Research Methods Flashcards
An aim is…
A general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate; the purpose of the study
Independent variable (IV) is…
The aspect of the experiment situation that is manipulated/changed by the researcher so the effect on the DV can be measured.
Dependent variable (DV) is……
The variable that is measured by the researcher. Any effect on the DV should be caused by the change in the IV
Operationalistation
Ensuring variables are in a form that can be easily measured. Clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be tested.
Directional hypothesis
Researcher makes clear difference that is anticipated between two conditions/ groups of people - more/less. higher/lower.
Non-directional hypothesis
States there will be a difference but the nature of difference = not specified.
What is the structure for a directional hypothesis:
…………….(IV 1 -group A) will have a higher/lower …………. (operationalised DV) in comparison to ………………(IV 2 - groupB)
Whats the structure for non- directional hypothesis?
There will be a difference in …………… (operationaliosed DV) between ………. (IV 1 - group A) and …………. (IV 2 - group B)
Operationalisation is….
Ensuring variables are in a form that can be easily measured. Clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be tested.
Extraneous variable is…
Any variable, other than the IV that may have an effect on the DV if it is not controlled. These are essentially nuisance variables.
Investigator effects are….
Any effect of the investigators behaviour on the research outcome - DV. This may include everything from the design of the study to the selection of and interaction with participants during the research process.
Standardisation is….
Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in research study.
ensuring all participants have the exact same experience.
A Demand Characteristic is….
Any cue from the researcher or from the researcher situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour within the research situation.
Randomisation is…
the use of chance in order to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of conditions.
How would you overcome investigator effect?
use randomisation
4 ways you can use randomisation:
- dice
- picking names out of a hat
- flipping a coin
- Random number/ name generator
What are the 3 expeRIMental designs:
- Repeated measures
- Independent groups
- Matched pairs
Definition of repeated measures design:
All the participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
Definition of Independent groups design:
Participants are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental condition
Definition of matched pairs design:
Pairs of participants are first matched on some variables that may affect the DV. Then one member of the pair is assigned condition A and the other condition B.
Give 3 examples of order effects:
- Boredom
- fatigue
- practice
Definition of counterbalancing:
An attempt to control for the effects of order in a repeated measures design: half the participants experience the conditions in one order, and the other half in the opposite order.
What is a way of overcoming order effects?
Counterbalancing
Whats one strength + limitation of a repeated measures design:
strength- participant variables are controlled - vital to ensure fair test, and less participants are needed
limitation- can be order effects
Whats one strength + limitation of independent groups design:
strength- order effects will not effect the experiment - as participants are allocated different groups
limitation- there is individual differences - as participants are allocated to only one group. to overcome use random allocation
Whats one strength + limitation of a matched paired design:
strength- order effects and demand characteristics are less of a problem - participants only take part in a single condition
limitation- matching is time consuming and expensive - less economic than other designs
What are the 4 types of experiments:
- Laboratory experiment
- Field experiment
- Natural experiment
- Quasi experiment
Definition of lab experiment:
An experiment carried out in a controlled setting. Lab experiments tend to have high internal validity because control over all variables is possible.
- controlled/artificial
- participants may know why they are there
Definition of field experiment:
A controlled experiment conducted outside a laboratory. Field experiments tend to have lower internal validity (more difficult to control extraneous variables) and higher external validity (greater mundane realism).
- outside the lab
- participants are not aware they are taking part - more natural behaviour
- still controlled but not as much as laboratory
Definition of Natural experiment:
A research method in which the experimenter has not manipulated the independent variable directly but would have happened even if the researcher had not been there. The researcher records the effect on the dependent variable.
- Naturally occuring IV
- For example; to test cocaine on IQ. You could make people take cocaine however= unethical - so you would need to find people who already take cocaine.
Definition of Quasi experiment:
A study that is almost an experiment but lacks key ingredients. The IV has not been determined by the researcher or any other person - the variables simply exist, such as being young/old.
- Have IV that is based on existing difference between people . eg, sex, age, personality - no one can manipulate it simply just exists
What is one strength and limitation of laboratory experiments?
Strength- it is easily replicable. This is because of the high level of control. This ensures new extraneous variables are not introduced when repeating the experiment.
