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Research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an alternate/ experimental hypothesis?

A

a clear, testable, precise statement that you wish to test which contains variables that have been operationalised.

Suggests there is a change

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2
Q

what is a null hypothesis?

A

all results are obtained due to chance not the iv.

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3
Q

What is a directional/ one tailed hypothesis? when is it used?

A

predicts direction change is expected to occur in eg bigger, smaller
used when previous research suggests and direction

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4
Q

What is a non-directional/ two tailed hypothesis? when is it used?

A

predicts change but no specific direction eg effect, change
used when no previous research or previous research is contradictory

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5
Q

what is operationalisation?

A

This term describes when a variable is defined by the researcher and a way of measuring that variable is developed for the research

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6
Q

what is a lab experiment?
eg?

A

takes place in a highly controlled environment
eg loftus and plamers study of effect of leading qs on memory

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7
Q

+ lab experiment

A

complete control of variables
forces pace of research
reliable (easy to replicate)
quantitative data
can use technical equptment

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8
Q

negatives of lab experiment

A

loss of ecological validity
drawbacks of experimental design
demand characteristics
sampling bias
ethics

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9
Q

what is a field experiment?
eg?

A

takes place in natural environment so reflects real life
eg pilliavans subway Samaritan study

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10
Q

+ field experiment

A

can witness non biased behaviour
more valid- better reflection of real life

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11
Q

negatives of field experiment

A

difficult to control variables
cant use as much technical equipment
cant control pace of research
not reliable (not easy to replicate)

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12
Q

what is a natural experiment?
eg?

A

researching the aftermath of something that has already occurred
eg effects of tsunami on future mental health

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13
Q

What is a quasi experiment?
eg?

A

researcher doesnt directly control iv but exploits naturally occurring differences
eg if iv is gender, this isnt technically an experimental method

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14
Q

+ quasi experiment

A

reduces demand characteristics
lack of direct intervention

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15
Q

negatives of quasi experiment

A

loss of control over variables

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16
Q

what is an extraneous/cofounding variable?

slightly diff so check booklet

A

Extraneous- controlled and cofounding not controlled
things effecting the outcome of an experiment that arent the iv

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17
Q

name 6 extraneous variables

A

demand characteristics- changing behaviour to fit expectations
social desirability- changing behaviour to look good
investigator effect/ researcher bias- researcher somehow influences outcome eg through body lang or expectations
situational variables- outside influences eg time. control with standardisation
order effects- boredom or fatigue. control with counterbalancing or randomisation
participant variables- difference between them eg age

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18
Q

what is an experimental design?

A

way of organising participants into groups

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19
Q

what is repeated measures?

A

using same participant in each condition

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20
Q

+ repeated measures

A

controls individual differences
fewer particiapnts needed

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21
Q

negatives of repeated measures

A

low validity
order effects

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22
Q

what is independent measures?

A

using different participants in each condition.
may select itself eg age or gender

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23
Q

+ independent measures

A

no order effects
more valid

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24
Q

negatives of independent measures

A

reduced control of individual differences
need more participants

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25
Q

what is matched pairs?

A

using similar but diff participants in each category eg twins

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26
Q

+ matched pairs

A

can clearly see differences between them
no order effects
control of individual differences

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27
Q
  • matched pairs
A

difficult to recruit
so time consuming
so expensive

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28
Q

what is a naturalistic obs?

A

studying people in their natural environment without interfering

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29
Q

what is a structured observation?

A

know in advance what you will look for- devise a checklist. quantitative data in form of tally

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30
Q

what is event sampling?

A

keeping count each time behavior occurs

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31
Q

what is time sampling?

A

note behaviors displayed in time period

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32
Q

what is an unstructured observation?
when used?
how to increase accuracy?

A

researcher records all behaviour. quantitative and qualitative
used when dont know what to expect
inter-rater reliability- 2 observers trained in same way and must meet 80% agreement

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33
Q

what is a covert obs?

A

participants unaware theyre being observed

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34
Q

what is an overt obs?

A

participants aware theyre being observed

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35
Q

what is a participant obs?

