Research methods Flashcards

Question

recording data from interviews

Answer 1

``` audio recording( less intrusive than filming the patient) and more likely to agree to take part or be honest ``` also making written notes during the interview could be off putting for the interviewee likewise with filming.

Answer 2

content analysis: involve identifying important categories from a sub sample of interview responses (for example references to homework or warmth in the therapist ((things they found helpful in therapy)) they would then work through the written data and count the number of occurrences of each of the categories to produce quantitative data thematic analysis: this method involves reading the rereading (familiarisation) the written transciptrs carefully. coding would involves looking for words which cropped up repeatedly in transcripts. these could then be combined to reduce the number of codes into three or four themes. the data would stay in qualitative format and not be reduced to numbers.

Answer 3

opportunity - quicker and easier than a random sample using people who are in the surroundings e.g students in a school random sample- participant selection is less biased because every student has an equal chance of being selected volunteer sampling- participants would be interested in the task and likely to take it seriously

Answer 4

make specific to stem but time appropriate length of study- not too tiring make sure instructions are clear (if stem is complex)] order of things e.g is things are shown to ppt (should be random probs) number of stimuli appropriate- sufficient to give reliable data

Answer 5

refers to the consistency of findings/data or participant responses. external reliability is whether the rest is consistent over time (whether a measure varies from one use to another). and internal is whether results across items within a test are consistent

Answer 6

``` split half ( internal reliability) scores on half of the items are correlated with scores on the other half and the higher the correlation the reliable the questionnaire ``` test-re test (external reliability) the questioner is given to the same participants again on different occasion the scores on the two tests are correlated and the higher the correlation the more reliable the questionnaire so the similarity of scores between the tests

Answer 7

- when it's not practical to do an experiment as you cannot manipulate the IV e.g individual differences - when it's not ethical to manipulate the IV e.g stressful life events - preliminary research: establish that variables are related before conducting an experiment

Answer 8

similarity of ratings made by the same observer

Answer 9

similarity of rating made by different observers

Answer 10

extent to which participants are engaged in and take seriously the experimental task (maybe more likely with volunteer samples)

Answer 11

extent to which the results of a study generalise to other contexts

Answer 12

extent to which the results of a study generalise to other people who weren't part of the sample

Answer 13

process of making everything the same in a study in some relevant way

Answer 14

altnernative to standardisation for controlling extraneous varibles in a study

Answer 15

statistical measure often used to test the reliability of the measure (the higher the correlation the higher the reliability of the test)

Answer 16

a basic form of validity in which a measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears to measure what it is supposed to measure- for instance does a test of anxiety look like it measures anxiety

Answer 17

extent to which a score is similar to a score on another test that is known to be valid (an existing similar measure)

Answer 18

extent to which a score predicts future behaviour

Answer 19

ecological (other settings/situations) population (other people) temporal (generalising to other historical times/eras)

Answer 20

operationalisation (does the study validly measure/manipulate the variables control- extraneous varibles controlled experimental validity/realism- are participants engaged realistically in the experimental/research task

Answer 21

face validity concenuurent predictive

Answer 22

demand characteristics: participants who know they are in the study may guess the aim and therefore behaviour differently to how they would not knowing social desribailty bias- ppts may behave/respond in social acceptable ways either to appear a better person to the researcher or to themselves so not truthfully order effects- what ppts experience early in a study may affect their behaviour later (e.g learning from practice) hawthorn effect- participants who they are in a study may try harder than they would in everyday life

Answer 23

retain the null hypothesis

Answer 24

when results are accepted as significant when in fact they are not; the alternative hypothesis is accepted when it is false (false positive) where the researcher rejects the null hypothesis (or accepts the research/alternative hypothesis) when in fact the effect is due to chance – often referred to as an error of optimists

Answer 25

if the results are significant at p<0.01 since that is a stringent level of significance the more stringent the level the less chance of a type 1 error the liklihood of a psychologist making a type1 error is 1 in 100 or less

Answer 26

false negative when the results are accepted as insignificant when they in fact are significant the null hypothesis is retained when it is false

