Research Methods

Question 1

Two key modes of thinking

Answer 1

System 1 - intuitive, rely on gut feelings or reactions
System 2 - analytical, slow and rely on thoughtful examination of issues

Question 2

Modes of thinking application for scientific reasoning

Answer 2

System 2 thinking is used in research design because scientific reasoning requires us to question and sometimes override intuition about the world

Question 3

Different types of research design

Answer 3

Naturalistic observation - recording behaviours in real life setting
Case studies - examining one or a few individuals over long time
Self report measures and surveys - ask people questions about themselves

Question 4

Naturalistic observation advantages and disadvantages

Answer 4

Advantage - high external validity
Disadvantage- low internal validity (not carefully controlled), doesn’t allow to infer causation

Question 5

Case studies advantages and disadvantages

Answer 5

Advantages - useful in generating hypothesis
Disadvantage - do not allow us to infer causation

Question 6

Self report measures and surveys advantages and disadvantages

Answer 6

Advantages - can provide useful information
Disadvantaged - not always accurate e.g bias

Question 7

Role of correlational designs

Answer 7

Allow you to establish the relationship among two or more measures
Predict behaviour

Question 8

Positive correlation

Answer 8

As the value of one variable goes up, the other also goes up

Question 9

Negative correlation

Answer 9

When the value of one variable goes up, the other goes down

Question 10

Correlation coefficients

Answer 10

Statistics psychologists use to measure correlations
-1 is perfect negative correlation
+1 is perfect positive correlation

Question 11

Reliability

Answer 11

A test gives same result same population time and time again (consistent)

Question 12

Validity

Answer 12

Extent to which measure assessed what it claims to be true

Question 13

Reliability and validity in an experiment

Answer 13

Test must be reliable to be valid, but a reliable test can still be completely invalid

Question 14

Experimental designs

Answer 14

-cause and effect
-researchers manipulate variables to see whether manipulations produce differences in participants behaviour

Question 15

Correlation vs experimental design

Answer 15

C- difference between participants are measured
E- difference between participants are created

Question 16

Components of an experiment

Answer 16

Random assignment of participant conditions
Manipulation of an Independant variable

Question 17

Pitfalls in experimental design

Answer 17

Placebo effect - expectation of improvement causing improvement
Experimenter expectancy - researches hypothesis makes them unintentionally bias the outcome
Demand characteristics- participants pick up on cues about experiment and generate answers that support hypothesis

Question 18

How psychologist control pitfalls

Answer 18

Placebo effect- blind conditions (experiment or control)
Experimenter expectancy - double blind, researchers and participants don’t know who is in each group
Demand characteristics- cover story, distractor tasks

Question 19

Ethical obligations of researchers towards their participants

Answer 19

• informed consent
• protection from harm and discomfort
• debriefing

Question 20

Both sides of debate on using animals in research

Answer 20

Animal research benefits our understanding of human learning, brain physiology and treatment. No good alternatives to using animals

Treatment of animals, no adequate housing or feeding conditions, large number of animals killed each year, is it justified?

Question 21

Measures of central tendency

Answer 21

Mean- average of all scores (most widely used but most sensitive to extreme scores)
Median- middle score
Mode- most frequent score

Question 22

Measures of variability

Answer 22

Range- difference between highest and lowest scores
Standard deviation- more accurate, takes into account how far each data point is from the mean

Question 23

Inferential stats

Answer 23

If a study is statistically significant (p<0.05), it can be generalised from a sample to a population. The phenomenon occurred more than 95% of the time, so it’s enough difference to be generalised.

Question 24

How stats can be misused for persuasion

Answer 24

Measures of central tendency that are non representative, visual representation (e.g exaggerating
graphs), not taking into account base rates

Question 25

Qualitative vs quantitative

Answer 25

Quantitative - measure and identity numerical relationships
Qualitative - personal experiences, identifying patterns of meaning in words

Question 26

Identify flaws in research design and how to correct them

Answer 26

Correct them- random assignment, manipulation of independant variable, control group to rule out placebo effects, alternative explanations