Research Methods Flashcards
What’s an aim ?
it outlines the research topic
What’s a hypothesis ?
predictions on the results of the study
What’s a null hypothesis
this states that there will be no differences or if there is any difference it will be down to chance
What’s an independent variable ?
a variable that is changed
What’s a dependant variable ?
a variable that is measured
What does operationalised mean ?
explaining how the variable could be specifically changed
What is random sampling ?
each participant has an equal chance of being selected
What is one advantage of random sampling
unbiased
What is one disadvantage of random sampling
time consuming
What is opportunity sampling ?
asking people who are available at the time to take part
What is one advantage of opportunity sampling ?
less costly
What is one disadvantage of opportunity sampling ?
unrepresentative of target population
What is volunteering sampling ?
researcher advertises study and people who see the advert may get in contact and volunteer
What is one advantage of volunteering sampling ?
less time consuming
What is one disadvantage of volunteer sampling ?
volunteer bias
What is systematic sampling ?
this is where every nth member of the target population is selected. For example number selected by rolling dice: every 3rd person is chosen
What is one advantage of systematic sampling ?
no bias
What is one disadvantage of systematic sampling ?
time consuming
What is stratified sampling ?
selecting people from every portion of your population
What is one advantage of stratified sampling ?
representative sampling, can be generalized
What is one disadvantage of stratified sampling ?
cannot completely represent target population
What is the experimental design Independent groups ?
this is when two separate group of participants experience two different conditions of the experiment
What is one advantage of independent design ?
participants are less likely to guess the aim of the experiment
What is one disadvantage of independent design ?
more participants as there different participants for different conditions therefore more money and time spent on recruiting participants
What is the experimental design repeated measures ?
every participant completes both conditions of the experiment
What is one advantage of repeated measures?
fewer participants are needed
What is one disadvantage of repeated measures ?
the repetition of two tasks could lead to boredom, leading to potentially the worsening of performance in the second task
What is the experimental design matched pairs ?
when you match people with similar traits, for example to study memory you match people with similar IQ
What is one advantage of matched pairs ?
participants only take part in a single condition so order effects and demand characteristics are less of a problem
What is one disadvantage of matched pairs ?
participants can never be matched exactly, therefore there will be differences between the participants, therefore affecting the DV
What are the 4 different types of experiments ?
*Laboratory
* Field
* Natural
*Quasi
What is a laboratory experiment ?
it is a highly controlled experiment set up in an artificial environment
What is one advantage of a laboratory experiment ?
allows replication due to high level of control
What is one disadvantage of a laboratory experiment ?
high chance of demand characteristics arising
What is a field experiment ?
it is an experiment in a natural environment where the IV is manipulated
What is one advantage of a field experiment ?
realistic as it is in a more natural setting
What is one disadvantage of a field experiment
ethical issues: due to lack of informed consent
What is a natural experiment ?
it is a unplanned experiment and occurs due to natural occurring events
What is one advantage of a natural experiment ?
more realistic
What is one disadvantage of a natural experiment ?
lack of reliability,as they occur rarely
What is a quasi experiment ?
it is a experiment which is based on existing differences between people for example : gender, age and personality
What is one advantage of a quasi experiment ?
replication can occur often
What is one disadvantage of a quasi experiment ?
IV is not deliberately changed by the researcher, therefore we cannot claim that the IV has caused any observed change
What is a self report method ?
this is a method of gathering data where a participant provides information about themselves and about a given topic
What are the 3 types of questions in a questionnaire ?
- 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
What is a structured interview ?
standardized questions, it is in a pre-set order
What is a unstructured interview ?
no set questions, it is in no set order, it is like an ordinary conversation
What is one advantage of a structured interview ?
can easily be repeated as questions can be generalized
What is one disadvantage of a structured interview ?
the answers the participant gives may be restricted by the questions that are asked
What is one advantage of a unstructured interview ?
more detailed information can be obtained from each respondent
What is one disadvantage of a unstructured interview ?
more difficult to analyze the data as there will be lots more of it
What is a naturalistic observation ?
it is carried out in a naturalistic setting and the investigator does not interfere.
What is a controlled observation ?
- observing behaviour over controlled conditions
- control over variables
What is an overt observation ?
the participants are aware that they are being observed, the observer is visible throughout the observation.
What is a covert observation ?
the participants are not aware that they are being observed
What is a participant observation ?
the researcher gets involved with participant activity so they can experience it for themselves
What is a non-participant observation ?
the observer remains separate from the participants
What is a structured observation ?
this is where you simplify target behaviour until it is measurable
What is an unstructured observation ?
