Research Methods

Question 1

Directional or Non-directional Hypothesis?:
Memory decreases as age increases
🙌

Answer 1

Directional!

Question 2

What is an independent variable??

Answer 2

A variable that is manipulated or changed by the researcher!

Question 3

What is operationalising?? 😐

Answer 3

Making the IV and DV measurable!

Question 4

What are the 3 types of experimental design??🧪

Answer 4

• Independent groups
• Repeated Measures
• Matched pairs

Question 5

So…What is a repeated measures experiment and what are the strengths/weaknesses?

Answer 5

Each ppt takes part in all experimental conditions!
+ Smaller sample easier to obtain
+ Control ppt variables
- Less representative
- Demand Characteristics
- Order effects

Question 6

What are order effects??

Answer 6

Fatigue, boredom and/or familiarity
Minimise them by using counterbalancing! So one ppt does one condition first whilst another does a different condition and then they switch!

Question 7

GRAVE!
… What is grave??
🪦

Answer 7

G- Generalisation
R- Reliability
A- Application
V- Validity
E- Ethics
It’s a guide to evaluating studies!

Question 8

What’s external validity?? 🌍

Answer 8

The extent to which the conclusions from your research study can be generalised to people and situations outside of the study!

Question 9

What’s Mundane realism?

Answer 9

The degree to which materials and procedures involved in an experiment are similar to events that occur in the real world!

Question 10

Onto types of experiments…
What’s Quasi??

Answer 10

The IV is based on an existing difference between people!
Like…Age! Or gender!

Question 11

What are the negatives of a field experiment??🏡(and positive)

Answer 11

+ High external validity
- Ethical issues (Did the ppt consent??)
- Lose control over extraneous variables

Question 12

Now the positives and negatives of natural experiments, Go!

Answer 12

+ Take advantage of rare experimental opportunities
+ High external validity
- Too rare to replicate
- People not randomly allocated (bias?)

Question 13

Phew… Onto Observational techniques now!
What are the 6 types??

Answer 13

Naturalistic
Controlled
Overt
Covert
Participant
Non-participant

Question 14

Why use a controlled observation technique?? (or why not?)🔬

Answer 14

+ High internal validity
+ Control over extraneous variables
+ Easy to replicate
- Demand characteristics

Question 15

Gimme all the facts about covert!

Answer 15

Ppts unaware they’re being observed
+ High validity
- Unethical

Question 16

Positives and negatives of Participant! (The observation technique)

Answer 16

+ High validity (more insight)
- Difficult to record observations promptly and objectively
- Difficult to replicate
- Objective

Question 17

What is a structured observation?? 👀

Answer 17

Researchers design a coding/categorising system
Use a behavioural checklist -> A list of behaviours that could be observed specific to the observation

Question 18

Wait so… Can we remove the bias from Participant observations?

Answer 18

Yes!
Inter-observer reliability: 2+ researchers need to record the same data & their judgements need to be consistent!

Question 19

Wait there’s more though… What are the 2 types of sampling in a structured observation??

Answer 19

Time sampling -> Observations made at regular time intervals
Event sampling -> Keep a tally chart of every time a behaviour occurs

Question 20

Now onto Ethics! What are the 4 main parts of ethical issues??

Answer 20

Informed consent
Deception
Protection form harm
Privacy & Confidentiality

Question 21

What 4 things should be in a consent letter?? ✉️

Answer 21

• General aim
• Clear instructions
• Right to withdraw
• Signature from ppt

Question 22

Define retrospection!

Answer 22

Debriefing after an experiment when ppts didn’t know they were part of an experiment!

Question 23

What 3 things should the debrief after the study include?? 🧐

Answer 23

• Told true nature of study and given all info withheld during
• Given right to withdraw data
• If subject to stress or embarrassment, researcher provides counselling

Question 24

What’s the rule linked to confidentiality??

Answer 24

Only collect necessary information from ppts (keep names and data confidential when possible)

Question 25

Moving out of ethics and towards... Questionnaires and interviews!! Start off with the 3 strengths of questionnaires!

Answer 25

- Cost effective - Researcher doesn't have to be present - Data analysis easy to conduct!

Question 26

What are the weaknesses of questionnaires then?? 👎

Answer 26

- Demand characteristic & social desirability bias - Response bias

Question 27

What's the difference between structured and unstructured interviews??

