research methods - 5

Question 1

what are the features of science?

Answer 1

-paradigm
-paradigm shift
-objectivity
-empirical method
-replicability
-falsifiability
-theory construction
-hypothesis testing

Question 2

what is a paradigm?

Answer 2

a set of shared assumptions / methods within a particular discipline

Question 3

psychology a science - paradigm

Answer 3

prychology is a science because all psychologists study the human mind and behaviour
(each approach is its own paradigm)

Question 4

psychology not a science - paradigm

Answer 4

no, because there isn’t a shared set of assumptions about the causes of human behaviour
↳ bio approach (genes, neurotransmitters, brain structures)
↳ behaviourist (learn from envionment)

Question 5

what is a paradigm shift?

Answer 5

a psychological revolution leading to a new, widely accepted, dominant paradigm
(change in unifying theory)

Question 6

psychology a science - paradigm shift

Answer 6

psychology has had several paradigm shifts
(wundt → psychodynamic → behaviourist → cognitive)

Question 7

psychology not a science - paradigm shift

Answer 7

if there is no paradigm, there can’t be a paradigm shift

(eg: biological approach & behaviourist approach conflict)

Question 8

what is objectivity?

Answer 8

rerearchers mustn’t let their personal opinions, judgements or biases interfere with data

Question 9

psychology a science - objectivity

Answer 9

some approaches are objective
→ behaviourist (focus on observable behaviour)
→ biological (scanning techniques)

Question 10

psychology not a science - objectivity

Answer 10

not all research is interpreted in an objective way
→ psychodynamic (little hans case study)

Question 11

what is the empirical method?

Answer 11

the idea that knowledge is gained from direct experiences in an objective,
systematic + controlled manner to produce quantitative data

Question 12

psychology a science - empirical method

Answer 12

some approaches use the empirical method → behaviourist (only focuses on observable behaviour)

Question 13

psychology not a science - empirical method

Answer 13

not all psychological matter can be directly observed
→ cognitive (inferences are assumptions)
→ psychodynamic (unobservable, unconscious thought)
→ wundt (conscious thoughts can’t be verified )

Question 14

what is replicability?

Answer 14

when research is repeated and consistent results are found

Question 15

psychology a science - replicability

Answer 15

most psychological research is standardised and therefore replicable
➢ wundt = stimuli (metronome)
➢ behaviourist = skinner’s box

Question 16

psychology not a science - replicability

Answer 16

it is almost impossible to replicate the same conditons and behaviour in humans (individual differences)
↳ partipant variables, wundt used a ticking metronome, but not all participants repeated the same thoughts

Question 17

what is falsifiability?

Answer 17

the idea that a research hypothesis could be proved wrong. this helps to keep science advancing findings and
with new paradigms

Question 18

psychology a science - falsifiability

Answer 18

some theories have testable hypotheses:
↳ behaviourist
↳ biological

Question 19

psychology not a science - falsifiability

Answer 19

there is no testable hypothers in the prychodynamic approach
→ theories are on an unconscious level

Question 20

what is theory construction?

Answer 20

to construct a theory, evidence to support this notion needs to be collected first

Question 21

psychology a science - theory construction

Question 22

psychology not a science - theory construction

Question 23

what is hypothesis testing?

Answer 23

if a researcher suspects something to be true, they need to devise an experiment that will allow them to examine their ideas

Question 24

psychology a science - hypothesis testing

Question 25

psychology not a science - hypothesis testing

Question 26

most early psychologists focused on causal explanations and argued that behaviour was determined by either internal or external influences. in the 1960s, some psychologists chose to focus more on the role of free will in behaviour. more recently, there has been a broad shift back to more deterministic thinking, but this time with the focus on biology and cognitive processes. referring to the text above, explain what is meant by a paradigm shift (4 marks)

Answer 26

-paradigm is a set of shared assumptions/beliefs about how behaviour/thought is studied/explained (eg: a focus on causal explanations of behaviour) -a shift occurs where members of a scientific community change from one established way of explaining a behaviour to a new way, due to new evidence (eg: shifting focus from cause to free will) -this shift leads to a ‘scientific revolution’ (eg: the cognitive revolution in the 1970s and the current emphasis on cognitive neuroscience)

Question 27

briefly explain one reason why it is important for research to be replicated. (2 marks)

Answer 27

-the theory gains strength if it is replicable -generalisability increases if research is replicable (the theory may then have practical applications)

Question 28

a psychodynamic psychologist wished to investigate the function of dreams. he asked five friends to keep a ‘dream diary’ for a week by writing a descriptive account of their dreams as soon as they woke up in the morning. he interpreted the content of their dreams as an expression of their repressed wishes. referring to the study above, explain why psychodynamic psychologists have often been criticised for neglecting the rules of the scientific approach. (3 marks)

Answer 28

-interpretation of the content of dreams is open to bias and subjectivity -small sample & an opportunity sample of friends → implications for generalisability -retrospective data / memory distortions → problem of objectivity

Question 29

outline what is meant by replication in research. explain why replication forms an essential part of the scientific approach. (4 marks)

Answer 29

1 mark = (definition) being able to copy the original experiment in order to see if results are the same or similar. 1 mark = reference to method (doing the same way). 1 mark = reference to results (if similar or not) up to two marks = for explaining the role of replication in the scientific approach candidates may focus on two reasons briefly or may choose to elaborate on a single reason -increases confidence in results; theory strengthened through repeated attempts at refutation -generalisability increased

Question 30

a researcher believed that there is a biological basis to aggression in males. she predicted that there would be a significant difference between the levels of the hormone testosterone in aggressive males and the levels of the hormone testosterone in non-aggressive males. In order to test her prediction, the researcher statistically analysed the levels of testosterone in saliva samples from 20 aggressive males and 20 non-aggressive males. outline three ways in which the study described above could be considered to be scientific.

