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research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

define independent variable

A

what’s being changed across conditions (cause)

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2
Q

define dependent variable

A

what’s being measured (effect)

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3
Q

define extraneous variables

A

factors other than IV affecting DV (controlled)

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4
Q

explain some types of extraneous variables

A

situational: lighting, temp, distractions
individual variables: effected by individual
investigator effects: experimenter bias

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5
Q

define demand characteristics

A

when participants change behaviour to try suit aim of study

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6
Q

define cofounding variables

A

factors other than IV that effect EV (not controlled)

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7
Q

what are some control variables

A

standardisation: keeping everything same except IV (e.g. instructions)
randomisation: removing bias

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8
Q

define directional hypothesis

A

previous research provided + direct

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9
Q

define non-directional hypothesis

A

no previous research

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10
Q

define independent groups

A

two separate groups experience separate conditions and compare results

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11
Q

evaluate independent groups

A

A: no order effects
C: extraneous variables

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12
Q

define repeated measures

A

all take part in both conditions

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13
Q

evaluate repeated measures

A

A: no individual differences
C: order effects: DC, boredom

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14
Q

define matched pairs

A

participants matched in pairs with similar characteristics

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15
Q

evaluate matched pairs

A

A: no order effects
A: less individual differences
C: inconvenient

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16
Q

define lab experiment

A

artificial environment, researcher changes IV

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17
Q

define field experiment

A

natural environment, researcher changes IV

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18
Q

define natural experiment

A

natural environment, IV changed naturally

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19
Q

define quasi-experiment

A

natural environment, IV fixed by biology

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20
Q

evaluate types of experiment

A

internal validity, ecological validity, ethical

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21
Q

define random sampling

A

every person of target population has equal chance of selection (e.g. 10 randomly selected)

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22
Q

evaluate random sampling

A

A: no experimenter bias
C: not representative
C: inconvenient

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23
Q

define systematic sampling

A

names in alphabetical + pick nth

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24
Q

evaluate systematic sampling

A

A: no experimenter bias
C: not representative
C: inconvenient

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25
Q

define volunteer sampling

A

self selected via advert

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26
Q

evaluate volunteer sampling

A

A: convenient
A: no experimenter bias
C: not representative

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27
Q

define opportunity sampling

A

approach whoever is available

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28
Q

evaluate opportunity sampling

A

A: convenient
C: not representative
C: experimenter bias

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29
Q

define stratified sampling

A

split target population into categories + put names in separate bowls for random sampling

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30
Q

evaluate stratified sampling

A

A: representative
A: no experimenter bias
C: inconvenient

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31
Q

define natural observations

A

study in natural environment

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32
Q

evaluate natural observations

A

A: high ecological validity
C: lack of control of extraneous variables

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33
Q

define controlled observations

A

artificial environment

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34
Q

evaluate controlled observations

A

A: minimised extraneous variables
C: lack of ecological validity

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35
Q

define covert observations

A

not knowing being watched

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36
Q

evaluate covert observations

A

A: increased validity
C: unethical

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37
Q

define overt observations

A

know being watched

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38
Q

evaluate overt observations

A

A: reduced ethical issues
C: demand characteristics

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39
Q

define participant observations

A

researcher involved

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40
Q

evaluate participant observations

A

A: increased validity
C: may get too involved

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41
Q

define non-participant observations

A

researcher not involved

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42
Q

explain some sampling methods

A

event sampling: how many times behaviour/ event occurs
time sampling: recording behaviour in time frame

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43
Q

define interobserver reliability

A

consistency between all observers results

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44
Q

define and evaluate informed consent

A

participants made aware of task + consistency reminded of RTW
C: demand characteristics

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45
Q

define and evaluate deception

A

with holding information/ misleading participant
A: avoid demand characteristics
C: could cause harm

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46
Q

define and evaluate protection from harm

A

risk shouldn’t be more present than what participants experience daily
C: some distress may be needed for realistic results

47
Q

define and evaluate confidentiality

A

right for participant’s info to be private
C: may need to breach if illegal/unsafe

48
Q

define right to withdraw

A

protect participants from harm- constantly reminded

49
Q

define debriefing

A

used after research is complete to check on participant and say if deceived

50
Q

evaluate correlations

A

A: gives idea of further research
A: secondary data: convenient
A: shows strength of relationship
C: secondary data: not always reliable
C: findings are more descriptive than explanatory

51
Q

define case studies

A

focus on one person/ small group
descriptive of event (qualitative data)

52
Q

evaluate case studies

A

A: in depth
A: easy to understand
C: can’t generalist
C: can’t compare

53
Q

define central tendencies

A

mean, mode, median

54
Q

define measures of dispersion

A

range + standard deviation
more speed out= more abilities

55
Q

define standard deviation

A

average distance of each score from mean

56
Q

evaluate mean

A

A: representative
C: anomalies effect

57
Q

evaluate median

A

A: easy to calculate
C: not representative

58
Q

evaluate mode

A

A: easy to calculate
C: not representative

59
Q

evaluate standard deviation

A

A: representative
C: takes a while

60
Q

evaluate range

A

A: convenient
C: not representative

61
Q

define self report

A

asking and answering questions

62
Q

what are the two kinds of self report methods

A

interview and questionnaire

63
Q

define questionnaire

A

giving participant questions and researcher doesn’t interact (quantitative)

64
Q

evaluate questionnaires

A

A: easy to compare and analyse
C: demand characteristic

65
Q

define the types of questionnaires

A

open questions: more depth
closed questions: wild range

66
Q

define interviews

A

researcher present and interacting (qualitative)

