research methods

Question 1

self report

Answer 1

first hand record from participant, excellent source of data not necessarily accurate.

Question 2

observation

Answer 2

look at that is happening and record it.

Question 3

experiments

Answer 3

to see if one factor causes a difference in behaviour.

Question 4

correlation

Answer 4

looking at differences between groups

Question 5

opportunity sampling

Answer 5

selecting people who are most easily available at the time, easiest, inevitably biased.

Question 6

random sampling

Answer 6

using a random technique so everyone has an equal chance, unbiased, takes more time and effort.

Question 7

self selected sampling

Answer 7

asking for volunteers, convenient way to find willing participants, less likely to drop out, same characteristics that make them volunteer.

Question 8

snowball sampling

Answer 8

referrals form initial participants to generate additional participants, locates a large group who are difficult to access, not a good cross-section of population.

Question 9

generalisability

Answer 9

to be able to draw conclusions about people form the research they conduct with a small sample.

Question 10

anonymity and confidentiality

Answer 10

participants right to have personal information protected.

Question 11

deception

Answer 11

when a participant is not told the true aims of a study.

Question 12

informed consent

Answer 12

participants are given a comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of a study and their role in it.

Question 13

privacy

Answer 13

refers to a person’s right to control the flow of information about themselves.

Question 14

right to withdraw

Answer 14

participants should be told that they can stop participating in a study if they are uncomfortable.

Question 15

protection from harm

Answer 15

participants shouldn’t suffer negative physical or psychological effects.

Question 16

questionnaire

Answer 16

easily repeated, more willing to reveal personal info, group involved may be biased.

Question 16

open question

Answer 16

provide own answers provides qualitative data, rich details, difficult to detect patterns.

Question 17

structured interview

Answer 17

predetermined questions delivered by an interviewer who doesn’t probe, can be easily repeated, easier to analyse, expectations may influence answers.

Question 17

closed question

Answer 17

easily repeated, more willing to reveal personal info, group involved may be biased.

Question 18

semi-structured interview

Answer 18

some questions predetermined new questions as interview proceeds, more detailed info, access info that may not be revealed otherwise, interviewer bias, leading questions.

Question 18

rating scale

Answer 18

Likert (agree/disagree), semantic differential (attitude), reasonably objective, quantitative data, ‘middle of the road’.

Question 18

internal reliability

Answer 18

whether a questionnaire is consistent within itself.

Question 19

unstructured interview

Answer 19

no questions decided in advance, same as above.

Question 19

inter-rater reliability

Answer 19

the consistency between two different interviewers.

Question 19

external reliability

Answer 19

measure of whether something varies from one time to another.

Question 19

external validity

Answer 19

the extent to which results can be generalised beyond the study.

Question 20

population validity

Answer 20

the extent to which the results of a study can be generalised to other groups of people besides the participants who took part in the study.

Question 21

face validity

Answer 21

whether the item on a test look like they are assessing what the researcher intended to assess.

Question 21

internal validity

Answer 21

concerns whether a test does assess what it intended to assess.

Question 22

ecological validity

Answer 22

ability to generalise a research effect beyond the setting in which it is demonstrated to other settings, for a questionnaire whether responses to questions represent target behaviour.

Question 23

researcher bias

Answer 23

interviewer’s expectations or beliefs may be unconsciously communicated to participants which affects the answers give.

Question 24

construct validity

Answer 24

whether a test assesses the underlying concept of construct.

Question 25

concurrent validity

Answer 25

can be established by comparing performance on a new test with a previously validated test on the same topic.

Question 26

criterion validity

Answer 26

the extent that test scores can predict a future behaviour or attitude.

Question 27

event sampling

Answer 27

list of behavioural categories then count every time each of the behaviours occurs in a specified time period, increases validity, may miss multiple things happening at once reducing validity.

Question 28

unstructured observation

Answer 28

observer records all relevant behaviour but has no system, useful when behaviour is unpredicted, used in pilot studies, behaviours recorded are usually the most eye-catching.

Question 29

controlled observation

Answer 29

some variables are changed by the researcher, focus on aspects of behaviour, may feel unnatural, may lack validity.

Question 29

time sampling

Answer 29

recording behaviours at regular intervals or taking a sample at different times of the day or month, allows for tracking of time-related changes in behaviour, may decrease validity because some behaviours will inevitably be missed.

Question 29

structured observation

Answer 29

system is used to restrict and organise collection of info, improves inter-rater reliability, may ‘see’ or ‘hear’ what they expect to see.

Question 29

naturalistic observation

Answer 29

nothing changed, realistic, little control of variables.

Question 30

null hypothesis

Answer 30

a statement of no difference.

Question 30

participant observation

Answer 30

participant, likely to provide special insight, closer detail, objectivity reduced, more difficult to record and monitor unobtrusively.

Question 30

non-participant observation

Answer 30

not a participant, increased objectivity, may misinterpret communications within the group.

Question 30

one tailed hypothesis

Answer 30

states the direction of the difference in the hypothesis.

Question 30

alternate hypothesis

Answer 30

a statement about the relationship between variables.

Question 30

two tailed hypothesis

Answer 30

states there is a difference.

Question 31

covert observation

Answer 31

without a participant’s knowledge, behave more naturally, raises ethical issues (deception and invasion of privacy).

Question 31

overt observation

Answer 31

aware of being observed, avoids lack of informed consent, observer effect.

Question 32

repeated measures design

Answer 32

each participant takes part in every condition, good control of participant variables, fewer participants needed, order effects, may guess purpose of experiments.

Question 33

independent measures design

Answer 33

participants are allocated to two experimental groups, avoids order effects, avoids guessing of purpose, no control of participant variables, needs more participants.

Question 33

matched partners design

Answer 33

participants similar on key variables are paired each doing a different condition, acts as a control, avoids order effects, time consuming, may not control all participant variables.

Question 34

demand characteristics

Answer 34

cues in an experimental design communicate to participants what is expected of them and may unconsciously affect their behaviour.

Question 35

participant variable

Answer 35

characteristic of the participant.

Question 36

extraneous variables

Answer 36

any variable other that the independent variable that might potentially affect the dependant variable and thereby confound the results.

Question 37

situational variable

Answer 37

feature of the environment that may affect performance