research methods Flashcards
what is a target population?
proportion of the population which we wish to study
what is oppurtunity sampling?
it consists of taking the sample from people who are available at the time of the study and fit the target population
example of oppurtunity sampling
going into the sixth form square to pick people who fit in the target population
what is random sampling?
every member of the target population has an equal chance of being chosen
example of random sampling
gathering a group of people who fit into the target population and putting their names in a random number generator to decide
what is stratified sampling?
involves classifying the population into categories and then choosing a sample which consiss of participants from ach category with the same proportions
what is volunteer sampling?
consists of participants becoming part of a study becuase they volunteer when asked or in response to an advert
what is systematic sampling?
- every nth term member of the target population is selected
- a sampling frame is used, which is a list of people in the target population organised into e.g alphabetical order
what is a positive of random sampling?
free from researcher bias, researcher has no influence over who is selected
what are 3 disadvantages of random sampling?
- difficult and time consuming, a list of target population may be difficut to obtain
- may still end up with a sample that is unrepresentative
- participants ma refuse to take part
what are 2 advantages of systematic sampling?
- avoids researcher bias
- usually fairly representative
what are two negatives of systematic sampling?
- time consuming and impratical
- participants may not want to take part
what are two positives of stratified sampling?
- avoids researcher bias (once target population has been split into strata, they are randomly selected)
- it produces a representative sample becuase it is designed to accuratly reflect the composition of the public
- complete representation is not possible due to differences
what are two positives of oppurtunity sampling?
- it is convieniet
- less costly and saves time
whats 1 disadvantage of oppurtunity sampling?
- researcher has control over selection (researcher bias)
what is an advantage of volunteer sampling?
- collecting a volunteer sample is easy
what is a disadvantages of volunteer sampling?
- volunteer bias
what is informed consent?
articipants agree to take part and are aware of what is happening
what are the 4 ways of dealing with informed consent?
- presumptive consent
- prior genral consent
- retrospective consent
- get advice from other psychologists
what is presumptive consent?
rather than getting consent from the participants themselves, a similar group of people is asked if the study is acceptable. If they say yes consent is ‘presumed’
what is prior general consent?
participants say yes to multiple studies - including one which will improve deception. By consenting, they are effectivly consenting to being decieved
what is retrospective consent?
asked for consent during debreif. They mma have not been aware of their participation or could have been decieved
what does deception include?
- not obtainig informed consent
- witholding information
- not tellibg paticipants what is actually appening within the study
- not telling participants expected results and info about the confederate
what is a debrief?
important if deception takes place or if participants have not given informed consent
what does debriefing include?
- explaining the study
- explain participants results
- ask participants if they want to sort their results
- check participants have no questions
what is an aim?
a general expression of what the researcher intends to investigate
what is a hypothesis?
a precise and operationalised statement about the assumed relationship between variables
what is a directional hypothesis?
states the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions or two groups of participants
what is a non-directional hypothesis?
predicts simpl that there is a difference between two conditions or two groups of participants without stating the direction of difference
what is an independant variable?
the variable that is changed (manipulated)
what is a dependant variable?
a measurable outcome of an action of the inependant variable in an experiment (thing you measure)
what does it mean to operationalise?
ensuring that variables are in a form that can be easily measured
what is an experimental method?
a researcher causes the independant variable to vary and records the effect of the IV on the dependant variable. The DV must be operationalised
what is an extraneous variable?
anything that is not the independant variable that has the potential to affect the results
what are demand characteristics?
refers to any cue from the researcher or research situation that may reveal the auim of the study
what is the investigator effect?
any effect of the investigators behaviour on the outcome of the research ( the DV)
what is a naturalistic observation?
takes place in the participants natural setting e.g observing a sports team at a training session
what are the strengths of naturalistic observation?
- takes place in the natural environment so there is high external validity
- they gather in depth data and detail (qualitative and quantitative)
what are the weaknesses of naturalistic observation?
- there might be subjectivity because the observer has to choose what to observe and record
- there are many uncontrolled extraneous variables
what is a controlled observation?
watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment
what are the strengths of controlled observation?
- more control over extraneous variables
- more accurate observations
- easier to replicate
- usually avoid ethical issues of consent
what are the weaknesses of controlled observation?
- low ecological validity
- can show demand characteristics
- may affect participants behaviour
what is non-participant observations?
- the researcher remains outside the group who he/she is watching and recording
what are the strengths of non-participant observation?
- not as bias as they are outside of the group
- more ethical if carried out overtly - no ethical issues if people are aware
what are the weaknesses of non-p
