Research Methods - Paper 2 Flashcards
What is an experimental method?
Involves the manipulation of an independent variable to measure the effect on a dependent variable
What is the aim
A general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate, the purpose of the study
What is the hypothesis
A clear and precise statement that states the relationship between the variables to be investigated.
What is a directional hypothesis
States the direction of the difference of relationship (“the green skittle will have the least favourite”)
What is a non directional hypothesis
Does not state the direction of difference or relationship
What is a variable
Anything that can vary or change within an investigation
What does operationalisation means
Clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be measured
What is a extraneous variable
Any variable other than the independent variable which may affect the dependent variable if it is not controlled. Also known as nuisance variable
What is a confounding variable?
A kind of EV but the key feature is that a confounding variable varies systematically with the IV. Therefore we can’t talk if any change in DV is due to the IV or the Confounding variable.
What is a demand characteristic
Any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of an investigation. This may lead to a participants changing their behaviour within a research situation.
What is investigator effects
Any effect the investigators behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research outcome the DV. This may include everything from the design of the study to the selection of and interaction which participants during research process.
What is randomisation
The use of chanced methods to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of experimental condition
What is standardisation
Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study.
What type of experiment coukd control and extraneous variable?
Lab experiment
Quasi Experiment
Independent Variable already exists
What is Opportunity Sampling
non-random method of selecting participants for a study by choosing individuals who are readily available or convenient for the researcher, rather than using a random or systematic approach.
What is a natural experiment
researchers study the effects of naturally occurring events or conditions on people or groups, without deliberately manipulating variables. It allows for the observation of real-world situations that cannot be ethically or practically created in a controlled setting.
2 Features that take place in a Natural Experiment
Independent variable is not controlled
Researcher sees how it impacts the DV
What is a pilot study
small-scale research study conducted before the main research project to test and refine research methods, questionnaires, or procedures, and to identify potential issues or challenges.
Aims of Piloting
- To see if the Procedure is right
- Instructions correct
- Design
What is repeated measures
same group of participants is used in all conditions or treatments within an experiment.
What is single blind
Participants don’t know what they are being tested on
What is Double Blind
Participant and the experimenter doesn’t know what condition they are in
What is systematic sampling
selecting participants at regular intervals from a larger population, following a specific pattern or system.
What is volunteer sampling
Chance method of Participants ask to join the research
What is counterbalancing
involves varying the order in which different conditions or treatments are presented to participants to ensure that the impact of these order effects is evenly distributed across the study, reducing potential biases.
What is a field experiment
This allows researchers to study behavior and phenomena in more natural and ecologically valid conditions.
3 features that take place in a Field Experiment
Controls the IV
Participants are randomly allocated
Real-world setting
What is a independent group
participants are divided into different groups, and each group is exposed to a different condition or treatment.
What is a laboratory experiment
All the other variables are controlled - in a controlled setting
3 features that take place in a lab experiment
Controlled Environment
Controls the IV
Participants are randomly allocated to the conditions
What is matched pairs
participant is closely paired with another based on similar characteristics (e.g., age, gender, IQ) to create two comparable groups
Strengths of Independent Groups
Less Likely to guess the aim of the study (prevents demand characteristics)
- Prevents Order Effects
What are order effects?
Performance in the second condition may be better because the participants know what to do (i.e., practice effect). Or their performance might be worse in the second condition because they are tired (i.e., fatigue effect).
Limitation of Independent Groups
- Need more participants
- Less efficient needs more money
- Hard to compare (participant variables)
Strengths of repeated measures
- Fewer Participants
- Less money needed
- No participant variables
Limitations of repeated measures
- More likely to guess the aim
- Order effects ( counterbalancing)
Strengths of Matched Pairs
- No Order Effects
- Tries to reduce Participant Variables
Limitations of Matched Pairs
It takes ages to find the match and can be a difficult process
What is Random Allocation
Chance methods to pick who does what experiment
What is Social Facilitation Theory
The presence of others may improves individual task performances
Naturalistic Observation
Research Method in which psychologists record behavior in a natural behavior, without any attempt to manipulate or control the situation. Aim to study behavior as it occurs spontaneously. (Real Life situation)
Controlled Observation
Researchers carefully manipulate and control the conditions under which observations are made. Allows for precise study of specific variables while maintaining control over potential confounding factors.
Overt Observation
Form of Observation in which subjects or participants are aware that they are being watched.
Covert Observation
Subjects or participants are not aware that they are being watched. This is done to stop influencing the subject’s behavior.
Participant Observation
Researchers actively take part in the activities of the groups or individuals being studied. Usually involves immersing oneself in the culture of the environment under investigation to gain deeper understanding.
Nonparticipant observation:
Researchers remain separate from the subjects or groups being observed. The researcher does not actively participate in the activities but rather observes from a distance.
