Research Methods Flashcards
Conducting research and maths skills
What is the first step a psychologist must take before conducting research?
Decide what they aim to investigate
What is a hypothesis?
A testable statement
What are the three essential components of a hypothesis?
- Both conditions of the independent variable
- the dependent variable
- the word significant
List the three types of hypotheses.
- Directional
- Non-directional
- Null
What is a directional hypothesis?
It states the outcome using terms like more, less, increase, or decrease
e.g There will be a significant decrease in reaction time for those who consume alchol than those that don’t.
What is a non-directional hypothesis?
It states there will be a significant difference between two conditions without specifying the direction
e.g There will be a signifixant difference in reaction time for those who consume alcohol than those that don’t.
What is a null hypothesis?
It states there will be no difference between the two conditions of the independent variable
ALWAYS NEEDED
e.g There will be no significant difference in reaction time for those that consume alcohol than those that don’t.
What is the independent variable in an experiment?
The variable that is changed
What is the dependent variable in an experiment?
The variable that is measured
What does it mean to operationalise variables?
To make them measurable to ensure clarity and replicability
How could you measure running speed operationally?
By counting how many seconds it takes to run 100m
Extraneous variable
any variable that could affect DV that’s not the IV
Confounding variable
any variable that effects results of study making it hard to establish cause and effect
Cause and effect
relationship where IV directly impacts DV
Independent variable
variable you change
Dependent variable
variable thats measures
Co-variables
variables that are measured in studies that do not have independent or dependent variables
Co-variables are used in correlational studies to assess the relationship between two measured variables.
True or False: In psychological experiments, all aspects of the situation are kept constant except for the independent variable.
True
Controlling other variables helps ensure that the results are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.
What is the goal when a researcher discovers extraneous variables that could impact their experiment?
Control the independent variable
This ensures that the research findings are valid and reliable.
What is reliability in psychology?
The idea that something is consistent.
Internal Reliability
Consistency of methods in an experiment.
External reliability
The consistency of results when replicated in a real-life setting.
Inter-rater reliability.
When two observers consistently observe the same behavior.
Split-half reliability
Dividing a test in half and calculating the correlation between the two scores.
Test-retest reliability
same test used on same participants at a different time
What is validity in the context of psychology?
A way of describing how accurate or true an experiment’s findings are.
What does high validity indicate?
Findings have supporting evidence for a hypothesis.
Internal validity
When the study accurately measures what it set out to measure.
External validity
The extent to which results can apply to real life.
Population validity
How accurately results can be generalized to the rest of the world.
Predictive validity
The extent to which a study can accurately project future outcomes.
Concurrent validity
The accuracy of a test compared to other pre-established tests.
Construct validity
extent to which methods accurately measure IV
Ecological validity
a measure of how a test performance predicts behaviours in real wolrd settings
Generalisability
apply findings to other setting/people
Representative
sample form larger group accurately represents characteristics of target population
Lab experiment
specially designed artificial environment
advantages of lab experiments
All extraneous variables can be controlled. cause and effect
ethical as they know they’re being studied and give consent
disadvantages of lab experiments
Lack of ecological validity
demand characteristics as they are aware of taking part in the study
Field experiment
natural setting
advantages of field experiments
High ecological validity.
less risk of demand characteristics
a disadvantages of field experiments
Little control over variables. reduces cause and effect
unethical - consent can’t be gained
Quasi-experiment
independent variable occurs naturally and cannot be manipulated.
natural or artificial
e.g autism, ethnicity
advantages of quasi-experiments
Gains insight into behaviors that cannot be ethically manipulated.
disadvantages of quasi-experiments
Lack of control as independent variables can’t be controlled - lacks cause and effect
lacks population validity as its unique cases
What is a sample in psychological research?
A small group of people taken from a target population.
Target population
The group of people that a researcher tends to study.
Random sampling
A sample in which any member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
advantages of random sampling
Unbiased; all members of the target population have an equal chance of selection.
disadvantages of random sampling
Requires a complete list of the target population; time-consuming to contact selected members.
Volunteer sampling
Sampling method where people respond to an advert for volunteers.
advantages of volunteer sampling
Access to a variety of participants, making the sample more representative.
disadvantages of volunteer sampling
Sample may be biased as participants are likely more motivated or have extra time.
Opportunity sampling
Sampling method where participants are selected based on availability.
advantages of opportunity sampling
Easiest method; quick to locate participants.
disadvantages of opportunity sampling
Inevitably biased as sample is drawn from a small part of the target population.