Limitation- It lacks generalisability. The lab environment may be artificial and not like everyday life - participants behaviour may change - low external validity.
What is one strength and one limitation of Field experiments?
Strength - it has higher mundane realism than lab experiments as environment is natural which means participants behaviour is more natural = higher external validity
Limitation - there is a lack of control of extraneous variables - effect between IV and DV in field studies may be much more difficult to establish and precise replication is not oftern possible. There are also ethical issues - if participants are unaware of being studied they cannot consent.
Definition of systematic sampling:
A sample obtained by selecting every nth person (where n is any number)
What is one strength and limitation of natural experiments?
strength - study of real life issues - high external validity eg effects of natural disaster on stress levels
limitation- generalisability - a natural occurring event may happen very rarely - reducing opportunity for research - may scope for generalising findings to other similar situations.
Whats one strength and limitation of Quasi experiments?
strength - conditions are well controlled
limitation - they cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions and therefore may be confounding variables.
What are the 5 sampling techniques?
1- random sample
2- systematic sample
3- stratified sample
4- opportunity sample
5- volunteer sample
Definition of random sample:
A sample of participants produced by using a random technique such as that every member of the target population being tested has a equal chance of being selected.
Definition of stratified sample:
A sample of participants produced by identifying strata/subgroups according to their frequency in the population. Participants are then selected randomly from the subgroups.
Definition of opportunity sample:
A sample of participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study.
Definition of volunteer sample:
A sample of participants that relies solely on volunteers to make up the sample.
referred to as self-selection - needs to be an advert.
Whats one strength and limitation of using a random sample?
strength - free from researcher bias- researcher has no influence over who is selected
limitation - participation- selected participants may refuse to take part - this will end up as a volunteer sample.
Whats one strength and limitation of using a systematic sample?
strength- sampling method avoids researcher bias
limitation - it may take a lot of time and effort
Whats one strength and limitation of using a stratified sample?
- strength - produces representative sample because it is designed to accurately reflect the composition of the population - generalisation of findings become possible
- limitation - the identified strata cannot reflect all the ways that people are different -complete representation of target population is not possible.
Whats one strength and limitation of a opportunity sample?
- strength- its convenient and saves the researcher time and money.
- limitation - suffer from 2 types of bias - its unrepresentative and the researcher has complete control over selection of participants and for eg. they might avoid people they dont like the look of = researcher bias
Whats one strength and limitation of a volunteer sample?
- strength - requires minimal input from researcher - they come to you - less time consuming than other types of sampling
- limitation - volunteer bias is a problem - adverts may attract a certain profile of person
What are the 5 types of ethical issues?
- Informed consent
- Deception
- Protection from harm
- Confidentially
- Privacy
Definition of informed consent:
Participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of the research and their role in it, in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to participate.
Definition of deception:
A participant is not told the true aims of a study (eg. what participation will involve) and thus cannot give truly informed consent.
Definition of protection from harm:
During a research study, participants should not experience negative physical or psychological effects, such as physical injury lowered self-esteem or embarrassment.
Definition of confidentiality:
Concerns the communication of personal information from one person to another, and the trust that the information will be protected.
Definition of Privacy:
A persons right to control the flow of information about themselves.
What are 3 alternate ways of getting consent and whats their definition?
- Presumptive consent- rather than getting consent from participants themselves a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable. If this group agree the consent of original participants is ‘presumed’.
- Prior general consent- participants give their permission to take part in number of different studies including one that will involve deception. By consenting participants are effectively consenting to be deceived.
- Retrospective consent- participants are asked for their consent having already taken part in the study.
What are the ways of dealing with the following ethical issues:
1- informed consent
2- deception
3- protection from harm
4- privacy + confidentiality
1- have participants sign consent form
2- debrief participants after experiment
3- give them right to withdraw + offer counselling after harm
4- ensure participants remain anonymous + keep their data protected
Naturalistic observation definition:
Watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would usually occur.
- takes place in natural environment
Controlled observation defintion:
Watching and recording behaviour within a controlled/structured environment eg. one where some variables are managed.
- in a lab setting - factors controlled eg. manipulating variables -extraneous variables
Covert observation defintion:
Participants behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent.
