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Psychology: AM > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What is informed consent?

A

Experimenter reveals the true aims of the study and what it will entail so P can make an informed decision

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2
Q

Why is withholding information or providing false information seen as deceitful?

A

Ps are not able to give informed consent

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3
Q

What is the right to withdraw?

A

Participants should always hold the right to withdraw if they feel uncomfortable or distressed

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4
Q

Why is protection from psychological and physical harm hard to guarantee?

A

It is difficult to avoid distress with more important psychological issues

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5
Q

What are the ethical guidelines?

A

Guidelines informing psychologists on what behaviours are acceptable and what are not

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6
Q

Why do the ethical guidelines take A GENERAL APPROACH?

A

It is difficult to cover every conceivable issue

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7
Q

What is an ethics committee?

A

A committee that must approve a psychological study before it begins

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8
Q

What will an ethics committee look at?

A

Possible ethical issues, benefits to conducting the study and possible costs

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9
Q

What is debriefing?

A

Participants will be informed everything about the study after it has taken place, giving them to opportunity to ask any questions

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10
Q

What is presumptive consent?

A

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

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11
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A statement or prediction of what the experimenter expects to happen

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12
Q

What is a null hypothesis?

A

Predicts no link between variables

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13
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

Predicts a link between two variables in a particular direction

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14
Q

What is a non directional hypothesis?

A

Predicts a general relationship

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15
Q

What is operationalism?

A

Changing the variables in the hypothesis so that another experimenter can tell the conditions of the IV and how the DV was measured exactly

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16
Q

What is the DV?

A

Variable that is measured

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17
Q

What is the IV?

A

Variable that is manipulated/changed

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18
Q

What is an extraneous variable?

A

An undesirable variable that can cause a change in the DV

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19
Q

What is order effects?

A

Results of an experiment can be affected by the order they were presented (fatigue or practice effects)

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20
Q

What is investigator effects?

A

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

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21
Q

What is demand characteristics?

A

An aspect of the situation can trigger a predictable response

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22
Q

What is participant reactivity?

A

Participants may actively seek cues about how they should behave, leading to them guessing and changing their behaviour

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23
Q

What are two ways of dealing with situational variables?

A

1) Standardised procedures

2) Double blind trials

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24
Q

What are pilot studies?

A

Where the study is ‘practised’ before the real event

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25
Q

What are 3 reasons why an experimenter may conduct a pilot study?

A

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

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26
Q

What is the independent groups design?

A

Different participants are allocated to different groups with different experimental conditions

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27
Q

What is one strength and two limitations of the independent groups design?

A

+ No order effects

  • No control over participant variables
  • Twice as many Ps needed
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28
Q

What are the three types of experimental design?

A

1) Independent groups design
2) Repeated measures
3) Matched pairs

29
Q

What is the repeated measures design?

A

Same Ps take part in all conditions

30
Q

What are three limitations of the repeated measures design?

A
  • One condition may be more difficult than another
  • Participant reactivity
  • Order effects
31
Q

What is the matched pairs design?

A

Participants are matched on key variables such as age and IQ and placed in either an experimental group or a control group

32
Q

What are 2 limitations of the matched pairs design?

A
  • 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

33
Q

What are the measures of central tendency?

A

Mean, median, mode

34
Q

What are the measures of dispersion?

A

Range and standard deviation

35
Q

What is one strength and one weakness of standard deviation?

A

+ More precise as all values taken into account

- May hide some of the characteristics of the data

36
Q

What are the three types of experiment?

A

Lab, field, natural

37
Q

What is a lab experiment?

A

Experiments carried out by a researcher in artificial conditions where the variables are controlled

38
Q

What are 2 strengths of lab experiments?

A

+ Easy to control variables

+ Easily repeatable to see if same results can be produced

39
Q

What are 2 limitations of lab experiments?

A
  • Difficult to generalise as artificial conditions

- Demand characteristics: low validity

40
Q

What are field experiments?

A

Experiments that take place in a more realistic setting, but variables are still controlled

41
Q

What are two strengths of field experiments?

A

+ Higher ecological validity as they are more realistic and reflect real life better
+ Fewer demand characterstics as Ps less likely to guess

42
Q

What is one limitation of field experiments?

A

Extraneous variables are harder to control so could affect results

43
Q

What is a natural experiment?

A

Experiments that take place naturally: the situation is not manipulated and natural/existing conditions are used

44
Q

What are 2 strengths of natural experiments?

A

+ Reflects real life well

+ Useful way of investigating some types of behaviour

45
Q

What are 2 limitations of natural experiments?

A
  • Difficult to replicate so hard to check reliability

- Little control over extraneous variables

46
Q

What are 3 ways in which researchers may select participants?

A

Random sampling, opportunity sampling, volunteer sampling

47
Q

What is a random sampling?

A

Everybody from the population of a particular area has an equal chance of being selected

48
Q

What is volunteer sampling?

A

Researchers rely on volunteers who say they will take part, eg. by advertising in a newspaper

49
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A

Researchers use whoever is available at the time. eg. the first people they can find in a given area

50
Q

What are two strengths of OBSERVATIONS?

A

+ 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

51
Q

What are three limitations of OBSERVATIONS?

A
  • Ethical issues with observing w/o consent
  • Observer bias in how behaviours are interpreted
  • Not always possible to control variables
52
Q

What are two ways in which data is obtained in observations?

A

Time sampling and event sampling

53
Q

What is time sampling?

A

A particular behaviour is recorded at fixed time intervals

54
Q

What are two self report techniques?

A

Questionnaires and interviews

55
Q

What are 3 guidelines in designing questionnaires?

A

1) Clarity: p must understand what’s being asked
2) Avoid bias
3) Analysis: must be easy to analyse

56
Q

What are open questions?

A

Questions without a predetermined set of answers which allow Ps to give a more accurate indivudal opinion

57
Q

What are two limitations of open questions?

A
  • Difficult to analyse

- Time consuming

58
Q

What sort of data do Open Questions produce?

A

Qualitative

59
Q

What are closed questions?

A

Questions where Ps are required to select a predetermined answer that best fits their views

60
Q

What is a limitation of closed questions?

A

Ps may be forced to give untruthful answers due to a lack of options

61
Q

What are 3 strengths of questionnaires?

A

1) Repeatable
2) Quick and easy process
3) Respondents may feel more comfortable revealing personal details

62
Q

What are 2 limitations of questionnaires?

A

1) Answers may not be truthful: social desirability bias

2) Sample may be biased as only certain types willingly do questionnaires

63
Q

What are three types of interviews?

A

Structured, unstructured and semi structured

64
Q

What is a case study?

A

A detailed, in depth study of an individual, institution or event which are generally longitudinal

65
Q

How do researchers gather information for a case study?

A

A wide range of sources and techniques

66
Q

What are 2 strengths of case studies?

A

+ 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

67
Q

What are two limitations of case studies?

A
  • Unreliable as often includes peoples recollections from the past
  • Ethical issues
68
Q

What is content analysis?

A

A form of indirect observation that analyses the content of something

69
Q

What are two limitations of content analysis?

A
  • Observer bias

- Cultural bias

Psychology: AM (8 decks)

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