Snowball sampling
A method used to locate groups of people by asking existing participants to refer others.
advantages of snowball sampling
Enables researchers to locate difficult-to-access populations.
disadvantages of snowball sampling
Sample is not likely to be a good cross-section of the population.
Quota sampling
Gathering a sample according to predetermined quotas needed for research.
advantages of quota sampling
More representative than other methods due to proportional representation of subgroups.
disadvantages of quota sampling
Very time-consuming to identify and select participants.
stratified sampling
Ensuring the amount of people from each category is proportional to the population.
advantages of stratified sampling
Likely to be more representative than other methods.
disadvantages of stratified sampling?
Very time-consuming to identify subgroups and contact participants.
Systematic sampling
Selecting every nth person from a list of the target population.
advantages of systematic sampling
Unbiased as participants are selected using an objective system.
disadvantages of systematic sampling
Not truly unbiased unless the starting point is selected randomly.
what are independent measures?
participants take part in one condition of IV
advantages of independent measures
less risk of demand characteristics - less chance to figure out aim of study
disadvantages of independent measures
too many individual differences due to increase amount of participants
less practical-need more participants
repeated measures
all participants take part in both
conditions of the experiment
advantages of repeated measures
no individual difference as you’re comparing results of same people.
practical- father less participants
disadvantages of repeated measures
high risk of demand characteristics - participants get full view of the study
fatigue effects, practice effect due to increased work load
Matched pairs
form of independent measures design. Participants can be matched on variables, whoch are considered relevant to the experiment.
e.g pairs of participants may be matched for age, gender and scores for intelligence. how they are matched depends on whats being studied.
advantages of matched pairs
provides a more accurate picture of IV because you’re measuring compatible people.
disadvantages of matched pairs
impractical and time consuming to match participants.
Naturalistic observation
Participants are observed in real life settings
e.g on a street
advantages of naturalistic observation
- participants are in usual environment so will act normal - increases ecological validity
disadvantages of naturalistic observation
- observer doesn’t have a high level of control over observation which decreases internal reliability
Controlled observation
participants are observed in an artificial environment
advantages of controlled observation
- researcher has high control and can control necessary variables which increases cause and effect
disadvantages of controlled observation
- participants may act differently as they aren’t in their usual environment
Participant observation
when the researcher joins the group being researched
advantages of participant observation
- researcher gets an accurant and representative view of behaviour as they are highly involved
disadvantages of participant observation
- researcher has a high risk of participating in unethical behaviours if engaging with participants
Non-participant observation
when the researcher stands back and doesn’t get involved with the group
advantages of non-participant observation
- researcher can focus on the behaviour they are researching which creates valid results
disadvantages of non-participant observation
- participants may act differently as they are being observed (observer effect)
covert observation
when the participants don’t know they are ebing observed
advantages of covert observation
- participants aren’t aware they are being observed so act normally creating internal validity
disadvantages of covert observation
- unethical because participants haven’t been told they’re being observed - lack of consent, deception,no right to withdraw
Overt observation
when participants are aware they’re being observed
advantages of overt observation
- ethical as participants aren’t are aware they are being observed and can give full consent
disadvantages of overt observation
- participants may act differently as they are being observed (observer effect)
Time sampling
Behaviour is observed in time slots
e.g every 5 minutes
Event sampling
Behaviour is observed over a period of time and behaviours get tallied up
Observer effect
when the participants change their behaviour because they know they are being observed
Social desireability
lie to maintain a positive reputation
Questionnaires
Self-report method consisting of a series of questions decided prior to research that are answered in writing.
advantages of questionnares
- gain insight to areas of individuals taht aren’t observable (thoguhts,feelings)
- adaptable and provides qualitative data
- distributed to a lot of people - large sample sizes increases reprisentativeness, validity and reliability
disadvantages of questionnares
- social disreliability if participants don’t thin answers are annonymous. results lack validity
- may not answer correctly or in enough detail. lacks validity
- researcher may not always be present to clarify confusion in questions. leads to flase answers and low validity.
Open question
a question which requires an extended response
Closed question
a question which requires a short one worded answer
Interviews
Self-report method that is in real time and face to face and responded to verbally.
advantages of interviews
- gain insight into unobservable/sensitive to put into a questionnare. also insight into feelings and experiences.
