Research Methods B

Question 1

BPS

Answer 1

The British psychological society

Question 2

The British psychological society

Answer 2

A professional body with a code of ethics which includes a set of ethical guidelines

Question 3

BPS code of ethics

Answer 3

A set of ethical guidelines

Outlines what types of things are unacceptable

Question 4

What are ethical guidelines?

Answer 4

Gives ways to deal with ethical issues

Question 5

Difference between ethical issue and an ethical guideline

Answer 5

Issues are the difficulties faced by the researcher in terms of what they would like to do to the participants, whereas guidelines show them how to do it in a responsible way

Question 6

What’s an ethics committee

Answer 6

A group of professionals who look at the research proposal to decide whether or not it should be allowed

Question 7

Cost benefit analysis

Answer 7

Weighing up whether the price paid by the participant is worth it

Question 8

What are Ethical issues

Answer 8

Issues that arise when a conflict exists between the rights of participants and the goals of the research to provide meaningful, valid data

Question 9

Name the ethical issues

Answer 9

Consent
Confidentiality
Deception
Withdraw
Protection

Question 10

Difference between confidentiality and privacy

Answer 10

Confidentiality is not sharing other people’s details. Personal info
Privacy is freedom from intrusion. Personal matters

Question 11

Ways researchers might try to deal with informed consent

Answer 11

Participants should be given full details of the study including the aims, what they will be asked to do and how the data will be used.
Only once they have this info they should be asked to formally indicate their agreement to take part in the study
If under 16, a signature by a parent or guardian is required

Question 12

Other ways of dealing with informed consent

Answer 12

Presumptive consent
Prior general consent
Retrospective consent

Question 13

Presumptive consent

Answer 13

Rather than getting consent from the participants, a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable

Question 14

Prior general consent

Answer 14

Participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies- including one that will involve deception

Question 15

Retrospective consent

Answer 15

Participants are asked for their consent having already taken part in the study. They may not have been aware of their participation

Question 16

Problems that might occur when the researcher deals with informed consent

Answer 16

Knowing the aim of the study can lead to participants not acting naturally so little of value is learned. So sometimes other ways of dealing with informed consent are used

There is still no guarantee that the participant does actually understand what they’re agreeing to be part of

Question 17

Ways researchers might try to deal with deception

Answer 17

Avoid it if at all possible particularly if it seems likely that participants will object when they find out later
Debrief participants fully after the study and give them a chance to withdraw their data
Gain the approval of an ethics committee who will weight up the benefits of the study alongside the costs to the participant

Question 18

Ways researchers might try to deal with the right to withdraw

Answer 18

Participants should be told their participation is entirely voluntary and they can leave at any point and they can take their data if they wish

Question 19

Ways researchers might try to deal with protection from harm

Answer 19

Steps should be taken to ensure p’s aren’t physically or psychologically harmed
P’s shouldn’t be placed at anymore risk than they would in their normal lives which includes the feeling of embarrassment or stress
The study should be stopped immediately if the p’s appear to be uncomfortable, they can then withhold their data
P’s should be reassured at the end of the study if they feel embarrassed or concerned. The researched should provide counselling if required

Question 20

Ways researchers might try to deal with confidentiality

Answer 20

P’s name not used and instead they should be referred to as a letter or number or use a fake name
Nothing that would identify the p (e.g. photos or addresses) should be published

Question 21

Problems that might occur when the researcher deals with deception

Answer 21

Debriefing doesn’t stop the p feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed

Question 22

Problems that might occur when the researcher deals with the right to withdraw

Answer 22

P’s may still feel they cannot withdraw because they are worried they might spoil the research. This is particularly true if they are being paid to take part

Question 23

Problems that might occur when the researcher deals with protection form harm

Answer 23

It’s hard to predict the risks involved in some studies until real p’s are actually involved

Question 24

Problems that might occur when the researcher deals with confidentiality

Answer 24

It’s sometimes impossible to still work out who the p’s are

Question 25

What should a debrief include

Answer 25

The studies’ aim / purpose Explain any deception, provide right to withdraw, emphasise confidentiality The conditions and/or manipulations – what they were, how did they differ Offering of help/details of researcher provided Any questions?

Question 26

What format should the debrief be in?

