RESEARCH METHODS Flashcards
what is falsifiability?
the logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment
what is objectivity?
psychologists should aim to be objective in their work, this means not letting their personal biases affect the results of studies
what is replicability?
a study should produce the same results if repeated exactly, either by the same researcher or by another
what is empirical methods?
using observations/testing to gain knowledge
what is paradigm?
shared set of assumptions about a subject
what is paradigm shift?
progress until a scientific revolution occurs (too much contradictory)
what are the three main psychological research methods?
objective
controlled
checkable
what is the difference between deduction and induction?
deduction is a theory made before the experiment whereas induction is a theory made after the experiment
called the theory construction
what is the dependant variable?
the subject/ object that is being measured
what is the independent variable?
the subject/object that is being changed
what are extraneous variables?
they are anything other than the IV which might have an effect on the DV. these variables can be controlled by the experimenter
what are examples of extraneous variables?
age of participants, time limits for tasks, content of word lists
what are confounding variables?
these are variables that aren’t controlled for in an experiment
what are examples of confounding variables?
weather, mood of participants, personalities
what is operationalising variables?
defining variables in terms of how they can be measured so that another researcher could conduct the same experiment again
what are laboratory experiments?
experiments carried out in a controlled environment
participates know they are taking part but not the true aim
variables can be manipulated
what are good things about laboratory experiments ?
high internal validity - high control over variables so we can be more certain that any change in the DV is due to the IV
easy to replicate - high levels of control and standardised procedures so we can carry it out exactly the same way so we can compare results
what are bad things about laboratory experiments?
low ecological validity - participants may not behave naturally so results are not representative of real world settings
demand characteristics - when participants become aware of the investigation so may leas to them behaving in a different way therefore reducing validity
what is a field experiment?
conducted in a more natural environment
IV manipulated and DV is measured
participants are usually not aware that they are participating
what are good things about field experiments?
high ecological validity - results can be generalised beyond the research setting. due to real-life setting the participants will behave more naturally. there is a higher mundane realism
lack of demand characteristics - participants are not aware of the study so won’t behave differently as a result of this
what are bad things about field experiments?
low internal validity - experimenter has less control over the confounding and extraneous variables so cant be sure change in the DV is due to the IV
less easy to replicate - hard for results to be tested and compared due to lower levels of control
what are natural experiments?
conducted when it is not possible for ethical or practical reasons to deliberately manipulate an IV
what are good things about natural experiments?
allows researcher where IV can’t be manipulated - may be for ethical or practical reasons
high ecological validity - allows psychologists to study the effect of real problems such as the effects of a disaster on mental health
what are bad things about natural experiments?
lack of casual relationship - because the iv is not directly manipulated a casual relationship cannot be demonstrated
lack of random allocation - because Iv is naturally occurring the participants cannot be randomly allocated so there may be confounding variables affecting results
what is the quasi experiment?
the IV is simply a difference between people that exist eg. gender/age DV is still measured
what is good about the quasi experiment?
allows comparison between types of people - no manipulation is carried out but results show difference between people
can be carried out in lab - there is high control / can be replicated
what is bad about the quasi experiment?
may be carried out in a lab - therefore low ecological validity
lack of random allocation - IV is naturally occurring so participants cannot be randomly allocated so there may be confounding varaibles
what are some non-experimental methods?
observations
questionnaires
interview
case studies
content analysis
correlational analysis
meta analysis
what are demand characteristics?
a participant changing their behaviour to meet the aim of the investigation
what is the investigator effect?
the effect of the investigation behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research outcome
how can we deal with the investigator effect and the demand characteristics?
single blind design - when the participant is unaware or the researcher are aware of the research aims of the investigation
double blind design - when neither the researcher or participant are aware of the aims of the investigation this is to avoid demand characteristics and investigator bias
what is a control group?
a group of participants who do not undergo a change in the IV condition used as a baseline behaviour measure
what is confederate?
an individual study who is not a real participant but who has been instructed how to behave by the researcher
why is random allocation to conditions important?
