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pyschology > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What is the independent variable?

A

Variable that the researchers manipulates in order to determine its effects on the dependant variable

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2
Q

What is it called when the independent variable are divided into levels

A

Experimental conditions

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3
Q

Why is a control condition needed

A

To provide a standard against which experimental conditions can be compared, 5is can be done by not manipulating the IV at all.

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4
Q

What is the dependant variable

A

This is the variable that is being measured

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5
Q

What is an extraneous variable.

A

This is the variables other than the IV that could affect the DV

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6
Q

What is a confounding variable

A

These are any variables that have affected the DV.

Confounding variables can ruin experiments and produce invalid and unreliable results

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7
Q

What does it mean when a variable is operationalised?

A

When a variable is defined and stated how it will be measured
For example “happiness is an individual having high levels of serotonin and happiness can be measured through answering questions on a survey”

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8
Q

What is a laboratory experiment?

A

This when an experiment carried out in a controlled environment where the researcher has high levels of control over the IV thus eliminating any EV.

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9
Q

What are 3 advantages of carrying out an experiment in a laboratory?

A
  • laboratory experiments have very high control over their IV and conditions. So it is easy to control for any EV and prevent them becoming CV which might affect results.
  • thus a cause and effect relationship can be established and reliable conclusions can be made.
  • a laboratory experiment can be easily replicated by other researchers so the results are usually reliable
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10
Q

What are 3 disadvantages if laboratory experiments?

A
  • Demand characteristics might occur . As a result of the participants changing their behaviour to match with the aims of the study the data becomes invalid
  • some participants can behave in a way which causes social disirability bias. So the results are not measuring the true behaviour
  • having high levels of control over the variables causes the experimental situation to lack mundane realism. Which causes the results to lack ecological validity
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11
Q

What is a field experiment

A

This is an experiment carried out in the real world or in a natural setting. The IV is still manipulated or controlled by the researcher

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12
Q

What is the advantage of a field experiment?

A
  • there is more mundane realism and so more ecological validity than in a laboratory as it reflects real life
  • less chance of demand characteristics to occur as participants wont even know they are being part of a research so natural behaviours are acquired and valid data will be collected
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13
Q

What are the disadvantages of field experiments

A
  • there is less control over the EV therefore the effect of the EV may not be caused by the iv thus the research is not valid
  • field experiments are difficult to replicate which means they might be unreliable
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14
Q

What are natural experiments

A

This is when the researcher takes advantage of a naturally occurring independent variable to see its effect on the DV.
Effectively the researcher is finding participants who already meet the conditions without randomly allocating.

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15
Q

What are the 2 advantages of natural experiments?

A
  • high level of mundane realism and ecological validity
  • natural experiments are very useful when it is impossible or unethical to manipulate the IV is a laboratory or field experiment
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16
Q

What are the disadvantages of natural experiments

A
  • Low control over EV. therefore the effect on the DV may not be caused by the IV . So the research is not valid
  • very difficult to replicate so the results are unreliable
  • difficult to establish cause and effect due to low levels of control
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17
Q

What is a quasi experiment?

A

In this experiment the naturally occurring independent variable is a different between people that already exists

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18
Q

What are the advantages of a quasi experiment

A
  • there are high levels of control and the effects of EV are minimised so cause and effect relationship can be established and reliable conclusions can be found
  • can be replicated
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19
Q

What are the disadvantages of a quasi experiment

A
  • lack of ecological validity

- demand characteristics might occur

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20
Q

What is non participant observation

A

This is when the researcher does not participate in the activities and is not directly involved in the interactions of the participant .

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21
Q

One advantage and one disadvantage of non-participant observation

A

+allows a more objective view of what is happening for example by observing body language

-as the researcher is not engaging in the activity it may lead participants to show demand characteristics as they know they are being watched so results are invalid

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22
Q

What is participant observation

A

This is when the researcher is directly involved with the interactions of the participants and takes part in the activities

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23
Q

One advantage and one disadvantage of participant observation

A

+less likely to show demand characteristics as researcher will not stand out and will not realise they are being watched .results are valid

-the researcher might lose objectivity and become subjective and biased as they are becoming involved with the activity they are observing

24
Q

What is covert observation?

A

When the pyschologist goes undercover and does not reveal their true identity

25
Q

One advantage and one disadvantage of covert observation

A

+high validity as people are being observed in natural surroundings so less likely to show demand characteristics thus results are valid
- break ethical guidelines, participants don’t know they are being observed and might therefore might be no informed consent

26
Q

What is overt observation

A

This is when the pyschologist reveals their true identity and might also state that they are observing the group.

27
Q

One advantage and one disadvantage of overt observation

A

+enables researcher to build a rapport with the participant Becos the researcher is honest and open about his/her intentions
-more likely to show observer effects and change behaviour leading to invalid results

28
Q

What is naturalist observation?

A

This is when a researcher observes participants in their own natural environment and there is no deliberate manipulation of the independent variable

29
Q

What are 2 advantages of naturalistic observation

A
  • participants are unaware they are being watched so there is a reduced chance of observers effect and participants are likely to act naturally giving valid results.
  • High mundane realism and ecological validity
30
Q

What are 2 disadvantages of naturalistic observation

A
  • it is impossible to have control over EV , so it might be the fact that the effect on dv is not due to the IV therefore it has low internal validity
  • hard to find the cause of the behaviour, especially when there is a high lack of control
31
Q

What is a controlled observation?