Answer 30

statistical testing: measuring levels of hormones; use of saliva samples -hypothesis testing -open to replication

Question 31

strengths of psychology as a science:

Answer 31

-theories provide general laws of behaviour and allow psychology to progress as a science -respectability due to scientific status -objective and provides reliable findings that can be generalised -resulted in practical applications which can improve people’s lives and help solve problems -allows us to establish causality of behaviour -allows us to predict behaviour

Question 32

limitations of psychology as a science:

Answer 32

-scientific laws are generalisable but psychological explanations are often restricted to specific times and places, because psychology studies (mostly) people, it studies (indirectly) the effects of social and cultural changes on behaviour ↳ behaviour changes over time, and over different situations ↳ these factors, and individual differences, make research findings reliable for a limited time only -much of the subject matter in psychology is unobservable (e.g. memory) and therefore cannot be accurately measured -when psychologists operationalise their IV, it is highly likely that this is reductionist or subjective -objectivity is impossible. It is a huge problem in psychology, as it involves humans studying humans, and it is very difficult to study the behaviour of people in an unbiased fashion.

Question 33

what is peer review?

Answer 33

-the process by which psychological research papers, before publication, are subjected to independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field -they consider the research in terms of its validity, significance and originality

Question 34

the process of peer review: (stage 1)

Answer 34

independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field, work is considered in terms of its validity, significance and originality

Question 35

the process of peer review: (stage 2)

Answer 35

there is assessment of the appropriateness of the methods and designs used

Question 36

the process of peer review: (stage 3)

Answer 36

the reviewer can accept the manuscript as it is, accept with revisions, suggest the author makes revisions and re-submit or reject without the possibility of re-submission

Question 37

the process of peer review: (stage 4)

Answer 37

the editor makes the final decision whether to accept or reject the research report based on the reviewers’ comments/recommendations

Question 38

the process of peer review: (stage 5)

Answer 38

research proposals are submitted to panel and assessed for merit to see whether it should be published

Question 39

why is peer review important in research?

Answer 39

1) identify weaknesses - it is difficult for authors and researchers to spot every mistake in a piece of work ↳ showing the work to others increases the probability that weaknesses will be identified and addressed ↳ this checks the validity of the research 2) it helps to prevent the dissemination of irrelevant findings, unwarranted claims, unacceptable interpretations, personal views and deliberate fraud 3) peer reviewers also judge the quality and the significance of the research in a wider context 4) recommend changes - peer reviewers can then make a recommendation as to whether the research paper should be published in its original form, rejected or revised in some way ↳ helps to ensure that any research paper published has integrity and can be taken seriously by fellow researchers and people

Question 40

what are the parts of psychological reports?

Answer 40

1) title 2) abstract 3) introduction 4) method 5) results 6) discussion 7) references / bibliography 8) appendices

Question 41

what is the abstract?

Answer 41

-a summary of the report -tells the reader about the major elements of the report, including; aim, hypotheses, method, results and conclusions

Question 42

why are abstracts helpful?

Answer 42

-they mean that researchers do not have to read hundreds of reports when conducting new research -hey use these to find the most relevant reports to read in full

Question 43

aim and hypothesis:

Answer 43

-the aim states the purpose of the study -the hypothesis states what is going to be tested, and the expected outcome

Question 44

method:

Answer 44

it should include these elements: -design and method -sample and participants -apparatus/equipment -procedure -ethics

Question 45

sample and participants:

Answer 45

the sampling method, number of participants

Question 46

procedure:

Answer 46

-a full account of how the experiment or observation took place, including standardised instructions and everything said to the participants in debriefing -note control for extraneous variables here

Question 47

ethics:

Answer 47

an acknowledgement of possible ethical issues and explanations of how occurring ethical issues were dealt with

Question 48

what must the method be?

Answer 48

detailed enough so that if someone else picks up the report, they could replicate the research

Question 49

results:

Answer 49

-this section should include key findings in relation to the hypothesis -descriptive statistics include tables, graphs and charts, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion -inferential statistics refer to the choice of statistic test (and why), the calculated values and the critical values, as well as the level of significance

Question 50

discussion:

Answer 50

-the results should be summarised at the start of the discussion, and this includes relating them to the aim and the hypothesis stated in the introduction -the researcher then compares the results to the previous research outlined in the introduction -any limitations of the research will be discussed, and possible suggestions of addressing these in future research -the implications of the research for real life – what contribution has the research made?

Question 51

referencing:

Answer 51

the reference section includes all of the sources the researcher used to gather their initial information and apparatus for their investigation; e.g. books, articles, websites

Question 52

referencing style:

Answer 52

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher

Question 53

appendices:

Answer 53

any materials used for any part of the research go here… (eg: consent form, debrief form, questionnaires, diagrams, raw data statistical calculations)

Question 54

format of psychological report:

Answer 54

-rhe report should be written in the third person -language should be formal, and technical

Question 55

Briefly outline what information psychologists should include within an abstract when reporting psychological investigations.

Answer 55

The abstract should tell the reader about the major elements of the report such as the aim, hypotheses, method, results and conclusions.

Question 56

List four sub sections that should be included within the method section of a psychological report [4 marks]

Answer 56

research design, sample, sampling method, participants, apparatus, procedure, standardised instructions, ethics

Question 57

**Design a Study**

Question 58

how to answer an exam question about designing a study:

Answer 58

-only answer the bullet points -justify everything