to-day life.

69
Q

deception

A

articipants should not be deliberately misinformed (lied to) about the aim or procedure of the study. If this is unavoidable, the study should be planned to minimise the risk of distress, and participants should be thoroughly debriefed.

70
Q

generalisability

A

how widely findings apply, e.g. to other settings and populations.

71
Q

test-retest

A

a way to measure the consistency of a test or task. The test is used twice and if the participants’ two sets of scores are similar, i.e. correlate well, it has good reliability.

72
Q

ecological validity

A

the extent to which the findings of research in one situation would generalise to other situations. This is influenced by whether the situation (e.g. a laboratory) represents the real world effectively and whether the task is relevant to real life (has mundane realism).
38
1.11 Evaluating research: methodological issues
As well as evaluating research in terms of ethics, it can
also be considered in terms of whether it is ‘good science’, i.e. by looking at methodological issues. There are several key methodological issues that you have encountered elsewhere in the chapter: reliability, validity and generalisability. We will now explore these again, some in a little more depth, and see why they are important in the evaluation of research.

73
Q
A

Psychology Chapter 1 (1 decks)

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