Answer 27

Structured: Easy to replicate, can't deviate from questions or elaborate Unstructured: More detail from ppt but harder data analysis structured follows a fixed set of questions whereas unstructured is more conversational.

Question 28

(Descriptive statistics) Which central tendency is the most representative??

Answer 28

Mean!!

Question 29

How do we calculate the range in Psychology?? 📏

Answer 29

Highest - Lowest + 1

Question 30

What does a large standard deviation show us??

Answer 30

Not all ppts were affected by the IV in the same way - The results are further from the mean.

Question 31

Sampling techniques time! How do we obtain a random sample??

Answer 31

1. Complete list of target population is made 2. Each member assigned a number 3. Numbers generated by computer-based programme

Question 32

When discussing the strengths and weaknesses of sampling techniques, what are the topics that should be considered?

Answer 32

- Researcher Bias - Cost - Convenience - Ethics (ppts can refuse) - Time consumption - Representation of population - Fairness

Question 33

What are the strengths of systematic sampling?? 💪

Answer 33

- Free from researcher bias - Usually representative

Question 33

What are the weaknesses of random sampling??

Answer 33

- Time consuming - Not representative - Hard to obtain complete list of entire population - Ppts may refuse

Question 33

How do we obtain a systematic sample??

Answer 33

1. make list of target population 2. Sampling frame organised 3. Every nth member chosen

Question 34

How do we obtain stratified samples??

Answer 34

1. Identify the strata within the target population 2. Proportions of each strata for the sample to be representative are calculated 3. Ppts from each strata are chosen using random sampling

Question 34

What are the weaknesses of stratified sampling?? 👎

Answer 34

- Can't reflect individual differences - Time consuming - Ppts can refuse

Question 35

How do we obtain opportunity samples??

Answer 35

Researcher selects first available ppts that fit the criteria

Question 36

What are the weaknesses of opportunity samples?? 💔

Answer 36

- Not representative - Researcher bias

Question 37

What are the strengths and weaknesses of volunteer sampling?? 👀

Answer 37

Strengths: Cheap & Convenient Weaknesses: Not representative & Only specific types of people volunteer

Question 38

What's a pilot study??✈️

Answer 38

Small-scale trial run of the actual investigation to check the method works

Question 39

Why would we use pilot studies for observations??

Answer 39

- To check the behavioural checklist - Train observers (etc)

Question 40

Why would we use pilot studies for questionnaires??✈️👀

Answer 40

Ensure questions are standardised and understandable To remove ambiguous or leading questions

Question 41

What would a pilot study check for field experiments??

Answer 41

If the sampling technique is biased or if the wrong one is being used

Question 42

Give 2 examples of secondary data sources!✌️

Answer 42

- Journal articles - Government statistics

Question 43

What's meta-analysis?? (And what type of data is it?)

Answer 43

Combining results from multiple studies to draw an overall conclusion Data: Secondary

Question 44

What's a strength of meta-analysis??

Answer 44

Increases validity of conclusion (sample size larger than individual samples, increases degree of generalisation)

Question 45

What's a case study? 💼

Answer 45

Studies that collect qualitative, primary data based on subjective experience

Question 46

What are the 5 weaknesses of case studies?? 🤔

Answer 46

- No control over extraneous variables - Subjectivity - Not generalisable - Hard to replicate (low reliability) - Time-consuming

Question 47

What are the 3 strengths of case studies??

Answer 47

- Rich & qualitative data - High external validity - Avoids ethical issues

Question 48

What is the purpose of the critical value??

Answer 48

Tells us whether the result is significant or not

Question 49

What are the 4 things that are needed to calculate the critical value??

Answer 49

- Table of critical - Desired significance level (0.05) - Number of ppts in investigation (N value) - Whether hypothesis is one-tailed or two-tailed

Question 50

How do you find the calculated value??

Answer 50

1. Calculate the difference between both conditions for each participant 2. Determine what the sign is (+ or -) 3. How many + and - there are, the calculated value is the lesser number (smaller)

Question 51

How do you find the critical value??

Answer 51

1. Calculate the N value (how many results were collected, excluding any zeros when the differences are calculated) 2. Use the N value, the desired significant level, the table of critical and the type of hypothesis to find the critical value

Question 52

What is the conclusion if the calculated value is higher than the critical value??

Answer 52

Data is not significant and alternative hypothesis is not accepted but null hypothesis is.

Question 53

What is the conclusion if the critical value is higher than the calculated value??

Answer 53

Data is significant and the hypothesis is accepted