- researcher is present to clarify. increases validity
- high quality and rich data - high validity
- high chance of protecting participant from psychological harmas interviewer can stop interview at any time and offer relevant services.
disadvantages of interviews
- social desireability - low validity
- interviewer must be highly trained/skilled to get best answers-costly, time consuming if untrained
Structured interview
predetermined questions and no deviation from them
Semi-structured interview
predetermined questions but may deviate to find more information on a topic/answer given by participant
Unstructured interview
researcher knows the topic of the interview , no predetermined questions, flow like a conversation
Case study
- small sample involving a unique person
- carried out in participants natural environment
- includes other methods to gather data (interviews and observations)
- qualitative data
advantages of case studies
- rich in depth qualitative data over long period of time - increases validity
- conducted in real-life environment - increases ecological validity
disadvantages of case studies
- small samples means findings are unrepresentative and lack generalisability + population validity
- participants natural environment makes it difficult to repeat - lacks external reliability
Longitudinal study
a study carried out over a long period of time to study the chnages in the same participants
advantages of longitudinal studies
- van identify changes over time which could lead to cause and effect between variables
- can detect subtle changes over time which may be noticible when looking back at the time period as a whole
disadvantages of longitudinal studies
- they are very expensive and time consuming to complete
- participants may drop out which will impact data (decreases validity and reliability) - when this is done it is known as attrition
Attrition
when participants drop out halfway through study
Cohort effects
when people you are studying all have a shared experience due to common characteristics
e.g race or gender
Cross sectional study
a type of research where a group of people observed or certain information is collected at a single point in time or over a short period of time
studies are observational studies that analyze data from a population at a single point in time
advantages of cross sectional studies
- can provide a broad overview of the population at a moment in time
- capture data from a brief and often rare moment in time.
disadvantages of cross sectional studies
- timing of study my not accurately represent the whole picture
Content analysis
- understanding events, individuals/behaviours by studying materials produced by others - usualy mass media or other documents
- interviews,conversations,newspaper articles, speeches
- a form of direct observation and can produce qualitative data into quantitative data.
a research method that examines the presence, meaning, and relationships of words, themes, or concepts in a given set of data
Correlational studies
a study that looks to establish whether there is a relationship between two co-variables. no cause and effect only whether there is a link.
Positive correlation
both co-variables are increasing
/
Negative correlation
as one co-variable increases, the other decreases \
No correlation
co-variables are increasing and decreasing at different rates
Correlation coefficient
a number between -1 and +1 that tells the researcher the type of correlation that is found and how strong or weak it is
* above 0-positive ,lower than 0-negative
* further away from 0, the more positive the correlation
* if close to 0 it is a weak correlation
How do you write a correlational hypothesis?
replace ‘significance’ with ‘relationship’
e.g there will be a significant relationship between…
What do psychologists do before conducting research?
- must submit their ideas to an ethics committe (British Psychological Society).
- ethical guidelines must be adhered to to make sure participant(s) abd psychologist are kept safe.
Confidentiality
all participants names and data should not be shared or made public with anyone but the researchers
how is confidentiality achieved?
- participants are given pseudonyms/ numbers rather than their name in the report
how is confidentiality breached?
- details of participants name or data may be published or pseudonyms aren’t encrypted enough
- name sharing with other researchers outside study
Deception
lying or not revealing the true aims of the study to participants
how is deception achieved?
- sometimes revealing true intentions would skew results therefore necessary to mislead participants - lie must be approved by board of ethics
how is deception breached?
- if true aims are not shared with participants, they are not offered further support after the study
Informed consent
the participant has fromally agreed to take part in the study and knows and understands the aims of the study
how is informed consent achieved?
- participant will recieve info on the study and sign consent form if they want to take part
how is informed consent breached?
- gaining consent whilst not revealing true nature of study.
- not receiving any agreement that the participant wants to be in the study
Debrief
after the study the participant is told the aim of the study and is made aware of any guidance/ further info that is availible to them
how is debriefing achieved?
- short conversations after ther study where the participant is reminded of the aims of the study and offered to withdraw data if they do not agree with the research
how is debriefing breached?
- if the participant is never made aware (through debriefing) of the true aims of the study
Right to withdraw
participants are free to leave the study at any point or remove their data without any contention from the researcher
how is the right to withdraw achieved?
- researcher make participant aware they can remove their data at any time
how is the right to withdraw breached?
- if participants ask to leave and are denied this right
- if participants are questioned on why they want to leave
Psychological Harm
when the participant leaves the study with a more damages/fragile mental state than when they started with
how is psychological harm achieved?
- ensuring the participants are resilient and during pilor study no one was harmed
how is psychological harm breached?
