Research Methods (9-15) Flashcards
What are the ethical guidelines?
Fully informed consent
Deception
Debriefing
right to withdraw
Confidentiality
Protection of participants from psychological harm
Observational research
Giving advice
Describe fully informed consent
Participants’ agreement to take part in research should be based on their full knowledge of the nature and purpose of the research. A full briefing is required to ensure they are fully aware of all tasks they are required to do, and their rights as participants (right to withdraw and confidentiality). If they are under the age of 16, then adult consent must be gained.
Discuss deception
Deception should be avoided. Information should not be deliberately withheld, and participants should not be misled without strong scientific or medical justification. Participants should be fully informed at the earliest possible stage and should be consulted in advance as to how deception would be received by them
Describe debriefing
At the end of the study the researcher should provide detailed information about the research and answer any questions the participants might have. The participants should be monitored for any negative effects and active intervention should be given if necessary.
Describe right to withdraw
Participants’ right to withdraw from the study must be clearly communicated at the start of the research. The participants have the right to withdraw their consent later in the study, and all their data must be destroyed. If participants appear distressed during a study they should be reminded of their right to withdraw. Participants must be free to leave the study without having to offer any explanations.
Describe confidentiality
In accordance with the Data Protection Act, information disclosed during the research process is confidential, and if the research is published the anonymity of the participants should be protected. If this is likely to be compromised then participants’ consent should be asked in advance. Numbers or letters should be used instead of names if the research is published to help protect participant’s identity. Confidentiality means that the data can be traced back to a name (but it should not be shared with others) whereas anonymity means that data cannot be traced back to a name as the participants have not provided their name.
Describe Protection of Participants from (psychological) harm
Participants should be protected from psychological harm such as distress, ridicule or loss of self- esteem. The risk of harm during research should be no greater than that experienced in everyday life. If there is the potential for harm then independent approval must be sought, and participants must be advised before consent is gained. Psychologists must stop any study immediately if they suspect a participant may be harmed. Participants should leave the research in the same condition they entered it.
Describe ethical guidelines in:
Observational research
Giving advice
Observational Research
Observational studies must respect the privacy and psychological well-being of the individuals studied. Unless consent has been given, observational research is acceptable in public situations only when one would expect to be observed by strangers.
Giving Advice
Research might reveal physical or psychological problems of which the participant is unaware. It is the researcher’s responsibility to inform the participant if it is felt that to not do so would endanger the participant’s future well-being.
Define and describe ‘ethics committee’
University and research departments consist of people that make up an ethics committee. The committee is made up of psychologists, staff, members of the public and people from other disciplines and subject areas. Their task is to approve research proposals in terms of examining whether there are any ethical issues and whether they have been properly resolved (making sure the research is ethical).
What are some cases in which we cannot gain informed consent
- when people have a mental illness
- when participants have severe learning disabilities
- when participants are very young
- when it would cause participants to alter their behaviour
How do we deal with a lack of informed consent
1) Presumptive consent:
This is consent gained from people of a similar background to participants in a study e.g. ask a similar group of students whether they would take part in a memory experiment. If they agree and are willing to participate in the study (despite the deception) then it is assumed that the actual participants will also be willing to take part in the study (we presume that they would give their consent)
2) Prior general consent:
This involves participants agreeing to be deceived without knowing how or when this will occur. You can ask a group of participants for example, “Would you be willing to take part in a future study based on memory, whereby the true aim of the study might be withheld?” If the participants agree, then you can conduct the study knowing that you have gained their informed consent prior (or before) the actual study. However, if participants know they will be deceived at some point in the future it can affect their behaviour.
3) Retrospective consent:
This involves asking participants for consent after they have already participated in the study. However, they may not consent and yet they have already taken part. This would often result in their data being destroyed.
Discuss in detail peer review
- A psychologist completes a piece of research and this will be sent to another psychologist working in the same field for independent scrutiny
- The work is considered for publishing if the work is of a high standard and quality, high in validity, significant and original.
3.The peer reviewers report on the quality of the research Their views are considered by the research panel. Usually a double blind peer review process occurs whereby the established psychologist(s) carrying out the peer review are anonymous – so that the psychologist who wrote the research does not know who will peer review their work, and also the peer reviewer will not know whose research they are analysing - then it can be published in a psychological journal.
- If the research does not meet high standards and is of poor quality, then the research will not be published. The work would be sent back to the researcher so that they can correct and modify their work. Some academic journals are more prestigious than others, e.g. “Nature and Science” is very prestigious and some research might never be published in this journal because psychologists might feel, The work is not good enough.
Describe academic journals
• They are expensive to buy, and many universities only buy a few each year, or subscribe to the journals online (very expensive licensing agreements).
• This means that the general public or less well off universities might not have access to these journals or the published research;
• Some psychological research might not necessarily be published in print but might instead go through a different process called, “Open access.”
Describe open access and online peer reviews
• This is a process where new knowledge can be viewed online by the scientific community and the general public, anyone can access the research and judge it.
• This combines the idea of peer review and the fact that the research can appear in an online journal (Philica.com).
• The work deemed to be of good quality can be trusted and will be accepted and published. Work that is rated as poor quality and will not be accepted or published.
• Scientific information is now available on numerous blogs and online journals, such as Wikipedia.
• Such information is usually policed by the knowledge of the public.
• Readers decide if work is valid or not and leave comments.
• Several online journals ask readers to rate articles.
• Some journals articles are ranked by peer review and the peer reviews can be read by anyone.
Why is it important to publish psychological work?
1) The work can appear in journals that are used internationally and the research will be disseminated and shared across the world.
2) The work will be debated and new ideas can develop which could help establish new theories/research.
3) The scientific community will have confidence that the work is of a good quality due to the process of peer review
4) It will increase the reputation of the researcher and also offer them a chance to gain funding for their research in the future.
