Research Methods

Question 1

Statistical testing

Answer 1

Used to determine the likelihood that a relationship has been found due to chance
It determines whether a hypothesis should be rejected or accepted

Question 2

Spearman’s Rho

Answer 2

Use for testing correlation
When data is ordinal
Pairs of scores

Question 3

Pearson’s R

Answer 3

Use when testing correlation
Data is interval
Pairs of scores

Question 4

Mann-Whitney

Answer 4

Use when independent measures design
Data is ordinal
Testing for difference

Question 5

Unrelated T-test

Answer 5

Use when independent measures design
Data is interval
When testing for difference

Question 6

Wilcoxon

Answer 6

Use when repeated measures/matched pairs
When data is ordinal
Testing for difference

Question 7

Related T-test

Answer 7

Used when repeated measures/matched pairs
When data is interval
To test for difference

Question 8

Chi-Squared

Answer 8

Use when independent groups design
Data is nominal and data within each category is independent
Used to test for association/difference

Question 9

Nominal Data

Answer 9

Represented in the form of CATEGORIES e.g small or tall
Participants cannot be in more than one category which makes the data discrete
It is the crudest and least informative type of data as it does not have a numerical result for each participant

Question 10

Ordinal Data

Answer 10

Represents data in PLACE ORDER e.g 30 students would be numbered with the tallest being 30 and the smallest being 1
A strength is that the intervals are equal however the intervals are not equal between each unit
It is criticised as being based on subjective opinion rather than on objective measures

Question 11

Interval Data

Answer 11

Based on STANDARDISED measurements e.g weight or time

The most informative and accurate data

Question 12

Significance level

Answer 12

“p<0.05” means that the probability of the results occurring by chance is less than 5 times in 100

Question 13

Null Hypothesis

Answer 13

States there is no difference/association between variables

Question 14

Type One Error

Answer 14

When the researcher rejects the null hypothesis (accepts the alternative hypothesis) when in fact the effect is due to chance
Known as error of optimists

Question 15

Type Two Error

Answer 15

When the researcher rejects the alternative hypothesis (or accepts the null hypothesis) when in fact the results occurred due to chance
Referred to as error of pessimists

Question 16

One tailed test

Answer 16

Used when the hypothesis is DIRECTIONAL

If previous research has been conducted to suggest the direction of the results it is used

Question 17

Two tailed test

Answer 17

Used when the hypothesis is NON-DIRECTIONAL

If no previous research has been done to suggest the direction of the research, a two tailed test is used

Question 18

Case study

Answer 18

A detailed study about an individual or a group of individuals that is either LONGITUDINAL or RETROSPECTIVE

Question 19

Strength and Weakness of a Case Study

Answer 19

It gives a lot of depth and understanding of the individual and allows us to investigate a situation that could not be set up for ethical reasons

If is difficult to replicate therefore it is difficult to say whether or not it is reliable. The findings can also not be generalised

Question 20

Content Analysis

Answer 20

A technique of analysing qualitative data
It is an indirect way is studying behaviour by analysing the communications the individual has used such as texts or emails
It uses coding to get quantities data from qualities data
By identifying categories e.g. words or phrases, the researcher then goes through the communications and uses a tally chart to go through and look for examples

Question 21

Evaluation of Content Analysis

Answer 21

It is easy to perform and doesn’t require contact with the participant
HOWEVER
It is descriptive and just not show the underlying reasons for the behaviours. Reasons may be attributed to the author which were not intended

Question 22

Thematic Analysis

Answer 22

Involves assessing data to identify patterns within it. For example, a thematic analysis of the portrayal of the mentally ill in the press may involves looking at themes such as "they drain NHS resources".
It has 6 stages:
Familiarisation 
Coding
Searching for themes
Reviewing themes by collecting new data
Defining and naming themes
Writing up

Question 23

Assessing Reliability

Answer 23

Test-Retest
Inter-observer reliability
Split-half method
Questionnaire

Question 24

Test-retest

Answer 24

Tests for EXTERNAL reliability
It involves getting the same participants to perform he same tests after a time delay.
If the results are similar then the test would be deemed reliable

Question 25

Inter-Observer Reliability

Answer 25

Used to assess the reliability of OBSERVATIONS Could be measured by getting two observers the observe the phenomena A strong correlation of scores (0.8) would suggest that the observation was reliable

Question 26

Split-Half method

Answer 26

Tests for INTERNAL reliability | Involves splitting the test in half and if the results are similar on each side it is deemed reliable