- if the participant is physically/mentally harmed during or after the study
Brain scans
an objective and scientific way of viewing the brainand allows medical professionals to observe brain activity and detect abnormalities
advantage of brain scans
- objective method that can observe live brains
disadvantages of brain scans
- can be very expensive
- time consuming
- not perfect at finding issues and abnormalities may still be missed
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
electrodes attatched to scalp which detect electrical charges as a result of activity in the brain.
used to diagnose epilepsy and identify stages of sleep
advantages of EEG scan
- silent
- non invasive
- doesn’t use ionising radiation
disadvantages of EEG scan
- only shows activity of cerebral cortex
Computed Tomography (CT)
x-rays showing internal structure of cortex in slices from different angles.
patients are passed through scanner slowly whilst lying down
used fro detecting brain injuries and skull fractures - and schitzofrenia research
advantages of CT scan
- high resolution of bone, soft tissues and blood vessels at the same time
disadvantages of CT scan
- high x-ray dose
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
strong magnetic field causes protons in body to allign with magnets in the machine.
radio waves cause protons to realign and an image is created of the scanned part of the body
used for indetifying structures in brain
advantages of MRI scan
- detailed anatomical image without using ionising radiation
disadvantages of MRI scan
- have to lie very still on their back
- very noisy
- difficult for people with claustrophobia
What so psychologists do after they have conducted their research?
write up a formal report to be shared with other people in the field of psychology. (psychological report)
what is the format of a psychological report?
- abstract
- literature review/introduction
- methodology
- procedure
- results
- discussion
- conclusion
Psychological Report
Abstract
summary of research - brief explanation of sections
Psychological Report
Literature review/introduction
brief summary of previous research thats inspired/guided current research
Psychological Report
Methodology
describe characteristics of participants and type of experiment
Psychological Report
Procedure
steps by step guide on research
Psychological Report
Results
data gathered and analyzed
Psychological Report
Discussion
evaluate current study with past research
Psychological Report
Conclusion
summarize results and put finidings into laymans terms. suggests what research should be next carried out
Peer review
- formal review of a document produced by a colleague, scholar or expert
- they describe strengths and weaknesses of document and if it should be published or not
- advise writer how to improve
- when peer reviewed it can help establish credibility of work
what is the process of peer review?
- author submits article
- editor forwards article to reviewers
- reviewers evaluate quality and suggests revisions. if lacking scholarly validity and regour they reject it
- author has oppportunity to make changes before publication
strenghts of peer review
- provides valuable feedback so researchers can revise it and improve before publication
- enables editors to select most important research
- understood and accepted by most researchers
- promotes scientific research through development and dissemination of comprehensive up to date info. only research of highest quality reaches public domain.
weaknesses of peer review
- not always easy to find an appropriate peer reviewerp- research may be rejected if reviewer doesn’t understand it
- may be difficult to protect annonymity of researchers from reviewer - biases
- process is time consuming and expensive - can take months or years and may be old when published.
||Maths skills||
what are measures of central tendency?
mean median and mode used to find average of data sets
Mean
add up all data points and divide by how many data points there are
advantages and disadvantages of the mean
+ includes all of the data in the set
- affected by outliers or anomalies
Median
- data is arranged smallest to largest and is the middle point of the data
- should be used is mean is deemed unsuitable
- should be used so the average is not affected by outlier
advantages and disadvantages of the median
- not affected by outliers or anomalies
- doesn’t take into account all the data in the set
Mode
- the measure of central tendency that identifies the most common data point in the set.
- used when using categorical data
e.g favourite colour or food
advantages and disadvantages of the mode
- will always give a value that’s represented in the data
- there can sometimes be no mode or two modes (bi-modal)
Measures of dispersion
- how spread out the data is in the entire set or from individual points
Range
find the difference between smallest and largest data point in teh data set
advantages and disadvantages of the range
- easy to calculate
- doesn’t include all the data in the set
- affected by outliers
Standard deviation
how spread out the data is from the mean
Large SD means data is dissimilar from the mean; opposite for small SD
advantages and disadvantages of standard deviation
- not affected by outliers (extreme values) beacuse it looks at individual scores rather than as a whole
- difficult to calculate, time consming especially fro large data sets
how to calculate standard deviation
Distribution curves
positively skewed distribution
negatively skewed distribution
Frequency table
Line graph
Bar charts
Scatter diagrams
Histograms
Pie chart
advantages of quantitative data
Qualitative data
disadvantages of quantitative data
Qualitative data
advantages of qualitative data
disadvantages of qualitative data
Primary data
advantages of primary data
disadvantages of primary data
Secondary data
advantages of secondary data
disadvantages of secondary data
Nominal data
Ordinal data
Interval data
Ratio data
Inferential statistics
Speareman’s rank
How to know which test to use
Probability
Levels of significance
Critical and Observed values
