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Year 12 Psychology > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a case study?

A

In depth analysis of an individual, small group or event

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2
Q

What are methods used in case studies?

A

Interviews
Observations
Questionnaires

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3
Q

What are strengths of case studies?

A

Lots of info gathered- different research methods are used to gather data

Different methods used means data is valid- many aspects of case have been researched

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4
Q

What are weaknesses of case studies?

A

Every case is unique- results can’t be applied to everyone

Can be unethical to induce behaviours in lab experiments

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5
Q

What is a correlational study?

A

Aim to analyse relationship between 2 variables

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6
Q

What is a positive correlation?

A

When one variable goes up, the other goes up

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7
Q

What is a negative correlation?

A

When one variable goes up, the other goes down

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8
Q

What is a strength of correlational study?

A

Cost effective- don’t need to conduct own experiment as your analysing other experiments related to hypothesis

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9
Q

What is a weakness of correlational study?

A

Researchers are unable to establish cause and effect. You can only see the relationship between 2 variables

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10
Q

What is an observation?

A

Researcher watches and records participants behaviours without interfering

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11
Q

What does naturalistic mean in an observation?

A

Participants natural environment

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12
Q

What does structured mean in an observation?

A

Researchers have control. E.g. in a lab

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13
Q

What does overt mean?

A

Participants know they’re being observed

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14
Q

What does covert mean?

A

Participants don’t know they’re being observed, which can be unethical

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15
Q

What is a strength of an observation?

A

Real human behaviour being observed

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16
Q

What is a weakness of an observation?

A

Participants may fake their behaviour

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17
Q

What is a questionnaire?

A

They consist of questions that require info about attitudes, opinions, lifestyles and any aspect of their lives

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18
Q

What is a laboratory experiment?

A

The environment they take place in is conduced and controlled

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19
Q

What is a positive aspect of a lab experiment?

A

Experimenter can control other factors that may impact the study easier

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20
Q

What are negative aspects of using a lab experiment?

A

Due to artificial setting, behaviours shown may not reflect everyday behaviours

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21
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

Takes place in an environment that’s natural to participants

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22
Q

What is a positive aspect of a field experiment?

A

Behaviours shown by participants will be true to everyday life

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23
Q

What is a weakness of a field experiment?

A

Researcher has limited control over factors in the setting that may impact the result

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24
Q

What does an interview consist of?

A

Interviewer verbally asks participant questions either face to face or by phone

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25
Q

What are the 3 types of interview?

A

Structured
Semi-structured
Unstructured

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26
Q

Define a structured interview

A

A set of pre-determined questions asked to all participants

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27
Q

Define a semi-structured interview

A

Prepared questions that can be adapted based on participant

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28
Q

Define an unstructured interview

A

No pre-determined questions, just a prepared theme. Each interview will be different

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29
Q

What is a strength of a structured interview?

A

If structured interview is used, data is high in reliability and can be replicated to check consistency of answers

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30
Q

What is a negative aspect of an unstructured interview?

A

Difficult to replicate

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31
Q

what is an open question?

A

one that can be answered in any way the participant chooses

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32
Q

what type of data does an open question provide?

A

qualitative

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33
Q

what are strengths of open questions?

A

doesnt restrict participants responses

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34
Q

what are weaknesses of open questions?

A

difficult to analyse data as its subjective

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35
Q

what are closed questions?

A

restricts participants responses (usually on a scale)

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36
Q

what type of data does closed questions provide?

A

quantitative

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37
Q

strengths of closed questions?

A

easy to analyse and compared

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38
Q

weaknesses of closed questions?

A

can restrict participants responses

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39
Q

what are researcher effects?

A

when the behaviour of the researcher influences the participant

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40
Q

external reliability?

A

consistency of results over time

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41
Q

internal reliability?

A

consistency of a test

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42
Q

one way to measure external reliability?

A

test-retest method

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43
Q

what is the test-retest method?

A

when you give the same participant the same questionnaire more than twice to check for consistency of answers

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44
Q

what is inter-relater reliability?

A

when two or more researchers interpret the participants responses

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45
Q

what is face validity?

A

whether our questions appear to be

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46
Q

predictive validity?

