Research methods P2 Flashcards
what does generalisability mean?
the ability to generalise from a group of people - the more control psychologists exert the less they can generalise
what does investigator effects mean?
when the experimenter unconsciously conveys to the pps how they should behave
what does ecological validity mean?
how realistic the experiment is
what does ethics mean?
moral codes of conducts so pps do not experience any negative consequences
what does demand characteristics mean?
when you change your behaviour because you know you are being tested
what does the screw you effect mean?
when the pps is aware of the experiment and go AGAINST everything the psychologist asks
what does social desirability effect mean?
the pps change their behaviour to fit in or behaviour that is favoured by others
what are the guidelines that are carried out in every psychological study?
confidentiality, distress, consent, deception, withdrawal, protection
what is the acronym that is used to remember the guidelines?
Can Do Can’t Do With Participants
how can psychologists deal with confidentiality?
participants can be referred to as numbers or letters
how can psychologists deal with consent?
everybody must receive a letter of consent which outlines aims and procedures. Only use people who have returned the letter
how can psychologists deal with distress?
ensuring pps are never exposed to anything that could harm them
how can psychologists deal with the right to withdraw?
tell them they can leave at ANYTIME at REGULAR intervals
why is deception a big issue? How could you deal with this?
likely to get demand characteristics from the pps
you can deceive pps but you have to debrief them at the end
what are 3 ways you can deal with consent?
presumptive consent- similar group of people and ask them for consent
prior general consent - get pps to sign a form with consent a long time before
retrospective consent - gaining consent at the end of the experiment
what is an independent variable?
one that’s changed and controlled by the researcher
what is the dependant variable?
the one that’s being measured
what is an extraneous variable?
any variable other than the IV that may effect the DV eg. time of day
what is a confounding variable?
a specific example of a extraneous variable that has constant impact
what are the 2 different types of hypothesises and what do they mean?
a null hypothesis- states there will be no effect
experimental
what are the 2 different types of experimental hypothesis?
directional - exact results - only used with PREVIOUS research
non-directional - states there’s a difference but not what the difference actually is - only used with no previous research
what is an example of a situational variable and how can it be controlled?
noise, heat controlled by standardisation - keeps everything the same
what is a participant variable? how is it controlled?
demand characteristics and single blind procedure
what is investigator effects controlled?
double blind procedure
what are the 5 different ways of SAMPLING methods?
random e.g. picked out of a hat
systematic - every nth member of target population
stratified- put pps in categories and randomly select
opportunity - decides on type of pps and approaches
volunteer
what are the 4 TYPES of experiments?
laboratory
field
natural
quasi
what are the strengths and weaknesses of laboratory experiments?
high control over extraneous variables - cause and effect can be determined
pps behaviour unnatural- demand characteristics more likely
what are the strengths and weaknesses of field experiments? (iv manipulated but in natural environment)
pps behaviour likely to be natural
difficult to replicate - can not compare data and cause and effect more difficult to determine
what are the strengths and weaknesses of natural experiments?
behaviour will be natural
impossible to replicate - cause and effect cannot be determined as extraneous variables are not controlled in
what are the strengths and weaknesses of quasi experiments?
not possible to manipulate IV
only some extraneous variables controlled
what is a quasi experiment?
IV is not manipulated it occurs naturally - IV is a characteristic of the pps eg gender
what are the 3 experimental DESIGNS?
independent groups
repeated groups
matched pairs
what are the strengths and weaknesses of repeated measures?
-no pps variables - demand characteristics
order effects - may effect performance
overcome by - counter balance A then B
B then A
what are the strengths and weaknesses of independent groups?
reduced demand characteristics
people may be individually different - therefore randomally allocate
what are the strengths and weaknesses of matched pairs?
avoids order effects
time consuming finding people who are similar
what are 2 non experimental methods that are self report measures?
questionnaires and interviews
explain questionnaires.
standardised set of questions pps answer AWAY from researcher includes closed questions - generate quantitative data open questions - generate qualitative data
what are the strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires?
can easily be repeated
time and cost effective
no interviewer effects
social desirability bias
answers may not be truthful
what is a unstructured interview?
no pre prepared questions
questions asked will be dependant on what the pps replies
what are the strengths and weaknesses of unstructured interviews?
allows researcher to develop a rapport - data may be more valid
time consuming
difficult to compare
what are the strengths and weaknesses of structured interviews?
easy to compare data
not flexible
what is the main weakness of interviews?
investigator effects - give hints about aim of study
what is the other type of non experimental method?
correlation - establishes whether there is a relationship
no iv or dv - co-variables
what are the strengths and weaknesses of correlations?
sometimes only ethical way
never gives a cause and effect explanation therefore a third variable could change both leaving inaccurate results
how can observations occur from eachother in 3 ways?
setting - naturalistic / controlled
how involved the researcher gets - non - participant / participant
level of deception - covert (dishonest) / overt (honest) pps are aware they are being observed
what are 2 ways of taking observations?
time sampling - behaviour of each pps is recorded at regular intervals
event sampling - behaviour recorded everytime it happens
what is meta analysis?
form of research that used secondary data - data from a large number of studies involves the same method all combined
how do we measure central tendency?
mean
median
mode
how do we measure dispersion?
standard deviation - average difference of scores from the mean
range
what does a inferential statistic tell us?
level of change - level of significance — a margin of error we are happy to accept
what probability is psychologists usually happy with?
5%
1% — medical research
explain the sign test.
- Find the sign that occurs the least - this is called the observed value
- take the number of = away from the amount of pps
- get critical value
- if S is smaller than CV it is significant
what if it is significant?
experimental hypothesis accepted null rejected
when do we only carry out the sign test?
- repeated measures
- nominal data - data that can be put in categories
- looking for a difference not a relationship
what is peer review?
decides whether the psychological study gets published
what does peer review help?
- there’s no mistakes in research
- ensures poor quality work is not published
what is the limitations of peer review?
- sometimes doesn’t detect fraud
- biased towards positive findings
- time consuming and expensive
how has psychological research benefitted the economy?
- research into…improving memory, attachment, mental illness
describe random sampling
every member of the population has a chance of being picked. eg pick names from a hat
what are the strengths and weaknesses of random sampling?
- no bias is possible
- may get a freak sample eg all female or male
what is systematic sampling?
taking every nth member of the target population
what are the strengths and weaknesses of systematic sampling?
sample will be representative therefore results will be generalisable
not truly unbiased unless you select your starting point randomly
what is stratified sampling?
divide target population into categories eg age, religion then pick randomly from there
what are the strengths and weaknesses of stratified sampling?
- no bias -more representative
- requires detailed knowledge about target population which may not be available
what is opportunity sampling?
researcher decides on the type of pps needed and approaches them until numbers are obtained
what are the strengths and weaknesses of opportunity sampling?
- quick and convenient
- biased - excludes whoever the researcher is not looking for - not possible to make generalisations
what is volunteer sampling?
researcher advertises for pps so they choose themselves by replying to the advert
what are the strengths and weaknesses of volunteer sampling?
- easy
- as pps volunteer themselves there is less chance of them to sabotage study or withdraw
- biased because volunteers seem to be a certain type of people - no generalisations are able to be made
what is meant by standard deviation?
the average difference of scores from the mean
name 4 type of observations.
- controlled
- naturalistic - observe same behaviour just in natural environment
- covert pps do NOT know they are being recorded
- overt pps DO know they are being recorded
what is meant by event sampling?
record ALL behaviour occurrences
what is meant by time sampling?
record behaviour occurrences at set standard time periods
