research methods Flashcards
what are the 4 main stages of an experiment
theory, prediction, experimental, observation
what is an aim
a general statement of what the researchers intend to find out in a research study
what is a hypothesis
precise testable statement about the assumed relationship between variables
when is directional hypothesis used
when there is previous research
what are the 2 types of hypothesis
directional and non directional
what is a directional hypothesis
a hypothesis that states there will be a change and the direction in which the results are expected to go
what is a non directional hypothesis
a hypothesis that predicts that there will be a change but not the direction of the change
what is a null hypothesis
a hypothesis that no significant difference exists
what is an independent variable
a characteristic of an experiment that is changed (2 or more ‘conditions /groups)
what is a dependent variable
variable that is being measured
what is operationalisation
clearly defining the variables in terms of how they can be
measured
what is an extraneous variable
any variable other than the is IV that affects the DV if not controlled
what are extraneous variables divided into
demand characteristics, investigator effects, participant variables, situational variables
what are demand characteristics
participant knows aim of research so changes behaviour
what are investigator effects
any affect of the researchers behaviour on the outcomes of the research
what are participant variables
individual differences, eg IQ
what are situational variables
any features of the experimental situation
eg: noise
what are two ways psychologists can control extraneous variables
standardisation, randomisation
what is standardisation
using exactly the same procedures and instructions for all participants
what is randomisation
the use of chance to control bias eg names out hat
what is mundane realism
how an experiment mirrors the real world
what is an extraneous variable
any variable that effects the DV that isn’t the IV
what are examples of experimental design
repeated measures, independent groups, matched pairs
what is repeated measures
there is only one group of participants that takes part in both conditions
what are strengths of repeated measures
no participant variables and people are the same
what are the limitations of repeated measures
they know the IV, may work out the experiment and change behaviour ( demand characteristics) may get tired or bored or practiced( order effects)
what is it called when the participants knows the experiment and changes their behaviour because of this
demand characteristics
what is it called when the participant repeats the experiment and gets bored or gets practice
order effects
how do you deal with the limitations of repeated measures
counter balancing - ABBA
half do A then B
other half to B then A
what is the name of the process making half the group to each condition in a different order
counter balancing
what is independent groups
there are two separate groups of participants. one group takes part in condition A and the other in condition B
what are the strengths of independent groups
they don’t know about the other IV, less demand characteristics, both IVs can be done at the same time( time effective), no order effects
what are the limitations of independent groups
participant variables, may be very different to less accurate results
how do you deal with the limitations caused by independent groups ?
try to make sure independent groups are as similar to each other as possible or randomly allocate ( names from a hat) reduces bias
what is matched pairs
there are two separate groups but this time they are matched in pairs for certain qualities. one group takes part in condition A and one takes part in condition B
what is a strength of matched pairs
it decreases the amount of participant variables, less demand characteristics, no order effects
what are the limitations of matched pairs
not all participant variables are gone,difficult and takes a long time
how do you deal with the limitations of matched pairs
conduct a pilot study ( small scale trial of main study) to consider key variables to match
what type of experimental design causes order effects
repeated measures
what are order effects
practice effects might occur or fatigue
what experimental design does counterbalancing take place in
repeated measures
what is counterbalancing
half of participants participate in condition A then B and the other half do B then A means the first and second condition is not the same for everyone
what is random allocation
when participants are assigned to condition A or B randomly ( names out of a hat )
what experimental design uses random allocation
independent groups
what are the 4 types of experiment
laboratory, field, natural, quasi
what is a laboratory experiment and what are the features
experiment done in a lab, controlled artificial environment, IV is manipulated by researches to observe effects on DV, Extraneous variables are controlled, standardised procedure, scientific, objective- free from bias
what is objectivity
free from bias
what is an example of a lab experiment
milgram- Yale uni, IV: authority figure
DV: whether participants where obedient to authority figure
65% of ppts administered 450 volts
strengths of lab experiment
reliable- can be repeated
free from bias
high internal validity
EVs controlled
high degree of control
weakness of lab experiment
artificial environment- lacks realism/ external validity
demand characteristics
investigator effects
what is a field experiment and what are the main factors
an experiment in an everyday setting, IV is manipulated and DV is observed, other variables difficult to control, behaviour is more natural, subjects generally unaware, can not establish cause + effect
what is an example of a feild experiment
bickman- social power of uniform
IV: uniform worn
DV: level of obedience
strengths of field experiments
participants unaware- less demand characteristics
increases realism
more research opportunities
weaknesses of field experiments
more EVs
lower internal validity
low reliability
ethical isssues- no consent
what is a natural experiment and what are the main factors of it
researcher has not chained the IV, had happened naturally and researchers look at it, used when it is not practical or ethical to manipulate IV
what is an example of a natural experiment
comparing adopted children with biological parents
bank robbery experience and memory
strengths of natural experiment
high realism
research opportunities where it would not be ethically possible
weaknesses of natural experiments
low internal validity
participant variables
lack of research opportunities
what is a quasi experiment
conducted when the IV is based on existing differences between people, not really experiment
what is an example of a quasi experiment
mental illnesses or phobias
what is reliability
being repeatable, different researchers using same methods to obtain same results ( consistent)
what is validity
(truthful) does the experiment measure what it said it was supposed to ? ( genuine)
what is internal validity
whether the effects of the experiment is due to IV and not other factors- internal validity is high when EVs are controlled
what is external validity
whether it can be generalised to the outside world ( realism ) not artificial
what is target population
the whole group that you are studying eg everyone in your year group
what is a sample frame
a list of everyone in the population. eg list of everyone in year group
what is a sample
the group of people taken from the sampling frame with whom you actually do the research. eg 1 person in every 10 from year group
what is cross-sectional
if a sample is cross sectional then it means it will be made up of a range of different people to best represent the research population
what is generalisation
results from the study can be applied to the whole of the research population
what is representative
when data can be said to accurately represent the research population in terms ofc, for example, gender and age
what is random sampling
due to chance not bias, every member of the population had an equal chance of being chosen, eg names from a hat or number generator
what are positives of random sampling
can be representative for large samples, no bias
what are negatives of random sampling
not representative for small samples, time consuming
what is opportunity sampling
when the researcher samples whoever is available at the time and willing to be studied
what are the 5 types of sampling
random, opportunity, volunteer, stratified/quota, systematic
what are the positives of opportunity sampling
economical and quick
what are the negatives of opportunity sampling
might not be representative, could be bias- people picked
what is volunteer sampling
when people actively volunteer by responding to a request which has been advertised by the researcher( in a newspaper for example) the researcher can then select those who are suitable
what are positives of volunteer sampling
consent( more ethical)
what are the negatives of volunteer sampling
only volunteer if interested( bias) , not representative( many will not see advert), bias because researcher can select
what is stratified/ quota sampling
classify the population into categories/subgroups and then choose a sample which consists of participants from each category. equal numbers are selected from a grouping. more of a group in a population so more of that group in sample. mathematically worked out
what are positives of stratified/quota sampling
representative