- covert (under cover)
Overt observation defintion:
participants behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent.
Participant observation definition:
The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching and recording.
Non- participant observation definition:
The researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching and recording.
Whats one strength and limitation of naturalistic observation:
-strength - have high external validity as findings can oftern be generalised
- limitation - lack of control - makes replication of investigation difficult
Whats one strength and limitation of controlled observations:
- strength - extraneous variables may be less of a factor so replication becomes easier
- limitation - may produce findings that cannot be generalised to real-life settings.
Whats one strength and limitation of covert observations:
- strength - removes the problem of participant reactivity as they dont know they are being watched - increases validity of data.
- limitation - ethical issues - cant consent.
Whats one stength and limitation of overt observations:
-strength - more ethically acceptable
- limitation - demand characteristics may occur as being observed may have an influence on their behaviour
Whats one strength and limitation of non-participant observations:
-strength- allow researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance from their participants - less danger of them going ‘native’
- limitations- may lose valuable insight
Whats one strength and limitation of participant observations:
- strength - researcher can experience the situation as the participants do; giving them increased insight to their findings - increases validity
- limitation - researcher may identify too strongly with those they are studying + lose objectivity
Definition of behavioural categories:
When a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable.
Definition of event sampling:
a target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs.
Definition of 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.
Definition of inter-observer reliability:
the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observations of a behaviour.
a general rule is that if there is more than 80% agreement on the observation, the data has high inter-observer reliability.
What is unstructured observation?
when you record everything you see/observe- continuous recording.
What is structured observation?
when you allow the researcher quantify their observations using a pre-determined list of behaviours.
- behaviour categories/checklist
- tally behaviours observed
Whats one strength and limitation of structured observations:
strength - data produced is likely to be numerical (quantitative data) which means analysing and comparing the behaviour observed between participants is more straightforward
limitation- may lack detail
Whats one strength and one limitation of unstructured observations?
strength- benefit from more richness and depth of detail in data collected.
limitation- produce quantitative data which may be more difficult to record and analyse.
Whats one strength and limitation of behavioural categories?
strength - make data collection more structured and objective
limitation - researchers should ensure that all possible forms of the target behaviour are included on checklist, and categories should be exclusive and not overlap eg. difference between smiling and grinning would be difficult to discern.
Whats one strength and limitation of event sampling?
strength- useful when target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling used.
limitation- if event is too complex observer may overlook important details.
Whats one strength and limitation of time sampling?
strength -effective in reducing number of observations that have to be made making it simpler to record
limitation- those instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole.
Whats the definition of a questionaire?
A set of written questions (sometimes referred to as items) used to asses a persons thoughts and/or experiences.
Whats the definition of an interview?
A ‘live’ encounter where the interviewer asks a set of questions to asses an interviewees thoughts and/or experiences. The questions may be pre-set ( as in a structured interview) or may develop as the interview goes along ( unstructured interview)
Definition of qualitative data:
Data that is expressed in words.
Definition of quantitative data:
Data that can be counted, usually given in numbers.
Definition of primary data:
Information that has been obtained first-hand by the researcher for the purposes of a research project.
Definition of secondary data:
Information that has already been collected by someone else and so pre-dates the current research project.
What is a open question?
no fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish - typically produced qualitative data.
what is a closed question?
offers a fixed number of repsonses - answer can be either yes/no - typically produce quantitative data.
What are structured interviews?
made up of a pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order.
What are unstructured interviews?
Works more like a conversation - no set questions - interaction tends to be free-flowing
What is a semi -structured interview?
A bit of structured + unstructured aspects on an interview.
Whats one strength and limitation of questionaires as a method of collecting data?
-strength - in psychological research they are cost effective and they gather large amounts of data quickly
- limitation - the responses given may not always be truthful - form of demand characteristics - repsonse bias
Whats one strength and limitation of unstructured interviews as a method of collecting data?
- strength - there is more flexibility and the interviewer can follow up points to gain insight.
- limitation - the analysis of data is not straightforward.
What is one strength and limitation of structured interviews as a method of collecting data:
- strength - they are easy to replicate due to the standardised format
- limitation - it is not possible for interviewers to deviate from the topic and this may lack detail
Whats one strength and limitation of qualitative data?
