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research methods Flashcards

2 (100 cards)

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1
Q

what are the types of experiment methods?

A
  • lab study.
  • natural study.
  • quasi- experiment.
  • field study
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2
Q

what is a lab study?

A
  • it is when participants go to researcher, where they are studied under controlled environment.
  • controls all the IV.
  • limitations: lacks external validity, increase in demand characteristics.
  • strengths: high internal validity, can make clear conclusions, and draw cause and effect relationship.
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3
Q

what is a field experiment.

A
  • experiment is conducted in a natural settings.
  • control variables.
  • limitation: decrease in the internal validity because there is a lack of control over extraneous variables.
  • strength: high external validity, less demand characteristics.
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4
Q

what is a natural experiment?

A
  • when the variables exist naturally, so there is no manipulation over the IV.
  • strengths: high external and ecological validity.
  • limitations: lack of control over confounding variables.
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5
Q

what is a quasi experiment?

A
  • an almost experiment; it uses other experiments that already exists and compare data.
  • limitations: lack of control over variables.
  • strengths: high external validity.
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6
Q

what is an observation?

A

the process of capturing how people behave in response to a stimulus.

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7
Q

what are the types of observations?

A
  • naturalistic.
  • controlled observations.
  • covert.
  • overt.
  • participant.
  • non participant.
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8
Q

what is a naturalistic observation.

A

behaviours is observed where it occurs.
- low internal validity.
- high external validity and less demand characteristics.

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9
Q

what is a controlled observation?

A

behaviour is observed in a lab setting.
- high internal validity.
- low external validity and more demand characteristics.

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10
Q

what is a covert observation?

A

the participants do not know they are being observed.
- ethical issues –> no inform consent.
- high internal validity,
- no demand characteristics.

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11
Q

what is an overt observation?

A

the participants know they are being observed.
- no ethical issues.
- high demand characteristics.

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12
Q

what is a participant observation?

A

researcher takes part in the research and observes the behaviours.
- less demand characteristics.
- more subjected to observers bias and the observer might lose objectivity

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13
Q

what is a non participant observation?

A

researcher does not take part in the experiment.
- more objective.
- more demand characteristics.

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14
Q

what are the self report methods?

A
  • when a participants evaluate themselves.
  • questionnaires.
  • interviews.
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15
Q

what is a questionnaire?

A

a series of questions for the purpose of gaining info from the responders.
- strength: provide info at low cost –> economical.
- limitation: time consuming for open ended questions; also takes respondents time to answer.

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16
Q

open ended questions.

A

allows people to express what they think, and expand on their answer.
- strength: rich qualitative data can be obtained = researcher finds more about the person.
- limitations: not suitable for those with less education because they require high writing skills to explain behaviours in a detailed way; time consuming to analyse qualitative data.

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17
Q

closed ended questions?

A

allows responses to only answer to pre decided categories such as yes or no, or a scale. = obtain quantitative data
- strength: large sample can be obtained and give data that is representative without being time consuming.
- limitations: lack details because the responses are fixed.

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18
Q

what is an interview?

A

when the same questions are asked in the same order to each interviewee.
- structured interview.
- unstructured interview.
- semi - structured interview.

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19
Q

structured interview?

A

standard set of questions that are asked in the same order and manner.
- strengths: easy to replicate which makes it reliable.
- limitations: not flexible less rich data is collected.

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20
Q

semi structured interview?

A

allows for both open and close ended questions.

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21
Q

group interview?

A

an informal type of discussion.
- limitations: lack validity because some would lie for social desirability and some would conform.
- strengths: more ecological validity.

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22
Q

unstructured interview

A

known as discovery interview and it more like a guided conversation.
- strengths: rich data, increase validity as researcher can expand and have a deeper understanding of the responds.
- limitations: needs training which is expensive, time consuming to conduct an unstructured interview and analyse the qualitative data.

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23
Q

what is a correlation

A

shows the relationship between 2 co-variables.
- shown by a scatter graph.

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24
Q

what is co-variables?