Structured observation:
Researchers use a predetermined set of specific criteria or a structured observation schedule to systematically record behavior. Allows for consistency and comparability in observations across different cases. `
Unstructured observation:
Involves collecting data without a pre-defined checklist. Researchers use a more flexible approach to observe and record whatever seems relevant to the research question.
Event sampling:
Observational method where researchers record specific events or behavior or events when given a time frame.
Sign Testing
Used the test to analyse the different scores between related items
peer review
The assessment of scientific work people who are specialists in the same field
Correlation
A mathematical technique in which a researcher invedigated an association between two variables,es called co-variables
Co- variables
The variables investigated within a correlation, for example height and weight. They are 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
Positive correlation
As one co-variable increases so does the other. For example, the number of people in a room and noise tend to be positively correlated.
Negative Correlation
As one co-variable increases the other decreases. For example, the number of people in a room and amount of personal space tend to be negatively correlated.
Zero Correlation
When there is no relationship between the co-variables. For example, the association between the number of people in a room in Manchester and the total daily rainfall in Peru is likely to be zero.
Qualitative data
Data that is expressed in words and non-numerical (although qualitative data may be converted to numbers for the purposes of analysis).
Quantitive
Data that can be counted, usually given as numbers.
Primary Data
Information that has been obtained first-hand by a researcher for the purposes of a research project. In psychology, such data is often gathered directly from participants as part of an experiment, self-report or observation.
Secondary data
Information that has already been collected by someone else and so pre-dates the current research project. In psychology, such data might include the work of other psychologists or government statistics.
Descriptive statistics
The use of graphs, tables and summary statistics to identify trends and analyse sets of data
Measures of central tendency
The general term for any measure of the average value in a set of data.
Mean
Average by adding all the numbers and dividing by how many numbers
Median
When a value in a data set are arranged lowest to highest
Mode
Most frequent item in a data set
Measures of dispersion
General term for any measure of spread or variation in a set of scores
Range
Calculation worked out thr dispersion in a set of scores.
Standard deviation
Measure of dispersion in a set of scores.
Meta Analysis
The process of combining the findings from a number of studies on a particular topic. Aim is too produce a overall statistical conclusion
What are the 3Ds and what do they find?
Data, Design and difference
normal distribution
An arrangement of data that is symmetrical and forms a pattern in which the mean, median and/or mode falls in the centre
Case studies
In depth description and analyst S of a individual, groups or eventinstitution
Content analysis
Enables direct study of behaviour by examining communication thatpeopleproduce ) 09°texts ) females TV / phoney film
Coding - the stage of content analysis
Communication is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories. - Words, phrases and sentences
Thematic analysis
An inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves indentifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. Themes usually emerge once data has been coded
Case Studies - Examples
Anna O
Little Hans
Case Studies - Strengths
Create opportunities for a rich yield of data, and the depth analysis can turn to bring high levels of validity
The detail collected in a single case may lead to interesting findings that conflict with previous theories and create new pathways fri research
Case Studies - Weakness
Little control over the numbers of variables
Difficult to establish any casual relationship between variables
Case studies are unusual and hard to replicate
Small sample size, hard to generalised
Content Analysis - How many steps
5
Content Analysis - What are the 5 steps
- Data Collected
- Researchers reads through or examines the data making themsleves familiar with it
- Research indemnified coding unite
- Data is analysed by applying thr coding unite
- A tally is made the number of times coding unite appear
Content Analysis - Key Study Name
Manstead and McCulloch
Content Analysis Manstead and McCulloch - Aim
Study to establish whether men and women were depicted differently in advertisements and in what respects
Content Analysis Manstead and McCulloch - Procedure
170 Adverts were analysed by classifying following attributes of their adult central figures; sex, mode of presentation, relationship to product, role, location, arguments, rewards and product taupesn
Content Analysis Manstead and McCulloch - Findings
Men and women portrayed in different ways
Women portrayed more than men in being product users and in dependent roles (home etc)
Content Analysis Manstead and McCulloch - Conclusions
Considered in the context of other studies of sec role stereotyping in thr mass media.
Strengths of Content Analysis
Reliable way to analyse qualitative data, as coding units aren’t up to interpretation
Not too time consuming
High external validity
Allows a statistical analysis to be conducted if needed d
Weakness of Content Analysis
Causality cannot be established as it only describes the data
Cannot extract any deeper meaning
Context is ignored
Identifications of themes are subjective meaning thr comfluwisojs may lack scruintyn and objective
Thematic Analysis - How many steps
4
4 steps of thematic analysis
- Researcher becomes familiar with data by re-reading it multiple times
- Generate main themes
- Review themes and identifying sub-themes and examples
- Produce a report
What does thematic analysis doc
SUMMARISE
Thematic analysis Advantages
Researchers may idenitfy unexpectedly themes, providing guide limes for future research
Analysis report is flexible so that the analysis can be accosted to thr data
Provides a lot of detail that only qualitative data can miss
Disadvantages of thematic analysis
Themes are identified and results may be due to investigator bias reducing thr relatability and validity of the findings
Thematic analysis can be a time consuming process
Reliability
Refers to the Consistency of a research atudy or measuring test.