A

A researcher observers participants in a controlled environment and this allows for manipulation of the IV

32
Q

What are 2 advantages of controlled observation?

A
  • )Cause and effect relationships can be established as well as reliable conclusions as variables are highly controlled
  • )extraneous variables can be controlled . So results will be more valid as we know that the IV is only having an effect on the DV
33
Q

What are 2 disadvantages of controlled observation?

A
  • Low levels of mundane realism and ecological validity
  • observer effects can occur as they know they are being observed and participants may show social desirability bias so the behaviour is unnatural and the data collected is invalid
34
Q

How to get rid of observer bias?

A
  • have 2 observers who each record their data separately
  • correlate their observation and data together
  • if a kappa score of +0.8 is gained the data from each researcher is reliable
  • this is called INTER RATE RELIABILITY
35
Q

What is a self report technique

A

Participants give information about themselves without researcher interference

36
Q

What is in a structured interview?

A
  • All participants are asked the same questions in order
  • provides quantitative data
  • consists of closed questions that have restricted answers
37
Q

Advantages of structured interview

A
  • if participants misunderstand a question this can be clarified in an interview so that the question can be repeated and clarified to help aid understanding
  • less time consuming than unstructured
38
Q

Disadvantages of structured interview

A
  • There is a risk of interviewer effect. This might be unintentional but the data collected will be invalid
  • low internal validity as these interviews lack qualitative and in depth data the results may be invalid and might not be measuring the key variables stated in the aim
39
Q

What is an unstructured interview

A

An informal in-depth conversational exchange between the interviewer and the interviewee

40
Q

What are the advantages of unstructured interviews

A
  • if participants misunderstand a question this can be clarified in an interview so that the question can be repeated and clarified to help aid understanding
  • very useful with investigating sensitive or controversial topics . It allows for probing of information to gain a real understanding of the topic being investigated
41
Q

What are the disadvanatges of unstructured interview

A
  • there is a risk of social desirability so results may not be valid or accurate
  • interviews need to be well trained to accurately conduct an unstructured interview this can be time consuming and expensive to ensure correct training is carried out
42
Q

what is a Semi-structured interview and what does it consist of

A
  • it combines a mixture of structures and unstructured techniques producing both qualitative and quantitative data
  • it will consist both open and closed questions
43
Q

What are the advantages of semi- structured interview?

A
  • high validity so people are able to talk about something in detail and depth. The meanings behind an action may be revealed so it is likely that it is measuring the key variables stated in the aim
  • if participants misunderstand a question this can be clarified in an interview so that the question can be repeated and clarified to help aid understanding
44
Q

Disadvanatges of semi-structured interviews

A
  • not very reliable as it is difficult to repeat this type of interview. Interviewees may be asked different questions there making findings hard to generalise. Furthermore the sample sizes are too small
  • there is a risk of social desirability. The researcher has no real way of telling if they are lying this challegenes the reliability and validity of findings
45
Q

What are 2 of the advantages of questionairres?

A
  • quick,easy and relatively cheap. It is possible to have a large sample and collect a large amount of data when using a questionnaire compared to another research method
  • questionnaires are very easy to replicate and this means their reliability can be established
  • they are time Efficient, because the researcher does not have to be present in order for the questionnaire to be completed .
46
Q

What are the disadvantages of questionnaires

A
  • questionnaires have a low response rate. Researcher is not present to remind them to fill it in, thus may be end up unanswered or filled in and not returned
    -questionnaires can have a biased sample as they are only suitable for people who can read and are willing to spend time answering the questions.
    Some people are more willing to fill in the questionnaires than others so sample is not representative of the target population
47
Q

what is the definition of correlation?

A

A correlation is a technique for analysing the strength of the relationship between 2 quantitative variables (co-variables)

48
Q

what are the advantages of using correlations?

A
  • correlations allow pyschologists to establish the strength of the relationship between 2 variables and measure it precisely
  • once a correlation has been conducted predictions and valid conclusions can be made about one of the variables based on what is known about the other variable
49
Q

what are the disadvantages of using correlations?

A
  • correlational analysis cannot demonstrate cause and effect. we cannot tell which variable influences the other
  • correlations can only measure linear relationships and does not detect curvilinear relationships.
  • even if there is a correlation between 2 variables it may be the case that the variables are not actually related but there is a 3rd unknown variable which influences both
50
Q

what is the first step when conducting research?

A

deciding upon an aim is the first step

51
Q

what is an aim?

A

an aim is a precise statement about the purpose of the study and what it intends to find out.

52
Q

what is the second step when conducting research?

A

The second step is deciding upon the independant variable and dependant variable and operationalise them

53
Q

what is the third step when conducting research?

A

The 3rd step is to decide upon a hypothesis and operationalise it

54
Q

what is the definition of hypothesis

A

A hypothesis is a precise and testable statement about the expected outcome of an investigation

55
Q

what does the null hypothesis state?

A

this states that the IV will have NO EFFECT on the dependant variable

56
Q

what does the alternative hypothesis state?

A

This predicts that the IV will have an effect on the dependant variable

pyschology (6 decks)

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