Answer 26

Verbatim

Question 27

What do observation studies involve

Answer 27

Watching and recording people’s behaviours

Question 28

Types of observation techniques

Answer 28

``` Naturalistic Controlled Overt Covert Participant Non-participant ```

Question 29

Naturalistic observation technique

Answer 29

Observing people in the natural environments Behaviour isn’t controlled. Researcher doesn’t interfere People can choose how to behave

Question 30

Controlled observation technique

Answer 30

Some variables in the environment are regulated/manipulated by the researcher Researcher can investigate the effect of certain things on behaviour Can take place in lab or natural setting

Question 31

Covert observation technique

Answer 31

Participants are not aware that they are being observed

Question 32

Overt observation technique

Answer 32

Participants are aware that they are being observed. Paragraph the research is not hidden/can be seen

Question 33

Participant observation technique

Answer 33

Observers become actively involved in the situation being studied to gain “hands on“ experience

Question 34

Nonparticipant observation technique

Answer 34

Researchers do not become actively involved in the situation

Question 35

Observational designs

Answer 35

Structured | Unstructured

Question 36

Structured observational design

Answer 36

Researchers provide some structure. Behaviour categories and sampling methods are used

Question 37

Unstructured observational design

Answer 37

Write down everything you see

Question 38

Structured behavioural categories observational design

Answer 38

This involves breaking a target behaviour down into observable and measurable components They should be: objective, cover all possible behaviours and be mutually exclusive These categories are then organised into a table with the space to tally the number of times each one occurs Pilot study – smaller scale version of your study – to decide your behaviour categories in an observation

Question 39

Structured sampling methods observational design

Answer 39

Time sampling | Event sampling

Question 40

Time sampling

Answer 40

Counting behaviour in a set time frame | E.g. recording what behaviour is exhibited for 1 minute every 10 minutes using behaviour checklist

Question 41

Event sampling

Answer 41

Counting the number of times a behaviour occurs in a target individual or individuals

Question 42

Inter observer reliability

Answer 42

The extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in an observation of behaviour Observations should be consistent- ideally two observers should produce the same record Lessens the chances of observer bias

Question 43

Observer bias

Answer 43

When an observer records behaviour in a subjective way (seeing what they want to see)

Question 44

Types of self techniques

Answer 44

Questionnaire | Interview

Question 45

Questionnaire | Open questions

Answer 45

Doesn’t have a fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish

Question 46

Questionnaire | Closed questions

Answer 46

Offers a fixed number of responses Likert scales Rating scales Fixed choice options

Question 47

Questionnaire advantages

Answer 47

Less expensive than interviews because can gather large amounts of info quickly as can be distributed to many people Answers from closed questions are straightforward to analysis as there’s only fixed choice answers

Question 48

Questionnaire disadvantage

Answer 48

Responses may not be truthful because p’s May be presenting themselves in a positive light- influencing their answers Typically have low response rates as there’s no pressure to actually answer the questionnaire People can read the questions wrong

Question 49

Interview | Unstructured interview

Answer 49

No set questions General aim that a certain topic will be discussed Interaction tends to be free flowing

Question 50

Interview | Semi structured interview

Answer 50

List of questions have been worked out in advance but interviewers are free to ask follow up questions

Question 51

Interview | Structured interview

Answer 51

Made up of a predetermined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order

Question 52

Interview advantage

Answer 52

unstructured interviews more flexible as interviewers can follow up points Allow participants to expand on certain topics in more detail than would on a questionnaire

Question 53

Interview disadvantages

Answer 53

Answers from unstructured interviews are harder to analyse Risk that interviewees lies for social desirability Expensive - interviewer, room, travel cost

Question 54

Naturalistic Observation Evaluation

Answer 54

Tend to have high external validity as findings can often be generalised to every day life, as the behaviours studied are within environment where it would normally occur The lack of control over the research situation makes replication of the investigation difficult May also be uncontrolled extraneous variables that make it more difficult to judge any pattern of behaviour

Question 54

Controlled observation evaluation

Answer 54

May produce findings that cannot be as readily applied to real life settings Extraneous variables may be less of a factor so replication of the observation becomes easier

Question 55

Covert observation evaluation

Answer 55

The fact that participants do not know that they are being watched removes the problem of participant reactivity and ensures any behaviour observed to be natural this increases the validity of data gathered however the ethics of this study may be questioned as people even in public may not wish to have their behaviours noted down.

Question 56

Overt observation evaluation

Answer 56

More ethically acceptable but the knowledge participants have that they are being observed may act as a significant influence on their behaviour

Question 57

Participant observation evaluation

Answer 57

The researcher can experience the situation as the participants do, giving them increased insight into the lives of the people being studied. This may increase the validity of the findings However the researcher may come to identify too strongly with those they are studying and lose objectivity. Some researchers refer to this as going native when the line between being a researcher and being a participant becomes blurred

Question 58

Nonparticipant observation evaluation

Answer 58

Allow the researcher to remain an objective psychological distance from the participant so there is less danger of them going native However they may lose the valuable insight to be gained in a participant observation as they are too far removed from the people and behaviour they are studying

Question 59

Structured observation design evaluation

Answer 59

Involves the use of behavioural categories and making the record of data is more systematic Data produced is likely to be numerical which means that analysing and comparing the behaviour observed between participants is more straightforward In contrast unstructured observations tend to produce qualitative data which may be much more difficult to record and analyse

Question 60

Unstructured observation design evaluation

Answer 60

Benefit from a more richness and depth of detail in the data collected though there may be a greater risk of a observer bias with unstructured observations as the objective behavioural categories that are feature of structured observations are not present here The Researcher may only record these behaviours that catch their eye and this may not be the most important or useful

Question 61

Behavioural categories design evaluation

Answer 61

Can make data collection more structured and objective although it’s important that such categories are as clear and unambiguous as possible They must be observable measurable and self-evident. They should not require further interpretation Researchers should also ensure that all possible forms of the target behaviour are included in the checklist Categories should be exclusive and not overlap

Question 62

event Sampling methods design evaluation

Answer 62

Event sampling is useful when the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was used However if the specified event is too complex the observer may overlook important details if using event sampling

Question 63

Time sampling methods design evaluation

Answer 63

Effective in reducing the number of observations that have been made That said those instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole

Question 64

Qualitative data

Answer 64

Data that is expressed in words are non-numerical

Question 65

Quantitative data

Answer 65

Data that can be counted, usually given as numbers

Question 66

Qualitative data pros and cons

Answer 66

+ offers much more richness of detail. It is a much broader in scope and gives the participant more license to develop their thoughts feelings and opinions on the subject + tends to have greater external validity. Provides the researcher with a more meaningful insight into the participants worldview X often difficult to analyse. Tends not to lend it self to be summarised statistically so that comparisons within and between data may be hard to identify X Conclusions often rely on subjective interpretations of the researcher and these may be subject to bias

Question 67

Quantitative data pros and cons

Answer 67

+ Relatively simple to analyse, therefore comparisons between groups can be easily drawn + data in numerical form tends to be more objective and less open to bias X quantitative data is much narrower in scope and meaning, thus may fail to represent real life

Question 68

Correlation definition

Answer 68

A mathematical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between two variables, called covariables

Question 69

Covariables definition

Answer 69

The variables investigated within a correlation, for example height and weight They’re not referred to as the independent and dependent variables because a correlation investigates the association between the variables, rather than trying to show a cause and effect relationship

Question 70

Positive correlation

Answer 70

As one covariable increases so does the other

Question 71

Negative correlation

Answer 71

As one covariable increases the other decreases

Question 72

zero correlation

Answer 72

When there is no relationship between the covariables

Question 73

Correlation coefficient

Answer 73

A number between -1 and +1 that tells us how closely the covariables in a correlation analysis are linked

Question 74

Difference between correlations and experiments

Answer 74