Question 27

Improving reliability

Answer 27

In observational research, the observer could gain more training Or create a clear criteria for behaviours categories

Question 28

Internal Validity

Answer 28

Whether or not it measures what it is suppose to measure i.e the effect of the IV on the DV Reduced by demand characteristics and investigator effects

Question 29

External Validity

Answer 29

Comprised of ecological and temporal validity: ECOLOGICAL- the extent to which findings can be generalised to other situations and settings TEMPORAL- whether findings can be generalised to other historical times and eras

Question 30

Ways of assessing validity

Answer 30

Content Validity Face Validity Concurrent Validity

Question 31

Content Validity

Answer 31

Involves independent experts assessing the validity of the measuring instrument concerned

Question 32

Face Validity

Answer 32

Scrutinising a measure to determine whether it appears to measure what it intends to"on the face of it"

Question 33

Concurrent Validity

Answer 33

Correlating the scores from the new procedure with an alternative for which validity has already been established A positive correlation would suggest the procedure is valid

Question 34

Improving Validity

Answer 34

INTERNAL=Single and double blind techniques Single Blind- participants do not know which condition they are in Double Blind- both participant and research do not know which condition participants are in EXTERNAL= could use a variety of locations e.g Milgram However, improving internal validity could come at the expense of the external validity

Question 35

Sign Test

Answer 35

When using repeated measures Data is nominal Looking for difference

Question 36

What is the experimental method?

Answer 36

Aims to determine cause and effect through the manipulation of variables

Question 37

4 types of Experimental Methods

Answer 37

Lab experiment Field experiment Natural experiment Quasiexperiment

Question 38

Lab experiment

Answer 38

Takes place in carefully controlled conditions rather than the real world and the IV is manipulated Strength: control of variables means you can see the effect of IV on DV Weakness: due to the controlled conditions, it lacks ecological validity and cannot generalise findings

Question 39

Field experiment

Answer 39

An experiment that is not done under carefully controlled conditions but in the real world and the IV is manipulated Strength: due to it being in the real world it have ecological validity and the findings can be generalised Weakness: it lacks control of variables so there may be other variables affecting the DV

Question 40

Natural experiment

Answer 40

An experiment which the IV is NATURALLY OCCURRING and not manipulated Strength: it allows the researcher to study situations which are unable to be set up for ethical reasons Weakness: lacks control of variables which may affect the DV

Question 41

Quasiexperiement

Answer 41

An experiment which the IV already exists e.g gender, age and the IV is not manipulated Strength: it allows research of areas not available to set up for ethical reasons Weakness: lacks control of variables

Question 42

Self-Report Techniques

Answer 42

Involves participants being asked their own opinion beliefs or attitudes on a subject Includes questionnaires and interviews

Question 43

Questionnaire

Answer 43

Involves participants recording their answers to a set of written questions

Question 44

Interview

Answer 44

Involves participants answering questions from the researcher verbally

Question 45

Strengths and weakness of questionnaire

Answer 45

Strength: People may feel more comfortable disclosing their beliefs rather than speaking verbally Participants can answer without the investigator being present which reduces experimenter bias Weakness: If participants do not understand a question, they cannot ask someone and so may answer wrong. This can be a problem when analysing the data

Question 46

Strength and weakness of interview

Answer 46

Strength: If participants do no understand a question they can ask the researcher to explain which helps them answer correctly Weakness: Due to social desirability, participants are more likely to talk more favourably of themselves

Question 47

Structured interview+evaluation

Answer 47

Researcher asks the participant a set of pre-determined questions in a fixed order Strength: It can easily replicated which means it increases reliability Weakness: Due to it having fixed questions, the researcher may not get as much insight which reduces validity

Question 48

Unstructured interview+evaluation

Answer 48

This is like a conversation with the participant where the questions are not pre-determined on in a fixed order Strength: Due the researcher being able to get more of an insight, it improves the validity Weakness: It is difficult to replicate which reduces the reliability

Question 49

Correlation

Answer 49

A method of studying the association/relationship between 2 variables Due to not manipulating variables, it does not infer cause and effect Data is displayed on a scattergram Correlational analysis involves working out the extent of the relationship through finding the co-efficient

Question 50

Strength and weakness of correlations

Answer 50

Strength: It is an ethical way or research as it does not require manipulating variables Weakness: Due to not manipulating variables, it is unable to find cause an effect as it is not certain which variable impacts the other

Question 51

Co-Variables

Answer 51

The variables studied in a correlation | They are not referred to as IV and DV because the study looks for the relationship between rather than cause and effect

