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Research methods Flashcards

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1
Q

Name 5 features of science

A

Replicability, Objectivity, Theory Construction, Hypothesis Testing, The Use of Empirical Methods

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2
Q

What is replicability?

A

The ability to repeat the study at a later date

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3
Q

What two functions does replicability serve?

A
  1. Guards against scientific fraud as findings can be checked
  2. Can check reliability of the data to know it wasn’t a one off
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4
Q

Why is replicability important in psychology?

A

Findings could have been specific to the group of participants used and so replicability may allow better generalisability

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5
Q

When is replicability highest?

A

In a controlled, laboratory setting

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6
Q

What 5 things need to be recorded for a study to be replicable?

A

What they did, How the study was carried out, Number of participants (their key characteristics and how they were selected), Where the study was carried out and the Raw data (how it was analysed)

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7
Q

What is objectivity?

A

Not allowing personal opinions, beliefs or expectations affect observation or interpretation and is achieved through tight controls

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8
Q

How would behaviourists such as Watson argue objectivity in psychology should be achieved?

A

Restrict subject matter to observable behaviour

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9
Q

Name a way to enhance objectivity

A

Controlling variables

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10
Q

Why is objectivity difficult to achieve in psychology?

A

Because it is the study of human behaviour observed by humans. Prevailing cultural, social and historical influences are likely to have an effect

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11
Q

What is theory construction?

A

A theory attempts to provide a model of how events are related and to explain observed phenomena
Scientific theory must be rigorously tested before being added to our body of scientific knowledge

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12
Q

Is scientific knowledge fact?

A

No, it is our best current understanding which may later be found to be wrong

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13
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A precise, testable statement of the expected outcome of a research study

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14
Q

Why is hypothesis testing important in psychology?

A

To test aspects of a theory to make it scientific

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15
Q

What is empiricism?

A

The belief that the only method of true knowledge is through careful observation

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16
Q

What did Francis Bacon say about empiricism?

A

Careful observation and measurement to enable scientists to understand their world better
This lead to the belief that all scientific evidence should be empirical- made through observations

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17
Q

What did early empiricists say?

A

That scientists need to let go of preconceived ideas of the area they are studying because the facts are out there waiting to be studied

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18
Q

Give 2 reasons why psychology should be considered a science because of its REPLICABILITY

A

Psychologists mainly use controlled experiments and also write up their methods in enough detail or they wouldn’t be published

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19
Q

Give a reason why psychology shouldn’t be considered a science because of REPLICABILITY

A

Psychologists sometimes use non experimental methods which are difficult to replicate such as case studies

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20
Q

Give 2 reasons why psychology should be considered a science based on OBJECTIVITY

A

Behaviourism psychologists have attempted to study only observable behaviour and quantifiable behaviours
Experimental methods can be objective and procedures like double blind can add to this objectivity

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21
Q

Give a reason why psychology shouldn’t be considered a science based on OBJECTIVITY

A

Popper argues that no science can be completely objective- humans by nature are subjective

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22
Q

Give a reason why psychology should be considered a science based on EMPIRICAL METHODS

A

Theories aren’t generated before research is carried out

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23
Q

Give a reason why psychology shouldn’t be considered a science based on EMPIRICAL METHODS

A

Historically, psychologists like Freud would develop theories on speculation rather than observation

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24
Q

What is peer review?

A

The process that a research report must go through to get published
It is sent to a peer reviewer who is a specialist in that area

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25
Q

What 4 things does a peer reviewer check for?

A
  1. Written in a generally agreed format
  2. Had a good research design
  3. Research design is reported so it’s replicable
  4. Is of high quality
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26
Q

Give 2 advantages of the peer review process

A
  1. Ensures published work is of a high quality

2. Benefits the researchers as it would benefit their career

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27
Q

Give 4 disadvantages of peer review

A
  1. Some journals are better than others and prestigious researchers such as from Oxford may not decide to publish their work in a less prestigious journal, limiting the advancing of psychological knowledge
  2. The reviewer may be biased if the report supports or goes against their own views
  3. Sometimes journals may struggle to find an appropriate expert to do the peer review and so they may not understand fully the work
  4. Richard Smith former editor of the British Medical Journal: “peer review is slow, expensive, highly subjective, and almost useless at detecting fraud”
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28
Q

What is the main feature of an experimental method?

A

It will involve manipulating an IV to see the effect it has on the DV

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29
Q

What are the 3 types of experimental method?

A

Laboratory- researcher’s environment
Field- participant’s natural environment
Natural- IV was going to change anyway

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30
Q

What are the 4 types of non experimental method?

