Research methods keywords Flashcards
what is an aim?
a general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate, the purpose of the study
what is an experimental method?
manipulation of IV to measure the effect of a DV. Experiments may be lab, field, natural, quasi
Hypothesis
A clear, precise, testable statement of the relationship between variables to be investigated. Stated at the outset of any study.
Directional hypothesis
states direction of the difference or relationship
non-directional hypothesis
DOESN’T state the direction of the difference of the relationship
Variables
any ‘thing’ that can vary within an investigation.
used in experiments to determine if one thing changes another
Operationalisation
Clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be measured.
Extraneous variables
any variable, other than IV that may affect the DV if not controlled.
‘Nuisance’ Variables don’t vary systematically with IV.
Confounding variables
Type of EV. Varies systematically with IV. Can’t tell if change in DV is due to the IV or CV.
Demand characteristics
Cue from researcher/research situation that could be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of an investigation. Participant could change their behaviour.
Investigator effects
Any effect of the investigators behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research outcome (DV)
Including design of study/selection and interaction with participants during research process.
Randomisation
use of chance methods to control effects of bias when designing materials and deciding order of experimental conditions.
Standardisation
using some formalised procedure and instructions for all participants in a research study
Please-U effect
act in a way they think is expected and over perform to please the experiment!!!
Screw-U effect
deliberately under perform to sabotage results
experimental design
different ways participants can be organised in relation to the experimental conditions
independant groups design
participants allocated different groups. each group represents an experimental condition.
repeated measures
all participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
match pairs design
participants matched into pairs, on variables which may affect DV.
one member- A
other-B
random allocation
control attempt for participant variables in an independant groups design. Ensuring each participant has same chance of being in one condition as others.
counterbalancing
control attempt for the effects of order in repeated measures design, half participants experience conditions in one order, and the other half in the opposite order.
Laboratory experiment
experiment takes place in a controlled environment. Researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect of the DV.
Strict control of EV
Field experiment
experiment takes place in a natural setting. Researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV.
Internal validity
Whether you’re measuring what you set out to measure.
Mundane realism
how experiment mirrors real world. Environment is realistic so the experiences encountered could occur in the real world
external validity
degree to which a research finding can be generalised to.
Natural experiment
change in IV that the researcher didn’t cause. Naturally occurring. Researcher records effort on a DV they have decided on.
Quasi experiment
A study (almost an experiment) IV undetermined. Variables just exist. Not an experiment.
In a person.
self-report tecnique
Any method where a person is asked to state/explain their feelings, opinions, behaviours and/or experiences related to a topic.
questionnaire
set of written questions (items) to assess a persons thoughts/experiences
interview
a ‘live’ encounter.
a person (interviewer) asks a set of questions to assess an interviewee’s thoughts/experiences.
may be pre-set, or develop.
open questions
no fixed choice of response, respondents can answer in any way they wish.
closed questions
fixed choice of responses determined by the question setter.
Population
Group who are the focus of the researchers interest
from which a smaller group is drawn
Sample
group who participate in a research investigation.
Drawn from a target population, presumed as representative of that population.
Sampling techniques
Method used to select people from the population
Bias
Groups UNDER/OVER represented within the sample. Limits generalisations made to the target population.
Generalisation
Extent which findings/conclusions from an investigation can be broadly applied to the population.
Sample of participants is representative of the target population.
Pilot study
Small scale version of an investigation (of a real investigation)
to check everything works
Allow researcher too make changes
Opportunity sample
select anyone willing and avalible.
researcher asks whoever is around
volunteer sample
participants self-select (self-selection)
Ethical issues
arise when a conflict between rights of participants in research and goals of research to produce authentic valid and worthwhile data
BPS code of ethics
British Psychological society
UK
what behaviour is acceptable when dealing with participants
4 principles: respect, competence, responsibility, and integrity
Naturalistic observations
Watching and recording behaviour in the setting it would naturally occur
Controlled observations
watching and recording behaviour in the setting it a structured environment
covert observations
participants behaviour is watching and recorded WITHOUT their permission
Overt observations
participants behaviour is watched and recorded WITH their knowledge and consent
participant observation
researcher becomes a part of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording
Non- participant observations
researcher remains out of the group whose behaviour they are watching/recording
behaviour categories
target behaviour broken into components that are observed and measurable (operationalisation)
event sampling
target behaviour/event is established. researcher records this event when it occurs.
time sampling
target individual/group established. researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame (say, every 60s)
descriptive statistics
use of graphs, tables, and summary statistics to identify trends and analyse sets of data
measures of central tendency
general term for any- measure of the average value in a set of data
mean
arithmetic average calculated by adding up all the values in a set of data and dividing by the number of values
Median
central value in a set of data when values are arranged from lowest to highest
mode
most frequently occurring values a set of data
correlation
association between 2 variables, called co-variables
co-varibales
variables investigated within a correlation.
Not IV/DV- correlation investigates association between variables, rather than association between variables, rather than showing cause and effect relationship.
Positive correlation
as 1 co-variable increases, so does the other
negative correlation
as 1 co-variable increases the other decreases
zero correlation
no relationship, between co-variables
qualitative data
data expressed in words and non numerical (can convert to numbers for analysis)
quantitive data
data that can be counted, numbers
primary data
info obtained first hand by researcher, for purpose of a research project. Gathered from participants- experiment, self-report, observation
Secondary data
Info collected by someone else, pre-dates current research project. Work of other psychologists or government statistics.
Meta analysis
combine findings from studies on a topic. TO produce an overall statistical conclusion, based on a range of studies.
NOT a review
