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Psychology - Exam content > Research methods - Scientific processes > Flashcards

Research methods - Scientific processes Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 6 ethical guidelines?

A 
Consent
Deception
Confidentiality & privacy
Debrief
Withdrawal
Protection from harm
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2
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

The variable being manipulated or compared.

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3
Q

What is a dependent variable?

A

The variable being measured and the variable that the IV could affect.

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4
Q

What is an extraneous variable?

A

Any variable other than the IV that might affect the results.

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5
Q

What is a confounding variable?

A

Any variable other than the IV that will affect the results; varies with the IV.

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6
Q

What are the 5 steps of the scientific method?

A 
1 - Ask a question
2 - State a hypothesis
3 - Conduct an experiment
4 - Analyse the results
5 - Make a conclusion
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7
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A clear, precise testable statement stating the relationship between the variables to be investigated.

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8
Q

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

A

Direction is not predicted, the groups will differ.

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9
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

Predicts the expected direction of the results, one group will be higher than the other.

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10
Q

What are participant variables?

A

Anything that may vary between participants which may affect the DV.

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11
Q

What are situational variables?

A

Anything in the research situation that may affect the DV.

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12
Q

What is an independent groups design?

A

Using different participants for each condition of the experiment. Participants only take part in one condition.

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13
Q

What is repeated measures design?

A

Using the same participants for each condition of the experiment. Participants take part in both conditions.

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14
Q

What is matched pairs design?

A

Using different but matched participants for each condition of the experiment. Participants take part in one condition, matched on similar characteristics that may affect the DV.

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15
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

Participants being aware of what the aim or expected results are, and what this implies for how participants are expected to behave. This may make them change their behaviour, which affects the validity of the results.

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16
Q

What are investigator effects?

A

Any behaviour of the researcher including interaction with participants eg. selection of participants, leading questions and bias in interpretation of results that could affect the results.

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17
Q

How can investigator effects be reduced?

A

Randomisation

Participants to groups, tasks A or B and order of questions.

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18
Q

How can order effects be reduced?

A

Counterbalancing - for repeated measures design only.

Half of each group take part in condition 1 first and the other half do condition 2 first.

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19
Q

What are the strengths of independent measures design?

A

No order effects

Less chance of demand characteristics

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20
Q

What are the weaknesses of independent measures design?

A

Participant variables - differ between participants

Number of participants - need more

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21
Q

What are the strengths of repeated measures design?

A

Participant variables - fully controlled

Number of participants - fewer needed

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22
Q

What are the weaknesses of repeated measures design?

A

Possible order effects (boredom, practice)

More chance of demand characteristics

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23
Q

What are the strengths of matched pairs design?

A

No order effects
Less chance of demand characteristics
Participant variables - some are controlled

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24
Q

What are the weaknesses of matched pairs design?

A

Participant variables - some won’t be controlled

Number of participants - may be difficult to match them

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25
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A

The researcher takes whoever is easily available at the time.

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26
Q

What is volunteer sampling?

A

Asking people to volunteer - individuals determine their own involvement in a study.

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27
Q

What is random sampling?

A

Every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.

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28
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A

Every nth person is selected from your target population.

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29
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A

Identify subgroups in the target population, then take a selection of participants from each subgroup but in proportion.

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30
Q

What is generalisability?

A

If a sample is representative of a target population then we can generalise these results and conclusions to the whole target population.

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31
Q

What is reliability?

A

Being consistent

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32
Q

What is test-retest?

A

The same participants do the same measure on different occasions. There should be a high correlation between the scores.

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33
Q

What is inter-observer reliability?

A

Consistency between different observers working on the same study by using the same behavioural category checklist by there being a positive correlation between the scores when compared.

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34
Q

What are ways to improve reliability?

A

Use objective measures

Standardised method and task

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35
Q

What is internal validity?

A

Reducing extraneous and confounding variables such as demand characteristics, bias, lying, participant variables and situational variables.

36
Q

What is face validity?

A

The measure appears to measure what it is supposed to measure.

