Research Methods Flashcards
What is meant by empiricism?
The belief that knowledge is gained from experience, this leads to the ideas that evidence must inform theories
What are the two types of research?
Experimental - laboratory, field and natural
Non-experimental - correlations, observations, interviews, questionnaires and case studies
What is an aim?
A general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate, the purpose of the study
What is a hypothesis?
A clear, precise, testable statement that states the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable
What is a null hypothesis?
Nothing will happen
What is a directional hypothesis?
One tailed
One specific group will do better than the other
What is a non-directional hypothesis?
Two tailed
Predicts that something will happen but the ‘direction’ of the effect is not stated
What is a variable?
Anything that can vary or change within an investigation
What is an independent variable?
A variable that is manipulated by the researcher, sop the effect on the DV can be measured
What is a dependent variable?
A variable that is measured by the researcher
What is meant by operationalisation?
Turning the IV and DV into measurable variables
What are extraneous variables?
Any variable, other than the IV, that may affect the DV if it is not controlled (does not vary systematically vary with the IV)
What are confounding variables?
A kind of EV that varies systematically with the IV, therefore we cannot tell if a change with the DV is caused by the IV and CV
What is a demand characteristic?
Any cue from the researcher or situation that may be interpreted by the participants and reveal the purpose of the investigation, this may cause participants to change their behaviour
What are investigator effects?
Any effect of the investigator’s behaviour on the research outcome
This can include the design of the study and selection of participants
What is randomisation?
The use of chance methods to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of experimental conditions
What is standardisation?
Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study
What are the two types of extraneous variables?
Situational
Participant
What is a situational variable?
Relating to the environment: time of day, temperature, lighting
What is a participant variable?
Intelligence, age, gender and personality
These are controlled through experimental design and random assigning
What is experimental design?
The different ways in which participants can be organised in relation to the experimental conditions
What is independent group design?
Participants are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental condition
What is repeated measures design?
All participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
What is matched pairs design?
Pairs of participants are matched on some variables that may affect the DV then one pair is assigned to condition A and the other to condition B
What is random allocation?
An attempt to control participant variables in an independent group design to ensure all participants have the same chance of being in each one
What is counterbalancing?
An attempt to control order effects in repeated measures design
Half do A then B and the other half do B then A
Strengths of independent groups design
Order effects are not a problem whereas they would be in repeated measures
Participants are more likely to guess the aims
Weaknesses of independent groups design
Participant variables may cause confounding variables, reducing validity of the findings - this can be reduced with random allocation
Less economical as double the number of participants needed
Strengths of repeated measures design
Participant variables are controlled creating higher validity and fewer participants needed
Weaknesses of repeated measures design
Order effects may create demand characteristic or cause fatigue - can be reduced using counterbalancing
Strengths of matched pairs design
Order effects and demand characteristics are less of a problem
Weaknesses of matched pairs design
Participants can never be matched exactly
Matching can be time consuming and expensive, particularly if a pre-test is required
What are pilot studies?
Small scale ‘trial runs’ that are used to assess the validity and feasibility of the research
What might we consider when conducting pilot studies?
Stimuli
Timing
Instructions
This allows refining before committing time and money to the project
What is single-blinding?
Making participants unaware if which group/condition they are in
This aims to reduce demand characteristic
What is a double-blind?
The person conducting the experiment (investigator) is not aware of which groups the participants are allocated to
This aims to recude investigator effects
What are the 4 main ethical issues (BPS)?
Respect - upholding the dignity of others
Competence - completing work to a high professional standard
Responsibility - to participants and the public
Integrity - transparency over bias and limitations and whistleblowing
What do participants need to be made aware of before giving consent?
Participation is voluntary
Purpose of the research
All foreseeable risks
Procedures
Benefits of the research to society/individual
Time it will take
Contact information
Right to confidentiality and right to withdraw
What is an independent advisor?
Usually made up of an ethics committee and approve things that may result in negative consequences
What are behavioural categories?
When a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable (operationalisation)
What is event sampling?
A target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs
What is time sampling?
A target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame, say every 60 seconds
What is observer bias?
When an observer’s expectations or opinion influence the way in which they see, interpret or record behaviour
We get around this by using behavioural categories and calculating inter-observer reliability
What is inter-observer reliability?
It is calculated by correlating each pair of observations made and an overall figure is produced
Observers record data separately before sharing
What is an unstructured observation?
The researcher simply writes down everything they see
This is more appropriate for small scale observations
What is a structured observation?
When the researcher uses behavioural categories to record data
Evaluation of structured observations
Makes recording data easier and more systematic (numerical) - makes analysis easier
Allows researchers to to quantify their data
Important behaviours may be missed if not included in behavioural categories
Evaluation of unstructured observations
Most effective with small sample
Greater risk of observer bias, may only record behaviours that catch their eye
More depth of detail to analyse
Difficult to record it all
Produces qualitative data (more difficult to analyse)
Evaluation of behavioural categories
Can make data collection more structures and objective
Categories must be clear and unambiguous, also observable and measurable
All possible forms of behaviour must be included in the checklist
Categories must be exclusive with no overlap
Evaluation of event sampling
Useful when the target behaviour happens infrequently as it could be missed if time sampling was used
If the specified event is too complex the observer may overlook important details
Evaluation of time sampling
Effective at reducing the number of observations that need to be made
Instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
What is a naturalistic observation?
Watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would naturally occur
What is a controlled observation?
Watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment (some variables are managed)
What is a covert observation?
Participants behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge