Research methods

Question 1

Case studies

Answer 1

An in depth investigation of an individual, group, or particular phenomenon (behaviour, event or problem) that contains a real of hypothetical situation and includes the complexities that would be encountered in the real world

Question 1

Controlled experiments

Answer 1

A type of investigation which measures the casual relationship between one or more independent variables and a dependent variable, whilst controlling for all other variables

Question 2

Correlation studies

Answer 2

A type of non experimental study in which researchers observe an measure the relationship between two or more variables without any active control or manipulation of them

Question 3

Within subjects design

Answer 3

Experiment design in which participants complete every experimental condition
Ensures the results of the experiment are more likely due to the manipulation of the independent variable, rather than anything else

Question 4

Between subjects

Answer 4

Participants are divided into groups and complete only one experimental condition

Question 5

Mixed subjects

Answer 5

Combines elements of within subjects design and between subjects design, allowing experimenters to note differences that occur within each experimental group over time.

Question 6

Convenience sampling

Answer 6

Refers to any sampling technique that involves selecting readily available members of the population eg. asking the first 20 people that walk by

Question 7

Random sampling

Answer 7

Refers to any sampling technique that uses a procedure to ensure every member of the population has the same chance as being selected

Question 8

Stratified sampling

Answer 8

Refers to any sampling technique that involves selecting people from the population in a way that ensures that is strata (subgroups) are proportionally represented in the sample

Question 9

True value

Answer 9

True value or range of values that would be found if the quantity could be measured perfectly and can be hard to achieve in psychology

Question 10

Accuracy

Answer 10

How close the measurement is to the true value eg. if true value is 3, high accuracy might be 2.5 but low accuracy might be 10

Question 11

Precision

Answer 11

How close a set of measurement values are to one another

Question 12

Repeatability

Answer 12

Is the extend to which successive measurements or studies produce the same results when carried out under the same condition (same procedure, observer, instruments, instructions, participants ect.

Question 13

Reproducibility

Answer 13

The extent to which successive measurements or studies produce the same results when repeated under different conditions eg. different participants

Question 14

Validity

Answer 14

A measurement accurately measures what is supposed to - how well the design of an investigation and its measurements provide meaningful and generalisable information about the population of interest

Question 15

Internal validity

Answer 15

Does an investigation truly measure or investigate what is claims to? If this is lacking, the results of an investigation may not be true and a conclusion cannot be drawn.

Question 16

External validity

Answer 16

The extent to which the results obtained from a study can be applied beyond the sample that generated them - An experiment cannot have external validity without internal validity