Research Methods

Question 1

Define social desirability

Answer 1

When ppts change their answer in order to meet the desires of investigator . This may be because their answer is embarrassing or not desired by researcher

Question 2

define demand characteristics

Answer 2

When a ppt changes their behaviour/answers in order to be favoured by others (e.g. the researcher, ppts. Public)

Question 3

define extraneous variables

Answer 3

any variable that has the potential to affect the DV – they do not vary systematically with the IV

Question 4

define confounding variables

Answer 4

any variable that has affected the DV that does vary systematically with the IV

Question 5

define investigator effects

Answer 5

Anything that a researcher may say or do (consciously or subconsciously) that may influence the behaviour/responses from a ppt

Question 6

what is an example of participant extraneous variables (define )

Answer 6

-fatigue
-knowledge about task
-mood
an extraneous variable that already exists within the ppt

Question 7

what is an example of situational extraneous variables

Answer 7

a variable that exists due to to the setting
-the weather
-the time

Question 8

what is investigator effects

Answer 8

anything a te researcher may say or do consciously /subconsciously that may effect the response from ppt

Question 9

what are examples of investigator effects

Answer 9

-leading questions
-tone of voice
-speed of voice
time given to carry out task

Question 10

what are two solutions to demand characteristics

Answer 10

single -blind trial
double -blind trial

Question 11

what does single blind trial do and what does a double blind trial do

Answer 11

SBT-prevent demand characteristics and increases internal validity
DBT- prevents demand characteristics prevents investigator effect

Question 12

define randomisation (examples)

Answer 12

the use of chance in order to control for the effect of bias when disguising materials and deciding the order
-the order of words
-length of words
-order of difficulty
-order of conditions
-order of correct answes

Question 13

define standardisation

Answer 13

using exactly the same formalised procedure and instructions for all participants in a research study
-wundt during introspection used stardadristion
-prevents extraneous variable and confounding variables

Question 14

define counterbalancing

Answer 14

when ppt in a repeated measures design are split in half ,with half of the ppts completing conditions in reverse order to the other half of the ppts.

Question 15

explain how to use counterbalancing

Answer 15

-split ppts into two groups
-get the first group to complete conditions in one order
-get the second group to complete conditions in opposite order
-put the data together and compare each condition

Question 16

strength and weaknesses of field experiment

Answer 16

strength -observes natural behaviour - therefore has high ecological validity.

weakness- ethical issues surrounding it breach in privacy
weakness- cannot be controlled and remove extraneous variables

Question 17

strengths and weakness of labratory experiment

Answer 17

stength - high degree of control can remove exraneous variables
strength -can be replicated
weakness-low ecological validity since it doesnt observe natural behaviour

Question 18

weakness and strength for quasi experiment

Answer 18

strength- controlled meaning high internal validity
weakness-cannot randomly allocate participants into different groups meaning there are some confounding variables and harder to conclude that the IV had an effect on the DV.

Question 19

weakness and strength for the natural experiment

Answer 19

weakness -high external validity
strength -since they are rare occuring events ,it is hard to replicate the study
hard to randomise , meaning there can be confounding variables and extraneous variables

Question 20

what is structured

Answer 20

when researcher quantifies what they are observing by making a pre determined list

pro : easier because more systemtic
quantative data is collected which is easier to analyse and compare with other data

con : -less risk of reasercher bias

Question 21

what is unstructured

Answer 21

contains continuous data where the researcher writes everything they see during the observation

pro :more detail
con: researcher bias can be an issue

Question 22

what is behaviour categories

Answer 22

when target behaviour is broken up into precise components which are observable and measurable. e.g aggressive behaviour.

Question 23

what is time sampling

Answer 23

a recording of behaviour within a time -frame which is pre esablished before the observation
pro: reduces the amount of observations needed to be made
con: behaviour is not representative of