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psychology paper 2 > research methods pt1 > Flashcards

research methods pt1 Flashcards

- aims / hypotheses - experimental designs -variables - demand characteristics / investigator effect - ethics

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1
Q

what is an experimental method / condition ?

A

the manipulation ( changing ) of an independent variable to have an effect on the dependent variable, which is measured and stated in results

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2
Q

what is a control condition?

A

when both the independent and dependent variable stay the same throughout

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3
Q

what is an aim?

A
  • a general statement made by the researcher which tells us what they plan on investigating and the purpose of their study
  • they are developed from theories and reading about other similar research
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4
Q

what is a hypothesis?

A
  • a precise statement which clearly states that the relationship between the variable being investigated ( a prediction )
  • the hypothesis can either be directional or non-directional
  • e.g. if a researcher is carrying out a study to investigate whether sleep helps the memory performance
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5
Q

what is a direct hypothesis?

A
  • this is when the independent variable has an effect on the dependent variable and specifies the direction of the result
  • tends to be used when there has already been a range of research carried out that relates to the aim of the investigation
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6
Q

give an example of a direct hypothesis

A
  • when writing a direct hypothesis use “participants who… will be significantly more / less likely to… than participants who”
  • e.g. the MORE sleep a participant has the better their memory performance
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7
Q

what is a non-directional hypothesis?

A
  • this is when the IV has an effect on the DV but the results could go either way
  • this hypothesis will be chosen if there hasn’t been a lot of prior research or the research is contradictory
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8
Q

give an example of a non-directional hypothesis

A
  • when writing a non-directional hypothesis use “there will be a significant difference between… and…”
  • e.g. the difference in the amounts of hours of sleep a participant has WILL have an effect on their memory performance
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9
Q

what is a null hypothesis?

A
  • this hypothesis is used when there is no difference or effect of the IV on the DV
  • “there will be no significant difference between…”
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10
Q

what is an independent variable?

A

refers to the aspect of the experiment that is being manipulated by the researcher or simply changed naturally to have an effect on the DV

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11
Q

what is a dependent variable?

A
  • the aspect of the study which is measured by the researcher and has been caused by a change to the IV
  • all other variables should be controlled carefully so that the researcher can conclude that only the IV has effected the DV
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12
Q

what is operationalisation?

A
  • refers to the act of a researcher clearly defining the variables in terms of how they are being measured ( making the variables accurate )
  • e.g. “participants that get at least four hours of sleep will show better performances on the memory test, shown by them achieving higher scores than the participants that got less than 4 hours of sleep”
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13
Q

what is an extraneous variable?

A

refers to any other variable which is not the IV that affects the DV and can be controlled or removed from the experiment e.g. lighting in the lab, age of the participants

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14
Q

how can these extraneous variables be controlled?

A
  • lighting in a lab can be controlled by either switching the swich on or off to suit the study
  • age of the participants can be controlled by removing any unwanted age groups from the study and retrieving the right age group
  • sleep can be controlled by giving them a sleep schedule or eliminate participants that haven’t got enough sleep
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15
Q

what is a participant variable?

A
  • these are aspects of an individuals characteristics that affect their behaviour in an experiment
  • e.g. age, gender, intelligence, motivation and concentration
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16
Q

what is a situational variable?

A
  • aspects of the social or physical environment that affect behaviour in an experiment
  • e.g. noise, time of day, temperature, weather and instructions
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17
Q

what is a confounding variable?

A
  • these variables directly change the effect of the IV on the DV and a new unintended IV is created
  • these are variables that are difficult to control
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18
Q

what are some examples of confounding variables?

A
  • time of day
  • talkativeness
  • mood
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19
Q

what is a demand characteristic?

A
  • any cue the researcher or the research situation may give which makes the participant feel like they can guess the aim of the investigation
  • this can make the participant act differently from how they would usually act as they are trying to figure out what’s going on in the study, this is also known as the participant reactivity
  • they may act the way the researcher wants them to act which is known as the ‘please-U’, or they may intentionally underperform to sabotage the results which is known as the ‘screw-U’
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20
Q

what is investigator effects?

A
  • any unwanted influence from the researchers behaviour, either conscious or unconscious, on the DV
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21
Q

what are some examples of investigation effects and how can we deal with them?

A

the selection of participants - we could place age groups in a hat and randomly select different ages and then do the same with peoples names
interaction with each participant during the research- we could do the study so no faces are shown during questioning to minimize smiling or provision of certain behaviour

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22
Q

what is randomization?

A

the use of chance to reduce the effects of bias from the investigator effects e.g. can be done for the design of materials, deciding the order of conditions and the selection of participants

23
Q

what is standardisation?

A

using the exact same formalised procedures and instructions for every single participant involved in the research process, this allows there to eliminate non-standardised instructions as being possible extraneous variables

24
Q

what is an experimental design?

A

refers to the way in which participants are used in experiments and how they are used in relation to different experimental conditions

25
Q

what is an experimental condition?

A

this is the condition in which the IV has an effect on the DV as of something being changed

26
Q

what is a control condition?

A

where all variables are kept the same, meaning the condition stays the same

27
Q

what is the order effect?

A

when the order of conditions affects the participants behaviour e.g. a participant undergoing condition 1 and then later undergoing condition 2

28
Q

what are some problems with the order effect?

