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Psychology A-Level > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What’s an aim ?

A

it outlines the research topic

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2
Q

What’s a hypothesis ?

A

predictions on the results of the study

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3
Q

What’s a null hypothesis

A

this states that there will be no differences or if there is any difference it will be down to chance

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4
Q

What’s an independent variable ?

A

a variable that is changed

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5
Q

What’s a dependant variable ?

A

a variable that is measured

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6
Q

What does operationalised mean ?

A

explaining how the variable could be specifically changed

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7
Q

What is random sampling ?

A

each participant has an equal chance of being selected

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8
Q

What is one advantage of random sampling

A

unbiased

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9
Q

What is one disadvantage of random sampling

A

time consuming

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10
Q

What is opportunity sampling ?

A

asking people who are available at the time to take part

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11
Q

What is one advantage of opportunity sampling ?

A

less costly

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12
Q

What is one disadvantage of opportunity sampling ?

A

unrepresentative of target population

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13
Q

What is volunteering sampling ?

A

researcher advertises study and people who see the advert may get in contact and volunteer

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14
Q

What is one advantage of volunteering sampling ?

A

less time consuming

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15
Q

What is one disadvantage of volunteer sampling ?

A

volunteer bias

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16
Q

What is systematic sampling ?

A

this is where every nth member of the target population is selected. For example number selected by rolling dice: every 3rd person is chosen

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17
Q

What is one advantage of systematic sampling ?

A

no bias

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18
Q

What is one disadvantage of systematic sampling ?

A

time consuming

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19
Q

What is stratified sampling ?

A

selecting people from every portion of your population

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20
Q

What is one advantage of stratified sampling ?

A

representative sampling, can be generalized

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21
Q

What is one disadvantage of stratified sampling ?

A

cannot completely represent target population

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22
Q

What is the experimental design Independent groups ?

A

this is when two separate group of participants experience two different conditions of the experiment

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23
Q

What is one advantage of independent design ?

A

participants are less likely to guess the aim of the experiment

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24
Q

What is one disadvantage of independent design ?

A

more participants as there different participants for different conditions therefore more money and time spent on recruiting participants

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25
Q

What is the experimental design repeated measures ?

A

every participant completes both conditions of the experiment

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26
Q

What is one advantage of repeated measures?

A

fewer participants are needed

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27
Q

What is one disadvantage of repeated measures ?

A

the repetition of two tasks could lead to boredom, leading to potentially the worsening of performance in the second task

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28
Q

What is the experimental design matched pairs ?

A

when you match people with similar traits, for example to study memory you match people with similar IQ

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29
Q

What is one advantage of matched pairs ?

A

participants only take part in a single condition so order effects and demand characteristics are less of a problem

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30
Q

What is one disadvantage of matched pairs ?

A

participants can never be matched exactly, therefore there will be differences between the participants, therefore affecting the DV

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31
Q

What are the 4 different types of experiments ?

A

*Laboratory
* Field
* Natural
*Quasi

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32
Q

What is a laboratory experiment ?

A

it is a highly controlled experiment set up in an artificial environment

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33
Q

What is one advantage of a laboratory experiment ?

A

allows replication due to high level of control

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34
Q

What is one disadvantage of a laboratory experiment ?

A

high chance of demand characteristics arising

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35
Q

What is a field experiment ?

A

it is an experiment in a natural environment where the IV is manipulated

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36
Q

What is one advantage of a field experiment ?

A

realistic as it is in a more natural setting

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37
Q

What is one disadvantage of a field experiment

A

ethical issues: due to lack of informed consent

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38
Q

What is a natural experiment ?

A

it is a unplanned experiment and occurs due to natural occurring events

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39
Q

What is one advantage of a natural experiment ?

A

more realistic

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40
Q

What is one disadvantage of a natural experiment ?

A

lack of reliability,as they occur rarely

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41
Q

What is a quasi experiment ?

A

it is a experiment which is based on existing differences between people for example : gender, age and personality

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42
Q

What is one advantage of a quasi experiment ?

A

replication can occur often

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43
Q

What is one disadvantage of a quasi experiment ?

A

IV is not deliberately changed by the researcher, therefore we cannot claim that the IV has caused any observed change

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44
Q

What is a self report method ?

