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Psycology AS > Research Methods Notes > Flashcards

Research Methods Notes Flashcards

1
Q

What are the strengths of a repeated measure design?

A

Individual differences are eliminated (participant variables) and each participant is used in each condition so fewer participants are needed.

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2
Q

What are the limitations of a repeated measure design?

A

Order effects may occur and the true aim of the research may be revealed.

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3
Q

What are the strengths to an independent group design?

A

There are no order effects and participants will not know the true aims of the research.

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4
Q

What are the limitations to an independent group design?

A

Individual differences could confound the results (participant variables) and more participants are needed.

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5
Q

What are the strengths of a matched pair design?

A

Participants variables are minimised by the matching process, there are no order effects and participants are unlikely to work out the aim of the research.

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6
Q

What are the limitations of a matched pairs design?

A

Matching is very difficult and time consuming and participant variables are not eliminated altogether as np two people are exactly the same.

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7
Q

What are the different types of experiments?

A

Laboratory experiment
Field experiments
Quasi Experiment
Natural Experiment

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8
Q

What is a labatory experiment?

A

An experiment which is carried out under a artificial environment.

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9
Q

What are the strengths of a labatory experiment?

A

Easy to control extraneous variables and it is easier to reliably establish cause and effect.

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10
Q

What are the limitations to a lab experiment?

A

Lacks mundane realism as it is in a artificial setting and participants are aware they are being investigated so may produce demand characteristics.

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11
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

An experiment that is conducted in a natural environment or situation.

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12
Q

What are the strengths of a field experiment?

A

Participant behaviour is more likely to be true to life (strong mundane realism).

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13
Q

What are the limitations of a field experiment?

A

The extraneous variable can’t be controlled so cause and effect can’t be established. The psychologist won’t have control over some environmental factors and this makes it more difficult to reliably establish cause and effect. And is potentially unethical if participants are unaware.

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14
Q

What is a Quasi-Experiment?

A

When the researcher observes and measures a naturally occurring difference between people (I.E age).

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15
Q

What are the strengths of a quasi experiment?

A

The IV is naturally occurring making the research more valid and they are usually conducted under controlled conditions.

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16
Q

What are the limitations of a quasi experiment?

A

There could be more confounding variables as participants can’t be randomly assigned and it makes the research more difficult as researchers may struggle to find viable participants.

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17
Q

What is a natural experiment?

A

When the researcher takes advantage of a pre-excising independent variable.

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18
Q

What are the strengths of a natural experiment?

A

They offer opportunity for research which may otherwise be available due to practical or ethical reasons and they are highly valid as they are true to life findings.

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19
Q

What are the limitations to a natural experiment?

A

They are very rare as there are few opportunities to conduct them.

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20
Q

What are the 2 ways psychologists use to control demand characteristics and investigator effects?

A

Randomisation and Standardisation

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21
Q

What is volunteer sampling?

A

When people actively volunteer to be in a study.

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22
Q

What is random sampling?

A

When every member of the target group has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.

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23
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A

When the researcher samples who ever is available or willing to be sampled.

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24
Q

What is systematic sampling.

A

When every nth term is selected from a sampling frame (a list of individuals in the target group).

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25
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A

When the target group is separated into various strata and the ratio of students selected reflects the wider population.

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26
Q

What is an advantage of volunteer sampling?

A

If the advert is prominently placed, more people may respond, leading to a potentially large sample.

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27
Q

What is an advantage of random sampling?

A

Fair. Everyone has an equal chance of being selected and the sample is likely to be representative.

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28
Q

What is an advantage of opportunity sampling?

A

Quick and practical way of getting a sample.

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29
Q

What is an advantage of systematic sampling?

A

Everyone in a target group has an equal chance of being selected.

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30
Q

What is an advantage of stratified sampling?

A

Sample directly reflects the population, highly representative.

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31
Q

What is a disadvantage of volunteer sampling?

A

Unrepresentative as the sample would only include individuals who come into contact with the advert.

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32
Q

What is a disadvantage of random sampling?

A

Doesn’t guarantee a representative method there’s still a chance that some subgroups in the target group may not be selected.

33
Q

What is a disadvantage of opportunity sampling?

A

Unlikely to be representative of a target group or population as a whole. Cannot confidently generalise results.

34
Q

What is a possible disadvantage of systematic sampling?

A

Requires a sampling frame which may not always be possible.

35
Q

What is a possible disadvantage of stratified sampling?

A

Time consuming and potentially difficult as the researcher requires background data on participants.

36
Q

What is cost benefit?

A

Weighing up the cost and benefits of the research.

37
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of controlled observation?

A

Low mundane realism

Easy to replicate - extraneous variable have been controlled.

38
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observation?

A

High mundane realism

Difficult to replicate, extraneous variable may impact the dependent variable.

39
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of covert observation?