67
Q

evaluate interviews

A

A: in depth
C: interviewer effect
C: time consuming

68
Q

define the types of interviews

A

structured and unstructured

69
Q

define structured interviews

A

pre-planned, no deviation

70
Q

evaluate structured interviews

A

A: fair
A: avoids going off topic

71
Q

define unstructured interviews

A

following theme, unplanned

72
Q

evaluate unstructured interviews

A

A: freedom to find more
A: no preconceptions

73
Q

where is the mean on a positive skewed distribution curve

A

right

74
Q

where is the mean on a negative skewed distribution curve

A

left

75
Q

define meta-analysis

A

combining results of numbers studies to help investigations

76
Q

what is the purpose of report writing

A
  • communicate to other researchers what you found, what you did, why you did it, how you did it, what you think it means
  • intended to be read by someone who knows nothing about your experiment- replication and peer review
77
Q

what is the purpose of the abstract in report writing

A

self contained brief summary of main points of report- able for researcher to determine if research will interest them

78
Q

what is included within an abstract in report writing

A

intro: sentence summary of aim + background
participants: participants + sampling
design: significance level
discussion: conclusion and suggestions for further research

79
Q

what is included within the method of report writing

A

design: experiment design, IV, DV, extraneous variables, cofounding variables, ethical issues
participants: how many chosen, important factors (age, gender), target population, location, sampling
apparatus and materials: describes what is used in testing participants (e.g. simulator)
procedure: explain what you did exactly from start to finish (e.g. pilot)- refer to reader to debrief, informed consent sheet

80
Q

what is included within the results of a report

A
  • descriptive stats presented in tables and charts which reflect findings of investigation with appropriate measures of central tendency + dispersion
  • justification of inferential test used in stat analysis of findings in investigation
81
Q

what is included within the discussion of a report

A

summary of results + what they mean, implications for further research, look at flaws of research

82
Q

what is the format of writing a reference for a book

A

last name, first initial. (year published). title, city: publisher, page(s)

83
Q

define content analysis

A

tallying how often a code appears

84
Q

what is content analysis used for

A

analysing qualitative data and transforming it into quantitative data

85
Q

what are the steps for analysing data using content analysis

A
  1. read and gather codes for themes in study
  2. start tallying info for before and after study
  3. compare results
86
Q

evaluate the use of content analysis when analysing

A

A: reliable way to analyse data as coding units aren’t open to interpretation and are operationalised
A: easy and not time consuming
A: can generalise
C: low internal validity: not enough control of extraneous variables as casualty (cause and effect) not established

87
Q

define thematic analysis

A

themes identified and re-analysed so they become more refined in the form of a mind map- information kept qualitative

88
Q

what are the steps for analysing data using thematic analysis

A
  1. familiarise self with data
  2. generating initial codes
  3. searching for themes
89
Q

evaluate the use of thematic analysis when analysing

A

A: in depth
C: time consuming
C: subjective
C: can’t generalise/ compare

90
Q

define reliability

A

measure of consistency (e.g. time, people)

91
Q

define test-retest in reliability

A

way of testing external reliability involving presenting the same participants with same test they did previous to compare consistency

92
Q

how would you test test-retest when looking at reliability

A

test with correlation coefficient (strong positive is <0.8)

93
Q

define inter-observer reliability

A

making sure results are consistent across researchers

94
Q

what are some of the ways that can help to improve reliability

A
  • operationalise behaviour categories
  • minimise factors outside IV that could affect results
95
Q

define validity

A

refers to whether something is true/ legitimate

96
Q

define internal validity

A

measure of whether results obtained are solely affected by changes in variable being manipulated

97
Q

define external validity

A

measure of whether data can be generalised to other situations outside research environment (e.g. RLA)

98
Q

define face validity

A

assessing whether/ not something measures what it claims to measure (e.g. does an IQ test look like it tests intelligence)

99
Q

define concurrent validity

A

comparing new test with existing test to see if results produced are similar

100
Q

what are the types of external validity

A

ecological and temporal

101
Q

define ecological validity

A

whether the findings can be generalised to situations outside environment created by researcher (e.g. similar to real life)

102
Q

define temporal validity

A

whether time research was taken place affects validity (e.g. outdated)

103
Q

define peer review

A

process that takes place before a study to ensure research is high quality

104
Q

what would happen if experiments and methods were not peer reviewed?

A

recommendations/ guidelines can’t be found and may have negative consequences

105
Q

steps or peer review

A
  1. research submitted to publisher
  2. expert reviews it
  3. suggestion for changes sent back
  4. re-submit
  5. publish decision made
106
Q

evaluate peer reviewing

A

A: promotes and maintains his standards in research- implications for society
A: prevent scientific fraud
A: promote scientific processes through development dissemination of accurate knowledge
C: anonymity not maintained- experts with conflict of interest may not publish research to further own reputation
C: only statistically significant findings published- findings that challenge existing understanding might be overlooked

107
Q

define theories as a key feature of science

A

constructed by bringing together ideas and definitions in logical way to explain and describe event/ relationship

108
Q

define hypothesis as a key feature of science

A

clear, testable and appropriate experimental method used to test hypothesis

109
Q

define replicability as a key feature of science

A

enables researcher to look at different situations to determine if basic findings of original study can be generalised to other participants and circumstances

110
Q

define falsifiability as a key feature of science

A

ability to evaluate research with possibility that theory could be proven false

111
Q

define empirical as a key feature of science

A

based on evidence gathered through carefully controlled and tested observed +/ experiments

112
Q

define objectivity as a key feature of science

A

free from personal feelings/ prejudices

113
Q
A

psychology (5 decks)

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