Research Methods Flashcards
What do experiments establish?
Cause and effect relationship between variables
What is a hypothesis?
A prediction which formulates the effect of changing one variable (IV) on another variable (DV)
What happens to the IV in an experimental condition?
The IV is manipulated
What happens to the IV in a control condition?
The IV stays the same
What makes a lab experiment scientific?
The procedure is replicated because of the standardised procedures and makes it more reliable
How does lab experiments lack ecological validity?
The experiment isn’t like real life (artificial)
What is a weakness about validity when it comes to field experiments?
Field experiments can be less valid than lab experiments because of the lack of control on extraneous variables
What are quasi experiments?
When the IV occurs naturally and can not be manipulated by the experimenter
What is an observation?
When an experiment observe ppt’s behaviour
What is a naturalistic observation?
An observation carried out in the field (natural setting)
What is a controlled observation?
An observation that is controlled so the procedure/setting is the same for each ppt
What is a participant observation?
An observation where the observer is pretending to be a part of the group that is being observed
What is a non-participant observation?
An observation where the observer is not a member of the group being studied
What is an unstructured observation?
Where the observer continuously records and reports behaviour, noting everything that happens
What is a structured observation?
Where the observer only records data of behaviour they are particularly interested in
What is a covert observation?
An observation where the ppt does not know they are being observed
What is an overt observation?
The ppt knows that thy’re being observed
What is a weakness of unstructured observations?
The data collected is difficult to summaries and compare between different ppts.
What is a strength of structured observations?
Data is easily compared and you are able to see a common trend
What is a weakness of structured observations?
You may miss an important behaviour category which occurs more often than the ones you are observing which will cause you to have skewed data
What is a weakness of naturalistic observations?
Although you may see normal behaviour, the lack of control means there could be other factors influencing behaviour
What is a weakness of controlled observations?
The situation is artificial and may make behaviour unusual
Advantages of participant observations:
Good vantage point for your observations
Able to get insight on situation and gather detailed information
Disadvantages of participant observations:
Presence may change the course of the events you are observing
Observer may become bias as they become too involved in the group being observed
Advantage of non-participant observations:
Able to be objective
What is event sampling?
Where an event is recorded each time it happens
What is time point sampling?
When an observer records what the participant is doing at fixed intervals
What is time event sampling?
Where a fixed period of time is set for observation
