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research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

what are the types of experiments?

A

lab, field, quasi and natural

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2
Q

what are the different types of observations?

A

overt, covert, controlled, naturalistic, participant, non-participant

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3
Q

what are self-report methods?

A

questionnaires, interviews
structured or unstructured

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4
Q

what is a lab study?

A

high controlled setting where research can manipulate the IV

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5
Q

what are the strengths of a lab study?

A

high level of control of IV and extraneous variables so we can determine cause and effect
high internal validity
high replicability

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6
Q

what are the weaknesses of a lab study?

A

artificial, lacks generalisability, low ecological validity and mundane realism
low external validity
risk of demand characteristics

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7
Q

what is a field study?

A

takes place in a a more everyday setting, but IV can be manipulated

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8
Q

what are the strengths of a field study?

A

high mundane realism
high external validity

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9
Q

what are the weaknesses of a field study?

A

difficult to replicate
less control of extraneous variables
low internal validity
ethical issues of informed consent and privacy

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10
Q

what is a natural study?

A

IV occurs naturally rather than it being manipulated by researcher

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11
Q

what are the strengths of a natural study?

A

useful in situations where IV cannot be manipulated
high mundane realism and ecological validity

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12
Q

what are the weaknesses of a natural study?

A

opportunities may come along rarely
ppt may not be randomly allocated to experimental conditions

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13
Q

what is a quasi study?

A

IV already exists such as age or gender, no manipulation from the experimenter

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14
Q

what are the strengths of a quasi study?

A

controlled conditions
high internal validity and replicability

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15
Q

what are the weaknesses of a quasi study?

A

cannot randomly allocate ppt there may be confounding variables
difficult to establish cause and effect without manipulation of IV

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16
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a naturalistic observation

A

s - high external validity
w - hard to replicate, lack of control over variables

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17
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a controlled observation?

A

s - some variables are controlled by the researcher
w - low external validity

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18
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a covert observation?

A

s - reduces demand characteristics, increase internal validity
w - unethical due to informed consent, right to withdraw, privacy

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19
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of an overt observation?

A

s - more ethical as ppt are aware that they are being studied
w - increase demand characteristics

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20
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a participant observation?

A

s - increased insight, increase external validity
w - could lose objectivity, bias

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21
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a non-participant observation?

A

s - more objective
w - might lose valuable insights, research too far removed from the study

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22
Q

what is an open question questionnaire?

A

there is no fixed answer and respondents can answer freely, produces more qualitative data

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23
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of an open questionnaire?

A

s - richer in depth answers, more detailed, better understanding of individual
w - more difficult and time consuming to analyse, takes longer to administer

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24
Q

what is the general evaluation about questionnaires?

A

evaluation - can be distributed to large numbers of ppt, researcher doesn’t have to be present
however ppts may not be truthful, social desirability bias, response bias

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25
Q

what is a closed question questionnaire?

A

fixed responses through, yes/no or likert answers
produces quantitative data

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26
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of a closed questionnaire?

A

s - easier to analyse than qualitative data and quick to administer
w - less depth of detail in answer, response bias is more of an issue

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27
Q

what are structured interviews?

A

questions are predetermined and in a fixed order it is conducted face to face or over the phone

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28
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of structured interviews?

A

s - easily to repeat, easier to analyse, less chance of interview bias and higher inter-interview reliability
w - interviewers cannot deviate from the questions which reduces the richness of their data

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29
Q

what is the general evaluation of interviews?

A

can be distributed to large numbers of ppt
researcher does not have to be present
ppt may not be truthful,
social desirability bias
response bias

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30
Q

what is an unstructured interview?

A

no pre-determined questions but a general aim of the interview
ppt encouraged to talk freely and expand an answer

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31
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

A

s - more detail than a structured interview as the interviewer can explore different avenues of questioning
w - higher risk of interviewers bias, requires well trained interviewers - expensive, analysis is more time consuming and complex

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32
Q

what is a correlation?

A

designed to test the strengths and direction of a relationship between co-variables.
correlational studies do not tell about causal relationships

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33
Q

what is the evaluation of correlations?

A

they can be used when it is unethical or impractical to manipulate
it can tell us if further research is justified
there may be extraneous variables that influence results and cannot establish cause and effect
may lack internal/external validity

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34
Q

what is content analysis?

A

used to analyse qualitative data and convert it to quantitative data
use of coding units to decide on certain behaviours

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35
Q

what is a case study? evaluation?

A

in-depth study that gathers a lot of detail about one person or small group
s - rich and detailed as it tends to be more qualitative, high ecological validity, avoids practical or ethical issues of more sensitive impractical behaviours
w - subjectivity of the researcher can cause low internal validity, lacks generalisability, case studies are used for people with rare characteristics, difficult to replicate and time consuming

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36
Q

what is the evaluation for content/thematic analysis?