A

this is a method of gathering data where a participant provides information about themselves and about a given topic

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45
Q

What are the 3 types of questions in a questionnaire ?

A
  • open question : the participant can give any answer they wish
  • closed question : there are a set number of responses which the participant selects from
  • questionnaire : a self report method with written questions which could be open or closed
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46
Q

What is a structured interview ?

A

standardized questions, it is in a pre-set order

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47
Q

What is a unstructured interview ?

A

no set questions, it is in no set order, it is like an ordinary conversation

48
Q

What is one advantage of a structured interview ?

A

can easily be repeated as questions can be generalized

49
Q

What is one disadvantage of a structured interview ?

A

the answers the participant gives may be restricted by the questions that are asked

50
Q

What is one advantage of a unstructured interview ?

A

more detailed information can be obtained from each respondent

51
Q

What is one disadvantage of a unstructured interview ?

A

more difficult to analyze the data as there will be lots more of it

52
Q

What is a naturalistic observation ?

A

it is carried out in a naturalistic setting and the investigator does not interfere.

53
Q

What is a controlled observation ?

A
  • observing behaviour over controlled conditions
  • control over variables
54
Q

What is an overt observation ?

A

the participants are aware that they are being observed, the observer is visible throughout the observation.

55
Q

What is a covert observation ?

A

the participants are not aware that they are being observed

56
Q

What is a participant observation ?

A

the researcher gets involved with participant activity so they can experience it for themselves

57
Q

What is a non-participant observation ?

A

the observer remains separate from the participants

58
Q

What is a structured observation ?

A

this is where you simplify target behaviour until it is measurable

59
Q

What is an unstructured observation ?

A
  • free-flowing
  • more rich in detail
60
Q

What is one advantage of a naturalistic observation ?

A

high external validity as findings can often be generalised to everyday life

61
Q

What is one disadvantage of a naturalistic observation ?

A

replication is limited as there is limited control

62
Q

What is one advantage of a controlled observation ?

A

replication of the observation becomes easier as the researcher is able to control variables

62
Q

What is one disadvantage of a controlled observation ?

A

high chance of demand characteristics ocurring

63
Q

What is one advantage of a covert observation ?

A

demand characteristics are less of a problem as participant does not know that they are being watched. Increases internal validity

64
Q

What is one disadvantage of a covert observation ?

A

ethical problems, people may have a problem with there behaviour being written down in public

65
Q

What is one advantage of a structured observation ?

A

produces quantitative data, more easy to analyse and more systematic

66
Q

What is one disadvantage of a structured observation ?

A

less detail

67
Q

What is one advantage of a unstructured observation ?

A

more depth in detail

68
Q

What is one disadvantage of a unstructured observation ?

A

produces qualitative data, which is more difficult to analyse and record

69
Q

What is one advantage of a participant observation ?

A

Increase in external validity. Because the researcher experiences the situation as the participant, giving them increased insight into the lives of people being studied

70
Q

What is one disadvantage of a participant observation ?

A

researcher may come to identify too strongly with those who are studying and may lose objectivity

71
Q

What is one advantage of a non-participant observation ?

A

lower chance of researcher losing objectivity as the researcher maintains a difference from the participants

72
Q

What is one disadvantage of a non-participant observation ?

A

may lose the valuable insight to be gained in a participant observation as they are too removed from the people and behaviour they are studying

73
Q

What is the Hawthorne effect ?

A

this is when the participant knows that they are being watched and so they will act in one of two ways. Either be shy so introverted or confident and out-going extroverted

74
Q

What is a positive correlation ?

A

this is where both variables will increase

75
Q

What is a negative correlation ?

A

this is where one variable increase and the other decreases

76
Q

What is a no correlation ?

A

no relationship between the two variables

77
Q

What is a curvilinear correlation ?

A

is a type of correlation between two variables where as one variable increases so does the other but only up to a certain point

78
Q

Define the term ethics ?

A

the consideration of what is acceptable or right behavior in the pursuit of a personal or scientific goal

79
Q

What are the 4 codes of ethics ?

A
  • Informed consent: involves making participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights
  • Deception: this means deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation
  • Protection from harm: as a result of their involvement, participants should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives.
  • Privacy and confidentiality: participants have the right to control information about themselves
80
Q

What is internal validity ?

A

the extent to which the researcher is measuring what they intend to measure

81
Q

What are extraneous variables ?

A

nuisance variables which affect the IV and the DV

82
Q

What are confounding variables ?

A

any variable that may have impacted the DV, other than the IV

83
Q

What is external validity ?

A

the degree to which a researcher findings can be generalised to

84
Q

What does the word social desirability mean ?

A

this is when participants try to look good by answering and behaving in a way which is socially acceptable

85
Q

What does the word experimenter bias mean ?

A

when the experimenter affects the results

86
Q

What does the word interviewer bias mean ?

A

the interviewer affects the responses of the interviewee

87
Q

What is the Greenspoon effect ?

A

when the interviewer makes affirmative noises

88
Q

What does the word reliability mean ?

A

results from the study are consistent

89
Q

What is inter-rater reliability ?

A

this is when researchers are recommended to not conduct observational studies alone, this is because single observers may miss important details.

90
Q

In what two ways can you improve reliability ?

A
  • adjust behavioural categories
  • observers should compare the data they recorded
91
Q

What is the process of peer review ?

A

this involves the scrutinization by a small group of 2-3 experts in the particular field. These experts should be objective and unknown to the author or researcher

92
Q

What is the purpose of peer review ?

A

psychologists check report to allocate funding.

93
Q

What is qualitative data ?

A

expressed in words, non-numerical

94
Q

What is quantitative data ?

A

expressed numerically rather than in words

95
Q

What is primary data ?

A

given first-hand from participants , collected specifically for the purpose of the research

96
Q

What is secondary data ?

A

data collected by someone other than the person doing the research

97
Q

What is a strength of Qualitative Data ?

A

greater detail, therefore greater external validity as it provides the researcher with more meaningful insight into the participant

98
Q

What is a weakness of Qualitative Data ?

A

difficult to analyse, therefore patterns and comparisons within data may be hard to find

99
Q

What is a strength of Quantitative Data ?

A

can easily be converted into graphs or charts

100
Q

What is a weakness of Quantitative Data ?

A

there is less data given

101
Q

What is a strength of Primary Data ?

A

this is authentic data obtained from the participant themselves. Therefore you gain more authentic results.

102
Q

What is a weakness of Primary Data ?

A

requires times and effort to set up the study ; requires a lot of planning, preparation and resources

103
Q

What is a strength of Secondary Data ?

A

can be cheap and easily accessed

104
Q

What is a weakness of Secondary Data ?

A

researcher may find data incomplete

105
Q

What are the 3 measures of central tendency ?

A
  • mean
  • mode
  • median
106
Q

What are the 2 measures of dispersion ?

A
  • range
  • standard deviation
107
Q

What is one strength of a mean ?

A

it is more representative of data as a whole

108
Q

What is one weakness of a mean ?

A

it is easily distorted by extreme values

109
Q

What is one strength of the mode ?

A

very easy to calculate

110
Q

What is one weakness of the mode ?

A

it is a very crude measure

111
Q

What is one strength of the median ?

A

extreme scores do not affect it

112
Q

What is one weakness of the median ?

A

it is less sensitive than the mean

113
Q

What is one strength of the range ?

A

it is easy to calculate

114
Q

What is one weakness of the range ?

A

it only takes into account the two most extreme values and this may be unrepresentative of the data as a whole

115
Q

What is one strength of standard deviation ?

A

a more precise measure than the range as it includes all the values within the final calculation

116
Q

What is the process of a sign test ?

A
  1. complete the table given in your question.
  2. add up your + sign, your -sign and your =sign.
  3. then you identify your S value, this is the lowest number between the + and - sign.
  4. You have to identify what hypothesis is. A directional hypothesis is ‘ one-tailed’ and a non-directional hypothesis is ‘two-tailed’.
  5. Then we need to know what significance level we are using. In psychology we tend to use the 5% level, which is 0.05 as a decimal
  6. Then you identify your N value, to find it you do total number participants subtract anyone who is in the ‘ = category ‘
  7. In order for the test to be significant, the S value should be equal to or less than the N value
  8. If the test is significant we must accept our alternative hypothesis, if it is not significant we must accept our null hypothesis.

Psychology A-Level (8 decks)

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