Research Methods Flashcards
What is a structured observation?
The researcher has a behaviour checklist to tally so that they have structure to how they record their data.
What is a strength and a weakness of structured observations?
S= theres clear direction meaning observer is less likely to miss behaviours
W= behaviours may occur that aren’t on the checklist and won’t be recorded
What is an unstructured observation?
The researcher doesn’t have a pre determined checklist and there is no structure to how they record their data
What is a strength and weakness of an unstructured observation?
S= Allows the observer to record any behaviour they see
W= may lose sight of the actual experiment and have too many behaviours recorded
What is a naturalistic observation?
An observation carried out in a natural environment where you’d expect to see that behaviour
What is a strength and weakness of a naturalistic observation?
S= Higher ecological validity
W= less control on the observation by the researcher
What is a controlled observation?
Usually conducted in a controlled setting where the researcher controls who they’ll observe
What is a strength and weakness of a controlled observation?
S= researcher has more control over the observation
W= Low ecological validity
What is a participant observation?
Where the observer is part of/pretending to be part of the observation
What is a strength and weakness of participant observation?
S= observers can gain first hand data
W= May show observer bias (means observer may get caught up in experiment and only interpret behaviour how they want to)
What is a non-participant observation?
The researcher does not participant in the behaviour that’s being observed
What’s a strength and weakness of non-participant observation?
S= Less chance of observer bias if observer isn’t involved in behaviour being observed
W= May miss certain behaviours
What is an overt observation?
Where the participant is aware that they’re being observed
What’s a strength and weakness of an overt observation?
S= It’s ethical
W= demand characteristics could occur
What is a covert observation?
When the participant doesn’t know they’re being observed
What is a strength and weakness of a covert observation?
S= less chance of demand characteristics
W= less ethical
What are behavioural categories?
When there are categories of behaviour/checklist to observe during an observation
What is a strength and weakness of behavioural categories?
S= gives the researcher direction
W= May restrict the researcher and only focus on listed behaviours
What are coding frames?
When the behavioural categories are coded and can be rated for severity
What is a strength and a weakness of coding frames?
S= allowed the behaviour checklist to contain more detail
W= Observers may interpret the behaviour how they want and not be consistent with another observer
What is observer effects?
When the presence of an observer in an overt observation changes the behaviour of the participants
What is the weakness of observer effects?
The observer is not measuring what they intend to as participants change their behaviour
What is time sampling?
The observer records what the participant is doing in fixed time intervals
What is a strength and weakness of time sampling?
S= less likely to miss behaviours as observer doesn’t have to stay focused for the entire observation
W= May miss some behaviours if they occur when the observer isn’t recording behaviour
What is event sampling?
When the researcher records a behaviour every time it happens
What is a strength and a weakness of event sampling?
S= Observer is less likely to miss behaviours because they’re recording it every time it happens
W= May miss some behaviours if several happen at once and it’s difficult to keep track of
What is inter-rater reliability?
When 2 or more observers observe the same behaviour at the same time with the same behavioural checklist. They then compare their data at the end
What is a strength and weakness of inter-rater reliability?
S= Can see if they recorded their data the same way
W= Time consuming as another observer is needed
What is observer bias?
When the observer interprets the behaviour/ data how they want to
What is the weakness of observer bias?
The observer is less likely to measure what they intend to
How would you plan an observation?
- Write aim
- Describe participants
- Will it be structured/unstructured?
- Is it participant/ Non participant?
- time or event sampling?
- draw tally chart your use with categories of behaviour
What does DCCOWPAD stand for?
Deception Consent Confidentiality Observation Withdrawal Protection Advice Debrief
What are the 4 ethical titles
Respect
Competence
Responsibility
Integrity
What comes under respect?
Consent
Withdrawal
Confidentiality
What comes under competence?
Advice
What comes under responsibility?
Protection
Debrief
What comes under integrity?
Deception
Observation
What is a sample?
Who is used in the study
What is sampling?
How you gain the participants for a study
What is a target population?
The total group of individuals from which a sample may be drawn e.g students
What is random sampling?
When the target population has an equal chance of being chosen
What is a strength and a weakness of random sampling?
S= Unbiased
W= Time consuming
What is snowball sampling?
Asking participants to nominate another person who has the same characteristics being sampled
What is a strength and a weakness of snowball sampling?
S= can find people with rare characteristics / traits
W= Can be time consuming
What is opportunity sampling?
Selecting people that are readily available at the time
What is a strength and weakness of opportunity sampling?
S= Quick and cheap
W= usually biased
What is Self-selecting sampling?
When participants select themselves to participate, usually through an advert
What is a strength and weakness of self-selecting sampling?
S= Willing to participate
W= Time consuming
What is ethnocentrism?
Research is ethnocentric if it only happens in one place e.g assuming results apply to all cultures
What is a strength and weakness of ethnocentric research?
S= Easier to conduct (no language barriers/cost )
W= could cause conflict/bias
What is the independent variable?
What the researcher changes in order to see an effect on something they’re measuring
What is the dependent variable?
The variable the researcher is measuring
What are extraneous variables?