Answer 27

increase the sample size

Answer 28

to check in terms of suitability for publication, appropriateness of the theoretical background, methodology, statistics and conclusions - to ensure the methodology is sound, valid and does not involve plagiarism of other people's research - the finding are vowel, interesting and relevant and add to knowledge of a particular research area - the authors are not making unjustified claims about the importance of their findings - ensures research is reviewed by fellow experts - maintains standards of published work and allows university research departments to be rated and funded in terms of their quality - ensures that poor quality research is not published in reputable journals - bias it has been established that a publication bias occurs towards prestigious researchers and departmetns - bias towards positive findings- often negative findings and replications are not published though these can be critical in establishing whether important findings are reliable. (limitations) - time consuming and expensive can take months or years so delaying publication of important findings - peer reviews sometimes fails to prevent sciefntic fraud - as reviewers normally work in the same field and are competing for limited research funds, there is a temptation to delay or even prevent the publication of competing research

Answer 29

friends and family could be asked to rate the helpfulness of the ppt e.g on a scale from 1-10 or a scenario could be set up without their knowledge to observe their helping behaviour e.g a confederate of the researcher drops their books and the number of people helping/not helping is recorded

Answer 30

test of difference using independent designs nominal data

Answer 31

test of difference using independent designs ordinal/interval/ratio data

Answer 32

``` test of difference related design (so matched pairs) ordinal, interval or ratio ```

Answer 33

test of correlation ordinal interval or ratio rank order correlation coefficient

Answer 34

China | Man Will Spearman

Answer 35

data that can be ordered or ranks on a scale does not have equal intervals between each unit e.g ranking IQ scores lacks precision as is subjective uses median measure of central tendency and range for dispersion

Answer 36

``` simplest level identifies categories and how many instances that are in each category discrete data (frequency) uses mode and no measure of dispersion ```

Answer 37

item are placed on a scale but have fixed intervals so not only can you rank data but can see how far apart they are use mean and standard deviation

Answer 38

e.g lack of informed consent- obtained through using a consent letter that the participant must sign consent letter containing outline details of the study and referring to the right to withdraw and confidentiality of data in cases of deception, presumptive constant may be used in which case a full debriefing would be essential

Answer 39

using a control group means that a researcher is better able to assess whether changes in the DV were due to manipulation of the IV e.g a control group in a drug trial who do not receive therapy means the researcher has greater confidence that improves in the treatment condition was due to therapy not due to passage of time for e.g. also standardisation: minimises the impact of ppt reactivity and investigator effects - with the use of single blind and double blind procedures reduce demand characteristics

Answer 40

ppts are not made aware of the aims of the study until they have taken part to reduce demand characterisc

Answer 41

a third party conducts the investigation without knowing its main purpose which reduces both demand chars and investigator effects- improving validity

Answer 42

Qnaires and psychological tests often include a lie scale within the questions in order to assess the consistency of a respondent't response and to control for the effects of social desirability bias validity may be further enhances by ensuring respondants that all data will be anonymous so they're more likely to answer truthfully

Answer 43

normally quite good ecologically valid especially when observation is covert (minimal intervention of the researcher (remind undetected) so the behaviour observed is likely to be natural and authentic however if behavioural categories are too broad, are overlapping or ambitious they may have a negative impact of the validity of data.

Answer 44

because the depth and detail in case studies and interviews for instance is better able to reflect the participants reality than numbers triangulation enhanes validity

Answer 45

the use of a number of different sources as evidence for example data compiled through interviews with friends and family, personal diaries and observations consistency of evidence from different types of studies

Answer 46

refers to whether a psychological test, observation or experiment produces a results that is legitimate so whether the observed effect is genius and represents what is actually in the real world. this includes whether the researcher has managed to measure what they intended to measure (internal validity) and whether those findings can be generalised beyond the research setting they were found in (external validity)

Answer 47

consolidated standards on reporting trials

Answer 48

But as with any treatment there is a generalised placebo effect; knowing you’re going to therapy allows the brain to prepare yourself for some sort of improvements and often symptoms are relieved as least for a short period of time due to this expectation. So the treatment does no harm and the worst it can do is nothing, so it’s worthwhile attending.

Answer 49

quicker and easier than random sampling | can just use the people around

Answer 50

participant selection is less biased because everyone has an equal chance of being selected, the fairest method of sampling

Answer 51

participants are more likely to be interested in the task and take it seriously and therefore answer more honestly?

Answer 52

apply to the experiment if necessary to find out: whether the DV is measurable whether the timings are appropriate for the task instructions can be understood the length of the study is appropriate can it be done with the resources available.

Answer 53

the extent to which results/procedures are consistent (sameness of a measure/method/researcher)

Answer 54

internal reliability means that the items making up the questionnaire are assessing the same characteristic external reliability means that the same person is taking the questioner at two different times producing the same score.

