Research Methods

Question 1

State the 4 experimental methods

Answer 1

1. Laboratoryexperiment
2. Fieldexperiment
3. Naturalexperiment
4. Quasiexperiment

Question 2

Lab experiment + A03

Answer 2

Controlled conditions, manipulates the
+ high degree of control = no EV, prevents EV from becoming confounding variables. High internal validity allowing cause + effect to be established
- lack external validity due to the artificial nature, meaning the study can lack ecological validity, meaning the findings cannot always be generalised beyond the lab and often lacks realism. PPTs know they are in the study and may change their behaviour.

Question 3

Field experiment + A03

Answer 3

Natural conditions, manipulates the IV, ppt doesn’t typically know they’re taking part
+ natural setting = high ecological validity. Results are more representative of everyday behaviour. However, there is less control of EV, which can become confounding variables
- ethical issues, as ppts are unaware that they are taking part, so they cannot give informed consent. Research may involve a breach of their privacy.

Question 4

Natural experiment + A03

Answer 4

Natural conditions, IV is naturally occurring (i.e flood and behaviour of people is compared)
+ higher external validity and high ecological validity given the real-life issues that are being studied and manipulated, HE, they have no control over the environment and EV meaning it is difficult to accurately asses (a confounding variable may have caused the cause/effect rs)
+ a unique insight gained into real-life situations HE may be a rare opportunity

Question 5

Quasi experiment + A03?????

Answer 5

Controlled/Natural conditions, IV is a difference between people (i.e. gender and age)

• ppts can’t be randomly allocated to research conditions to remove bias. The IV is naturally occurring, so the level of

Question 6

What is meant by an Extraneous Variable

Answer 6

anEVisavariablethatisnotmanipulatedbytheexperimenterbutmayhaveaneffectontheDV, making itdifficulttoestablishacauseandeffectrelationship.

Question 7

Observational Techniques

Answer 7

Covert/ overt
ƒParticipant/ non-participant
ƒNaturalistic/ controlled
ƒStructured/ unstructured

Question 8

Covert observation + A03

Answer 8

An undisclosed observation, observing people without their knowledge. The ppt may be told of their involvement after the study.

+ investigator effects are less likely, less chance that the ppt’s behvaiour will be impacted by the investigator, therefore no demand characteristics. more natural and representative of everyday behaviour

• ethical issues: ppts are unaware of their involvement in the study, meaning they cannot give their consent and cannot withdraw. Observing in a public area like a shopping centre is fine, so the researcher has to ensure that they don’t violate any privacy laws

Question 9

Overt observations + A03

Answer 9

An observational technique in which the ppt knows they are being observed

+ more ethical than covert method. ppts can be informed of the aims and they can give consent. They can also exercise their right to withdraw, they are being protected
- possibility of investigator effects, bias can occur where the investigator influences the behaviour of the participants. Ppts will change their behaviour through demand characteristics. Natural behaviour is not being observed

Question 10

Participant observations + A03

Answer 10

thepersonwhoisconductingtheobservationalsotakespartinthe activitybeingobserved.

+ researcher can obtain in-depth data. the close proximity allows a unique insight.

• possibility of investigator effects = demand characteristics = not natural behaviour

Question 11

Non-participant observations + A03

Answer 11

The person conducting the study doesn’t participate in the activity being observed.

+ investigator effects are less likely, researcher may not be visible to the ppts, so the researchers behaviour will not have an imapct on behaviour, meaning it is more natural behvaiour

• due to a lack of proximity, the researcher may miss some behaviours

Question 12

Naturalistic observations + A03

Question 13

Controlled observations + A03

Question 14

Structured observations + A03

Question 15

Unstructured observations + A03

Question 16

Difference between extraneous variables and confounding variables

Question 17

How to write hypothesis’

Answer 17

Null hypothesis: no difference in [operationalized DV] (i.e. recall) between [condition one] (short men) and [condition two] (tall men)

Non-directional hypothesis: there will be a difference in [operationalized DV] between [condition 1] and [condition 2]

Directional hypothesis: Ppts who [condition 1] will get higher/lower [operationalized DV] compared to [condition 2]

Question 18

Differentiate between the different variables

Answer 18

control: everything you want to remain the same
independent: the one thing you change
dependent: the change that happened because of the independent variable
operationalised: where it has turned into something that can be measured

Question 19

Sign test method

Answer 19

1) Find whether the difference was an increase or decrease (put a plus or minus), if there was no change rule this data out
2) see which change occurred less, this is the S value.
3) if asked to calculate significant/not, use the table with the n value (RULE OUT NON CHANGES), and probability to find the critical value.
4) compare the s value and critical value (greater/less than will be given in the Q)

Question 20

Explain difference in s values/difference

Answer 20

In a study, the bigger the difference between the before and after scores, the
lower/smaller the S-value and the
more likely we are to reject the null hypothesis.

Question 21

Define validity

Answer 21

When a test measures what it claims to measure
There should be no extraneous or confounding variables

Question 22

4 types of assessing validity

Answer 22

Face validity: looking at face value to see if it appears to measure what it claims to measure (common sense)

Concurrent validity: When a test produces similar results to the results obtained of another test of the same behaviour

Ecological validity:

Temporal validity:

Question 23

Reliability

Answer 23

When the results are consistent every time the study is repeated

studies can be unreliable if there are EVs affecting the measurements and if the test used to measure the DV is unreliable itself

Question 24

Internal and External reliability

Answer 24

internal: when the individual items within a test are consistent with each other.
external: when the results of a test are consistent every time it is repeated.

Question 25

testing internal reliability: the split half method

Answer 25

split the results of the study in half to see if they correlate with each other

Question 26

testing external reliability: the test-retest method

Answer 26

the researcher gets the same participants take the same questionnaire or test on two separate occasions and compares the results obtained both times, if the results are similar/same it has high external reliability

Question 27

What is operationalised

Answer 27

Defining how the variables will be measured

Question 28

t-test

Answer 28

calculates the probability of observing differences in samples if there is no difference between the populations

Question 29

t value

Answer 29

the higher the t value, the lower the probability

gives the probability of observing our results if the null hypothesis is correct

Question 30

factors affecting the t value

Answer 30

1. dispersion (smaller dispersion, higher t)
2. sample size (bigger sample, bigger t)
3. mean

Question 31

accepting/rejecting Ho

Answer 31

if the p value is lower than or equal to SL, reject Ho as there is still possibility of the difference being by chance

Question 32

Type I error

Answer 32

incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis, say there is a real difference between two experimental groups when there isn’t one.

Question 33

Type II error

Answer 33

failing to reject the Ho when there was actually a difference

often due to very very low SL

Question 34

SL and type I error

Answer 34

the higher the SL, the higher the chance of making a type I error

setting a very low SL results in a type II error

15% SL = 15% of making type I error

Question 35

to reject Ho (t value)

Answer 35

obtained>=critical t

Question 36

degrees of freedom for related/unrelated t test

Answer 36

unrelated: sample - 2
related: sample - 1

R: repeated, matched pairs
UR: independent gd

Question 37

Mann-Whitney U

Answer 37

Is the difference in the sum of ranks big enough to reject the null hypothesis at a given significance level

Question 38

u-value

Answer 38

the smaller the u value, the less likely it is that the null hyp is correct and more likely to reject

the bigger the difference of SoR, the smaller the u-value, the smaller p-value

Question 39

factors affecting the u-value