Research Methods Flashcards
What are research methods?
Techniques or ‘tools’, psychologists use to collect, analyse or interpret data.
Give an example of a research method.
Experiments
Observational studies
Case studies
Surveys
What is the role of the experimenter, in terms of ethics?
The experimenter has a duty of care to ensure that no participant exists the study psychologically or physically harmed.
Define Ethics
Refers to the standards that guide individuals to identify good, desirable or acceptable conduct. They help judge behaviours which are appropriate and inappropriate.
What is merit?
Evidence that the investigation is worthwhile and justifiable by potential benefits such as advancement of knowledge and understanding, improved wellbeing of individuals or society in general, and even improved skill and expertise of researchers.
What is a research hypothesis?
A testable prediction of a relationship between two or more events or characteristics.
Define Integrity.
A researchers commitment to honest and ethical conduct of their research, the search for knowledge, recognised conduct of research, and their communication of results obtained.
When is respect demonstrated?
When the researcher values each participant as a human being and properly regards the welfare, rights beliefs, perceptions, customs and cultural heritage of each individual.
What is beneficence?
The researcher’s responsibility to maximise potential benefits of the research to participants, to the wider community, or to both, while minimising risks of harm or discomfort to the participants.
In psychology, what is Justice?
The requirement that researchers, as far as possible, be fair in relation to the selection, inclusion and exclusion of different categories of potential research participants.
What are the participants rights in psychology?
To undergo no physical or mental harm. Confidentiality Voluntary participation Withdrawal rights Informed consent Access to Debriefing
What is deception?
The conduction of a study without fully informing participants of its true purpose before commencement.
What is an IV, and what is a DV?
The IV- the independent variable, is the variable that is systematically changed or varied by the experimenter in order to measure its effect.
The DV- the dependant variable, is the variable in an experiment that is observed or measured and is expected to change as a result of the IV.
What is an experiment?
A study used to test a cause-effect relationship between variables under controlled conditions.
What is an extraneous variable?
Any variable other the IV that can cause a change in the DV and therefor can create unwanted results.