Answer 55

the IV directed affects the DV and can be closely measured. | lab experiments have the highest levels of this.

Answer 56

?? find from a markscheme

Answer 57

dealing with facts in an unbiased way, so results are not influences by opinion when all scores of personal bias are minimised so as not to distort or influence the research process

Answer 58

links to testing hypotheses and making theories a theory is testable if it is capable of being proved true or false with respect to scientific method. the more consistent results are the with theory the more empirical the support.

Answer 59

the principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue (false)

Answer 60

refers to whether an experiment can be repeated to obtain the same results by other researchers to check and verify the information repeating can demonstrate the validity of the experiment affirms the truth of original result

Answer 61

1) lack of trust in the scientific community | 2) the fraudulent research still remains published

Answer 62

a process where experts int he field assess a piece of work to consider it's validity, significance and originality.

Answer 63

1) allocation of research funding - considering importance/priority 2) publication of research in scientific journals and books 3) assessing the research rating of university departments 4) to check methods/publication of results/bias??

Answer 64

1) unacheiveable ideal - it can be hard to find experts in obscure areas so bad research could be published due to the reviewers not fully understanding it 2) anonymity - usually used to keep reviewers honest and objective but it can be used to settle scores or bury rival research 3) publication bias- reviewers favour positive results 4) preserving the status-quo - reviewers prefer research which foes with the current held theory so peer reviews are really useful in an ideal world yet with them come complications that defeat their purpose somewhat

Answer 65

useful in that it circumnavigates many of the ethical issues normally associated with psychological research. much of the material wanting to be studied may already be within the public domain so there are no issues with obtaining permission. it is flexible in that it produces both qualitative and quantitative data depending on the aims of the research

Answer 66

people tend to be studied indirectly as part of content analysis so the communication they produce if often separated from the context within it appeared. danger that the researcher may attribute opinions/motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended originally. content analysis may lack objectivity especially when the descriptive forms of thematic analysis are used.

Answer 67

an in depth investigation, description or analysis f a single individual, group for institution or event normally producing qualitative data tend to be longitudinal

Answer 68

offer rich detalied insights may shed light on very unusual forms of behaviour this may be preferred to the more superficial forms of data obtained from an experiment or questioner so depending the investigation case studies can be valuable research methods.

Answer 69

generalisations! of findings when dealing with small samples sizes is a problem. the information that makes it into the final report is subjectivity selected and interpreted by the researcher personal accounts from indivials and family members may be prone to inaccuracies and memory decay when not tested in objective ways e.g. children recalling information from early childghood so generally the validity of research from case studies is fairly low

Answer 70

generalisations! of findings when dealing with small samples sizes is a problem. the information that makes it into the final report is subjectivity selected and interpreted by the researcher personal accounts from indivials and family members may be prone to inaccuracies and memory decay when not tested in objective ways e.g. children recalling information from early childghood so generally the validity of research from case studies is fairly low

Answer 71

whether the test is consistent within itself- assesses the consistency of results across items within a test

Answer 72

whether the rest is consistent over time

Answer 73

inter rater rel | split half method

Answer 74

test/retest

Answer 75

compares two halves of the test to see if they correlates do all parts of the test contribute equally to what is being measured? the similarity of the two sets of scores from different halves of a questionnaire

Answer 76

the extent to which two independent observers agree in their assessment

Answer 77

the same test administered to the same person/group on different occasions and results compared for similarity

Answer 78

it's (probably based on the question) unlikely because the calculated value may be higher at both the 0.05 and 0.01 level for a one-tailed test (so even at a more stringent level it is significant) the chance of a type 1 error occuring is therefore less than 1% (0.01) this means the researchers can be 99% certain that the results obtained are not due to chance.

Answer 79

control over extraneous variables. the lab setting minmises the influence of extraneous variables e.g waiting time/noise/stress which are present in field experiments can be easily removed. ethical issues: in a field experiment deception of patients/ or withholding information is likely to be necessary. these experiments are easily replaceable (contextualise to stimulus if necessary)

Answer 80

1) IV and DV and design if not told 2) Controls e.g with repeated measures design - order effects need to be controlled: counterbalancing 2 tasks should be matched for difficulty for example randomisation/time delay between tasks is also creditable 3) procedures - dealing with ethical issues - sampling - details fo conditions and allocation to them - standardised instructions data collection

Answer 81

directional used when a theory predicts a difference or correlation when previous research suggests a direction of difference

Answer 82

non directional used when different theories makes different predictions when previous research is contradictory when there is no previous research.