A

whether the results of the questionnaire can predict people’s behaviour in the future

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47
Q

concurrent validity?

A

measures how well a new test compares to a well-established test

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48
Q

what is random sampling

A

every member of population has equal chance of being selected

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49
Q

strength of random sampling

A

relatively unbiased and can choose subgroups

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50
Q

weakness of random sampling

A

time consuming

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51
Q

what is stratified sampling

A

researcher divides the population into separate groups

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52
Q

strength of stratified sampling

A

important subgroups selected

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53
Q

weakness of stratified sampling

A

lengthy process

54
Q

what is volunteer sample

A

when ppts respond to an advertisement

55
Q

strength of volunteer sample

A

convenient and cost-effective

56
Q

weakness of volunteer sample

A

may attract a certain group of people, biased

57
Q

what is opportunity sample

A

use ppts available at the time and place

58
Q

strength of opportunity sample

A

quick and convenient

59
Q

weakness of opportunity sample

A

some participants won’t take part, not everyone is willing

60
Q

what are the four main principles

A

Respect
Responsibility
Integrity
Responsibility

61
Q

What are all the ethical guidelines

A 
Confidentiality
Competency
Debrief 
Deception (avoiding)
Right to withdraw
Informed consent
Psychological harm
62
Q

what is an alternative hypothesis

A

significant difference or correlation the researcher expects to find

63
Q

what is a null hypothesis

A

predicts no significant difference or correlation

64
Q

what is a non-directional hypothesis (two-tailed)

A

states there will be a difference or correlation, bit not the direction

65
Q

what is a directional hypothesis (one-tailed)

A

states the direction of the difference or correlation

66
Q

what are the three types of experimental design

A

independent groups
repeated measures
matched pairs

67
Q

what is independent groups

A

different participants in each condition of the study

68
Q

strength of independent groups

A

less chance of guessing the aim and demand characteristics

69
Q

weakness of independent groups

A

participant variables may impact the results of the study

70
Q

strengths of brain scanning techniques

A

reliable. objective

71
Q

weaknesses of brain scanning techniques

A

not suitable for people with claustrophobia, costs a lot

72
Q

fMRI scan strengths

A

can see function and structure of brain

73
Q

fMRI scan weaknesses

A

not suitable with people with pacemakers, claustrophobia

74
Q

PET scan strengths

A

indicates function and structure

75
Q

PET scan weaknesses

A

have to be injected, a lot of people don’t like them

76
Q

CAT scan strengths

A

shows brain structure, non invasive

77
Q

CAT scan weaknesses

A

doesn’t indicate brain function. potential risks of x-ray radiation

78
Q

what are twin studies used for

A

to establish whether a behaviour is due to nature or nurture

79
Q

define monozygotic

A

identical twins

80
Q

define dizygotic

A

non-identical

81
Q

strengths of twin studies

A

can help establish whether a behaviour is nature or nature

82
Q

weaknesses of twin studies

A

difficult to separate the impact of shared genes and shared environment

83
Q

what are adoption studies used for

A

establish whether a behaviour is due to nature or nurture. they compare concordance rates between adopted children and their biological parents

84
Q

define concordance rates

A

the likelihood that one individual has a trait, that the other individual also has the trait

85
Q

strengths of adoption studies

A

the impact of nature and nurture can be easily isolated

86
Q

weakness of adoption studies

A

children are adopted at all different ages, making comparisons difficult.

87
Q

what is internal validity

A

refers to the extent to which results are due to manipulation of IV

88
Q

what is predictive validity

A

refers to extent to which the performance in the study can predict the future performance at a similar measure

89
Q

what are experimenter effects

A

ways in which the experimenter can influence the outcome of the experiment

90
Q

what are demand characteristics

A

ppt guesses the aim of the experiment

91
Q

what is experimental control

A

prevents confounding variables impacting experiment

92
Q

what is order effects

A

effects that occur due to the order in which ppts experience the conditions

93
Q

what is counterbalancing

A

used to overcome the impact of order effects

94
Q

what is randomisation

A

used to overcome impact of order effects

95
Q

what is thematic analysis?

