Research Methods Flashcards
What is systematic observation?
Using naturalistic observations to see some kind of behaviour as it occurs in everyday life, and tracking how often you see the behaviour.
What are the limitations of systematic observation?
Observer influence- The effect the observer has on the people hes studying by being present
observer bias- bringing pre existing notions into what is being studied
What is structured observation?
Being in a lab trying to evoke desired behaviour
What is Self report (clinical interview)?
Using a conversational style to probe sttitudes, beliefs, and even memories. this however can take a long time to conduct.
what is Self report (structured interview)?
Researcher uses a set list of questions and does not deviate from the list.
What is neurobiological methodology?
New technologies used to examine the relationship between the nervous system and underlying behaviours.
What is a ERP?
Stands for event related potential. It measures how your brain is responding to a particular event.
What is a PET scan?
Stands for position emission tomography. Measures changes in radioactivity throughout brain
What is a fMRI?
Stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging. A series of large magnets detect blood flow to different areas of the brain
What are case studies?
They gather a wealth of information on one particular person. However the findings are specific to that one person.
What is ethnograohy?
An observation of a culture or a social group over a long period of time.
What is reliability?
seeing how consistent the data is. Asking if I were to test again would I get the same results.
What is inter-rater reliability?
When two people are observing the same behaviour, do they agree on what they see?
What is Test/re test reliability?
If an experiment is run twice, do you get the same results both times?
What is validity?
Measuring what it is you actually want to measure.
What is internal validity?
The degree to which the conditions of your design allows you to measure what you set out to measure. Havign as much control of your study as possible.
What is external validity?
The degree to which your findings generalize the real world.
What is correlational research?
Aims to determine how related two variables are to one another. Ex. How correlated are drugs and violent crime.
What is a spurious relationship?
When you have a third variable that drives the relationship and you have not measured it.
What is experimental research?
Manipulating variables and measuring the effects on your participants behaviour
What is an independant variable?
The variable you manipulate
What is a dependant variable?
The variable you measure
What is longitudinal design?
Studying the same participants repeatedly at different time points
What is attrition?
People dropping out of a study over time
What are cohort effects?
The results of a study dont necessarily apply to everyone
What is a cross sectional study?
groups of people at different ages are studied at the same time
What is a sequential design?
A combination of a longitudinal design and a cross sectional design
