research methods Flashcards
test retest
administering the same test/ questionnaire to each person
inter observer reliability
measures the degree of agreement between different people observing or assessing the same thing
correlation coefficient
the correlation needs to be +0.8 to be reliable
significance
the level at which the null hypothesis is accepted or rejected due to the low probability of the results being due to chance
probability equation
number of particular equations / number of probable outcomes
n value
number of participants
the sign test
a non parametric statistical test of difference that allows a researcher to determine the significance of their investigation
p value
level of significance
ordinal data
data is ranked
nominal data
data is in categories
confounding variables
changes systematically with the iv
population
a group of people who are the focus of the researchers interest, from which a smaller sample is drawn
investigator effects
when a researcher acts (consciously or unconsciously) in a way to support their prediction. they communicate their feelings, possibly altering a participants results
counter balancing
both groups do the same thing in different orders
standardised procedures
clear set of instructions
behavioural categories
an observational technique wherein participants possible behaviours are separated into new specific components
reliability
if the findings are the same or similar when the test is repeated they are reliable
natural experiments
researcher has no control over the IV. e.g gender or age
quantitative data
data expressed numerically
qualitative data
data expressed in words
overt observation
participants know their behaviour is being observed and have given their consent beforehand
covert observation
participants are unaware they are the focus of a study and their behaviour is observed in secret
pilot studies
small scale trial run of the actual investigation
informed consent
participants should agree to take part and should also know the aim of the research
the hawthorne effect
participants will act differently because they know they’re being observed
demand characteristics
participants will act a certain way in which they think will please the experimenter
sample
a group of people drawn from a population to take part in an investigation and are presumed to represent that population
situational variable
feature of a research situation that may influence participants behaviour and thus act as EVs or CVs
participant variable
characteristics of individual participants
extraneous variables
differences of the individual or the situation that may affect the dv
matched pairs design
participants are paired according to similar characteristics and put in each group
independent groups design
each participant only takes part in one condition of the experiment
repeated measures designs
each participant takes part in all conditions of the experiment
independent variables
the variable you manipulate or vary in an experiment to explore its effect
operationalisation of variables
clearly defining the variables in terms of how they can be measured
2 types of experimental hypotheses
directional
non directional
directional hypothesis
states the direction of result
non directional hypotheses
states there will be a difference, but not the direction
2 types of hypotheses
experimental
null
null hypothesis
any results from the DV are from chance, not from the IV
experimental hypothesis
predicts changes in the DV due to the IV
dependent variable
the variable that changes as a result of the IV manipulation
lab experiments
conducted in a highly controlled environment
field experiments
the researcher goes to the participants usual environment
quasi experiment
have an IV based on an existing difference
research papers
investigation reports written to a conventional format
correlation
correlation shows the strengths and direction of an association between 2 or more variables
interval data
very precise data
collected when using scientific methods