Answer 83

e.g. X (e.g.) conversations with psychology not controlled (1 mark for identification) affecting X e.g. the number or difficulty of questions. (1 mark) This would influence the DV because BLAH (1 mark).

Answer 84

think about whether elements of the experiment are generalisable to other settings - were any part of it superficial? does the environment truly reflect real-life settings

Answer 85

- more difficult to obtain significant results - minimum 5% probability of being down to chance is halved to cover each tail - increase chance of a type 2 error

Answer 86

In longitudinal studies problems include participant attrition, inability to control intervening events  In self report measures problems include demand characteristics  Difficulties in establishing cause and effect.

Answer 87

Internal validity of the questionnaire can be established by concurrent validity (1 mark) by comparing questionnaire scores to those from another similar established measure (1 mark). A high positive correlation would indicate validity (1 mark).

Answer 88

is the content of the questionnaire appropriate? A simple way of establishing this is face validity - does the questionnaire look right and appear to test what it aims to test? This could be established by using a rating scale to assess the suitability of the questionnaire. Those asked to rate the suitability could be the participants themselves or others in a position to offer judgement (perhaps teachers, parents, school counsellors). A high suitability rating might suggest a valid test.

Answer 89

is a measure of the extent to which questionnaire items are actually measuring the topics that they are intended to measure. This may be established through concurrent validity how well the scores relate to those from a currently existing similar measure that is known to have good validity. A high positive correlation between the two measures would indicate concurrent validity.

Answer 90

how well do questionnaire scores relate to later performance on a related measure. Similar performance on the two measures would be predicted and again a high positive correlation between them would indicate validity.

Answer 91

1 mark for identifying that a control group acts as a comparator for the treatment group who receive the anxiety management programme. Up to 2 additional marks for further explanation. If a control group was not used there would be no way of knowing whether students’ anxiety levels may have changed over the period of the study, irrespective of whether they were in the programme or not. Therefore whether or not the programme was effective. control group provides reliable baseline data to compare the experimental group with

Answer 92

1 mark for a reason why participants were allocated randomly. For example, eliminates any researcher bias in participant allocation to conditions. 1 further mark for appropriate elaboration, e.g. this means that participant characteristics that might affect the research are not distributed systematically

Answer 93

ppt given a number and these numbers are either placed in a hat or plugged into a random number generated designed for this purpose and alternately allocated to each condition.

Answer 94

1) Identify parts of test which didn't correlate well and improve them 2) Reduce inaccuracies- more than one measurement from each participant 3) Pilot study 4) Use more than one investigator and standardise data collection

Answer 95

the methods are not influenced by the researchers own beliefs ensures that other researchers doing the same work should get the same results- as not subjective. objecvity ensures validity

Answer 96

as part of scientific methods- explanation of why phenomena happen

Answer 97

prediction derived by theories

Answer 98

information gained through direct observation/experiment rather than by reasoned argument or unfounded beliefs. it is sensory experience that is central to the development and formation of knowledge and thus central also to scientific method

Answer 99

mostly done by a peer review

Answer 100

standardised instructions operational definition of observed variables objective measures double blind procedures

Answer 101

Methodological issues are most likely to arise from the use of questionnaires eg their reliability/ validity, poor response rate associated with sending back questionnaires leading to biased sample, demand characteristics etc. Reference to problems with correlational research should be credited.

Answer 102

Ethical issues are most likely to surround confidentiality and consent. Protection from harm is also a possible issue in that this is a rather sensitive area and the results of the questionnaire could be distressing for the participants and they might need some support/ counselling.

Answer 103

Advantage: Much quicker to administer and to score – could all have been given out at the same time whereas the therapist has to conduct 30 time-consuming interviews; cheaper than interviews, ie in terms of the therapist’s time; people might be more comfortable, and, therefore, more honest, if they have to write responses rather than face an interviewer (could work the other way as well – see disadvantages). Disadvantage: Self-report questionnaires might not yield as accurate data as an interview – questions can limit range of answers and there are no additional cues, eg body language, participants might be less honest on a questionnaire than in a face-to-face interview.

Answer 104

• no pressure to consent – it will not affect any other aspects of their treatment if they choose not to take part • they can withdraw at any time • they can withdraw their data from the study • their data will be kept confidential and anonymous • they should feel free to ask the researcher any questions at any time • they will receive a full debrief at the end of the programme.

Research methods Flashcards

(128 cards)