- strength - offers researcher more detail than quantitative data- tends to have greater external validity and can be subject to bias.
- limitation- difficult to analyse and can be subject to bias.
What is one strength and limitiation to quantitative data:
- strength - relatively simple to analyse and less open to bias
- limitation - much narrower in scope and meaning than qualitative data - may fail to represent real -life.
Whats one strength and limitation to primary data:
- strength- it is authentic data obtained by participants themselves
- limitation - to produces primary data takes time + effort
Whats one strength and limitation to secondary data:
- strength - inexpensive and easily accessed - requiring minimal effort.
- limitation - data may be out-dated/ incomplete.
Whats the definition of correlation?
A mathematical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between two variables, called co-variables.
What does a correlation illustrate:
the strength and direction of an association between 2 or more co-variables.
What does a directional correlation show?
There will be a positive/negative association between ….. and…….
What does a non-directional correlation show?
There will be a correlation
What would be the best graph to show two co-variables?
A scatter graph
Whats 3 strengths and 2 limitations to correlations?
- strength - procedures in correlation can usually be easily replicated - findings can be confirmed.
- strength - quick + economic - no need for controlled environment + no manipulation of variables needed.
-strength - correlations are useful when investigating trends
- limitation - may be another untested variable causing relationship between co-variables = 3rd place problem
- limitation - correlations cant come to cause + effect between variables + therefore we do not know which co-variable is causing the other to change.
Whats the definition of mean?
The arithmetic average calculated by adding up all the values in a set of data and then dividing by the number of values there are.
Whats the definition of median?
The middle value in a set of data when values are arranged from lowest to highest.
Whats the definition of Mode?
The most frequently occurring value in a set of data
Whats the definition of range?
A simple calculation of the dispersion in a set of scores which is worked out by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score.
Whats the definition of standard deviation?
A sophisticated measure of dispersion in a set of scores. It tells us how much scores deviate by calculating the difference between mean and each score.
Whats a strength and limitation of mean?
- strength - includes all of the values in data - representative of the data as a whole.
- limitation - it can be easily distorted by extreme values - doesn’t represent data as a whole.
Whats a strength and limitation of median?
- strength - not effected by extreme values
- limitation - does not include all the scores included in the final calculation
Whats a strength and limitation of mode?
- strength - easily calculated + good for nominal/categorical data - eg words
Whats a strength and limitation of range?
- strength - easy to calculate
- limitation- unrepresentative as it only takes 2 most extreme values
Whats a strength and limitation of standard deviation?
- strength - includes all the values + more precise
- limitation- can be easily distorted by a single extreme value
Look back at lesson 12 - graphs
Definition of statistical testing:
Provides a way of determining whether hypotheses should be accepted or rejected. In psychology, they tell us whether differences or relationships between variables are statistically significant or have occured by chance.
Definition of the sign test:
A statistical test used to analyse the difference in scores between related items ( eg. the same participant tested twice)
How do you find the calculated value?
The smallest number of +s or -s.
How do you find the critical value?
- Find out if the hypothesis is directional (one-tailed) or non-directional (two-tailed)
- The significance level is always 5% = 0.05 unless told otherwise
- Find the number of participants (N value)
- Use the significance table to find the critical value
What has to happen in order for significance to be found and the hypothesis to be accepted?
The calculated value has to be equal or lower than critical value .
What can we conclude if the hypothesis is not accepted and if no significance is found?
The participants in the experiment wont benefit from the thing being tested.
Whats happens in statistical testing if the participants had = results?
They will be deleted from the experiment and the N value will change.
Definition of peer review:
The assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field to ensure that any research intended for publication is of high quality
What are the 3 aims of peer review?
- To validate the quality + relevance of research. All elements of research are assessed for quality + accuracy.
- To suggest amendments or improvements.
- To allocate research funding.
What are 3 limitations of peer review?
- Anonymity - a minority of viewers may use their anonymity as a way of criticising rival researchers who they perceive as having crossed them in the past.
- Publican bias - people may publish things which are more significant -‘headline grabbing’
- Burying ground-breaking research - when someone goes against what editors believe is true - may not get published.
