Research Methods Flashcards
When may ethical issues arise?
- When there is a conflict between the rights of participants and the needs of researchers to conduct research that makes a meaningful contribution to society
What are the different ethical issues that may be present during research?
- Deception
- Debrief
- Right to withdraw
- Informed consent
- Privacy
- Protection from harm
What does deception involve?
- Withholding information from participants or may involve being deliberately dishonest
- Important to carry out debrief at the end of the study
What details should participants be aware of regarding the study during the debrief?
- True aims of the investigation
- Any details that weren’t supplied during the investigation
Why should participants be told what their data will be used for?
- So they can withhold their data if they wish
Why do researchers sometimes not want to disclose information when asking for consent?
- Could lead to demand characteristics being presented and could lead to result bias
When is deception seen as acceptable?
- If it does not cause distress for the participants
What are the solutions for protecting participants from physical and psychological harm?
- Counselling is provided
- Cost-benefit analysis: BPS weighs up the pros and cons of the study and decides whether a study is ethical or not
How do researchers deal with confidentiality?
- By not using names and using numbers or initials instead
What is a sample?
- A smaller group that aims to be representative of a population
What are the different types of sampling techniques?
- Random
- Systematic
- Stratified
- Opportunity
- Volunteer
What is random sampling?
- Sample is generated through lottery method
- All members of the population have an equal chance of being selected
- A list of all members of the target population is obtained
What are the advantages of random sampling?
- No researcher bias: researcher has no influence on who is picked
What are the disadvantages of random sampling?
- Difficult and time consuming: need a list of members of a population (sampling frame) and need to contact them
- Participants who are selected can refuse to take part
What is systematic sampling?
- A predetermined system where every nth member of a sampling frame is selected which is applied consistently
What are the advantages of systematic sampling?
- Avoids researcher bias
- Fairly representative of population
What are the disadvantages of systematic sampling?
- Difficult and time consuming
- Participants and refuse to take part
What is stratified sampling?
- Composition of the sample reflects proportions of people in certain strata in the target population
- Before SS, researcher must identify the different subgroups within the population
- Proportions needed for the sample to be representative are worked out
What are the advantages of stratified sampling?
- Avoids researcher bias: stratum is random
- Representative data due to proportional strata, generalisation is possible
What are the disadvantages of stratified sampling?
- Difficult and time consuming to identify strata and contact participants
- Participants can refuse to take part
What is opportunity sampling?
- Selecting anyone who happens to be available to take part so are recruited conveniently
What are the advantages of opportunity sampling?
- Saves time and money
What are the disadvantages of opportunity sampling?
- Not representative as it consists of whoever is available
- Researcher bias: can control who they want to select
What is volunteer sampling?
- An advert is produced and individuals self-select themselves to take part
What are the advantages of volunteer sampling?
- Quick access to willing individual, making it convenient and not time consuming
What is an aim?
- A general statement of what the researcher wants to investigate
What is a hypothesis?
- A clear, testable statement that states the relationship between the variables to be investigated
