Research Methods Flashcards
What is a hypothesis ?
A prediction that is also a statement
What is an independent variable ?
Causes change to the dependent variable
What is a dependent variable ?
Measured and effect
What is an aim ?
Purpose of the experiment
What is a variable
A factor that can change
How do you write a hypothesis ?
IV - (effect) - DV - (compared to) - IV
What is a directional hypothesis ?
States the direction of the difference or relationship
What is a non - directional hypothesis ?
Does not state the direction
What is an extraneous variable ?
(uncontrolled)
Anything apart from the IV that can change the DV
Situational: temp, lighting (environment)
Participant: individual differences
What is a confounding variable ?
Any variable other than the IV, that may have affected the DV
What is a single blind ?
Participants don’t know which is which
What is a double blind ?
Participant and investigator don’t know which is which
What is standardisation ?
Keep everything the same apart from IV
What are investigator effects ?
Any effect of the investigators behaviour on the research outcome
What is randomisation ?
Use of chance in order to control the effects of bias
What method would be said to complete randomisation ?
. Get all names/words and put in bowl
. Pick 1, allocate name/word to condition A
. Pick another, allocate name/word to condition B
. Carry on until no names/words left
What is operationalisation ?
Defining exactly what is going to be measured and how they’re going to be measured
What are experimental designs ?
refers to the way in which participants are used in experiments
What are independent groups ?
What are the evaluation points for them ?
When 2 separate groups of participants experience 2 different conditions of the experiment. The preformance of the 2 groups would then be compared
Evaluation Points:
individual differences (criticism)
no order effects (advantage)
What are order effects ?
demand characteristics
fatigue
practice - done it before
What are repeated measures ?
What are the evaluation points ?
All participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
Evaluation:
no individual differences (advantage)
order effects (criticism)
What are matched pairs ?
What are the evaluation points ?
Pairs of participants are first matched on some variable that may affect the DV. Then 1 member of the pair is assigned to condition A and the other condition B
Evaluation:
no individual differences (advantage)
no order effects (advantage)
very inconvenient (criticism)
What are the points of lab experiments ?
artificial environment - somewhere your not used to
Researcher changes IV
What are the points of natural experiments ?
natural environment
IV manipulated naturally - changes naturally
What are the points of field experiments ?
natural environment - environment your not used to
researcher changes IV
What are the points of Quatsi - experiments ?
natural experiment
IV is determined by biology
What are the 3 evaluation points for types of experiments ?
Internal validity = whether the IV is affecting the DV (makes psych scientific)
Ecological validity = generalising the findings from a study to real situations
Ethical Issues
What is sampling ?
Groups of people (participants) that form part of research studies are selected through the process of ‘sampling’
What are the 5 types of sampling ?
. random
. systematic
. stratified
. opportunity
. volunteer
What is the target population ?
Study based on
How will the sample size be dictated ?
Usually be dictated by the time and resources available. BUT, the larger the sample the more likely its to find a true picture of the data you’re sampling
What is the definition, method and evaluation of random sampling ?
. members of a population have equal chances of being selected
Method = put all names in a bowl and pick out so many
Evaluation = not representative, no experimenter bias, convenient (yes/no)
What is the definition, method and evaluation of systematic sampling ?
. sampling data at equal distances apart, alphabetical order
method = same as definition
evaluation = not representative, no experimenter bias, not convenient
What is the definition, method, evaluation of stratified sampling ?
. split entire population into catergories - names in separate bowls - random sampling based on ratios
method = same as definition
evaluation = representative, no experimenter bias, not convenient
What is the definition and evaluation of opportunity sampling ?
. whoever is available
evaluation = not representative, experimenter bias, convenient
What is the definition and evaluation of volunteer sampling ?
. self select
evaluation = not representative, no experimenter bias, convenient
What are observations ?
Recording frequency of behaviour
What are naturalistic observations ?
What are controlled observations ?
Natural environment
Artificial environment
What are covert observations ?
What are overt observations ?
Participants don’t know they’re being observed
Declare you are being observed
What are participant observations ?
What are non - participant observations ?
involved in everyday life of participants
just look from afar, not involved
What are the evaluation points for observations ?
. Ecological Validity - (naturalistic)
. Ethical - (Overt)
. Demand Characteristics - (Overt, covert, naturalistic, controlled)
. Reliability - conistency
What is high interobserver reliability ?
When 2 observers have similar results/outcomes
What is an observation schedule ?
List of behaviours
What is event sampling ?
What is time sampling ?
. Pick particular situation and time
. Over certain time intervals
