Research Methods Flashcards
Explanation of confidentiality
- legal right
- personal information protected
- participants not individually identifiable from research
How is confidentiality dealt with?
- researchers use letters or numbers to represent participants
- any materials kept secure e.g. Questionnaires, taped interviews : once all information received from the materials, they’re destroyed
Explanation of right to withdraw
- participants must be told at the beginning of the research that they can withdraw at any point
- all data must be destroyed if a participant withdraws
How is right to withdraw dealt with?
- allowing the participant to withdraw and destroying their data
- participants can be given a number which they have to remember so that only their data will be destroyed not all of it
Explanation of informed consent
- participants fully informed of objectives of the investigation and all other aspects of the research that may affect the participants willingness to take part
- under 16s and mentally impaired cannot consent themselves
What is prior general consent?
Participant is informed of basic details of the investigation
What is presumptive consent?
Small group of people similar to the individuals in the investigation are gathered and informed of objectives and procedures. If the group agree the study is acceptable, it’s presumed the actual group would feel the same.
What are the 5 ethical issues?
Confidentiality Right to withdraw Informed consent Protection from harm Deception
What are the three ways informed consent is dealt with?
Prior general consent
Presumptive consent
Debriefing
Explanation of protection from harm
- participants protected from physical and psychological harm
- participants should be in the same physical and psychological state as they were when they begun the investigation
How is protection from harm dealt with?
- debriefing
- if harm occurs, the investigation should be ended
- counselling and therapy etc
Explanation of deception
- participants must not be intentionally lied to
- only acceptable when the benefits outweigh the cost and there’s no alternative
What is debriefing?
Participant is informed about all of the details of the study at the end and asking if they’re still happy to participate
Define aim
States the intended purpose of an investigation
What is an alternative hypothesis?
A precise and testable statement that predicts a difference/relationship will be found in an investigation
What is a null hypothesis?
A statement that predicts there’ll be no difference/relationship found in an investigation
What are the two types of alternative hypothesis?
Directional hypothesis and non-directional hypothesis
What is a directional hypothesis?
States the direction of the predicted difference/relationship between two conditions
What is a non-directional hypothesis?
States that there’ll be difference/relationship between two conditions, but not what that will be
Define variable
Anything that changes
Define independent variable
The variable manipulated by the researcher, so it’s though that to directly affect the DV
Define dependent variable
The variable the researcher measures
What is operationalisation?
Process of putting variables into practice by making them measurable (operationalised)
Complete the sentence.
The _________ variable affects the ________ variable.
The independent variable affects the dependent variable
What two things should be included when writing a hypothesis? (One for IV, one for DV)
IV: 2 conditions
DV: units
What is a correlation?
A relationship between 2 variables
What variables are used in correlation?
Co-variables not IV and DV
What are co-variables?
Variables that don’t directly affects each other - they just show a relationship
How is a correlation all hypothesis written?
“There’ll be a relationship between…”
What can correlation not show?
Cannot establish cause and effect
How can correlation be shown (which graph)?
Scatter graphs
What is an extraneous variable?
Any variable other than the IV that, if left uncontrolled, could affect the DV.
What are confounding variables?
Extraneous variables that aren’t controlled become confounding variables as they confound (confuse) the results
What are the 3 types of extraneous variable?
Participant variable
Situational variable
Participant reactivity
What is a participant variable? (EV)
Any characteristic of the individual participant that could affect the results
What is a situational variable? (EV)
Features of the research situation that might influence participants behaviour
What is participants reactivity? (EV)
Occurs when the participant actively seeks clues about how to behave and the responds accordingly
What are some examples of participant variables?
Differences in participants age, intelligence, motivation and past experience - some participants will then perform better/worse (gender isn’t always an extraneous variable)
What are some examples of situational variables?
Time of day, temperature and noise levels - only controlled if they’re likely to affect the research
Order effects
Investigator effects
Demand characteristics
