research methods

Question 1

what are some ethical issues

Answer 1

confidentiality
deception
risk of stress
humiliation/pain
risk of participants values and beliefs
status/privacy
working with vunerable individuals

Question 2

ways of dealing with ethical issues

Answer 2

1. ethics committees
2. ethical guidelines
3. debriefing

Question 3

valid consent

Answer 3

includes giving participants enough information (in a form they can understand) so that they can make an informed choice about whether they wish to participate.

If a participant is deceived, they automatically fail to provide fully informed/valid consent as they don’t have enough information to make an informed choice.

Question 4

confidentiality

Answer 4

refers to ensuring that third parties are not able to trace information back to individual participants. This is usually achieved through providing anonymity, e.g. using participant numbers not names, and ensuring any voice or video records are disguised

Question 5

3 R’s when working with animals

Answer 5

reduce refine replace

Question 6

what do ethics committee administrate

Answer 6

cost-benefit analysis

Question 8

ethics questions

Answer 8

valid consent
risk of stress
confidentiality

Question 9

ways to deal with ethical issues

Answer 9

debriefing
consent from proxy
confidenti

Question 10

3 main types of experimental design

Answer 10

repeated measures
independent groups
matched pairs.

Question 11

order effect

Answer 11

occur when participating in one condition may affect how a participant performs in another. Participants performance in the experimental condition may be better, not because of the IV being manipulated but because of practice effects after completing the control condition. On the other hand, their performance in the experimental condition may be worse, again not because of the IV being manipulated but because of fatigue or the boredom.

Question 12

four features of experimental design

Answer 12

Order effects
Demand characteristics
The number of participants
Participant variables

Question 13

demand characteristics

Answer 13

participants unconsciously work out the aim and act differently (either through social desirability or the screw you effect). If a participant takes part in more than one condition, they are more likely to be able to work out the aim of the experiment.

Question 14

number of participants

Answer 14

required to collect a sufficient amount of data depends on what sort of experimental design you use. Using fewer participants is a practical choice in research and can save a researcher a great deal of time and effort.

Question 15

ct scans

Answer 15

set of x-rays combined together to form 2D or 3D images of the area of the brain that is being scanned

Question 16

what is given to the patient before ct scan

Answer 16

radioactive dye

Question 17

what is patient given before pet scan

Answer 17

radioactive glucose

Question 18

pet scans

Answer 18

The detectors in the scanner can highlight the most active areas of the brain, allowing an in-depth image of what the brain activity is like.

Question 19

strengths of ct scans

Answer 19

1. high quality images, better produced than x-ray alone
2. they can show brain structures that can reveal abnormalities

Question 20

weakness of ct scans

Answer 20

1. only shows brain structure not electrical activity
2. the more detailed the more radiation the person is exposed to -
   exposure to radiation

Question 21

strengths of pet scans

Answer 21

1. researchers can see chemical activity and can distinguish between benign and maligant tumours
2. useful for psychological research as they look at active brain areas

Question 22

weakness of pet scans

Answer 22

1. costly to run and maintain - limited availability for research
2. needs radioactive dye - this can only be administrated a few times

Question 23

longitudinal studies

Answer 23

a method that involves conducting research over a long period of time

Question 24

internal reliability

Answer 24

the extent to which a test or measure is consistent within itself.

Question 25

external reliability

Answer 25

the extent to which a test produces consistent results over several occasions.