Research Methods 2 Flashcards
Experiments
-Lab experiments
- Lab experiments are conducted in a tightly controlled environment
- The experimenter deliberately manipulates the IV
- The experimenter measures the DV
- The procedure and instructions are standardised
Advantages: -Cause and effect can be established -Reliability can be checked Disadvantages: -Low ecological validity -Bias from demand charactersitics
Experiments
-Field experiments
- They are conducted in more natural environments
- The experimenter deliberately manipulates the IV
- The experimenter measures the DV
- The experimenter controls some of the extraneous variables
Advantages: -Greater ecological validity -Less bias from demand characteristics Disadvantages: -More difficult to establish cause and effect -More difficult to check reliability
Experiments
-Natural/quasi experiments
- Conducted in a completely natural occurring event
- The experimenter has no control over the IV
- The experimenter measures the DV
- The experimenter has no control over the extraneous variables (in natural experiment)
Advantages:
-Typically the greatest ecological validity
-Least likely to suffer bias from demand characteristics
Disadvantages:
-Most difficult to establish cause and effect
-Most difficult to check reliability
Experimental designs
-Independent groups
- An independent measures design involves using different people in each condition
- There will be 2 groups who different conditions from each other
- Loftus and Palmer used independent groups in their accuracy of EWT research
Experimental design
-Repeated groups
- A repeated measures design involves using the same people in each condition
- The same group take part in both of the conditions
- Peterson and Peterson used repeated groups in the investigation on the duration of short term memory
- This design will suffer from practice and order effects but it can be overcome through counterbalancing
Experimental design
-Matched pairs
- Matched pairs is where participants are ‘matched’ or paired with another who is similar in a number of variables. Each person from a pair goes in different conditions
- Melhuish used matched pairs in their experiment on differences in intellectual and social-emotional development between children who were kept in full-time maternal care and those children in daycare.
Controlling designs
-Counterbalancing
-Used in repeated measures design to help overcome order effects
Controlling designs
-Randomisation
- Randomly allocate pt’s to experimental conditions by putting their names on paper, then putting their names in a hat and extracting the names randomly to allocate to groups
- Reduces pt variability and sampling bias
Controlling designs
-Single blind techniques
- Where the researchers do not tell the participants if they are being given a test treatment or control treatment
- Eliminates outcomes that are produced are through the placebo effect
Controlling designs
-Double blind techniques
- Where neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment
- Eliminates experimenter effects, situational factors and participant factors
Controlling designs
-Standardised procedures
- Is the process in which procedures used in research are kept the same
- Eliminates the chance of bias occurring in the results
Case studies
-Features
1) A case study is an in-depth investigation of one person/small group of people
2) They usually investigate naturally occurring events so they allow psychologists to look at things that could not normally be investigated
3) They can be longitudinal or retrospective
4) The researcher gathers a range of information to form a case history
5) The researcher uses a number of methods to gather the information, such as interviews and observations (known as triangulation of methods)
Observations
-4 features of observations
- An observation is the systematic measurement of spontaneously occurring behaviour
- They can be conducted in a controlled environment or in a naturalistic observation
- An observation can be structured or unstructured
- The researcher decides which behavioural categories of the behaviours to be recorded beforehand. This is observer bias
Observations
-Naturalistic and controlled observations
- This refers to where the observation is conducted
- A naturalistic observation takes place in the participants’ natural environment. In most cases participants are not aware they are being observed, which means research is more ecologically valid
- A controlled observation usually takes place in some form of controlled environment which allows control over variables. The setting can be any environment which the experimenter has control over.
Observations
-Structured and Unstructured observations
- This refers to how the data is collected
- In a structured observation the data would be gathered using a pre-written collection grid or coding sheet to record the frequency the behaviours have occurred
- In an unstructured observation the researcher uses direct observation to record behaviours as they occur and have no predetermined plan of what will be observed
Observations
-Participant and Non-participant observation
- Non-participant is when the psychologist does not participate at all with the group and simply observes
- Participant observation is when the psychologist feels the need to join in the behaviour of a group so that we can feel what it’s like to be in their shoes
