Research Methods

Question 1

What is ‘good’ psychological research?

Answer 1

sound theoretical framework, standardised procedure, generalisability, objective measurement

Question 2

What is sound theoretical framework?

Answer 2

Systematic way of organising/explaining observations

Question 3

What is standardised procedure?

Answer 3

Same for all participants except where variation is introduced to test hypothesis

Question 4

What is generalisability?

Answer 4

The sample is representative of the population. Is relevant outside lab

Question 5

What is objective measurement

Answer 5

measures that are reliable and valid

Question 6

Define; reliable

Answer 6

produce consistent results

Question 7

Define; valid

Answer 7

assess what it’s suppose to assess

Question 8

Define; 2 types of validity

Answer 8

internal - methods that test the hypothesis

external - findings can be generalised to real life

Question 9

Define; mixed methods

Answer 9

qualitative, quantitative data

Question 10

Define; theory

Answer 10

systematic way of organising/explaining observations

Question 11

Define; variable

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Define; 2 types of variables

Answer 12

continuous - continuum (intelligence, optimism)

categorical - groupings/categories (state, species)

Question 13

Define; Sample

Answer 13

subgroup that should be representative of whole population

Question 14

Define; sampling bias

Answer 14

sample is not representative

Question 15

Define; measure

Answer 15

concrete way of assessing a variable

Question 16

Define; reliability

Answer 16

measure’s ability to produce consistent results

Question 17

Define; test-retest reliability

Answer 17

test to yield similar scores for same individual over time

Question 18

Define; interrater reliability

Answer 18

2 different interviewers rate an individual - should both give same/similar score

Question 19

Define; internal consistency reliability

Answer 19

several ways of asking the same question and yielding similar results

Question 20

Quantitative research (styles of research)

Answer 20

numbers/statistics, experiments/surveys, large sample sizes, replicated/repeated, objective

Question 21

Qualitative research (styles of research)

Answer 21

questionnaires/interviews/case studies, in depth analysis, few participants, subjective

Question 22

Experimental research

Answer 22

causes of behaviour - CAUSATION

manipulate independent variable (IV) and examine impact on dependent variable (DV)

Question 23

Experimental research limitations

Answer 23

practical/ethical reasons, complex phenomena cannot be tested in a lab, external validity

Question 24

Quasi-experimental designs

Answer 24

do not allow as much control over all relevant variables

Question 25

Descriptive research

Answer 25

describing behaviour - meanings that underlie

describe phenomena as they exist rather than manipulate variables

Question 26

How is descriptive research done?

Answer 26

case study methods, naturalistic observations, survey research

Question 27

Descriptive research limitations

Answer 27

sample size, researcher/observer bias, generalisability

Question 28

Correlation research

Answer 28

how 2+ variables are related

correlation does not equal causation

Question 29

Correlation research limitations

Answer 29

cannot be produced in a lab

Question 30

What is a correlation coefficient ?

Answer 30

statistic - measures how related variables are

Question 31

How is correlation research done?

Answer 31

association between experiment data, case studies, surveys, questionnaires

Question 32

Ethical issues in research

Answer 32

informed consent, intentional deception, risk/gain assessment, debriefing

Question 33

Aust. Psychological Society code of ethics main principles

Answer 33

1. respect rights/dignity of people
2. propriety
3. integrity