Reliability - Two categories
Internal and External Reliability
Reliability - Internal
Describes the internal consistency of a measure, such as the different questions in a questionaire are all meanings of the same conscrunt
Reliability - External
Assess consistencey of a measure from one use to another.
Reliability - Internal method
Split half method
Reliability - Split Half Method
Internal type of reliability.
Measures the extent of which all parts of the tests contribute equally to what is being measured
Reliability - External methods
Test Re-Test
Inter-rate
Reliability - Test Re test
Asessing external validity
A method of asessing the realibilty of a questionaire and interviewss
The two sets of scores are then corellated to see if they are similar.
If they are simialr the correlation shows a strong positive relationsip (0.8)
Reliability - Inter-observer reliability
External method of testing reliabilty
Agreement between two or more obseervers
Small pilot stidy and to checl of the behavioural categories is in the same way
Two observers will watch the same event and record it infividually and then share results
If there is a strong positive relationship than the test is considered to be a strong positive relationship
0.8
Improve Reliability of Questionnaire
Items can be deselected and rewritten
If some of ther items are vague or too complect it can be interpreted differently be the same person on different occasions
Replace open questions with closed questions
Improve Reliability of Interviews
Same individual to ask the question eachtime
Structured interviews
Improve Reliability of Experiments
Lab researchers having strict control over all the procedures such as the instructions that the participant have recieved. Using standardised procedures too
Improve Reliability of Observations
Behavioural categories be fully operationialised which means there will be less interpretation of behaviour,
Validity
The extent to which an observed effect from a psychological test,observation experiment etc is geniuine.
Internal Validity
Whether the effects observed in a experiment are due to the manipulation of the IV and nit some other factor such as demand characteristics.
External Validity
External/ecological validity is concerned with generalising findings to real life situations.
Refers to the task participants are required to do in the study
Everyday taskm then the findings would be in high external validity
Refers to the setting of the study
Conducted in a natural setting, then the findings would be high in external validity.
Temperol Validity
Issue whether findings from a particular study or conce[t within a theory is true over time
Internal Validity Assessment - Face Validity
Face Validity us simply whether the test appears at face value, to measure what it claims too. This can be done by simply looking at the measuring instrument
Internal Validity Assessment - Concurrent Validity
Demostrated when the results are obtained are very close to or match. Those obtained by another recognised and established test.
Close agreement (+.8) between the two steps of data would indicate that the new test has a high concurrent validity
Improving Validity - Experiment
- Using a control group, then we can compare and have a greater confidence that it was the effect of the IV, that has caused the change.
- Standardise procedures: should minimise the impact of participants reactivity and investigator effects on the validity of the outcome
- Single blind and Double Blind
Improving Validity - Questionnaire
- Data is anonymous
- Many tests include a lie scale, this is to order to asses the consitencey of a response to control for the effects of social desirbility bias
Improving Validity - Observation
- Observational research into naturalistic settings tend to produce findings that are high in ecological validity as there may be minimal intervation by the researcher
even more if it is covert
Improving Validity - Qualitative Research
Methods tend to have high ecological validity due to the depth and detail associated with case studies, interviews etc.
Inferential Testing - 3 Ds
Design, Data and Difference
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Independent Groups and Nominal Data
Chi-Squared
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Independent Groups and Ordinal Data
Mann Whitney
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Independent Groups and Interval Data
Unrelated T-Test
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Matched Pairs and Nominal Data
Sign Test
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Matched Pairs and Ordinal
Wilxcon
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Matched Pairs and Interval Data
Related T-Test
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Correlation with Nominal Data
Chi Squared
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Correlation with Ordinal Data
Spearman’s rho
Inferential Testing - Choosing a Stats test with Correlation with Interval
Pearsons R
Nominal Data
Can be placed into separate categories. Usally involves counting the frequencey of behaviours
Eg. Categorising people due to their hair colour, shoe size, attachmanet style etc
Ordinal Data
Datat can be ranked or Placed in some kind of order but the difference between the values is no the same.
Interval Data
Data has a standardised measurement such as time, weight, temperature
Evaluation of Nominal Data
Easily generated from closed questions, questionnaires, interviews. Can be generated quickly and the mode is the measure of centeral tendencey
No scale of refrence. Can’t express it’s true complexity and no measure of dispersion
Evaluation of Ordinal Data
Ordinal data provides more detail than nominal data as the scores are ordered in a linear fashion
Intervals between scores are not of equal value. Means that an average (the mean) cannot be used as a measure of centeral tendencey
Evaluation of Interval Data
Interval level data is considered more informative than the nominal and ordinal levels of measurements. Gaps in score or more of equal value which makes results more reliable
Intervals are arbitrarty.
