Research Methods Flashcards
Functionalism
A school of American psychology that focused on the utility of consciousness. Focussing on behaviour and its function rather than the underlying structure.
Structuralism
Developed by Wilhelm Wundt and his student Edward Titchner.
A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience
British Psychological Society (BPS)
Governing body for psychology in the UK
founded in 1901
American Psychological Association (APA)
American governing body of psychology, world wide leader.
The APA style for referencing widely used in scientific journals.
Psychoanalysis
Credited to Freud
Analysis of the unconscious structures of the mind through psychotherapy
Behaviourism
The study of behaviour
Social Learning Theory
Suggests that social behaviour is learned by observing and imitating the behaviour of others. Developed by Albert Bandura.
Genetic Epistemology
The study of the development of knowledge, especially in children and they come to know their world. Developed by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.
Humanistic/positive psychology
Research on the potential of individuals and their growth and self-actualisation
Social Psychology
The study of the mind and behaviour in relation with other people
Psychometrics
Field of study in psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement, such as of intelligence and personality
Neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience
The study of the link between the brain and behaviour.
Cognitive Psychology
the study of mental processes
Eugenics
(pseudoscience)
the practice of selective breeding to promote desired traits
Replication Crisis
The lack of replicability, that is the reproduction of results from previous studies, within psychological research
Null hypothesis H0
Alternative hypothesis H1
H0: there is no relationship between the two variables
H1: there is a relationship between the two variables
One tailed/directional hypothesis
Specifies the direction of the hypothesis, e.g. alcohol will increase/decrease reaction time
Two-tailed/non-directional hypothesis
Leaves the direction of the hypothesis open, e.g. alcohol will have an effect on reaction time
Scientific theory
A comprehensive explanation supported by a vast body of evidence
Qualitive design
Research through observation, interviews, focus groups etc.
Quantitative research
research strategy focussed on quantifying the collection and analysis of data
Experimental design
Experimental designs have variables that can be manipulated or measured
Observational design
Research through observation, e.g. Study. The observation and measurement of variables
Independent variable (IV)
the thing that you manipulate/change
Dependent variable (DV)
The thing that you measure
Control variable
The thing that you keep constant
Within-subject / repeated measures
All participants are exposed to all levels/conditions of the independent variable.
Between-subjects / independent design
Different participants are exposed to different levels/conditions of the independent variable
Counter-balancing
Technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design. Half of the sample complete the first condition first and the second condition afterwards and the other half of the sample, the second condition first and then the first condition.
Order effects
Participants responses to various conditions are affected by the order of the conditions to which they are exposed
Experimenter bias
The unintentional influence of the experimenter’s expectations, beliefs or preconceived notions on the outcome of a study or research experiment.
Participant bias
The conscious or unconscious effort of the participant to appeal to the researcher in a study rather than responding naturally.
Hawthorne effect
The modification of behaviour by study participants in response to their knowledge that they are being observed or singled out for special treatment.
Placebo effect
A person’s physical or mental heath improves after taking a placebo.
Single-blind
The Participant do not know in what group they are in, in an experiment
Double-blind
Neither the participant, nor the experimenter know the what group they are in.
Confounds/extraneous variables
Variables that influence/interfere with an accurate measurement between the independent and dependent variable
positive/negative correlation
positive correlation: one score increases, and so does the other
negative correlation: one score decreases, and so does the other
sample
A subsection of a population
population
An entire group with specific characteristics
Reliability and Validity
Reliable: something produces the same results after repetition of test/experiment/analysis
Valid: Accurate measurement
You can have reliability without validity but you cannot have validity without reliability
Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST)
To check whether a statistical relationship in a sample reflects a real relationship in the population or is just due to chance
p-value
The probability of the observed data under the null hypothesis, so if the independent variable doesn’t affect the dependent variable
psychologists typically use 0.5, or 5% as the cut-off:
p < 0.5 -> statistically significant (reject H0 in favour of H1)
p > 0.5 -> non-significant (fail to reject H0)
Type 1 error/false positive
A rejected null hypothesis that is actually true
Type 2 error/false negative
Acceptance of null hypothesis that is actually false in the population
Familywise error
Probability of making more false positive results (type 1 error) the more tests you run simultaneously
p-hacking
manipulation of p-value through “rounding off” p-value, not reporting all dependent measures/ conditions, selective reporting (file drawer problem)
HARKing
Coming up with the hypothesis after the results - reporting unexpected findings as predicted
Sharp-shooter fallacy
cherry picking specific data points or patterns
File drawer problem
selectively reporting studies that “worked”
Publication bias
Studies submitted after the results have been analysed -> only showing “appealing”, “newsworthy” studies
Pre-registration
Writing down what you plan to do and your predictions before the data collection commences
Plagiarism
To take credit for someone else’s work or ideas, etc. without appropriate credit
Falsification
Manipulating and/or distorting existing data
Fabrication
Making up data that did not previously exist
Non-sequiturs
A logical fallacy in which the conclusion does not logically follow the premises of the argument
Secondary analysis
the analysis of an existing data set to answer a new research question
Cross-sectional Research
Studying groups at one time point
Longitudinal research
Studying the same group over time
Cohort
A sample which is large and intended to be representative
Cohort effects
differences between cohorts due to differences in experiences, not e.g. age
practice/test effects
improvement/change in result due to repetitions
cross generational problem
changes in cohort specific to the specific cohort and their experiences and not generalisable
selective survival
A process that results in individuals with certain characteristics disproportionately surviving to old age
attrition/selective drop out
loss of participants from sample overt time - who drops out? is there a pattern of people that drop out
accelerated longitudinal study
a more structured multiple cohort design that takes multiple single cohorts, each one starting at a different age and follows them for a shorter period of time than a traditional longitudinal study
cross-lagged panel correlation analysis
A technique used in longitudinal, nonexperimental designs to draw inferences about the direction of a relationship between two variables
Internal validity
the extent to which a study’s findings unambiguously establish a cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variable (usually produced in labs)
External validity
the extent to which a study’s findings generalise to other settings and samples
Ecological validity
validity of study’s finding in different settings/locations
Respondent burden
The participants burden of having to participate in a study, e.g. high respondent burden through multiple questionnaires in a day
Experience sampling method
Collection of data about a sample of daily experiences throughout specific points in a day of the participant
Day reconstructive method
At the end of the day, participants recall their experiences
Ambulatory physiological monitoring
Monitoring of physiological responses in the body throughout a day (heart rate, blood pressure, sweat, body temperature)
Randomised controlled trial
RCTs are prospective studies that measure the effectiveness of a new intervention or treatment
Quasi-experimental study
Compare treatment and control but not through random allocation
Efficacy
can it work?
assessed in controlled lab/clinic setting
Effectiveness
does it work in real life?
in a realistic setting
Efficiency
evaluate the cost/benefit of an intervention study
Feasibility study
to assess a proposed intervention, small scale study
Adherence / compliance
If there is no difference between the treatment and control group is it because the intervention does not work or because it wasn’t adhered to correctly?
Volunteer bias
Study participants are volunteers, therefore they may be more motivated and engaged in a study than the whole target population