A variable other than the IV which could affect the DV and therefore needs to be controlled
What is a confounding variable?
A variable other than the IV which has directly affected the DV by mistake
What is a lab experiment?
An experiment conducted under highly controlled conditions
What would make something a lab experiment?
Standardised procedure Instructions Materials Times High control of the IV
What are 2 strengths of a lab experiment?
High control of the IV
Most scientific method
What are 2 weaknesses of a lab experiment?
Lacks ecological validity
Demand characteristics
What is a field experiment?
An experiment in a real world situation / setting
What are 2 strengths of a field experiment?
Better ecological validity
Reduction in demand characteristics
What are 2 weaknesses of a field experiment?
Lack of control
Difficult to replicate
What is a Quasi experiment?
When the independent variable is not manipulated by the researcher but occurs naturally e.g Age Split-brain Occupation Gender
What are 2 strengths of a quasi experiment?
Fewer demand characteristics
Avoids experimenter bias
What are 2 weaknesses of a quasi experiment?
Lack of control
More difficult to replicate
What is independent measures?
When participants only take part in one condition of an experiment
What are 2 strengths of independent measures?
Less chance of demand characteristics
Less order effects
What are 2 weaknesses of independent measures?
Individual differences
More time consuming
What is repeated measures?
When participants take part in both conditions of the experiment
What are 2 strengths of repeated measures?
Easier to find participants (only using one group)
Comparing results to themselves which should make it a fairer test and REDUCES INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
What are 2 weaknesses of repeated measures?
Order effects (same test twice e.g had practice) Screw you effect
What is matched pairs?
Participants are matched in each condition for characteristics that may have an effect on their performance
What are 2 strengths of matched pairs?
Can compare results as they’re similar people
No demand characteristics
What are 2 weaknesses of matched pairs?
Very time consuming
Expensive
What do experiments look for and what do correlations look for?
Experiments = difference Correlation= relationship
What does an alternative hypothesis say?
There WILL be a significant ….
What does a null hypothesis say?
There WON’T be a significant ….
What is a one tailed / directional hypotheses?
States the direction of experiment / correlation
What is a two tailed/ directional hypotheses?
Don’t state the direction of the experiment / correlation
How would you plan an experiment?
- Aim
- Hypotheses
- Variables
- Describe P’s
- Sampling method
- Design
- materials needed
- write standardised instructions for P’s
- ethical issues
- table for data
What are self reports?
Questionnaires
Interviews
What is a strength and weakness of a questionnaire?
S= Can sample a very large target population
W= Often influences by bias as p’s may not answer truthfully
What is a structured interview?
Each interview is presented with exactly the same questions in the same order
What is a strength and a weakness of a structured interview?
S= gets answers to questions you need
W= no flexibility to ask new questions
What is an unstructured interview?
Q’s can be changed or adapted to meet the respondents intelligence, understanding or belief
What is a strength and weakness of an unstructured interview?
S= flexibility meaning more detailed answers
W= Prone to interviewer bias
What is a semi-structured interview?
It’s flexible and allows new questions to be added during the interview
What’s a strength and weakness of a semi structured interview?
S= Flexibility
W= Prone to interviewer bias
What is an open question?
Allows participants to elaborate on answers and give more detail
What’s a strength and a weakness of open questions?
S= Provides detail
W= Qualitative data so hard to analyse
What is a closed question?
Types of questions that force participants to choose an option
What’s a strength and weakness of a closed question?
S= Quantitative data so can be easily analysed
W= answers lack detail
What is a rating scale?
respondents give a number to represent their views and feelings
What is a strength and weakness of a rating scale?
S= Quantitative data so easily analysed
W= Lacks detail
What is a semantic differential rating scale?
used to put something on a scale between two opposing words
What’s a strength and a weakness of semantic differential rating scales?
S= quantitative data so easily analysed
W= Lacks detail
What’s a likert scale?
P’s asked to rate their feelings on a particular topic using a scale
What’s a strength and weakness of a likert scale?
S= quantitative data so can be easily analysed
W= Lacks detail/ response bias
What is response bias?
Answers may not represent true feelings
Why is response bias a bad thing?
people may just choose middle number to avoid an extreme score meaning answers lack validity
What is social desirability bias?
P’s often answer in a way to portray themselves in a good light
Why is social desirability bias a bad thing?
P’s may not answer truthfully meaning answers could lack validity
How would you plan a self report?
- Aim
- Describe participants
- Sampling method
- Open and closed questions
- 2 rating scale questions
what
What’s a positive correlation?
Co-variables move in the same direction
What’s a negative correlation?
Co-variables move in opposite directions
What does no correlation mean?
No relationship between co-variables
What are 2 strengths of correlations?
Can be used when experiments are unethical
Can see the strength of a relationship between co-variables
What are 2 weaknesses of correlations?
Can’t establish cause and effect
May be extraneous variables
What’s a correlation coefficient?
It’s shows the strength and direction of the correlation and is between -1 and 1
What coeffecient would -0.7 be?
Moderate negative correlation
What coeffecient would 0.054 be?