5) The institutions e.g. university also looks good if many psychologists have conducted research that has been published.
6) Many universities receive government grants for their research, so the university will gain more money.
What are the three main functions of peer review
1) Allocation of research funding
Research is paid for by various governments and charitable bodies. The organisations spending this money have a duty to spend it responsibly. Public bodies like the Medical Research Council require peer reviews to enable them to decide if research is likely to be worthwhile.
2) Publication of research in academic journals. Peer review prevents publication of irrelevant findings, unwarranted claims, unacceptable interpretations, personal views and deliberate fraud. It should also improve the quality of research published and so ensure that published research is taken seriously because it has been independently scrutinised. Peer review also increases probability of weaknesses/errors being identified before publication.
3) Assessing the research rating of university departments All university science departments are expected to conduct research and the quality of this research is assessed so that the department can be given a rating to reflect the standard of this research.
What are the implications of psychological research for social change
Understanding social influence has been used to change people’s behaviour and attitudes.
• For example, the US state of Montana had a problem with alcohol-related car crashes among 21-34 year olds. While only 20% of people in this age group had driven after drinking, 92% of this age group believed that the majority of their peers did this.
• By correcting this misperception with adverts stating that most young adults (4 out of 5) do not drink and drive, alcohol-related car crashes were massively reduced. This campaign worked because it made people aware of the actual social norm around drink driving so that they moderated their behaviour to fit with what the majority was doing.
• Research into conformity was applied to prevent people engaging in a risky behaviour.
• Similar campaigns have been used to reduce smoking. Campaigns have the potential to bring about changes that will have a positive impact on the economy.
• For example, reducing drink driving and smoking would alleviate the burden on emergency and health services.
What are the implications of psychological research for improving memory
• The cognitive interview was developed based on psychological research into the way in which memory works.
• It has improved the amount of accurate information collected from eyewitnesses.
• The implication for the economy is that the amount spent on wrongful arrests and wasted police time will be vastly reduced
What are the implications of psychological research for attachment
• Attachment research has evolved considerably since Bowlby asserted that a child can only ever form a secure attachment and lasting monotropic bond with its mother.
• In Bowlby’s time era, childcare was seen to be the sole responsibility of the mother, preventing many women from being able to work.
• More recent research has questioned Bowlby and has shown the importance of the father role.
• Both parents are equally capable of providing the emotional support necessary for healthy psychological development.
• It is now normal for households to have flexible working arrangements.
• Some mothers who earn more go to work and the father stays at home, other couples share the child care evenly.
• This means that modern parents are better equipped to maximize their income and contribute more effectively to the economy.
What are the implications of psychological research for mental health
• The McCrone Report estimated that the direct cost of mental health issues on the economy in England is £22.5 billion a year – that includes spending in health and social care, as well as a variety of other agencies, but not the indirect cost of lost employment.
• Absence from work costs the economy £15 billion a year and a third of all absences are caused by mild to moderate mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and stress (Telegraph 2014).
• Evidence based research on effective drug therapies has been essential in reducing the cost of mental illness to the economy and returning people to work.
• Psychological research findings into psychopathology may lead to improvements in psychological health/treatment programmes which may mean that people manage their health better and take less time off work. This would reduce costs to the economy.
• Psychological research findings may lead to better ways of managing people who are prone to mental health issues whilst they are at work which could improve their individual productivity, again boosting the economy overall.
• ‘Cutting-edge’ scientific research findings into treatments for mental health issues carried out in UK may encourage investment from overseas companies into this country which could boost the economy.
• However, providing effective treatments might be a significant financial burden to an NHS service already under huge financial strain.
• Research might discover that new treatments are more effective than older therapies, but these new therapies could be more expensive.
What are the different types of data
- primary
- secondary
- qualitative
- Quantitative
- nominal
- Ordinal
- Interval
What is the difference between nominal, ordinal, interval
Nominal (Discrete) Data:
Data are in separate categories, such as grouping people according to their favourite television show, or eye colour. The data is placed in categories and a person can only be placed in one category and not another, e.g. green eyes or brown eyes.
Ordinal Data (Continuous Data)
Data are ordered in some way, for example asking people to make a list of music genres in order of liking. Or data could be ordered and placed in rank order, e.g. who scored the highest to the lowest in an IQ test.
Interval Data (Continuous Data)
Data is measured using units of equal intervals, such as miles or centimeters. Many psychological studies use their own interval scales (e.g. how stressed are you on a scale of 1-10) where the intervals are arbitrarily determined and we cannot therefore know for certain that there are equal intervals between the numbers.
Task: Wh
What is the difference between Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Quantitative Data
Data that represents how much, how long or how many etc. there are of something. Data is measured in numbers of quantities. This type of data is easy to analyse but may oversimply matters.
Quantitative data includes:
➢ Closed questions in questionnaires collect quantitative data.
➢ A tally of how many times a behavioural category is seen in an observation is quantitative.
Qualitative Data
Data that cannot be counted or quantified.
This is data in the form of information which is lengthy and has lots of detail. Interviews, observations and open ended questions can all generate qualitative data. In addition qualitative data can also be found in: books, pictures, diaries, reports and newspapers etc.
Qualitative data is normally collected on the basis on how people think or feel. For example: how do you feel about not having home study anymore?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative data
Advantages of quantitative data
1) Easier to analyse than qualitative data, so that comparisons, trends and patterns between groups can be easily drawn
2) Data is more objective and less open to bias than qualitative data
Disadvantages of quantitative data
1) It lacks validity and means we might not be measuring the key variables identified in the aim
2) Lacks meaning and just consists of numbers or yes/ no answers. It does not tell us the “why” in terms of what causes behavior