A

researcher is part of action theyre observing

36
Q

+ structured obs

A

quantitative data analyse
reliable (can be replicated)

37
Q
  • structured obs
A

researcher bias
hard to decide what to look for
miss behaviours not on list

38
Q

+ unstructured obs

A

good if dk what to expect
wont miss anything

39
Q
  • unstructured obs
A

qualitative hard to record
less specific purpose
hard to record everyhting

40
Q

+ covert obs

A

reduces demand characteristics
increase validity as no artificial behaviour

41
Q
  • covert obs
A

participants havent consented
but in public anyway

42
Q

+ overt obs

A

more ethical -consent

43
Q
  • overt obs
A

demand characteristics
reduce validity

44
Q

+ participant obs

A

in action so can see things you cant from far away

45
Q
  • participant obs
A

researcher bias
may influence behaviour
hard to see everything from middle
difficult to make notes whilst in action

46
Q

what is self reporting?
what needs to be done first?

A

asking participants questions through interviews or questionnaires
need pilot studies to check for ambiguity and increase validity and reliability

47
Q

what are 4 types of question?

A

open- elaborate
closed- forced to pick
contingent- depend on previous answer
Likert scaling- assess strength but use odd nos so people often pick middle

48
Q

why use a variety of q types in self report?

A

not bored
gather diff types of data eg qualitative and quantitative

49
Q

what to avoid in questionnaires?

A

jargon
emotive language
leading qs
double barrelled qs
double negatives

50
Q

+ interviews

A

highly valid
see body language- put them at ease so decrease demand characteristics
can elaborate on qs

51
Q

+ structured interview

A

less researcher bias
reliable (standard qs so can have multiple interviewers)
valid, focused, targeted
can ask set qs then others

52
Q

+ unstructured interview

A

flexible, follow up qs
broader info
more comfy- less demand charcteristics
but less reliable( hard to replicate)
and researcher bias

53
Q

_ interview

A

smaller sample size
low reliability
difficult to analyse
can see and misjudge body lang
demand characteristics and researcher bias

54
Q

+ questionnaire

A

quick, easy,cheap
reliable
ethical(consent)
gather lots of data
quantitative data
Ask range of qs so engaging

55
Q

_ questionnaire

A

low validity (demand characterisics)
social desirability
lading questions- bias
can control sample

56
Q

what is a corelation?
what is a corelation coefficient?

A

the relationship btwen two variables

tells you the strength of the relationship

57
Q

+ of correlations

A

useful starting point for futher research
quick, easy,cheap

58
Q

-of correlations

A

dont explain why it happens
validity flawed if method of measurment is poor

59
Q

what is random sampling? + and -

A

all members of target pop have equal chance of being chosen
+
no researcher bias
equal chance of selection
-
difficult to access list of target pop
may not be representative
time consuming
people picked might not have consented

60
Q

what is stratified sampling? + and -

A

target pop divided into subsets and random sample taken from subsets
+
more representative
free from researcher bias
-
difficult to get list of target pop
time consuming
subsets may not represent how people are diff

61
Q

what is opportunity/convenience sampling? + and -

A

selecting anyone available from target pop
+
quick, easy, convenient
-
researcher bias
not representative

62
Q

what is self selected/ volunteer sampling? + and -

A

participants volunteer sometimes not on purpose eg passersby
+
simple and quick
willing to engage
-
demand characteristics
participants similar eg extroverted so not represntative

63
Q

what is systematic sampling? +and -

A

picked from list at fixed intervals
+
no researcher bias
-
might as well do random sample
time consuming
participants may not consent

64
Q

what is a snowball sample? + and -

A

getting to a hidden population
+
representative
find hidden pop
no researcher bias
-
may endanger participants
difficult to find hidden pop
less control

65
Q

what is reliability?
interrater reliability
test retest

A

consistency of test/ procedure
would 2 people come to same conclusion with 80% concordance
would results be consistent in a second test

66
Q

what is validity? what are the 5 types?