A

good for studying and analysis of qualitative data in a numerical way
enables researchers to analyse things
not very scientific as coding and analysis can be subjective
could have low inter-rater reliability
difficult to establish general laws and principles

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37
Q

what is thematic analysis?

A

using qualitative data, using common themes as coding units to further produce qualitative data

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38
Q

give examples of case studies

A

Freud - Hans
Little Albert
HM
KF
Clive Wearing
JW
Tan

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39
Q

definition of aim

A

aim is what you want to find out, developed from previous theories, general statements that describe the purpose of the research

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40
Q

definition of hypothesis?

A

a prediction of what you might think will happen in research
precise and measurable statement of the relationship between to operationalised variables

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41
Q

definition of directional hypothesis

A

predicts the direction of the difference or relationship

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42
Q

definition of non-directional hypothesis

A

predicts that there will be a different but not the direction of the difference or relationship

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43
Q

definition of operationalised

A

variable is clearly defined and is measurable

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44
Q

what are the types of sampling?

A

random, systematic, stratified, opportunity and volunteer

45
Q

what is random sampling?

A

every member of the target population has an equal chance of being picked
create list of all members
each name is assigned a number
select numbers randomly out of a hat or computer
unbiased, difficult and time consuming, sample can still be unrepresentative

46
Q

what is systematic sampling?

A

ppts are chosen from a sampling frame, list of people in target population in a particular order, nth term, every 5th person
objective system, not everyone has an equal chance of being selected, time-consuming

47
Q

what is stratified sampling?

A

sample is a mini reproduction of the wider population
before sampling the population is divided into characteristics of importance for research. population is then randomly sampled with each category such as age, gender and ethnicity.
representative and more generalisable, cannot represent all possible strata, difficult and time consuming

48
Q

what is opportunity sampling?

A

use whoever happen to be willing and available, commonly used by researchers
quick, convenient and economical
research can be bias in who they select
not representative or generalisable

49
Q

what is volunteer sampling?

A

ppt self interest happens to be willing and available, response to an advert
less time consuming, ppt are motivated and engaged
volunteer bias means that the sample is hard for generalise

50
Q

what is a pilot study?

A

a smaller version of a larger study that is conducted to prepare for that study and sort out any problems
problems could include questions or instructions misunderstood, ppt getting bored, issues with validity.
if there are problems then amendments cane be made before

51
Q

what is time sampling?

A

researcher records the behaviour that is happening at regular time intervals

52
Q

what is event sampling?

A

researcher records every time the behaviour is observed by keeping a tally

53
Q

what the different types of experimental designs?

A

independent, repeated, matched

54
Q

strengths and weaknesses of independent design?

A

s - no order effects, easiest way to allocate ppt
w - ppt variables could affect the dependent variable, different ppt are needed for each condition which takes time and expense

55
Q

strengths and weaknesses for repeated design?

A

s - dependent variable will not be affected by ppt variables, requires less ppt
w - ppt may guess the aim of the study and cause demand characteristics, order effects affect ppt performance, unless counterbalancing

56
Q

strengths and weaknesses of matched pairs design?

A

s - no order effects, reduced ppt variables
w - expensive and time consuming, cannot control all ppt variables.

57
Q

what is random allocation?

A

ppts randomly allocated to the conditions to spread out individual differences

58
Q

what is counterbalancing?

A

used for repeated design to help solve order effects sample is divided in half, each half does the condition in a different order to the over half. ABBA

59
Q

definition of randomisation

A

presenting the order of the conditions or tasks or experiments in a random order

60
Q

definition of standardisation

A

all parts of the procedure and experiment are kept the same for every ppt. this increases the replicability and ensures changes to the DV are caused by the IV

61
Q

definition of extraneous variables

A

any variable other than the IV that may have an effect on the DV, if not controlled

62
Q

definition of confounding variable

A

any variable other than the IV that may have affected the DV but varies with the IV

63
Q

what are ppt variables?

A

individual differences between ppt
e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, personality, intelligence, memory

64
Q

how are ppt variables controlled?

A

use a large representative sample
random allocation to condition or use a repeated/matched design

65
Q

what are situational variables?

A

differences in the set up of the experiment
e.g., the environment such as heat or noise, time of day, order effects and DC

66
Q

how are situational variables controlled?

A

standardised procedures and instructions, counterbalancing

67
Q

what are investigator variables?

A

differences caused by the person conducting the experiment
e.g., body language, leading questions, experimenter bias,DC

68
Q

how are investigator variables controlled?

A

single or double blind trial, randomisation of procedure and conditions

69
Q

what are the 4 primary ethical principles?

A

respect, competence, responsibility, integrity

70
Q

what are the potential ethical issues?

A

informed consent, deception, right to withdraw, protection from harm, confidentiality, privacy

71
Q

what is peer review?