Statistical Tests - Level of significance
<0.05 (0.5%).
Use of Statistical Tables and critical values
The results of a statistical test must be compared to the critical value in order for the results to be calculated as significant or not
If the Statistical test has a ‘r’ in the name the observed value must be queal to or greater than the critical value.
Questionnaire - Open Questions
Allow participants to answer however they wish and therefore qualitative data is given. As there is no fixed number of responses to select from.
Questionnaire - Closed Questions
Restrict the Participants to a predeteremined set of responses and generate qualitiartive data.
Eg. Checklists, likert response scale or a ranking scale
Questionnaire - Open Questions Evaluation
Strengths - Less Chance of researcher Bias.
Weakness- Social desireability, ps try and portray themselevs in the best light
Questionnaire - Closed Questions Evaluation
Strengths - Quanatitive data, which is easier to analyse statistically and in graph format
Researcher csn look for patterns and trends in the data that can lead to further research being conducted
Limitations - The researcher is limited in responses. There is also a response bias mesning the PS may of not read all the questions properly and select yes for each otf their answers
Ethical Issues
Considerations researchers make before, during and after research which is conducted.
Ethical Issues - British Psychological Society (BPS)
Deception
Right to withdraw
Informed Consent
Privacy and Confidentiality
Protection from Harm
Ethical Issues - What is Deception
When information is deliberately witheld from participants or knowing that they are misled.
Ethical Issues - What is Right To withdraw
Participants are allowed to remove themselves from the study at any stage. This includes after research has been conducted
Ethical Issues - What is Informed Consent
When someone consents to to participate in the research and id fully informed which meansthe aoms of the research should be clear
Ethical Issues - What is Privacy
Right of individuals to decide how information about them will be communicated with others
Ethical Issues - What is Confidentiality
A persons personal information is protected by law under the data protection act both during and after the experiment
Ethical Issues - What is Protection from Harm
Psychologists have the responsibility to protect their participants from physical or psychological harm, including stress
The risk of harm must be no greater than that which they are exposed to in everyday life
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Right to Withdraw)
May feel unnecessary or undue stress and are therefore not protected from harm
At the end of the study the participants should be fully debriefed and told the true aim of the research. They are able to withdraw the publication of their resu;ts
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Deception)
If it prevents participants from giving fully informed consent which means that they might be taking part in research that goes against their values or beliefs
At the end of the study the participants should be fully debriefed and told the true aim of the research. They are able to withdraw the publication of their resu;ts
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Informed Consent)
Lack of informed consent may mean that the participants is taking part in the research that goes against their wishes and beliefs.
Informed consent - Presumptive Consent
involves taking a random sample of the population and introducing them to the research, including any deception which may result
Informed Consent - Prior General consent
Involves participants agreeing to take part beforehand in numerous psychological investigations, which may or may not involve decpetion
Informed Consent - Retrospective Consent
Involves participants giving consent for their participation after already taking part, for instance, if they were not aware that they were the subject of an investigation
Informed Consent - Children as participants
Involves gaining the consent of the parents in writing for children under the age of 16 to participate in any psycholgical research
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Privacy)
A researched may obtain more info onn a participant that the participant doesn’t want to give. Whcih is an invasion of privact
Participants should be provided with fully informed consent and the right to withdraw at any stage
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Confidentiality)
Persons details may be used by other parties without the partipants permission
Participants are provided with a fake name, number or initals to protect their identity to protect their identity and to assure anonmity
Ethical Issues - Why is it unethical and how to deal with it if it is broken (Protection from harm)
Participants should leave the research in the same state as they entered it. If they are harmed, they may suffer long term effects
Researchers should remind the participants of their right to withdraw throughout the research. Researcher should terminate the experimetnt kf their is high levels of phsycoal or psychological ahrm
Features of Science -
Empirical Methods
Idea that knowledge is gained from direct experiences in a objective, systematic and controlled manner to produce quanitive data
Features of Science
Replicability
The ability to conduct research again and achieve consistent results
Falsifiability
The idea that a research hypothesis could be proved wrong. Scientific research can never be ‘proven’ to be true only subjected to research attempts.
Paradigm
Set of shared assumptions and methods within a particular discimple
Paradigm Shifts
A popular opion changes over time
Type I error
Occurs in situations where the null hypothesis has been rejected and the experimental/ alternative hypothesis accepted. When it should be the other way round
(False Positive)
Type II Error
Occurs when the researcher has accepted the null hypothesis and it should of been the other way round. This can also be referred as a false negative.