technique used to reduce participant variables so each participant has the same chance of being in any condition
what is randomisation?
the use of chance methods to control
what is standardisation?
using some standardised procedures and instructions for all participants in a study to avoid investigator effects
what is a pilot study?
a small trial run to check procedures instructions work in order to make necessary changes before the real study
what is a hypothesis?
is a formal unambiguous statement of what is predicted it must contain both conditions of the IV and the expected outcome of the DV be operationalised and measurable
what is a directional hypothesis ?
states whether the DV outcome is expected to be greater or lesser positive or negative it is used when there has been previous research which suggests the direction
what is a non-directional hypothesis?
doesn’t state the direction of the DV just that there’ll be a difference it is used when there is no theory / previous research or it is contradictory
what is a null-hypothesis?
is a prediction of the difference between the two IV conditions on the outcome on the DV
what is an example of a directional hypothesis?
children who sleep for four hours will test worse than children who sleep for ten hours
what is an example of a non-directional hypothesis?
amount of sleep the children get will effect there test results
what is internal reliability?
asses the consistency of results across items within a test
what is external reliability?
same results found after a repeated test
how to asses the reliability?
test-retest reliability (external)
inter-observer reliability - compare observations from different observers
measure using a correlation for reliability (+0.80)
what is internal validity?
research study shows a trustworthy cause and effect relationship
what is external validity?
the extent to which the findings of a scientific study can be generalised to other situations
ecological - realistic
population - applicable sample
temporal - does it stand the test of time
how to asses the validity?
face validity - whether it looks like it measures what it should
concurrent validity - whether findings are similar to those on a well established test
how can we improve validity?
larger sample size
more realistic setting ect
what is counterbalancing?
procedure in psychology that involves arranging the order of conditions or treatments in a way that reduces the influence of other factors
what is opportunity sampling?
anyone in the vicinity who is willing and available
what are advantages or opportunity sampling?
easy to obtain a large amount of data in a relatively short time frame
what are disadvantages of opportunity sampling?
possibility for bias due to participants not chosen representativeness
difficulty of replicating the study sample may not be consistent across settings or time
what is random sampling?
all members of the target population have an equal chance of being selected
advantages of random sampling
reduces risk of error and bias
gives equal chance of selection in units or groups
disadvantages of random sampling
complex and time-consuming
bias that could occur when the sample set is not large enough to adequately represent the full population
what is stratified sampling?
reflects the proportions of people in subgroups of the largest population
advantages of stratified sampling
Reliable source for sampling
Gives a smaller error in estimation and greater precision than the simple random sampling method
disadvantages of stratified sampling
can lead to inaccurate results if the strata are wrongly selected or do not reflect the population
what is systematic sampling?
every nth member of the target population is selected
advantages of systematic sampling
reduces the potential for bias as the selection is not influenced by the researcher
disadvantages of systematic sampling
greater risk of data manipulation
what is volunteer sampling
a self selected sample often replying to an advert
disadvantages of volunteer sampling
highly susceptible to bias, because researchers make little effort to control sample composition
sample is likely to be comprised of strongly opinionated people.
advantages of volunteer sampling
inexpensive to conduct and requires little effort on the researchers
what is informed consent?
permission from the participants to use them and their data in your study
what is deception / being debriefed?
deception - no lies (however some causes this is unavoidable)
debrief - pps should be told immediately afterwards when and why the deceptions occurred
what is protection from harm?
pps should be protected from extreme damaging / lasting physical or psychological harm
what is confidentiality?
refers to the practice of keeping information private and secure, ensuring that it is not disclosed to unauthorized individuals etc
what is the BPS code of conduct?
a quasi-legal document to protect pps based on 4 principles
respect
competence
responsibility
integrity
what do the ethic committees do?
weigh up costs and benefits before deciding whether a study should go ahead
what is a naturalistic observation?
