Research Methods Flashcards
What is an aim?
a statement on what the investigator intends to investigate in the study
What is a hypothesis and what are the two types?
a clear statement on what the investigator expects to find.
directional hypothesis (states direction)
non-directional hypothesis (doesn’t states direction)
What are variables?
a thing that varies or stays the same in the investigation there are independent and dependent varaiables
Whats the difference between dependent and independent varaiables?
independent changes and dependent gets measured
What is operationalisation?
turning abstract concepts into measurable observations like social anxiety can not be observed but can be ranked.
What is an extraneous variable?
any variable different to the independent variable that may affect the dependent variable if we do not control it
What is a confounding variable?
any variable other than the independent variable that may have affected the dependent variable
What are demand characteristics?
any cue from the researcher or situation that causes the lead to the ppt interpreting the investigation and acting in certain ways or answering questions in a certain way or with certain reasons
What are investigator effects?
an unwanted unconscious or deliberate influence on the research outcome
What is randomisation?
it minimises the effect of extraneuos and confounding variables and controls the investigator effect
What is standardisation?
all particpiants are subjected to the same environment, information and experience
What is experimental design?
different in which testing participants can be organised in relation to experiemental conditions
What is independent group designs?
participants are allocated random groups where each group is an experimental condition
What are repeated measure?
all participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
What is matched pair design?
pairs of participants are matched on variables that may affect the dv then each person is assigned a group
What is random allocation?
attempt to control variables while randomly assigning conditions
What is counterbalancing
attempt to control effects of order in a repeated measures design.
What is strength of independent groups?
no order effects, ppts one in conditions. less likely to guess aim
What is strength of repeated measures?
good control of ppts variables, fewer ppts; less time consuming
What is strength of matched pairs?
reduced ppts variables: Ppts matched closely in each condition
avoids order and effects: boredom, fatigue and practice as only one condition so less likely to guess aim
What is weakness of independent groups?
abilities like memories - confounding variable
need more ppts than repeated measures
What is weakness of repeated measures?
order and practice effect: ppts may do better or worse on the 2nd test because of practice or boredom
ppts may guess aim
What is weakness of matched pairs?
time consuming
difficult to match ppts on key variables
impossible control all ppts variables
how do you deal with weaknesses in independent groups?
randomly allocate ppts distributes variables
how do you deal with weaknesses in repeated measures?
use 2 different tests to reduce practice effect
use counterbalancing - deals with order effect
cover story - avoids ppts guessing aim
how do you deal with weaknesses in matched pairs?
time consuming
never match perfectly
lose 2 subject s if one drops out
What is a lab experiment?
an experiment in a controlled environment allows manipulating of variables and controlling of extraneous variables
What is a field experiment?
an experiment taken in a natural setting researcher manipulates IV and records effect of DV
What is a natural experiment?
an experiment where the iV is not done by researcher but would have happened if researcher wasn’t there.
What is a Quasi-experiment?
almost an experiment, no identified IV, variables just exist, not an experiment
What are the strengths of a Quasi-experiment?
high control and comparisons can be made between people
What are the weaknesses of a Quasi-experiment?
ppts not randomly allocated
casual relationships not demonstrated
What are the strengths of a lab experiment?
Evs and Cvs can be controlled
can be replicated
What are the weaknesses of a lab experiment?
demand characteristics
may lack generalisability
What are the strengths of a field experiment?
natural environment
ppts unaware of being studied
What are the weaknesses of a field experiment?
ethical issues
more difficult to control Cvs and Evs
What are the strengths of a natural experiment?
greater external validity
only ethical option
What are the weaknesses of a natural experiment?
ppts not randomly allocated
natural event may occur
What is stratified sampling?
a type of sampling method in which the total population is divided into smaller groups or strata to complete the sampling process.
What is systematic sampling?
a probability sampling method where researchers select members of the population at a regular interval
What is volunteer bias?
a form of sampling bias, volunteers have special characteristics and normally highly motivated
What is volunteering sample?
relies soley on volunteers to make up a sample
What is informed consent?
ppts know what they ares signing up to and agreeing to and also
What is deception and how is it dealt with?
ppts should be debriefed after if deceived (Milgram), can not turn back the clock may still cause an issue with the ppt
What is confidentiality?
information about ppt is protected by the Data Protection Act, must not be identified in research
What is debriefing?
debrief participants and answer any questions
What is right to withdraw?
tell ppts they are free to leave and can not pressure them into to staying even if they have already been paid and they can also refuse for data to be used
how is privacy dealt with?
only observe people where they should expect to be observed and maintain their right to privacy
What is a pilot study?
small scale investigation that takes place before the real investigation. aim is to check procedures, materials and measuring scales
What is a single blind study?
ppts don’t know true purpose of study won’t know if in control or experiment group
What is a double blind study?
ppts don’t know true purpose or group and experiment also has blind aspects like which group.
What are observational studies?
like pilot studies, save time and money and help identify issues and what needs to be modified
What is naturalistic observations?
watching and recording behaviour in a setting it would normally occur - teachers-students at school
What is controlled observations?
watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment - strange situation
What is covert observations?
ppts watched and recorded without consent
What is overt observations?
ppts watched and recorded with consent
What is non-ppt observations?
researcher remains out of the group of the person they are recording and watching
What an advantage and disadvantage of overt observation?