- free-flowing
- more rich in detail
What is one advantage of a naturalistic observation ?
high external validity as findings can often be generalised to everyday life
What is one disadvantage of a naturalistic observation ?
replication is limited as there is limited control
What is one advantage of a controlled observation ?
replication of the observation becomes easier as the researcher is able to control variables
What is one disadvantage of a controlled observation ?
high chance of demand characteristics ocurring
What is one advantage of a covert observation ?
demand characteristics are less of a problem as participant does not know that they are being watched. Increases internal validity
What is one disadvantage of a covert observation ?
ethical problems, people may have a problem with there behaviour being written down in public
What is one advantage of a structured observation ?
produces quantitative data, more easy to analyse and more systematic
What is one disadvantage of a structured observation ?
less detail
What is one advantage of a unstructured observation ?
more depth in detail
What is one disadvantage of a unstructured observation ?
produces qualitative data, which is more difficult to analyse and record
What is one advantage of a participant observation ?
Increase in external validity. Because the researcher experiences the situation as the participant, giving them increased insight into the lives of people being studied
What is one disadvantage of a participant observation ?
researcher may come to identify too strongly with those who are studying and may lose objectivity
What is one advantage of a non-participant observation ?
lower chance of researcher losing objectivity as the researcher maintains a difference from the participants
What is one disadvantage of a non-participant observation ?
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
What is the Hawthorne effect ?
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
What is a positive correlation ?
this is where both variables will increase
What is a negative correlation ?
this is where one variable increase and the other decreases
What is a no correlation ?
no relationship between the two variables
What is a curvilinear correlation ?
is a type of correlation between two variables where as one variable increases so does the other but only up to a certain point
Define the term ethics ?
the consideration of what is acceptable or right behavior in the pursuit of a personal or scientific goal
What are the 4 codes of ethics ?
- 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
What is internal validity ?
the extent to which the researcher is measuring what they intend to measure
What are extraneous variables ?
nuisance variables which affect the IV and the DV
What are confounding variables ?
any variable that may have impacted the DV, other than the IV
What is external validity ?
the degree to which a researcher findings can be generalised to
What does the word social desirability mean ?
this is when participants try to look good by answering and behaving in a way which is socially acceptable
What does the word experimenter bias mean ?
when the experimenter affects the results
What does the word interviewer bias mean ?
the interviewer affects the responses of the interviewee
What is the Greenspoon effect ?
when the interviewer makes affirmative noises
What does the word reliability mean ?
results from the study are consistent
What is inter-rater reliability ?
this is when researchers are recommended to not conduct observational studies alone, this is because single observers may miss important details.
In what two ways can you improve reliability ?
- adjust behavioural categories
- observers should compare the data they recorded
What is the process of peer review ?
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
What is the purpose of peer review ?
psychologists check report to allocate funding.
What is qualitative data ?
expressed in words, non-numerical
What is quantitative data ?
expressed numerically rather than in words
What is primary data ?
given first-hand from participants , collected specifically for the purpose of the research
What is secondary data ?
data collected by someone other than the person doing the research
What is a strength of Qualitative Data ?
greater detail, therefore greater external validity as it provides the researcher with more meaningful insight into the participant
What is a weakness of Qualitative Data ?
difficult to analyse, therefore patterns and comparisons within data may be hard to find
What is a strength of Quantitative Data ?
can easily be converted into graphs or charts
What is a weakness of Quantitative Data ?
there is less data given
What is a strength of Primary Data ?
this is authentic data obtained from the participant themselves. Therefore you gain more authentic results.
What is a weakness of Primary Data ?
requires times and effort to set up the study ; requires a lot of planning, preparation and resources
What is a strength of Secondary Data ?
can be cheap and easily accessed
What is a weakness of Secondary Data ?
researcher may find data incomplete
What are the 3 measures of central tendency ?
- mean
- mode
- median
What are the 2 measures of dispersion ?
- range
- standard deviation
What is one strength of a mean ?
it is more representative of data as a whole
What is one weakness of a mean ?
it is easily distorted by extreme values
What is one strength of the mode ?
very easy to calculate
What is one weakness of the mode ?
it is a very crude measure
What is one strength of the median ?
extreme scores do not affect it
What is one weakness of the median ?
it is less sensitive than the mean
What is one strength of the range ?
it is easy to calculate
What is one weakness of the range ?
it only takes into account the two most extreme values and this may be unrepresentative of the data as a whole
What is one strength of standard deviation ?
a more precise measure than the range as it includes all the values within the final calculation
What is the process of a sign test ?
- complete the table given in your question.
- add up your + sign, your -sign and your =sign.
- then you identify your S value, this is the lowest number between the + and - sign.
- You have to identify what hypothesis is. A directional hypothesis is ‘ one-tailed’ and a non-directional hypothesis is ‘two-tailed’.
- 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
- Then you identify your N value, to find it you do total number participants subtract anyone who is in the ‘ = category ‘
- In order for the test to be significant, the S value should be equal to or less than the N value
- If the test is significant we must accept our alternative hypothesis, if it is not significant we must accept our null hypothesis.