studied in a natural setting everything is left as it would be normally researcher does not interfere
positives and negatives of naturalistic observations
pos - high external validity
neg - lack of scientific control
what is a controlled observation
some variables are controlled, pps know they are being studied usually conducted in lab conditions
positives and negatives of a controlled observation
pos - highly accurate
neg - expensive
what is a overt observation
the pps are aware of the observation
positives and negatives of an overt observation
pos - informed consent is obtained
neg - not representative of the sampling frame / demand characteristics
what is a covert observation
pps are not aware of the observation
positives and negatives of an covert observation
pos - high in validity
neg - ethical concerns
what is a participant observation
observer joins the group being studied, the behaviour is studied from the inside
positives and negatives of participant observations
pos - ethical
neg - could cause biases
what is a non-participant observation
the observer watches from a distance does not interact with the people being studied
positives and negatives of a non-participant observation
pos - allows more objective data so might be more reliable
neg - ethical concerns
what is a structured observation
an organised observation where behavioural categories and sampling procedures are used
positives and negatives of structured observation
pos - easy to record
neg - open to observer bias
what is an unstructured observation
the researcher records all relevant behaviour without a system in place
eg film observations
positives and negatives of an unstructured observation
pos - increase validity
neg - open to observer bias
what are behavioural categorise
categories the behaviours intended to be viewed
cats usually decided before the observation takes place
usually put into tally charts
what is event sampling
counting the number of times of a specific behaviour is occurring within a set period of time eg 2 hours
what is time sampling
recording any behaviours which occur in a given set time interval
eg recording what is happening for 1 min, every 30 mins
why is event sampling good
already operationalised, it is now looking for evidence to back it
why is time sampling good
good if your not sure what you are looking for
what is a questionnaire
made up of a pre-set list of written questions to which a participant responds
advantages of questionnaires
can be distributed to lots of people
easily replicable
closed fixed choice questions you can statistically analyse
disadvantages of questionnaires
social desirability bias
anonymity can cause difficulty in knowing if pps have told the truth
what are open questions and give an example
respondent produces own answer expressed in words
eg how are you finding studying psychology
postives and negatives of open questions
pos - responses are not restricted
neg - difficukt to analyse
what are closed questions and give and example
respondent have limited choices eg how many hours do you spend on psych HW per week
positives and negatives of closed questions
pos - easier to analyse
neg - responses restricted
what are interviews
face to face or online interactions between an interviewer and interviewee
advantages of interviews
better awareness of truthfulness of interview
eg body language
disadvantages of interviews
risk of interview bias
what are structured interviews
a list of pre-determined questions asked in a fixed order
what are unstructured interviews
no set questions there is a general topic to be discussed but the interaction is free flowing and the interview is encouraged to elaborate
what are semi structured interviews
a list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers ask further questions based on previous answers
what is social desirability bias
giving socially favourable answers due to the presence of the interviewer
what is the interviewer effect
the effect the effect the interviewer’s presence has on answers causing bias
what is a correlation
method of data analysis used to find an association between two co-variables
what is a correlation coefficient
is a number between -7 and 1 which informs us of the strength and direction of the relationship between two co-variables
what is the difference between a correlation and an experiment
correlation is only assesing the relationship between two co-variables
experiment is looking for a significant difference (cause and effect) between the IV and DV
what are the strengths of using a correlation analysis
useful starting point for research
relatively economical no need for a controlled environment
secondary data collected
less time consuming
what are weaknesses of using correlation analysis
no cause and effect can be shown / established
only tell us how variables are related but not why
can lead to false conclusions
what is meta-analysis
collecting results from larger studies to see an overall picture of the findings
strengths and weaknesses of meta-anaylsis
strength - creation of larger more varied sample which means we can generalise across larger populations
weakness - publication bias - research may leave out negative / non-significant results
what is a case study
a detailed in depth analysis of an individual or small group
tend to be longitudinal studies gathering large amounts of data from many sources
strengths and weaknesses of case studies
strengths - rich, detailed insight enabling the study of unusual behaviour
also often used to support / challenge other large scale research
weaknesses - can be prone to researcher bias
also not reliable and has very little population validity
what is content analysis
Content analysis is a research method used to systematically analyse textual, visual, or audio content for patterns, themes, and meanings
strengths of content analysis
strengths - Quantitative and Qualitative: Combines numerical data with deeper thematic insights, making it a well-rounded analytical too
Flexible: Can be applied to a wide range of data, including text, images, videos, and audio, making it versatile for various research fields.