A
  • there may still be some effects from the first condition that can effect the results of the second condition e.g. in condition 1 you have to drink an energy drink which may lead to caffeine still being in the system in condition 2
  • might lead to demand characteristics as the participant could guess the aim of condition 2 from condition 1
  • could gain better results from condition 2 due to practice in condition 1
  • boredom / tiredness during 2nd condition
29
Q

what is counterbalancing?

A
  • the attempt to control order effects
  • remembered by ABBA as half the participants do A to B ( control to experimental ) and the other half will do B to A ( experimental to control )
30
Q

what are the 3 types of experimental designs?

A
  • independent groups
  • repeated measures
  • matched pairs
31
Q

what is an independent group?

A
  • where 2 separate groups of participants experience two different conditions of the experiment
  • one group is assigned to the control condition, the other to the experimental condition where the performance of both groups is compared
32
Q

what are the advantages of the independent group?

A
  • no order effects as participants are only involved in one condition
  • less time consuming so easy to implement
  • less demand characteristics as they’re only involved in one condition, so less likely to work out the aim
33
Q

what are the disadvantages of the independent group?

A
  • more expensive as they need more participants and resources for each condition
  • individual differences as the reason for a result may be down to participant variables such as age and gender. researchers can deal with this by using random allocation as it evens out participant variables between each condition
34
Q

how do we do random allocation?

A
  • identify participants - give them a number
  • put this number into a hat
  • randomly pull from the hat and assign equal amounts to condition 1 and 2
35
Q

what are the benefits of random allocation?

A
  • removes researcher bias
  • removes participant bias
  • increases validity
36
Q

what are repeated measures?

A

this is where all participants experience both conditions of the experiment e.g. participants experience condition A and then later complete condition B

37
Q

what are the advantages of repeated measures?

A
  • eliminates participant variables as the same participants are in both conditions
  • cheaper as it requires less participants and materials for one result
38
Q

what are the disadvantages of repeated measures?

A
  • more demand characteristics as participants take place in all conditions so are more likely to work out the aim of the study
  • order effects are likely which act as a confounding variable
39
Q

what is matched pairs?

A

this involves pairing participants based on key variables, one member of each pair is placed in the experimental group and the other is placed in the control group

40
Q

how do we organise matched pairs?

A
  • identify a characteristic that could affect the research
  • design a suitable test
  • collect the scores and pair those who are similar
  • then put one person from each pair into each condition
41
Q

what are the advantages of matched pairs?

A
  • no order effects as only one condition
  • no demand characteristics as only 1 condition
  • minimises participant variables and extraneous variables as participant variables are better controlled
42
Q

what are the disadvantages of matched pairs?

A
  • participants can never be matched perfectly, so still a chance of participant effects
  • time consuming and expensive as more participants needed
  • matching means if 1 drops out then so does the other
43
Q

what does it mean by ethics?

A
  • the moral issues of right and wrong when conducted research
  • British Psychological Society sets out ethical guidelines
  • these guidelines are upheld by ‘ethics committees’ in research institutions e.g. University of Manchester
44
Q

what could happen if researchers don’t comply with ethics?

A
  • they may damage their reputation or lose their job
  • they may damage the reputation of psychology as a whole
  • research less likely to be funded or published in journals
  • they may face legal challenges
45
Q

what is meant by informed consent?

A
  • where participants in any study should be aware of what the study involves and their rights
  • they should know the important aspect of the study, to be able to make an informed decision
  • they should be able to stop their participation at any point and be able to withdraw
46
Q

what are the disadvantages of informed consent?

A

can lead to demand characteristics as participants may figure out what the aim of the study is from the information given and change their behaviour

47
Q

what are the 3 forms of consent?

A

presumptive consent- rather than getting consent from the participants themselves, a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable. if the group agrees, then consent of the original participants is ‘presumed’
prior general consent- participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies - including one that will involve deception meaning they are consenting to deception
retrospective consent- participants are asked for their consent ( during debrief ) having already taken part in the study

48
Q

what do we do during a participant debrief?

A
  • tell participants the aim of the study
  • tell them how we have deceived them
  • ask them for consent
  • ask if they are ok and remind them of they’re human rights
49
Q

what is meant by deception?

A
  • deliberately misleading participants at any stage of the research
  • deception can be justified in certain circumstances, as long as no harm is caused
50
Q

why do researcher use deception?

A

it avoids demand characteristics as participants cannot figure out the aim of the study as no information is given beforehand

51
Q

what is protection from harm?

A

where participants should not be placed in any more risk than they would normally be

52
Q

how should we deal with deception and protection from harm?

A

-at the end of the study participants should be given a full debrief
- participants should be told what their data will be used for and must be given the right to withdraw
- if participants have any concerns, they should be given reassurance

53
Q

what is privacy and confidentiality?

A
  • when participants have the right to control information about themselves ( the right of privacy )
  • confidentiality refers to our right under the data protection act to have any personal data protected
54
Q

how do we deal with privacy and confidentiality?

A
  • personal details must be protected or not collected at all
  • you can minimise personal details by keeping participants anonymous ( usually by using numbers or initials )
  • participants are told during both briefing and debriefing that their data will be protected and will not share with other researchers

psychology paper 2 (4 decks)

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