Research Methods Flashcards
What is ‘good’ psychological research?
sound theoretical framework, standardised procedure, generalisability, objective measurement
What is sound theoretical framework?
Systematic way of organising/explaining observations
What is standardised procedure?
Same for all participants except where variation is introduced to test hypothesis
What is generalisability?
The sample is representative of the population. Is relevant outside lab
What is objective measurement
measures that are reliable and valid
Define; reliable
produce consistent results
Define; valid
assess what it’s suppose to assess
Define; 2 types of validity
internal - methods that test the hypothesis
external - findings can be generalised to real life
Define; mixed methods
qualitative, quantitative data
Define; theory
systematic way of organising/explaining observations
Define; variable
something that can be changed
any phenomena that can differ from one thing to another
*can changes to one things result in changes to another
Define; 2 types of variables
continuous - continuum (intelligence, optimism)
categorical - groupings/categories (state, species)
Define; Sample
subgroup that should be representative of whole population
Define; sampling bias
sample is not representative
Define; measure
concrete way of assessing a variable
Define; reliability
measure’s ability to produce consistent results
Define; test-retest reliability
test to yield similar scores for same individual over time
Define; interrater reliability
2 different interviewers rate an individual - should both give same/similar score
Define; internal consistency reliability
several ways of asking the same question and yielding similar results
Quantitative research (styles of research)
numbers/statistics, experiments/surveys, large sample sizes, replicated/repeated, objective
Qualitative research (styles of research)
questionnaires/interviews/case studies, in depth analysis, few participants, subjective
Experimental research
causes of behaviour - CAUSATION
manipulate independent variable (IV) and examine impact on dependent variable (DV)
Experimental research limitations
practical/ethical reasons, complex phenomena cannot be tested in a lab, external validity
Quasi-experimental designs
do not allow as much control over all relevant variables
Descriptive research
describing behaviour - meanings that underlie
describe phenomena as they exist rather than manipulate variables
How is descriptive research done?
case study methods, naturalistic observations, survey research
Descriptive research limitations
sample size, researcher/observer bias, generalisability
Correlation research
how 2+ variables are related
correlation does not equal causation
Correlation research limitations
cannot be produced in a lab
What is a correlation coefficient ?
statistic - measures how related variables are
How is correlation research done?
association between experiment data, case studies, surveys, questionnaires
Ethical issues in research
informed consent, intentional deception, risk/gain assessment, debriefing
Aust. Psychological Society code of ethics main principles
- respect rights/dignity of people
- propriety
- integrity