Research methods AO1 Flashcards
What are key features of the experimental method?
Experimental method
- Aims
- Hypotheses which is either directional or non-directional
- gathering two groups of participants
- operationalise variables
- two levels of IV, control and experimental conditions
Name experimental designs
Experimental designs
- Independent groups= two separate groups in different conditions
- Repeated measures= all p’s experience both conditions
- Matched pairs= p’s are matched based on their ability to peform (e.g IQ for a memory test), first and second highest are paired etc
Describe what a random sample is
Sampling
- all members of target pop have equal chance of being chosen
- obtain complete list then assign a number to each, selected through use of some lottery method
What is a systematic sample?
Sampling
- Every nth number of the target pop is selected
- a sampling frame is produced ( a list of people in the target pop organised into an order)
- may begin randomly to reduce bias
Describe what a stratified sample is
Sampling
- the sample reflects the proportions of people in certain subgroups (strata) within target pop
- Identify different strata, proportions for sample to be representative is worked out
What is an opportunity sample?
Sampling
- Decide to select anyone who happens to be willing and available
- ask whoever is around at time of study
Describe what a volunteer sample is
Sampling
- participants selecting themselves to be a part of the sample
- advert may be placed in newspaper
Name and describe types of experiments
Types of experiments
- Lab= controlled environments
- Field= IV is manipulated in a natural setting, researcher goes to p’s normal environment
- Natural= effect of IV on DV, researcher has no control over the IV and cannot change it, it is the iv that is natural not setting, dv may also be natural or devised by experimenter
- Quasi= IV based on existing differences between people, IV cannot be changed, dv may be naturally occuring
What is informed consent and how can we deal with it?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- Informed consent involves making p’s aware of the aims of research and their rights and what their data will be used for
- Asking for consent may make the research meaningless
- Should be issued a consent letter detailing all relevant info that may affect their decision to participate
What are ethical issues and how are they managed?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- Ethical issues arise when a dilemma exists between p’s rights and researchers needs to gain valuable and meaningful findings
- This conflict has implications for the safety and wellbeing of p’s
- The BPS has a code of ethics and researchers have a professional duty to observe these guidelines when conducting research
What is deception?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- Deception means deliberately misleading or withholding information from p’s at any stage of the investigation
- ## P’s who have not received adequate info when they agreed to take part cannot be said to give informed consent
Describe protection from harm
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- P’s should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives
- Should be protected from physical and psychological harm (includes embarrassment, undue stress and pressure)
- P’s should be reminded of right to withdraw
How can we deal with deception and protection from harm?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- P’s should be given a full debrief and made aware of true aims and details they were not provided with
- Should be told what their data is used for and must be given right to withdraw and right to withhold data
- Should be reassured that their behaviour was normal/ typical for the study
- Supplied counselling if there is any psychological harm
What is privacy and confidentiality?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- Right to control info about themselves= right of privacy
- Confidentiality refers to our right to have any personal data protected
- Privacy extends to the area where the study took place so that institutions are not named
How do we deal with privacy and confidentiality?
Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them
- Maintain anonymity
- In case studies researchers usually use initials
- Reminded throughout that their data will be protected through the process
What are pilot studies?
Pilot studies and more
- A small scale trial run of the actual investigation which involves a handful of p’s to road test the procedure
- In questionnaires/ interviews it is useful to try out questions and edit ones that aren’t fitting
- In observational studies a pilot provides a way of checking coding systems
- Identifies potential issues
Describe single blind procedures
Pilot studies and more
- Details may be kept from participants as well as the aim
- May not know whether there are other conditions
- Any information that might create expectations is not revealed until the end of the study to control the confounding effects of demand chars
Describe double blind procedures
Pilot studies and more
- Neither p’s nor the researcher is aware of the aims of the investigation
- They are an important feature of drug trials
- treatment may be administered to p’s by someone who is independent of the investigation and does not know which is the drug and which is the placebo
What is control and why do we use it?
Pilot studies and more
- Control refers to the control of variables but we use it for the purpose of comparison
- If the behaviour of the experimental group is greater than control group the researcher can conclude that the cause of this effect was the IV
Describe what a naturalistic observation + key features
Observational techniques
- Takes place in the setting or context where the target behaviour would usually occur
- All aspects of the env are free to vary
Describe what a controlled observation is + key features
Observational techniques
- Used to control certain aspects of the research situation
- Used by Ainsworth in the Strange situation, recorded how children reacted to their mothers, recorded data remotely via a two way mirror to not disturb behaviour
- Some control over variables
What is a covert observation?
Observational techniques
- Participants are unaware they are the focus of the study and their behaviour is observed in secret
- Behaviour must be happening and public if the observation is to be ethical
What is an overt observation?
Observational techniques
- Know their behaviour is being observed and have given their informed consent beforehand
What are participant and non-participant observations?
Observational techniques
- Participants= observer becomes part of the group they are studying, may be impractical in certain situations
- Non-participant= when researcher remains separate from those they are studying and records behaviour in a more objective manner
What are features we may consider when designing questionnaires?
Self-report design
- Open and closed questions
- Likert scales= 1-5, agreement
- Rating scales= 1-5, identify a value that represents their feeling about a topic
- Fixed choice option= a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them
What are features we may consider when designing interviews?
Self-report design
- Interview schedule
- Standardised to reduce the contaminating effect of interviewer bias
- Take notes throughout to analyse later
- Group interviews for clinical situations
- One to one interviews should be conducted in a quiet room away from others as this will increase the likelihood of the interviewee to open up
- establish rapport
How might we write good questions?