weaknesses of content analysis
weaknesses - Subjectivity: Qualitative aspects of analysis may involve interpretation, which could lead to researcher bias
Limited to Available Data: Relies on existing content, which may not fully capture the phenomena being studied.
what is thematic analysis
any emerging themes that are recurrent in the communication are then studied in more depth
more descriptive coding units
what is a peer review
A peer review is a process used in academic and professional fields to evaluate the quality, validity, and originality of a piece of work—such as a research paper, article etc
what are the 3 main purposes of a peer review
allocation of research funding
publication of research into academic journals and books
assessing the research rating of university departments
what is qualitative data
no numerical data
eg questionnaires, words, images
what are strengths and weaknesses of qualitative data
strengths - find issues that are often missed
suggest relationships between two variables
greater ecological validity
weaknesses - no control over extraneous variables
might be hard to analysis
what is quantitative data
numerical data
eg tally charts, rating scale, experiments
strengths and weaknesses of quantitative data
strengths - control over extraneous variables
objective and scientific
gives generalised ability
weaknesses - low ecological validity
might create confirmation bias
what is primary data
something that the researcher has gathered themselves using there own experimental methods
strengths and weaknesses of primary data
strengths - identify reliability and validity
you’re collecting it so you are in control of your variables
weaknesses - expensive and time consuming
what is secondary data
anything you have not collected by yourself
eg historical data and government statistics
strengths and weaknesses of secondary data
strengths - not as time consuming as data is already there
are able to investigate stuff you might not be able to investigate now
weaknesses - publication bias
topics missing from secondary data
what is nominal data
qualitative values - usually tallied - frequencies, not able to rank eg gender
what is ordinal data
scaled or ranked data. will be subjective ratings. often seen as a score eg 1-5 on a likert scale
what is interval data
ranked data with equal measurement intervals / standardised measurements and units, objective with arbitrary zero eg temperature
what is ratio data
same as interval but includes an absolute zero eg cash
what is central tendency
Central tendency is a statistical measure that identifies the centre or typical value of a dataset
what is measure of dispersion
how the data is spread out
what is the mean
calculated by adding up all the scores in a given condition and dividing by the number of participants in that condition
what is the mode
the value which occurs most frequent in a data set
what is the median
the middle value in a data set when the values have been ranked or ordered
what is the range
biggest value in a condition minus the smallest number in a condition
what is standard deviation
the distance of a score from its group mean
advantage and disadvantage of mean
pos - give an accurate average
takes into account of all values
negs - not a whole number doesn’t account for lower and higher numbers
positives and negatives of mode
pos - easy to understand and calculated
neg - doesn’t take into account all the values
positives and negatives of median
pos - not affected by very small or large values
neg - doesn’t take into account any outliers
positives and negatives of range
pos - fixed value and easy to calculate
neg - not based on all the measures in the dispersion
what does a bar graph represent
nominal data
height of bars represent frequencies
what does a histogram represent
continuous data - ordinal, interval, ratio
shows frequency of data in successive numerical intervals
IV plotted along the x-axis and DV along the y-axis
what does a contingency table show
raw scores displayed in columns and rows
often asks for you to draw conclusions from the data
what does a scatter graph show
good visual picture of the relationship between the two variables
aids the interpretation of the correlation coefficient
what is a type 1 error (false positive)
belief that a significant difference or correlation is found - but this is an error
what is a type 2 error (false negative)
belief that no significant difference or correlation has been found - but this is an error
what is the order of inferential statistical test
Pearsons r
related t-test
unrelated t-test
sign test
chi-squared test
spearmans rho
wilcoxon
mann-whitney
what is a one-tailed test
directional hypothesis
what is a two-tailed test
non-directional hypothesis
