Research Methods Flashcards
What is a directional hypothesis?
Predicts the direction of the outcome
(Commonly repeating research)
What is a Non-Directional hypothesis?
Predicts a difference but doesn’t say in which direction. Always starts with “there will be a difference in…”
(Commonly new research)
How to control extraneous or confounding variances?
Randomisation or Standardisation
What are the types of experimental designs?
- Independent group design
- Repeated measures design
- Matched pairs design
What are the four types of experiments?
- Lab = controlled environment
- Field = natural/everyday setting but can manipulate IV
- Natural = researcher has no control over IV
- Quasi = IV is pre-existing an cannot be changed
What are the types of sampling?
- Random
- Systematic
- Stratified
- Opportunity
- Volunteer
What is a pilot study?
A trial run for an experiment
carried out to identify issues
check procedure, questionnaires, observations such as coding systems
What is a single blind technique?
Experimenters are aware
Participants are unaware
Keep details from participants
What is a double blind technique?
Neither participant or researcher is aware of the aims of the study/investigation
Experimenter finds someone neutral to carry out investigation on participant
What is peer review?
Getting an expert in the same field to review the researchers work
What are the three main aims of peer review?
- To allocate research funding
- To check the validity and the quality of the relevance of research
- To suggests amendments or improvements
What is the evaluation of peer review?
- Needs to be anonymous
- Needs to not include publication bias
- Cannot bury groundbreaking research
Types of observations?
- Natural - normal environment
- Controlled - variables controlled, participant aware in controlled setting
- Covert - patient unaware they are being studied
- Overt - patient aware they are being studied
- Non-Participant - Researcher simply observes the group/event without taking part in it
- Participant - Researcher becomes part of the group they are studying
What are the types of observational design?
- Structured - targeted, predetermined list, quantitative data
- Unstructured - all details written down, qualitative data
What are the two types of observational sampling?
- Time sampling - record behaviours in a given time frame
- Event sampling - involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group
What is inter-observer reliability?
Two or more researchers observe at the same time - must be consistent in their observations
What are self report techniques?
Quantitative = numbers, can provide statistical analysis, easy to analyse and create/display on graphs or charts
Qualitative = detailed, long ended answers
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
Open questions = qualitative
Closed questions = quantitative
What are demand characteristics?
Participants changed behaviour due to knowing they are in a study
What is social desirability bias?
A tendency for respondents to answer questions in such a way that presents themselves in a better light
What is response bias?
A tendency for interviewees to respond in the same way to all questions, regardless of context. This would bias their answers.
What are the three scales when designing a questionnaire?
- Likert scale = indicate level of agreement
- Rating scale = participants identify numerical value that represents the strength of their feelings about a topic
- Fixed-choice option = this is a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate which ones that apply to them
What are the three types of interviews?
- Structured
- Semi-Structured
- Unstructured
What does correlation mean?
Association - measure of the extent to which two variables are related. There are three possible results: positive, negative, no correlation
Difference between Primary and Secondary data?
Primary = original data, comes first hand from participants, collected specifically for the purpose of the study
Secondary = has been collected by someone other than the experimenter, it already exists before the experiment and could be found in journals, articles, books, or be held by the government E.g census information
What are the measures of central tendency?
- Mean - average, add up all and divide by amount
- Median - middle value in the set of data when scores are arranged in order
- Mode - most frequently occurring number
What are the measures of dispersion?
- Range - difference between highest and lowest value
- Standard deviation - measure of how far away the scores in a data set are away from the mean, the larger the deviation = the bigger the spread of scores
What are the different presentations of data (Graphs)?
- Bar chart
- Frequency histogram
- Line graph
- Normal distribution graph
- Skewed distribution graph = left skewed (negative) right skewed (positive)
What is meant by the term Nominal data?
In groups or categories E.g favourite things
What is meant by the term Ordinal data?
Data ordered in some way E.g favourite things, top - bottom
What is meant by the term Interval data?
Data that has numerical intervals of equal amounts
