research methods

Question 1

What is an aim?

Answer 1

A statement of what the researcher intends to find out in a research study

Question 2

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 2

a precise testable statement about the relationship between 2 variables

Question 3

What is it when we operationalise?

Answer 3

ensuring the variables are measurable

Question 4

What is an independent variable?

Answer 4

something that is manipulated by the experimenter

Question 5

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 5

what the IV affects, what is measured by the experimenter

Question 6

What is an experiment ?

Answer 6

a research method where the IV is deliberately manipulated to observe the effect on the DV

Question 7

What is a standardised procedure?

Answer 7

a set of procedures that are the same for all participants so the study can be repeated e.g. standardised instructions

Question 8

What are extraneous variables?

Answer 8

variables that make it difficult to detect a significant effect, they may have an effect upon the DV but are not part of what is being manipulated or measured.

Question 9

What is a directional hypothesis?

Answer 9

states the direction of the predicted difference between 2 groups.Used when previous research suggests the findings will produce a particular outcome. Also known as a 1-tailed hypothesis (1 of 1 outcomes)

Question 10

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

Answer 10

predicts there is a difference between 2 conditions but doesn’t state the direction of the difference. Also known as a 2-tailed hypothesis (1 of 2 outcomes)

Question 11

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 11

a prediction of what may not happen in the experiment

Question 12

State the hypothesis rules

Answer 12

-Must contain variables which are operationalised
-A directional hypothesis is used due to previous research demonstrating precise findings
-A non-directional hypothesis will generally contain the words ‘there will be a difference/association’ between 2 variables

If the study describes a relationship it will be correlational and so the hypothesis must include the term ‘relationship/correlation’
A directional hypothesis for a correlational study will include the phrase ‘positive/negative relationship’

Question 13

What are the strengths and limitations to repeated measure experimental designs? How do we control the limitations?

Answer 13

L - Order effects, e.g. participants may do better on the second task due to practice or worse due to fatigue

Counterbalancing deals with order effects
- AB or BA (divide participants into 2 groups. Group 1 does condition A then B, group 2 does condition B then A)

S- participant variables are controlled, fewer participants are needed so cheaper

Question 14

What are the strengths and limitations to independent group design? How do we control the limitations?

Answer 14

L- Individual differences, e.g. participants in condition 1 may be naturally better at the task
Individual differences should be controlled by random allocation of participants as variables should be distributed evenly by doing this
L- More participants required than for a repeated measures design to have the same amount of data - more expensive

S- less time consuming than matched pairs design, doesn’t suffer order effects as participants are in separate conditions

Question 15

What are the strengths and limitations to matched participants design? How do we control the limitations?

Answer 15

L - Time consuming and difficult to match participants on key variables
Restrict the number of variables to match on to make it easier and conduct a pilot study to help identify the key variables worth studying
L - not possible to control all variables

S- tries to match variables so equals fewer order effects, more chance of having more varied participants in each group.

Question 16

What is mundane realism?

Answer 16

How the study mirrors the real world, is the research relatable to real life experiences

Question 17

What is a confounding variable?

Answer 17

A variable that changes the DV rather than the IV affecting it so the results may be meaningless

Question 18

What is an extraneous variable?

Answer 18

‘Extra variable’ that can have an effect upon the DV, muddy the waters making it more difficult to detect a significant effect

Question 19

Explain the 5 types of validity.

Answer 19

Internal - the degree to which an observed effect was due to experimental manipulation rather than other variables (confounding, extraneous)

External - the degree to which research findings can be generalised

Ecological - the ability to generalise a research effect beyond a particular setting

Population - the extent to which the findings can be generalised to other groups besides those who took part in the study

Historical - the extent to which the findings from one time period can be applied to another

Question 20

What do experiments involve?

Answer 20

Involve the manipulation of the IV while trying to keep all other variables constant
Allow us to study cause and effect

Question 21

What are the 4 types of experiments?

Answer 21

Labatory
Field
Natural
Quasi

Question 22

What is a laboratory experiment? What are the strengths and limitations?

Answer 22

Conducted in a special environment
Carefully controlled variables
Participants aware they are taking part but unlikely to know the aims of the study

Strengths:
Controlled variables = high internal validity
Easy to replicate = reliable results

Limitations:
Low ecological validity - participants know they are being watched
IVs/DVs may not represent real life
Low mundane realism

Question 23

What is a field experiment? What are the strengths and limitations?

Answer 23

Conducted in a natural environment
Participants not usually aware they are participating - more natural behaviour

Strengths:
More natural, greater mundane realism = higher external validity

Limitations:
IV may lack realism and so they are not likely everyday occurrences
Difficult to control extraneous and confounding variables = lower internal validity
Ethical issues of not knowing you are being studied

Question 24

What is a natural experiment? What are the strengths and limitations?

Answer 24

A naturally occurring event that couldn’t be researched in a laboratory due to practical and ethical reasons.
The IV therefore varies naturally but the DV may still be tested.

Strengths:
Allows us to research behaviour that would be difficult to achieve in a laboratory setting
Studying effects of real issues = high ecological validity + mundane realism

Limitations:
IV not directly manipulated so can’t establish cause and effect
Internal validity questioned as participants not randomly allocated so there could be confounding variables

Question 25

What is a quasi experiment? What are the strengths and limitations?

Answer 25

Studies that are almost experiments
IV is naturally occurring (not been manipulated) and the DV is measured in a laboratory
IV based on differences that naturally occur between people e.g. gender/age

Strengths:
Allows comparisons to be made between different types of people
Often carried out under controlled conditions so have the same strengths as laboratory experiments

Limitations:
Can’t randomly allocate participants to conditions so may suffer from confounding variables
Can only be used where conditions vary naturally
Low internal validity = participants know they are being studied
Low ecological validity = DV likely to be an artificial task
Due to unique characteristics of the participants results can be difficult to generalise