A

themes are identified and there are 2 types- inductive and deductive

96
Q

what is inductive approach?

A

themes are not pre-determined before analysis

themes would emerge directly from data

97
Q

what is deductive approach?

A

themes are pre-determined before analysis

specify themes they want to find

98
Q

strengths of thematic analysis

A

allows analysis for qualitative data, keeps data meaningful and detailed- no numbers

99
Q

weaknesses of thematic analysis

A

unscientific as themes are dependent on the subjective opinions of the researcher

researcher can demonstrate bias when interpreting data (personal opinions may impact how they interpret themes)

100
Q

define extraneous variable

A

might have an impact on the DV

101
Q

define confounding variable

A

variable that does have an impact on the DV, impacting validity

102
Q

define situational variable

A

variable relating to environment e.g light and noise

103
Q

define participant variable

A

variable relating to ppt used in experiment e.g tiredness, age

104
Q

define ecological validity

A

extent to which results reflect everyday occurrences

105
Q

what is nominal data

A

categorical info. e.g how many people answered yes or no to a question

106
Q

what is ordinal data

A

data that can be ordered, e.g. 5 is higher than 2

107
Q

strengths of scatter diagrams

A

useful as they indicate there is relationship between 2 co-variables
tells us further research is needed in the area to see cause and effect relationship

108
Q

weaknesses of scatter diagrams

A

correlations only show relationship between 2 co-variables- can’t see which variable causes which, we can’t establish cause and effect

109
Q

define event sampling

A

creating lists of behaviour categories then tallying each time behaviour occurs in a specific time period

110
Q

define time sampling

A

counting behaviours at regular intervals e.g. for 1 min every 10 min

111
Q

what is structured observation?

A

setting or situation controlled/manipulated by the researcher

112
Q

strength of structured observation

A

standardised setting makes observation easily repeatable to test reliability

113
Q

weakness of structured observation

A

lack ecological validity as situation may not reflect everyday life

114
Q

what is a naturalistic observation?

A

setting in ppts natural environment

115
Q

strengths of naturalistic observation

A

high ecological validity as natural behaviours will be observed due to natural setting

116
Q

weaknesses of naturalistic observation?

A

poor reliability as setting can’t be controlled, may differ slightly for each replication of observation

117
Q

what is participant observation?

A

observer is part of group being observed- researcher actively involved in observation

118
Q

strengths of participant observation?

A

as you are close to the action- more likely to observe more detail

likely to be covert- reactions will have high validity

119
Q

weaknesses of participant observation?

A

observer may be too involved in activity to accurately record all behaviours seen

120
Q

what is a non-participant observation?

A

observer is not part of group or activity

121
Q

strengths of non-participant observation?

A

observer can accurately record all behaviours as they are not trying to take part in activity at the same time

122
Q

weaknesses of non-participant observation?

A

likely to be overt- meaning reactions may lack validity

123
Q

define content analysis

A

transforms qualitative data into quantitative data to produce objective conclusions and identify trends in data

124
Q

define sample in a content analysis

A

analyses artefacts rather than ppts. e.g. books and newspapers

125
Q

define manifest content

A

what is seen on the surface e.g. number of words used in magazine

126
Q

define latent content

A

more in-depth analysis e.g. whether a word is used positively

127
Q

3 steps to do content analysis

A
  1. researcher identifies ‘categories’ e.g. key words of theme
  2. analyse artefacts creating tally charts of occurrence of categories
  3. researcher can draw conclusions from quantitative data
128
Q

strengths of content analysis

A

turns qualitative data into quantitative data. inferential tests can be used to determine statistical significance

process can easily be repeated by multiple researchers

129
Q

weaknesses of content analysis

A

transforming qualitative to quantitative, you lose some rich detail, therefore reductionist approach to data analysis

130
Q

what are the 3 R’s in animal testing

A

Replace- alternatives should be used
Reduce- number of animals used at minimum
Refine- suffering to minimum

131
Q

practical issues for animals

A

generalisability
gestation
control

132
Q

ethical issues for animals

A 
alternatives
batesons cube- low suffering, high benefit, high quality of research 
caging
distress
excessive numbers

Year 12 Psychology (17 decks)

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