A

assessment of scientific work by other scientists, ensures that research intended for publication is of high quality

72
Q

what are the aims of peer review?

A

allocate research funding
to validate the quality and relevance of research
to suggest amendments or improvement
to assess the research rating of a university department

73
Q

definition of reliability

A

consistency of a measure, test is considered reliable if the same results of gotten repeatedly

74
Q

how do you assess reliability?

A

test-retest
inter-observer reliability

75
Q

how to improve reliability in a questionnaire?

A

questions removed or rewritten, especially if they are ambiguous, use open questions rather than closed questions

76
Q

how to improve reliability in interviews?

A

the same interviewer each time, make sure that they are trained
use structured interview and operationalise

77
Q

how to improve reliability with observations?

A

behavioural categories are operationalised, without overlapping each other, ensure observer are trained in the use of categories

78
Q

how to improve reliability in experiments?

A

standardised instructions and procedures so that they are the same every time.

79
Q

what is the definition of validity?

A

the extent to which a test measure is what it claims to measure

80
Q

what are the ways of assessing validity?

A

face validity and concurrent validity

81
Q

definition of face validity?

A

does the test or measure appear to measure what it is supposed to, use an expert to determine this

82
Q

definition of concurrent validity?

A

compare the results of your test with another established test, agreement of 0.8+ correlation coefficient increases the validity

83
Q

how to improve validity with questionnaires and interviews?

A

use a lie scale in the questionnaire, keep questionnaires anonymous to encourage truthfulness.

84
Q

how to improve validity in observations?

A

covert observations have higher ecological validity, behavioural categories should be clear and operationalised

85
Q

how to improve validity with experiments?

A

use control group to assess the effect of the IV on the DV . standardised instructions and procedures to avoid ppt and experimenter bias
use single or double blind procedure

86
Q

how to improve validity with qualitative research?

A

direct quotes from sources to ensure interpretative validity, use triangulation of different methods, diary entries and observations to strengthen validity of case studies and interviews

87
Q

what are the features of science?

A

empirical method
theory construction and hypothesis testing
falsifiability
replicability
paradigms and paradigm shift

88
Q

what is the empirical method?

A

should be replicable
variables should be operationalised
judgements should be fair and unbiased
objective
nomothetic producing quantitative data

89
Q

what is theory construction and hypothesis testing?

A

theory construction - uses direct observation to gather evidence
hypothesis testing - objective methods are used to find evidence to support or contradict a theory. new hypotheses are derived from previous theories this is deduction

90
Q

what is falsifiability?

A

good science should constantly be challenged and have the potential to be falsified. psychologists try to avoid using this proves and always includes a null hypothesis

91
Q

what is replicability?

A

in order to test in science research needs to be replicable.
if it is repeated with the same results we can trust the theory
if it can be repeated across different context than it improves the validity, generalising the findings.

92
Q

what is a paradigm?

A

sciences based on a set of shared assumptions
paradigm provides scientists with a basic framework
progress happens when researchers questions the accepted paradigm and a paradigm shift occurs where there is too much contradictory evidence

93
Q

what is a psychological report?

A

psychologists write up their research to be published in Journal articles

94
Q

what are the key sections of a psychological report?

A

abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, referencing

95
Q

what are the different types of data?

A

quantitative vs qualitative
primary vs secondary
nominal, ordinal, interval

96
Q

what are the measures of central tendency?

A

mean, median, mode

97
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of mean?

A

s - more sensitive, makes use of all data values
w - can be misrepresentative if there is an extreme value

98
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of median?

A

s - not affected by extreme scores, give a representative value
w - less sensitive than the mean, does not take into account all values of data

99
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of mode?

A

s - useful when the data is in categories
w - not a useful way of describing data when there are several modes

100
Q

what are the measures of dispersion?

A

standard deviation and range

101
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of range?

A

s - provides you with direct information that is easy to calculate
w - affected by extreme values, does not use all the values of data

102
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of standard deviation?

A

s - more precise measure which takes all values of data into account
w - may hide extreme values of data set

103
Q

what is a bar chart used for?

A

represent discrete data, data is in categories

104
Q

what is a histogram used for?

A

represent continuous data, columns touch because of the interval data on a related scale

105
Q

what are scattergram used for?

A

used for measuring the relationship between two variables
showing correlation between two co-variables

106
Q

definition of probability?

A

measure of likelihood that certain events will happen
accepted level of probability is 0.05%
this means that there is less than a 5% probability the results happened because of chance and 95% confident

107
Q

definition of significance?

A

the difference/association between two sets of data is greater than would happen by chance or fluke

108
Q

definition of type I error?

A

null hypothesis is rejected wrongly, false positive
significance level is too lenient, 10% probability that results are due to chance

109
Q

definition of type II error?

A

null hypothesis is accepted wrongly, false negative
significance level is too strict, 1% probability that results are due to chance

psychology (11 decks)

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