Self-report design
- Avoid overuse of jargon (technical terms)
- Avoid emotive language and leading questions
- Avoid double barrelled questions and double negatives
What is the experimental method?
Experimental method
- Involves the manipulation of an IV to measure the effect on the DV
- Experiments may be natural, lab, field or quasi
What is operationalisation?
Experimental method
- Clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be measured
Describe what is meant by levels of IV
Experimental method
- The number of levels of an IV is the number of experimental conditions
- If there are two levels there is one control condition one experimental condition
What is an extraneous variable?
Research issues
Any variable that isn’t the IV that may affect the DV if it isn’t controlled
What is a confounding variable?
Research issues
A kind of EV but the key feature is that it varies systematically with the IV
What is meant by demand characteristics?
Research issues
- Participants are not passive within experiments and are likely to be spending time making sense of the situation they are in
- Happens when any cue from the researcher may be interpreted by p’s
- Change behaviour to fit the suspected outcome of research
What are investigator effects?
Research issues
- Occurs when a researcher unintentionally or intentionally influences the outcome of any research they are conducting
What is randomisation and standardisation?
Research issues
- Randomisation uses chance methods/ lottery method to minimise the effects of CV/EV
- Standardisation is where researchers use exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study
Name and explain two ways of recording data
Observational design
Unstructured observation= researcher writes down everything they see, produces accounts of behaviour that are rich in detail, ideal for research involving small amount of p’s
Structural observation= where target behaviour is simplified and becomes the main focus of the investigation using behavioural categories, may use tally
Describe the use of behavioural categories
Observational design
- Similar ideas to operationalisation
- In order to produce a structured record of what a researcher witnesses it is necesary to break the target behaviour into a set of behavioural categories
- Target behaviour must be precisely defined and made observable and measureable
Name and describe sampling methods
Observational design
Event sampling= counting the number of times a behaviour occurs in a target individual or group, useful for unstructured observations
Time sampling= involves recording behaviour with a pre-established time frame/ within regular intervals (e.g every 30 seconds)
What inter-observer reliability?
Observational design
- Data from different observers is compared to check for consistency to make data recording more objective and unbiased
- one observer may miss important details or only notice events that confirm their hypothesis
What is a questionnaire?
Self report techniques
- A set of pre-written questions used to assess a person’s thoughts and experiences
- May be used as part of an experiment to asses the DV
Name and explain the two types of questions that may be used in questionnaires
Self report techniques
Open= no fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish, produce qualitative data, richness and depth, difficult to analyse
Closed= fixed number of responses, yes or no/ rating scales, quantitative data is easier to analyse but lacks depth and richness of data, can be turned into qualitative data
What are the 3 types of interviews + key features?
Self report techniques
Structured= pre determined list of questions that are asked in a fixed order
Unstructured= works like a conversation, no set questions, general aim that a certain topic will be discussed, interaction tends to be free flowing, interviewee encouraged to expand and elaborate
Semi sturcutred= list of questions that have been worked out in advance, can ask follow up questions
What is a correlation?
Correlations
- A mathematical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between two variables called co-variables
What are co-variables?
Correlations
- The variables investigated within a correlation
- Not IV or DV’s as a correlation investigates the association between variables rather than demonstrating cause and effect (experiments manipulate IV)
Describe what a positive correlation is
Correlations
- As one co variable increases so does the other
Describe what a negative correlation is
Correlations
- As one co variable increases the other decreases
What is meant by zero correlation?
Correlations
- When there is no relationship between the co variables
What is qualitative data?
Types of data
- Expressed in words, may take the form of a written description of thoughts or feelings
- A transcript from an interview
- Concerned with the interpretation of language
What is quantitative data?
Types of data
- Expressed numerically, open to being analysed statistically, converted into graphs etc
What is primary and secondary data?
Types of data
P= original data that has been collected, the data that arrives first hand from p’s themselves
S= collected by someone other than the person who is conducting research, desk researcher, already been subject to statistical testing so significance is known
What are some measures of central tendency?
Measures of central tendency and dispersion
Mean= the average, most sensitive of the measures as it includes all data, more representative of data as a whole, easily distorted by extreme values
Median= middle value, high scores do not affect it, easy to calculate, less sensitive as certain values are ignored
Mode= most common value, may be two modes (bi-modal), crude measure, easy to calculate, when there are several modes it may not be useful
What are some measures of dispersion?
Measures of central tendency and dispersion
Range= calculation of the spread of scores, only takes into account the two most extreme values, may be unrepresentative of data set
Standard deviation= much more precise measure as it includes all values, can be distorted by a single large value
Describe bar charts
presentation of quantitative data
- Difference in mean values, used when data is divided into categories (discrete)
- Freq is on the y-axis
- Bars are separated on a bar chart to show we are dealing with separate conditions
Describe histograms
presentation of quantitative data
- Bars touch to show the x-axis data is continuous
- x-axis has equal sized intervals
Describe scattergrams
presentation of quantitative data
- Do not depict differences but associations between co variables
What is meant by normal distribution?
presentation of quantitative data
- Most people are located in the middle with few people at extreme ends
- mean median and mode occupy the same midpoint of the curve
- Bell shape curve
Describe positive and negative skew
presentation of quantitative data
Positive= most of distribution is towards left of graph, long tail on right, mode is at highest point then median then mean dragged along tail
Negative= bulk of scores on right, long tail on left, median in middle, mode at peak
What are the main aims of peer review?
Peer review and the economy
- To allocate research funding, may be coordinated by government run funding orgs, independent peer evluation to decide whether o not to award funding
- Validate the quality and relevance of research
- To suggest ammendents or improvements
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