Research Methods Flashcards
What is informed consent?
Experimenter reveals the true aims of the study and what it will entail so P can make an informed decision
Why is withholding information or providing false information seen as deceitful?
Ps are not able to give informed consent
What is the right to withdraw?
Participants should always hold the right to withdraw if they feel uncomfortable or distressed
Why is protection from psychological and physical harm hard to guarantee?
It is difficult to avoid distress with more important psychological issues
What are the ethical guidelines?
Guidelines informing psychologists on what behaviours are acceptable and what are not
Why do the ethical guidelines take A GENERAL APPROACH?
It is difficult to cover every conceivable issue
What is an ethics committee?
A committee that must approve a psychological study before it begins
What will an ethics committee look at?
Possible ethical issues, benefits to conducting the study and possible costs
What is debriefing?
Participants will be informed everything about the study after it has taken place, giving them to opportunity to ask any questions
What is presumptive consent?
Researchers can gain informed consent by asking a small sample group whether they feel a planned study is acceptable. Psychologists can then assume that the real Ps would feel the same way
What is a hypothesis?
A statement or prediction of what the experimenter expects to happen
What is a null hypothesis?
Predicts no link between variables
What is a directional hypothesis?
Predicts a link between two variables in a particular direction
What is a non directional hypothesis?
Predicts a general relationship
What is operationalism?
Changing the variables in the hypothesis so that another experimenter can tell the conditions of the IV and how the DV was measured exactly
What is the DV?
Variable that is measured
What is the IV?
Variable that is manipulated/changed
What is an extraneous variable?
An undesirable variable that can cause a change in the DV
What is order effects?
Results of an experiment can be affected by the order they were presented (fatigue or practice effects)
What is investigator effects?
Cues from the experimenter (approval of a certain behaviour) and leading questions can lead to a participant behaving in a way they feel is most desired
What is demand characteristics?
An aspect of the situation can trigger a predictable response
What is participant reactivity?
Participants may actively seek cues about how they should behave, leading to them guessing and changing their behaviour
What are two ways of dealing with situational variables?
1) Standardised procedures
2) Double blind trials
What are pilot studies?
Where the study is ‘practised’ before the real event
What are 3 reasons why an experimenter may conduct a pilot study?
1) To ensure there are enough controls so participants are not affected by other variables
2) To ensure the task is not too difficult or easy
3) So they can be sure the research will work
What is the independent groups design?
Different participants are allocated to different groups with different experimental conditions
What is one strength and two limitations of the independent groups design?
+ No order effects
- No control over participant variables
- Twice as many Ps needed
What are the three types of experimental design?
1) Independent groups design
2) Repeated measures
3) Matched pairs
What is the repeated measures design?
Same Ps take part in all conditions
What are three limitations of the repeated measures design?
- One condition may be more difficult than another
- Participant reactivity
- Order effects
What is the matched pairs design?
Participants are matched on key variables such as age and IQ and placed in either an experimental group or a control group
What are 2 limitations of the matched pairs design?
- Time consuming to match Ps on key variables
- May not control all variables as they can only be matched on variables known to be relevant
What are the measures of central tendency?
Mean, median, mode
What are the measures of dispersion?
Range and standard deviation
What is one strength and one weakness of standard deviation?
+ More precise as all values taken into account
- May hide some of the characteristics of the data
What are the three types of experiment?
Lab, field, natural
What is a lab experiment?
Experiments carried out by a researcher in artificial conditions where the variables are controlled
What are 2 strengths of lab experiments?
+ Easy to control variables
+ Easily repeatable to see if same results can be produced
What are 2 limitations of lab experiments?
- Difficult to generalise as artificial conditions
- Demand characteristics: low validity
What are field experiments?
Experiments that take place in a more realistic setting, but variables are still controlled
What are two strengths of field experiments?
+ Higher ecological validity as they are more realistic and reflect real life better
+ Fewer demand characterstics as Ps less likely to guess
What is one limitation of field experiments?
Extraneous variables are harder to control so could affect results
What is a natural experiment?
Experiments that take place naturally: the situation is not manipulated and natural/existing conditions are used
What are 2 strengths of natural experiments?
+ Reflects real life well
+ Useful way of investigating some types of behaviour
What are 2 limitations of natural experiments?
- Difficult to replicate so hard to check reliability
- Little control over extraneous variables
What are 3 ways in which researchers may select participants?
Random sampling, opportunity sampling, volunteer sampling
What is a random sampling?
Everybody from the population of a particular area has an equal chance of being selected
What is volunteer sampling?
Researchers rely on volunteers who say they will take part, eg. by advertising in a newspaper
What is opportunity sampling?
Researchers use whoever is available at the time. eg. the first people they can find in a given area
What are two strengths of OBSERVATIONS?
+ Allow a researcher to measure realistic behaviour so reflects real life better
+ Can be used to collect data from groups that could not otherwise be obtained
What are three limitations of OBSERVATIONS?
- Ethical issues with observing w/o consent
- Observer bias in how behaviours are interpreted
- Not always possible to control variables
What are two ways in which data is obtained in observations?
Time sampling and event sampling
What is time sampling?
A particular behaviour is recorded at fixed time intervals
What are two self report techniques?
Questionnaires and interviews
What are 3 guidelines in designing questionnaires?
1) Clarity: p must understand what’s being asked
2) Avoid bias
3) Analysis: must be easy to analyse
What are open questions?
Questions without a predetermined set of answers which allow Ps to give a more accurate indivudal opinion
What are two limitations of open questions?
- Difficult to analyse
- Time consuming
What sort of data do Open Questions produce?
Qualitative
What are closed questions?
Questions where Ps are required to select a predetermined answer that best fits their views
What is a limitation of closed questions?
Ps may be forced to give untruthful answers due to a lack of options
What are 3 strengths of questionnaires?
1) Repeatable
2) Quick and easy process
3) Respondents may feel more comfortable revealing personal details
What are 2 limitations of questionnaires?
1) Answers may not be truthful: social desirability bias
2) Sample may be biased as only certain types willingly do questionnaires
What are three types of interviews?
Structured, unstructured and semi structured
What is a case study?
A detailed, in depth study of an individual, institution or event which are generally longitudinal
How do researchers gather information for a case study?
A wide range of sources and techniques
What are 2 strengths of case studies?
+ Produce rich in depth data that could be overlooked if other methods were used
+ Investigate instances of rare behaviour/things that would not be ethical to study experimentally
What are two limitations of case studies?
- Unreliable as often includes peoples recollections from the past
- Ethical issues
What is content analysis?
A form of indirect observation that analyses the content of something
What are two limitations of content analysis?
- Observer bias
- Cultural bias