A

Correlational analysis- relationship between 2 variables
Observational studies- can be naturalistic/controlled, overt/covert, structured/unstructured
Self report methods- questionnaires/interviews
Case studies- in depth study of individuals

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31
Q

What is an extraneous variable?

A

Anything but the IV that can affect the DV that can be controlled

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32
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

When a participant figures out the aim of the study and changes their behaviour

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33
Q

What are investigator effects?

A

The investigator only looks for evidence to confirm their theory or the participants are more or less cooperative to certain personal characteristics of the investigator

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34
Q

What is a pilot study?

A

A small scale trial run of the real investigation to identify any flaws

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35
Q

What is random sampling and is it biased?

A

Randomly select a number from everyone’s name in the target population- it is least likely to be biased

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36
Q

What is opportunity sampling and is it biased?

A

Use whoever is convenient- it’s most likely to be biased

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37
Q

What is volunteer sampling and is it biased?

A

Advertise for participants- it is biased

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38
Q

What is internal reliability?

A

Whether a test is consistent within itself

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39
Q

What is external reliability?

A

Whether results are consistently found in the future

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40
Q

What is observer reliability?

A

Whether findings of an observational study are consistently found

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41
Q

How would you assess internal reliability?

A

Split half reliability- split a test in half and compare results of both sections

42
Q

How would you assess external reliability?

A

Test retest reliability- replicating research and comparing results with the original results

43
Q

How would you assess observer reliability?

A

Inter rater reliability- involves 2 or more observers recording data from the same setting

44
Q

How would you improve internal reliability?

A

Carefully plan and use pilot studies

45
Q

How would you improve external reliability?

A

Ensure variables are fully operationalized and ensure the methodology of the research has been reported in enough detail

46
Q

How would you improve observer reliability?

A

Ensure observers are fully trains to the same standard

47
Q

What are the 3 types of external validity?

A

Population- if the results can be generalized
Ecological- if the results can be applied to real life settings
Temporal- if the results can be applied to different time periods

48
Q

What 2 ways can you assess for validity?

A

Face and predictive validity

49
Q

What is face validity?

A

Looking to see if the test or experiment seems to assess what it should

50
Q

What is predictive validity?

A

Looks at if the experiment’s predictions come true

51
Q

How would you improve internal validity?

A

Reducing demand characteristics

52
Q

How would you improve external validity?

A

Population- representative and large sample

Ecological- design study to mirror real life as much as possible

53
Q

What do psychologists adhere to in terms of ethics?

A

The BPS code of ethics

54
Q

Give 6 factors included in the BPS code of ethics

A
  1. Informed consent
  2. Deception
  3. Debrief
  4. Right to withdraw
  5. Confidentiality and anonymity
  6. Protection from psychological and physical harm
55
Q

What is socially sensitive research?

A

Research would have negative implications for the group of people which the research represents

56
Q

Race related research can be socially sensitive, give details

A

Hernstein and Murray in their book ‘The Bell Curve’ claimed they had evidence that white Americans were more intelligent than black Americans

57
Q

How should you you decide whether socially sensitive research should be carried out?

A

Carry out cost-benefit analysis
e.g. Hernstein and Murray’s research arguably has no benefit to society as it gives fuel to racist organisations and a reasonable society wouldn’t deny a group opportunity based on research of this kind

58
Q

What are the 3 levels of consent?

A

No consent- very rarely participants are unaware that they are taking part in a study e.g. covert naturalistic observation
Informed consent- rare again, but this is where participants understand everything
Consent- aware they are taking part in a study but don’t know the full nature of the study

59
Q

What 7 things do you need to include in a consent form?

A
  1. The purpose of a study
  2. Length of time required of the participants
  3. What the participants can expect- where will they go, what they will have to do
  4. Right to withdraw
  5. Reassurance of protection from harm
  6. Reassurance of confidentiality
  7. Opportunity to ask questions
60
Q

What 7 things do you need to include in a debrief?

A
  1. The real aims
  2. The hypothesis
  3. A brief description of past research in the area
  4. Why each task was included
  5. How the participant performed- make them feel normal
  6. Offers of counselling if needed
  7. Opportunity to ask questions
61
Q

List 8 guidelines for research on non human animals

A
  1. Need a license
  2. Consideration of alternative method
  3. Species considered carefully, some feel more pain
  4. Number of animals kept to a minimum
  5. Supplier of animals should be reputable
  6. Fieldwork should be kept to a minimum
  7. Pain and stress should be kept to a minimum
  8. Pain relief and euthanasia should be used when appropriate
62
Q

Give 3 arguments for using animals

A
  1. Can be used when it’s unethical to use humans
  2. Helps to further psychological knowledge
  3. Can be beneficial to animals
63
Q

Give 3 arguments against using animals

A
  1. Ethically wrong to further human welfare at the expense of animals
  2. At some point we need to accept human progress can’t go on forever
  3. Animal fieldwork can be stressful to animals
64
Q

What is a measure of central tendency?