No correlation
What coeffecient would 0.2 be?
Weak positive correlation
How would you plan a correlation?
- Aim
- Hypotheses
- Describe P’s
- 2 co-variables
- Table
- scattergraph
What are 2 strengths of quantitative data?
Easy to analyse
Can look for cause and effect
What is a weakness of quantitative data?
Doesn’t give context
What are 2 strengths of qualitative data?
Depth and detail
More holistic
What are 2 weaknesses of qualitative data?
Hard to analyse
Difficult to make comparisons
What is primary data?
When the researcher collects the data themselves e.g experiments and observations
What is a strength and weakness of primary data?
S= Data will fit the needs of the experiment as they’re collecting for the purpose of the study
W= Time consuming
What is secondary data?
Researcher may make use of data collected by someone else e.g crime statistics
What is a strength and weakness of secondary data?
S= Saves time and money
W= Data may not always be appropriate for purpose of the study
What are the 3 levels of data?
Interval
Nominal
Ordinal
What is interval data and give an example?
Data that uses a standardised scale or units of measurement e.g temperature / score on a test
Evaluate interval data
Most powerful of the three and the most informative
What is ordinal data and give an example?
Any data that is put into order/rate/rank e.g ordering people in height
Evaluate ordinal data
bit more powerful than nominal as you find a bit more out like the order
What is nominal data and give an example?
Categories of behaviour e.g organising people into groups
Evaluate nominal data
most basic, you only find out frequency
What is the general definition of validity?
Whether a study measures what it claims to be measuring
What is internal validity?
Looks at how behaviour was defined and measured within the study
What are the 4 types of internal validity?
Face
Construct
Concurrent
Criterion
What is face validity?
Does it appear to measure what it should be? does it look valid? e.g IQ test measuring someone’s intelligence
What is construct validity?
How well a test or tool measure the construct that it was designed to measure
What is concurrent validity?
When a test correlates well with a measure that has been previously validated
What is criterion validity?
The extent to which a measure can predict future behaviour or attitude
What is external validity?
Looks at factors outside of the study
What are the 2 types of external validity?
Population
Ecological
What’s population validity?
Whether the sample is representative of the wider target population of the study
What is ecological validity?
Does the study reflect real life situations
What are the threats to validity?
Demand characteristics
Social Desirability Bias
Response Bias
Researcher Bias
What’s the general definition of reliability?
Whether or not something is consistent
What’s internal reliability?
How consistent a study is within itself
What are the 2 types of internal reliability?
Inter-rater
Split-half method
What is inter rater reliability?
For observation only.
2+ observers observe the same behaviour at the same time using the same behaviour checklist and compare data at the end
What is the Split-Half Method?
A test/questionnaire/interview are split in two and the scores for each half is compared with the other
What is external reliability?
The extent to which a measure varies from one use to another
What is the one type of external reliability?
Test re-test
What is test re-test
measures whether a psychological measure is consistent from one testing occasion to the next
What are descriptive statistics?
They describe a set of data and the two types are measure of central tendency and measures of dispersion
What are the 3 types of measures of central tendency?
Mean
Median
Mode
What is one advantage and disadvantage of the mean?
A= most accurate
D= influenced by extreme values
What’s one advantage and disadvantage of the median?
A= not influenced by extreme values
D= could end up being a decimal
What’s one advantage and disadvantage of the mode?
A= easy to calculate
D= could have multiple modes
When would you use a bar chart?
When you have data that isn’t continuous and you have categories
When would you use a histogram?
When the data isn’t continuous e.g age, height
When would you use a scattergraph
Relationship in correlation
When would you use a pie chart?
When the data isn’t continuous.
You divide each frequency by the total frequencies and multiply by 360
When would you use a line graph?
To show how something changes over time, can be useful to compare 2 or more conditions
What is standard deviation?
Tells us how spread out the data is from the mean and gives us more information than just the average
What’s the typical structure of a research report?
Abstract Introduction Method Results Discussion Reference Appendices
What is a Type 1 error?
FALSE POSITIVE
when you accept the alternate hypothesis when you should’ve accepted the null
What’s a type 2 error?
FALSE NEGATIVE
happens when you accept the null when you should’ve accepted the alternate
What statistical test would you use for independent measures and nominal data
Chi-square
What statistical test would you use for repeated measures and nominal data?
Binomial Sign
What statistical test would you use for independent measures and ordinal data?
Mann-Whitney U
What statistical test would you use for repeated measures and ordinal data?
Wilcoxon Signed Rank
What test would you use for a correlation and nominal data?
No test as can’t plot nominal data in a correlation
What test would you use for a correlation and ordinal data?
Spearman’s Rho Correlation Coefficient
What test would you use for any interval data?
Parametric test
Why would you use a parametric test?
Interval data
No extreme scores
Normal distribution
Why would you use non-parametric tests?
Nominal/Ordinal data
Extreme scores
Skewed distribution
What is a control?
Something that is kept the same throughout the experiment
What are 2 strengths of control variables?
Shows cause and effect
Reduces confounding variables which means validly is improved
