Research Methods Flashcards
what is a one-tailed hypotheses?
there will be only one outcome
what is an example of a one-tailed hypotheses?
Playing video games will increase a childs agression levels
what is a two-tailed hypotheses?
there may be multiple outcomes
what is an example of a two-tailed hypotheses?
Playing video games may effect a childs agression levels
what is a null hypotheses?
there will be no outcome
what is an example of a null hypotheses?
playing video games will not effect a childs agression levels
what is operationalising?
adding specific details to a hypotheses
what is an example of an operationalised hypotheses?
Playing Grand Theft Auto will increase fights in children aged 13-16 (one tailed)
what are the 3 different types of experiments?
Laboratory
Field
Quasi/Natural
what is a laboratory experiment?
when you manipulate all variables in a highly controlled environment
what are the strengths of a lab experiment?
can establishment a cause and effect relationship
can control confounding and extraneous variables
easily replicable
what are the limitations of lab experiment?
artifical - harder to generalise
demand chanracteristics ( participants may change behaviour )
what is a field experiment?
when behaviour is measured in a realistic setting
what are the strengths of a field experiment?
high ecological validity
less demand characteristics
what are the limitations of a field experiment?
lack of control
ethical issues (informed consent)
expensive
what is a Quasi / Natural experiment?
experiment conducted with a naturally occuring IV
does not control IV (e.g, age)
what is the strengths of Quasi / Natural experiments?
allows us to study the effects of things we cant change
what is the limitations of Quasi / Natural experiments?
harder to establish causal relationships
what is an independent variable?
manipulated by the researched pr changes that effect the DV
what is a dependent variable?
measured by the researcher, changed by the IV
what is an extraneous variable?
factors that are in the experiment but not being studied but can be controlled
what is a participant variable?
extraneous variables related to individual responses
what is a situational variable?
extraneous variables related to environment that may impact responses
what is a confounding variable?
an uncontrollable variable
what is an independent measures design?
each participant only experiences one condition?
what is the strength of independent measures design?
no order effects
what is the limitations of independent measures design?
participant variables
what is the repeated measures design?
each participant experiences all conditions
what is the strengths of repeated measures design?
participant variables
fewer participants
what is the limitation of repeated measures design?
order effects
what is a matched pairs design?
2 participants matched via important variables, doing one condition each
some use control groups which removes confounding variables
what are the strengths of a matched pairs design?
no order effects
participant variables
what are the limitations of a matched pairs design?
number of participants
practicalities = time consuming and difficult to find participants
what are order effects?
confounding variables that can be controlled via counterbalancing
what is counterbalancing?
making half the participants do the condition in one order, and the other half in another order
what is a sampling frame?
list of members of the research population
what are the 4 types of sampling?
opportunity sampling
random sampling
snowball sampling
self-selected/volunteer sampling
what is opportunity sampling?
anyone who happens to be available who fulfils the criteria
what are the strengths of opportunity sampling?
easy to obtain
inexpensive
dosent take alot of time
what are the limitations of opportunity sampling?
may be biased
participants can decline and may turn into a self-selected sample
what is random sampling?
anyone in the target population has equal and independent chance of being chosen/selected
what is the strength of random sampling?
no chance of researcher bias
what are the limitations of random sampling?
may be unrepresentative of target population as they may be all the same
time consuming
often impossible if there is a large target population
what is snowball sampling?
a psychologist will find one participant to get another participant and so on
what are the strengths of snowball sampling?
may be effective in targetting difficult to indentify participants
can target participants who may possess the features under investigation
what are the limitations of snowball sampling?
can be slow
may not be representative of a target population
what is volunteer sampling?
people who fulfil the criteria of the sample and who volunteer to take part
what are the strengths of volunteer sampling?
participants are committed
quick
easy
reaches a wide range of participants
what are the limitations of volunteer sampling?
participants may be biased by personality, wanting something
not representative
what is a naturalistic observation?
observations made in a real life setting
what is a controlled observation?
observations made in an artificial set up (e.g., Zimbardo)
what is a covert observation?
participants are not aware they are being observed as part of a study
what is an overt observation?
participants are aware they are being observed as part of a study
what is Event Sampling?
noting every time a particular event occurs
what is the strength of event sampling?
less chance of behaviour of interest being missed
what are the limitations of event sampling?
limits behaviour observed
maybe difficult to record everything
what is time sampling?
2 types
time point sampling
time event sampling
what is time paint sampling?
observer records behaviour at fixed intervals (e.g., every 5 secs over 20 mins)
what is time event sampling?
fixed period of time is set for observations (e.g., first 10 minutes of every hour)
what is the strength of time sampling?
reduces the amount of time spent and may increase accuracy
what are the limitations?
behaviour may be missed if time samples are limited
may not be representative
what are behavioural categories?
pre determined behaviours that the observers are going to record
what are the strengths of behvioural categories?
quantitative data
easily compared between subjects or groups
analysed statistically
what are the limitations of behavioural categories?
gives restricted view of whats actually happening
may miss important info
data not in-depth
what is the strength of questionnaires?
practical way to collect a large amount of info quickly and they can be replicated
what are the limitations of questionnaires?
problems can arise if questions are unclear (may suggest desirable response)
social desirability bias
what data is open questions?
qualitative data
what is the strengths of open questions?
can gather detailed explanations
what is the limitation of open question?
difficult to analyse
what data is a closed question?
quantitative data
what is the strength of closed questions?
can be statistically analysed
what is the limitation of a closed question?
may not represent what people think
what does a semantic differential scale ask of a person?
to rate their attitude towards something
what is an example of a semantic differential scale?
likert scale
what is a strength of semantic differential scale?
allows to place numerical value on subjective opinion
what is the limitation of semantic differential scale?
participants opinion on the data may be different from researcher
what is a correlation?
a relationship between 2 variables (e.g., age and memory)
what does a positive correlation mean?
high values of one variable are associated with high values of the other
the variables increase together
what does a negative correlation mean?
high values of one variable are associated with low values of the other
as one variable increases, the other decreases
e.g., self-esteem and depression
still indicate a relationship
what does uncorrelated mean?
there is no relationship
what is the strengths of correlations?
they can be used to establish relationships and predict future behaviour patterns
what is the limitation of correlations?
only shows a relationship, not cause & effect
what is a correlation coefficient?
measure of direction (+/-) and extent between 2 sources
ranges from -1 to +1
what is the correlation coefficent of a positive correlation?
it goes up and down together (e.g., smoking and cancer)
what is the correlation coefficient of a negative correlation?
indicates that as one score increases the other decreases (e.g., as self-esteem goes up, depression decreases)
what is the sign test?
statistical test to compare the sizes of 2 groups
it is non-parametric or “distribution free” test
means the test do0sen’t assume the data is normally distributed
when should you use the sign test?
when the data is from 2 samples - should be paired or matched (e.g., depression scores before and after a medicial procedure)
what is a P-value?
tells us something is statistically significant
means that our results are less likely due to chance
what does p<0.05 mean?
the data has less than 5% chance to be due to random influential factors
what is parametric?
statistical test that assumes data is normally distrubuted
what is non-paramateric?
statistical test that assumes data is not normally distributed
what is standard deviation?
better measure of spreas then range because it is less affected by extreme values
what are the steps of working out standard deviation?
- write out the equation
- work out the mean for the data set
- For each number, take away the mean
- square the answer
- add it all up
- divide it by the number of data points
- square root the answer
what are the 3 factors affecting the choice of statistical test ?
difference or Correlation
Experimental Design
Level of Measurement