A

something being valid and comparable to real life
face validity-would common sense tell us it would work
predictive validity- predicts future performance w some accuracy
concurrent validity-compares 2 methods of testing to see if results are comparable
ecological validity- findings generalized beyond lab
temporal validity- results valid in past but not now

67
Q

what is primary data? + and -

A

data collected directly by researcher
+
more up to date
more accurate
conrol over quality and accuracy
-
expensive
time consuming
researcger bias

68
Q

what is secondary data? + and -

A

data that already exists but is analysed by researcher
+
cheap, quick, easy
historical, comparable data
benefit from pervious researchers expertise
-
may be inaccurate or irrelevant
no control over quality or accuracy

69
Q

what is meta analysis?
what is triangulation?

A

combining primary and secondary to come to overall conclusion
looks for similarities and differences. combines strengths of both
linked to concept of triangulation which improves reliability and validity by using more than 1 research method or source of data

70
Q

what is interval data?

A

Evenly spaced interval between each of the values

71
Q

what is ordinal data?

A

scores placed in rank order

72
Q

what is nominal data?

A

frequency

73
Q

what are the measures of central tendency? + and -

A

mode-most frequently occuring value
+not affected by extreme variables, easy to calculate
_ doesnt take all values into account, may not be a mode
median- middle value
+ not affected by extreme value, more representative
_ ignores other values, extreme values can be useful, just numerical
mean- arithmetic average
+ takes all values into account, more general and overall impression
_affected by extremes, not representative as easly distorted

74
Q

what are measures of dispertion?
what are they?

A

examine variability in data set
help us understand if data is similar or diff
range- over how many numbers distribution is spread
standard deviation- how far each score is from mean
interquartile range- subtract Q1 from Q3
range+ mode
standard deviation+ mean
Interquartile range+ median

75
Q

on which graphs is the x axis continuous? discrete?

A

continuous-histogram, line graph(frequency polygon)
discrete- bar chart

76
Q

what is normal distribution? what are characteristics of the curve?

A

definition
- bell shaped
- symmetrical
- mean, median, mode all on same point
- two tails never reach horizontal axis

77
Q

what are the 4 types of distribution? what do they look like?

A

normal- bell shaped
positive/right skew- coming towards you
negative/ left skew- going away from you
bi-modal- camel

78
Q

what are orders of magnitude?

A

used to make up very approximate comparisons and reflect very large differences

79
Q

what are ethics? what are the BPS guidelines?

A

standards of conduct distinguishing between right and wrong
Deception
Protection from harm
Confidentially
Withdrawal
Debriefing

80
Q

what is peer review? what 4 things can be done?

A

evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to the producers of the work. maintain standards of quality, improve performance and provide credibility
1) unconditionally accept
2) accept but ask to improve (most common)
3) reject but encourage resubmission
4) reject outright

81
Q

evaluate peer review

A

anonymity- reviewers are anonymous so may use this to unfairly criticize if hold grudge
publication bias- file drawer effect. only produce statistically sig findings
burying groundbreaking research- research that falsifies existing theories will find it hard to be published

82
Q

what are the implications of psychological research for the economy?

A

how gov can use findings and how useful they are
1) attachment research- Bowlbys WHO report in 1950s stated babies needed mum for healthy psychological development but later evidence disproved this so mums went back to work
2) psychopathology research- to do with treatment and ability to work eg therapy initially more expensive than drug but get back to work sooner
3) memory research-
4) forensic psychology research-

83
Q

what are inferential statistics?

A

discoveringif results are statistically significant. 5% or 1/20 or o.o5 chance that it is due to chance. express in terms of null- accepting or rejecting

84
Q

what is a type 1 error? type 2?

A

type 1- false positive. not cautious enough. rejecting null when shouldn’t
type 2- false negative. being over cautious. accepting null when shouldn’t

85
Q

describe the sign test

A

1) add up no of time least frequent sign appears ( doesnt matter if + or - as long as all that are same have same sign) this value is s
2) add no of participants (ignoring no changers) this value is n
see if hypothesis is 1 or 2 tailed
check critical value table for 1 or 2 tailed at the value of n
3) if our value of s is less than or equal to the value in the table, it is statistically significant and we can ignore the null. vice versa

86
Q

case studies

A

Psychology (9 decks)

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