Question 52

What is an observation? Name the 6 types

Answer 52

``` An observation involves watching and recording behaviour e.g. how children play Naturalistic Controlled Overt Covert Participant Non-Participant ```

Question 53

Naturalistic observation + evaluation

Answer 53

Watching and recording behaviour in real world situations Strength: People are likely to behave how they normally would+there are low demand characteristics Weakness: There is a lack of control of extraneous variables which may affect the results

Question 54

Controlled Observation + Evaluation

Answer 54

Observation done in a structured environment e.g. Strange situation Strength: Control over extraneous variables Weakness: Lacks ecological validity

Question 55

Covert observation + evaluation

Answer 55

The participants do not know and have not given consent to being observed Strength: Validity will be increased as the participants will act naturally Weakness: it is unethical as participants haven't given consent to be watched and observed

Question 56

Overt observation + evaluation

Answer 56

Participants do know and have given their consent to be observed and recorded Strength: It is ethical as consent is given Weakness: the validity decreases as the participants may not act natural

Question 57

Participant observation and evaluation

Answer 57

Where the researcher becomes a member of the group they are watching and recording Strength: The investigator can get more of an insight which increases validity Weakness: the researcher may lose their objective and 'go native' by becoming more like the participants than the researcher

Question 58

Non-Participant observation + evaluation

Answer 58

The researcher does not become a member of the group being observed Strength: The researcher can retain their objectivity and be impartial Weakness: It may lack validity because they cannot achieve as much of an insight

Question 59

Aim

Answer 59

A general stat,net about the purpose of a piece of research e.g to see the effect of caffeine on memory

Question 60

Hypothesis

Answer 60

A clear and precise statement about the research with operationalised variables

Question 61

Directional Hypothesis vs Non-Directional

Answer 61

Directional hypothesis states the direction of the results | Non-directional does not predict the direction of the results

Question 62

Extraneous vs confounding

Answer 62

Extraneous is any variable other than the IV that could affect the DV if it is not controlled Confounding variable is an uncontrolled variable that HAS affected the results

Question 63

Independent and Dependent variable

Answer 63

Independent: manipulated to see the effect with will have on the DV Dependent: affected by the IV

Question 64

Demand Characteristics

Answer 64

Features of a piece of research that enables the participants to work out the aim/hypothesis Participants may then change their behaviour to frustrate the aim This is more likely in repeated measures swing and when repeating historical research

Question 65

Investigator affects

Answer 65

When the researches behaviour characteristics influence the research in some way; this includes the presence of the researcher For example, the researcher may expect a certain result and therefore unconsciously communicate this to the participant by smiling at a right answer

Question 66

Randomisation vs Standardisation

Answer 66

Randomisation: the use of chance when designing materials and deciding the order of conditions Standardisation: involves giving the participants the exact same instructions and procedures in a research study

Question 67

3 types of experimental designs

Answer 67

Independent groups Repeated measures Matched pairs

Question 68

Independent groups + evaluation

Answer 68

The participants are either in the control or the experimental condition Strengths: -There are no order effects so there will be no improvement -The same test np an be used for both groups Weakness: -There are difference people in each groups therefore one group may be better than the other naturally -Requires more participants

Question 69

Repeated measures

Answer 69

Involves all participants experiencing both conditions Strengths: -There are no participant variables as participants take part in both conditions -Requires less participants Weaknesses: -There are order effects as having done the test once, they may be better a second time -Two tests would be needed

Question 70

Matched pairs

Answer 70

Participants in one condition is matched with a participant in the other condition as closely as possible e.g age or gender Strength: -There are no order effects or participant variables Weakness: Participants can never be matched exactly therefore there will be participant variables

Question 71

What is a peer review?

Answer 71

The process by which a psychological research papers are subject to independent scrutinising by other psychologists working in a similar field; before publication. It is considered in terms of its validity, significance and originality

Question 72

Evaluation of a peer review

Answer 72

Strengths: -It is difficult for the researcher to spot every mistake in their research -It ensures research will be taken seriously because it has been scrutinised by other researchers Weaknesses: -Bias can influence whether the research is published -If the research is not consistent with previous findings, it is less likely to be published. For example, Garcia and Koellings work on classical conditioning wasn't published but later was found to be true

Question 73

Ethical Issues

Answer 73

Informed consent Right to withdraw Confidentiality Protection from harm

Question 74

Resolving ethical issues

Answer 74

Right to withdraw: Participants should be reminded of their right to withdraw before the research begins and also if they shown signs of distress during procedure Confidentiality: Participants details should remain private and any identifiable details should not be published