``` Experiments- Repeated measures design Bar charts IV Cause and effect Matched pairs design Independent measures design Looking for a difference DV ``` ``` Correlations- Looking for a relationship Scattergram Covariable 1 and 2 Continuous variables Correlation coefficient ``` Both- Testing data significance Quantitive data Hypothesis

Question 75

Measures of central tendency

Answer 75

Averages which give us info about the most typical values in a set of data Mean, median and mode

Question 76

Mean advantages and disadvantages

Answer 76

+ Uses all the data, most sensitive | Xcan be affected by extreme scores – misrepresentative

Question 77

Mode pros and cons

Answer 77

+ Easy to calculate. Can be used when the data is in categories X could have more than one answer

Question 78

Median pros and cons

Answer 78

+ Cannot be affected by extreme scores | Xdoesn’t use all data – less sensitive

Question 79

Measures of dispersion

Answer 79

Based on the spread of scores; that is, how far scores vary differently from one another Range and standard deviation

Question 80

Standard deviation

Answer 80

Measure of dispersion in a set of scores. It tells us how much scores deviate from the mean by calculating the difference between the mean and each score All the differences are added up and divided by the number of scores. This gives the variance. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance

Question 81

Range pros and cons

Answer 81

+ Easy to calculate. Doesn’t use all data | X affected by extreme values

Question 82

Standard deviation pros and cons

Answer 82

+ Shows accuracy. Uses all data | X hard to work out