+ allows informed consent
- may not be natural behaviour as know they are being observed
What an advantage and disadvantage of covert observation?
+ should mean behaviour is normal#
- informed consent is not sought
What an advantage and disadvantage of participant observation?
+ allows increased insight
- less objectivity
What an advantage and disadvantage of non-participant observation?
+ allows researcher to be more objective
- not have same level of insight
What an advantage and disadvantage of controlled observation?
+ can observe ppts responses in relation to specific situations
- findings are less generalisable as situation may not be in context
What an advantage and disadvantage of naturalistic observation?
+ high external validity
- lack of control makes replication difficult
What is event sampling?
target behaviour is established then researcher records event every time it happens
What is time sampling?
behaviour is recorded in a fixed time frame
What is unstructured observation?
writing down everything that they see
What is target behaviour?
a behaviour getting looked for that needs to be clearly defined
What are open questions?
no fixed answers can be answered any way produce qualitative data - difficult to analyse
What are closed questions?
fixed number of responses produce numerical data
What are structured interviews?
pre-determined questions asked in a fixed order
What are unstructured interviews?
like a conversation, no set questions and is free flowing
What are semi-structured interviews?
between the two, typically in a job interview.
What are positives and negatives of questionnaires?
+ get loads of data quickly. postal versions reduces efforts, easy to analyse data.
- pppts keen to put themselves in a positive light, forms demand characteristics.
What are positives and negatives of structured interviews?
+ straightforward and reduces difference between interviews
- can not deviate from topic or elaborate - can cause frustration
What are positives and negatives of unstructured interviews?
+ more flexible and allow an insight into the worldview of an interviewee, experienced interview can get a report and get them to be more truthful
- interviewees may lie, analysis to data isn’t straightforward
What is the Likert Scale?
respondents indicate agreement from 1 to 5 (no value like in a rating scale)
What is a fixed choice option?
list of possible options and have to chose those that apply to them
How are interviews normally run?
quiet room away from people as makes people more likely to open up, tend to open up when neutral questions are started with
Why is writing style of questions important in interviews?
clarity is key
don’t over use jargon (technical terms to a specific area ppt may not know)
double barreled questions and double negative (may agree with one part not another or not fully answer question)
emotive language and leading questions should all not be used (can make people unfairly judge a question and change answer)
What does it mean to operationalise the variables?
define variables so it becomes easy to measure
What is a hypothesis?
precise testable statement about what the investigator expects to find two types directional and non directional.
directional - states direction between two predicted difference between conditions
non-directional - doesn’t state direction between two predicted difference between conditions
null hypothesis - no significant differemce
What is Primary data?
that is collected for the first time through personal experiences or evidence, particularly for research.
What is secondary data?
Surveys, observations, experiments, questionnaire, personal interview
What is Quantitative data?
numerical data
What is qualative data?
data expressed in words and non-numerical
What is meta-analysis?
Uses secondary data, Process - data from a large number of studies of same research questions. May use a quantitative approach and perform statistical analysis of data.
View data with confidence and results generalised across larger populations. Researchers may chose to leave out studies with negative results. Data is biassed only represents some relevant data and incorrect conclusions drawn.
What are strengths and weaknesses of Quantitative data?
Strengths - easy to analyse, can draw graphs and calculate averages, eyeball data and see patterns
Weaknesses - oversimplifies data, rating scales of something like feelings.
What are strengths and weaknesses of Qualitative data?
Strengths - Represents complexity, More detail, Include unexpected information
Weaknesses - less easy to analyse, difficult to draw conclusions,
What are strengths and weaknesses of primary data?
Strengths - fits the job, info directly related to research aims
Weaknesses - time and effort, involves planning and preparation, secondary data can be accessed within minutes
What are strengths and weaknesses of secondary data?
Strengths - inexpensive, minimal effort, info already exists
Weaknesses - quality may be poor, info may be outdated or incomplete. Challenges validity of conclusions.
What are strengths and weaknesses of meta-analysis?
Strengths - increases validity of conclusion, sample size is larger, increases generalisability.
Weaknesses- publication bias, researchers, may not use all relevant studies, data may not be biassed.
What is a co-variable?
2 measured variables in correlational analysis, they must be continuous
Whats a continuous variable?
a variable that can take on any value within a certain range
What is correlation?
determining the extent of an association between two variables, the co-variables may not be linked
What is the correlation coefficient?
number between -1 and +1 that tells us how closely variables are correlated
What is curvilinear correlation?
a non-linear relationship between two variables
What is a scattergram and significance?
scattergram -a graphical representation of association between two set scores
significance - statistical term which shows research which are strong and allows us to accept under the research hypothesis under test
What is correlation vs causation?
correlations have no independent variable on the dependent variable,
correlations are in a similar manner to natural observations
What is a strength of correlation research?
can be easily repeated allowing research to be confirmed
can be used as pilot studies
What is a limitation of correlation research?
people can jump to ‘casual’ conclusions leading to misinterpretation of results
intervening variables - failure to analyse other variables
may have a lack of external or internal validity