A

two variables that change however are not set by researcher.

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25
what is correlation co-efficient
a number they describes the direction of the relationship of the co-variables. - the closer it is to +1 or -1 the stronger correlation.
26
content analysis
a form of study where communication is studied indirectly. - involves coding and thematic analysis? - strengths: high external validity, flexible, few ethical issues. - limitation: subjective and have to be studied out of context.
27
what is coding?
putting data into meaningful categories.
28
what is thematic analysis?
where reoccurring themes are identified and described.
29
case studies?
a personalised study where it looks at one person, collecting rich qualitative and quantitative data. longitudinal - strengths: insight into unusual cases, generates hypothesis for future studies. - limitations: subjective, can not genralise.
30
what is an aim?
a general statement about what the study is about. - has to be specific and true.
31
what is a hypothesis?
a statement that proposes an explanation for something, however has to be tested before being spread; it would normally predict the results of the experiment. - hypothesis needs to be operationalised. - one tailed: directional hypothesis would predict the nature / difference that the IV has on the DV. - two tailed: non directional hypothesis would predicts that the IV will have an effect on the DV however direction of the effect is stated.
31
what are the sampling techniques?
- random. - systematic. - stratified. - opportunity. - volunteer.
32
random sampling?
randomly choosing participants in which all participants have an equal chance of being selected. - strength: high validity so results can be generalised; unbiased sample. - limitations: harder to establish cause and effect as results might differ; could be unrepresentative therefore not generalisable.
33
systematic sampling.
selecting participants in a systematic way such as selecting participants every nth. - strength: representative data of targeted population, simple, not bias. - limitations: not practical, unreliable,
33
stratified sampling.
identifying the subgroups within a population based on their frequency. - strength: more representative and proportional. - limitation: time consuming.
33
opportunity sampling.
samples are made from anyone who is available. - strength: convenient. - limitation: sample is not accurate representation of the target population.
34
What are the ethical issues?
- deception. - harm to participants. -
35
What is a range
It shows how spread a data is
36
Features of a scientific report
- introduction. - abstract - method. - results. - discussion. - sources
37
What are the 7 features of a science.
- paradigms. - paradigms shifts. - falsifiability. - reliability. - objectivity. - empirical methods - theory constructing.
38
pilot study
an experimental study to test the control and validity of the study; by checking the procedure. - eliminate any extraneous study and make changes to the study.
39
what are the types of experimental designs.
- repeated measures. - independent group. - matched pairs.
40
repeated measures.
same participants take part in each condition of the IV. - strengths: reduces participant variable; easier as less people are needed. - limitations: order effect = which could be stopped by counterbalancing; demand characteristics on the second condition as participants might figure the aim of the study.
41
independent groups.
different participants are used in each condition. - strengths: no order effect; no demand characteristics. - limitations: more participant variables.
42
matched pairs.
each condition uses diff participants who have similar characteristics that might effect the performance of the tasks. - strengths: eliminates any participant variables; avoids order effect. - limitations: time consuming to match people; imposable to have an exact match.
43
what are the observational designs.
- behavioural categories. - time sampling. - event sampling.
44
behavioural categories.
constructing a structured observation by psychologist determining what behaviours they will be examining. - operationalise the behaviour through behavioural categories. - breaking target behaviour into components that could be measured and observed. - strengths: high ecological validity; low demand characteristics. - limitations: low reliability because it depends on personal interpretations; lack of control extraneous variables; observer bias.
45
event sampling
counting the number any behaviour is displayed. - using a tally chart. - strength: useful for a big sample. - limitations: lacks details as it collects quantitative data.
46
time sampling.
recording behaviour in a given time frame; like recording behaviour every minute. - strength: useful for big samples. - limitations: not every behaviour is noted.
47
how to write a good question
- clarity = easy to understand and avoid double barrelled questions. - bias = eliminate social desirability. - analysis: questions need to be writing in order to understand.
48
conducting a good interview.
- comfortable setting. - avoid use of jargon. - avoid emotional language. - standard structure
49
IV
the variable that is manipulated and cause an effect on the DV
50
DV
the variable that is measured and effected by the IV
51
extraneous variable.
any variable that is not intentionally manipulated in test or experiment.
52
confounding variable.
any extra hidden variables that have an effect on the on the results of the study.
53
what is participants variable.
extraneous variables that are related to individual characteristics of each participant and that may impact the way the respond to the study.
54
what is a situational variable.
extraneous variables that are related to things within the environment and that may impact how participants respond to the study.
55
what is operationalisation.
stating what the DV and IV measured in.
56
what is random allocation?
putting participants in conditions randomly; where they all have an equal chance of being selected.
57
what is standardisation?
where the procedure if controlled to avoid researcher bias an all participants have the same experience.
58
what is demand characteristics.
when participants try and figure the aim of the study in which they will adapt their behaviour to the desired behaviour.
59
what is investigator effect.
when the investigator consciously or subconsciously gives participants clues as how to act
60
what are the ethical issues.
- deception. - confidentiality. - informed consent - protection of harm. - protection from harm. - right to withdraw.
61
the role of peer review.
- to allocate funding. - improvement by giving suggestion. - validate quality of study.
62
what is peer review.
the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar skills. - functions as a form of self regulation by a qualified member of a profession within the relevant field.
63
why is it important to peer review a study?
- give credibility. - improve performance. - maintain quality standards.
64
what is economical psychology?
looks at people's behaviour regarding their economic lives. - social, cognitive and emotional factors on their economic decisions. - attachment studies impact whether a mother would choose to stay at home or return to work.
65
reliability?
the ability to replicate a study and get the same results. - interrater reliability: two observer agree on a behaviour. - test rater reliability: would do a test on the same person at diff occasions and get the same results.
66
validity?
the measure of whether a study is measuring what it intends to measure. - temporal validity: if the study is applicable to the current time. - ecological validity: if study is applicable to the real world. - face validity: testing what it's supposed to test on the face of it. - concurrent validity: if the current results match with previous research.
67
objectivity
minimising bias.
68
empirical method
uses scientific investigation, and scientific methods to establish scientific results.
69
replicability
when the results are replicated again = reliable.
70
falsifiability.
the ability of the theory to be proven wrong.
71
theory constructing.
the ability to produce a testable hypothesis.
72
paradigms.
science have a set of assumptions and the study matches that.
73
paradigms shift
away from the set of assumptions causing a scientific revolution.
74
abstract
- short summery of key elements.
75
introduction.
aim and hypothesis
76
method
design, sample, procedure, apparatus, procedure, ethics.
77
results.
descriptive and inferential.
78
discussion
conclusion, limitations, links.
79
referencing.
giving credit to sources used.
80
quantitative data.
numerical data
81
qualitative data.
rich detailed data that contains words.
82
primary data
data obtained by researcher doing research
83
secondary data
data obtained by other researchers.
84
meta analysis
collecting data from other studies to find patters and similarities and differences. - secondary data
85
what are the measures of central tendency.
- mean. - median. - mode
86
mean
- strength: makes use of all data. - limitations: can be unrepresentative if there are extreme data. - no used for ordinal data
87
median
- strength: unaffected by extreme value because not all values are reflected. - limitations: not used for nominal data.
88
mode
- strength: used for nominal data. - limitations: not useful way to describe data when there several modes.
89
standard deviation.
measure which shows to what extend the values in data set to deviate from the mean. - positive skewed distribution: mean > mode. - negative skewed distribution: mean < mode
90
unrelated
independent group.
91
related
matched pairs. repeated measures.
92
nominal
categories.
93
ordinal
order data. - like a rank
94
interval
public scales of measurement. - parametric test: best level of measurement.
95
what is the significance levels.
0.05
96
what is type 1 error
rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the experimental when should have accepted the null. - when significance is too lenient such as 10%. - optimistic.
97
what type 2 error
- accepting the null hypothesis when should have accepted the experimental. - significant level is too strict 1%. - pessimistic.

Psychology (11 decks)

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