A

Mean
Median
Mode

65
Q

When do you use the mean?

A

Most scientific but not used when there’s an unusually high or low scores

66
Q

When do you use the median?

A

Used if there’s an unusually high or low score

67
Q

When do you use the mode?

A

When dealing with category data

68
Q

What are 3 measures of dispersion?

A

Interquartile range, range and standard deviation

69
Q

When would you use a histogram?

A

To represent continuous data

70
Q

When would you use a frequency polygon?

A

When there are several data sets

71
Q

When would you use a bar chart?

A

To represent category data

72
Q

When would you use a scattergram?

A

To represent correlations

73
Q

Why is testing for significance important?

A

Because it would be very subjective to say if the difference is big enough so a statistical test is important

74
Q

What are the different levels of significance?

A
  1. 1- 10%
  2. 05- 5%- used most often
  3. 01- 1%
75
Q

What is a type 1 error?

A

When we accept the experimental hypothesis when it is not actually accurate

76
Q

What is a type 2 error?

A

When we reject the the experimental hypothesis and it is accurate

77
Q

How do you increase the chance of making a type 1 error?

A

Using a higher level of significance such as 10% because you are more likely to accept the hypothesis

78
Q

How do you increase the chance of making a type 2 error?

A

Using a lower level of significance such as 1% because you are more likely to reject the hypothesis

79
Q

What is nominal data?

A

When data can be put into categories

80
Q

What is ordinal data?

A

When data can be ordered or ranked

81
Q

What is interval data?

A

When data can be measured on a scale

82
Q

What 2 statistical tests can you use in an experimental design?

A

Mann Whitney

Wilcoxen

83
Q

What statistical test do you use in a correlation?

A

Spearmans

84
Q

What statistical test do you use in a study with categories (observation)?

A

Chi squared

85
Q

What 3 factors mean you use Mann Whitney?

A

Data is unrelated (independent groups)
Raw data is ordinal or interval
You are predicting the difference between two conditions

86
Q

What 3 factors mean you use Wilcoxen?

A

Data is related (repeated measures or matched pairs)
Raw data is interval or ordinal
You are predicting the difference between two conditions

87
Q

What 3 factors mean you use Chi Squared?

A

Data is unrelated (independent groups)
Raw data is nominal (categories)
Can be used for associations and differences between variable

88
Q

What 3 factors mean you use Spearmans?

A

Data is related (correlation)
Raw data is interval
Correlational method used

89
Q

What do you need to know to say that the statistical test shows significance?

A

Look at the observed value (gained from the study)
Find the critical value by looking at the table and working out:
Level of significance (usually 5%)
One tailed (directional) or two tailed (non directional)
Value of N (number of participants)
See if the observed value is higher or lower than the critical and state significance or not

90
Q

What is quantitative data?

A

Data that can be represented in numerical form

91
Q

What is qualitative data?

A

Non numerical data

92
Q

How is qualitative data analysed?

A

Content analysis

93
Q

What is content analysis?

A

Thematic analysis which involved making categories and counting how many times that theme comes up
This can be a top down approach (deciding themes before analysis) or a bottom up approach (analysing data with an open mind)

94
Q

What 8 sections need to be in a report of a psychological investigation?

A
  1. Title
  2. Abstract
  3. Introduction
  4. Method
  5. Results
  6. Discussion
  7. References
  8. Appendices
95
Q

What do you include in the abstract of a report?

A 
The aims and hypotheses
Participants
Procedures
Results
Conclusions 
150 words or less
96
Q

What do you include in an introduction of a report?

A

Review of past research carried out in the area which starts off broad and ends of being specific and ends with the aim and hypotheses

97
Q

What do you include in the method section of a report?

A

Design
Participants
Materials
Procedures

98
Q

What do you include in the results section of a report?

A

Descriptive statistics- central tendency and dispersion

Inferential statistics- which test you chose and why and the outcome

99
Q

What do you include in the discussion section of a report?

A

Statement of results, link to past research, limitations and modifications, implications and suggestions for further research

100
Q

What are references and appendices?

A

Referencing is listing all work you’ve directly referred to

Appendices is where you put any material that would interrupt the flow of the report

Psychology A2 (6 decks)

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