A

Eliminates demand characteristics- valid data produced

Unethical- participants may be unaware they are participating in research.

40
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of overt observation?

A

Demand characteristics likely to be produced-less valid data produced

Ethical- participants consent to participating

41
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of participant observation?

A

Subjective data produced

First hand experience can potentially lead to going native- becoming over involved or over identifying with the group.

Researcher can experience the situation first hand- potentially more valid data

42
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of non participant observation?

A

Objective data produced

Researcher will not have first hand experience so may not understand.

43
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a structured observation?

A

Produces Quantitive data

Produces when you have a large sample

Lacks detail- less valid

44
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a unstructured observation?

A

Useful when you have a small sample

Produces qualitative data

Maybe subject to observer bias

45
Q

What are behavioural categories?

A

When the researcher identifies the behaviours they are interested in and precisely identifies them, in order to observer and accurately measure.

46
Q

What are some important characteristics in behavioural categories?

A

Categories must be clear and not be subject to interpretation

There must not be a miscellaneous category

Categories must be exclusive and can’t over lap

47
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of time sampling?

A

Effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made.

Instances when behaviour is sampled might not be representative of the observation as a whole.

48
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of event sampling?

A

Useful when the target behaviour or event doesn’t happen frequently.

If the specified event is too complex the observer may over look important details.

49
Q

What are the two types of interviews?

A

Structured interviews

Unstructured interviews

50
Q

What are the disadvantages of structured interviews?

A

May provide a limited amount of information-not valid

Formal and restricted, may cause invalid data demand characteristics

51
Q

What is a strength of a structured interview?

A

Easy to replicate

52
Q

What are the advantages of unstructured interviews?

A

Large amounts of rich detail, highly valid

53
Q

What are the disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

A

Difficult to analyse

54
Q

What is the difference between experiments and correlations?

A

Experiments look for cause and effect where as correlations look for associations and relationships.

55
Q

What are the strengths of a correlation?

A

Quick and easy to carry out

Good preliminary tool to inform future research

Useful for establishing relationships

56
Q

What are the disadvantages of correlations?

A

Cannot establish cause and effect

There might be a third variable which impacts results but hasn’t been accounted for.

57
Q

What are the advantages of meta analysis?

A

Useful in identifying trends across groups

Can generalise findings to wide population

58
Q

What is the disadvantages of meta analysis?

A

Prone to publication bias- researcher may not select all relevant studies, using a bias sample for research, therefore producing bias findings

59
Q

What is the advantage of working out the mean?

A

The mean is the most sensitive measure of central tendency as it includes all data.

It is the most representative measure as it uses the whole set of data.

60
Q

What are limitations of using the mean?

A

It is easily distorted by extreme values and anomalies.

61
Q

What are the advantages of using the median?

A

Cannot be distorted by extreme values and anomalies.

Easy to calculate.

62
Q

What are the limitations of using the median?

A

Less sensitive than calculating the mean, as not all data is included in the calculation.

63
Q

What are the advantages to working out the mode?

A

Vey easy to calculate

Sometimes the only measure that can be used.

64
Q

What is a limitation of using the mode?

A

Unrepresentative of a whole set of data.

65
Q

What is the advantage of working out the range of something?

A

Unrepresentative of a whole set of data

66
Q

What are the advantages of using the range?

A

Easy to scale

67
Q

What are the limitations of using the range?

A

Unrepresentative as it only considers the two most extreme scores

68
Q

What are the strengths of using standard deviation?

A

Precise measure of dispersion as it uses all of the values.

69
Q

What are the disadvantages of using standard deviation?

A

Easily distorted by a single value.

70
Q

What do psychologists tend to summarise their findings in?

A

A table.

71
Q

What type of data do tables consist of and what are they often paired with?

A

Data is not raw data but is descriptive statistics and is usually followed by a paragraph which describes the data.

72
Q

What are bar graphs used to represent?

A

Nominal data, which is divided into categories. Sometimes known as discrete data.

73
Q

What are line graphs for?

A

Used to represent data which is numerical. Also known as continues data.

74
Q

What are Histograms alternative to and why?

A

Alternative to line graphs as they also represent continues data. Bars represent each score rather than a point and touch to show data is continues.

75
Q

When are Histograms useful and why?

A

Useful when there is a large range of data as it can be grouped and represented by one bar instead of representing ever score on a scale.

76
Q

As a general rule how many bars should a histogram have and what gives a histogram its width?

A 
6-8
The class interval (each group of score)
77
Q

What are scattergrams used to do?

A

Represent relationships between variables.

78
Q

How do both variables need to be measure in a scattergram?

A

Both variables need to be measure on a numerical scale.

79
Q

How is information presented in a scattergram and why doesn’t it matter which way around it is presented?

A

One variable is represented in the x axis and the other in they y axis. It doesn’t matter which way around as it is being analysed for a correlation not cause and effect.

Psycology AS (4 decks)

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