37
Q

What is concurrent validity?

A

The measure gets the same results when compared to the results of another established measures.

38
Q

What is ecological validity?

A

The findings of the study can be generalised to everyday life.

39
Q

What is temporal validity?

A

The findings of the study can be generalised from one time period to another.

40
Q

What should behaviour category checklists be?

A 
Observable
Measurable
Self-evident
Comprehensive
Not overlapping
41
Q

What is an open question?

A

A question that allows respondents to give their own answers without limitations. Generates qualitative data.

42
Q

What are the strengths of open questions?

A
  • Detailed, full information is gathered

- Responses aren’t limited so participants can give true answers (more valid)

43
Q

What are the limitations of open questions?

A
  • Hard to compare and analyse data

- Can do a content analysis but if there are rare responses this won’t be very useful

44
Q

What is a closed question?

A

A question that allows respondents to select a response that is limited.

45
Q

What are the strengths of closed questions?

A
  • Efficient way to collect specific data

- Responses can be compared and analysed easily

46
Q

What are the limitations of closed questions?

A
  • Data lacks detail
  • The limited response options may not be able to capture the range of responses participants want to give (low validity)
47
Q

What are closed questions - rating scales?

A 
Limit responses turn them in a quantitative format giving quantitative data.
EG:
0 - never
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
48
Q

What are the strengths of closed questions rating scales?

A

It gives a wider range of responses yet is still easy to process and analyse.

49
Q

What are the limitations of closed questions rating scales?

A

The scale points may be open to subjective interpretation, this lowers reliability.

50
Q

What are closed questions - Likert rating scales?

A 
Limit responses and turn opinions into a quantitative format giving quantitative data.
EG:
1 - Strongly agree
2- Agree
3 - Not sure
4 - Disagree
5 - Strongly disagree
51
Q

What are the strengths of Likert rating scales?

A
  • A range of responses is available
  • Trying each response to a number value makes it easy to analyse
  • Not forced choice option of ‘not sure’ means data may be more valid
52
Q

What are the limitations of Likert rating scales?

A
  • ‘Not sure’ is not informative, some participants may use this response a lot
  • Descriptors are open to subjective interpretation
53
Q

What is an experimental hypothesis?

A

Prediction of a difference in the DV between two conditions of the IV.

54
Q

What is a correlational hypothesis?

A

Prediction of a relationship between two co-variables.

55
Q

What is an alternate hypothesis?

A

The actual hypothesis you are testing.

56
Q

What is a null hypothesis?

A

Prediction your hypothesis is wrong: ‘there will be no difference/no relationship’

57
Q

What is a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis?

A

Prediction of direction of outcome.

58
Q

What is a non-directional (two tailed) hypothesis?

A

Prediction of a general difference or relationship.

Null hypotheses are always non-directional.

59
Q

What are the 5 key features of science?

A
  • There must be a paradigm
  • There must be theories from which hypotheses are derived and tested
  • Concepts must be falsifiable
  • There must be investigation using empirical methods which are replicable
  • There must be general laws that govern human behaviour (generalisability)
60
Q

What is a paradigm?

A

An agreed central theory about a subject.

61
Q

What is pre-science?

A

No paradigm exists, and there is much debate about what the subject is and the best theoretical approach.

62
Q

What is normal science?

A

A generally accepted paradigm that can account for all the phenomena related to the subject, and can explain and interpret all findings.

63
Q

What is scientific revolution?

A

Evidence against the old paradigm reaches a certain point, and there is a paradigm shift. The old paradigm is replaced by a new one.

64
Q

What is deduction?

A

Deriving and testing new hypotheses from a theory.

65
Q

What is the process of deduction?

A 
Theory
|
Hypothesis
|
Observation
(empirical method)
|
Confirmation (or not)
66
Q

What is falsifiability?

A

Can it be shown to be false?

67
Q

What is the importance of falsifiability?

A

Scientific theories must always be stated in such a way that the predictions derived from them could potentially be shown to be false.

68
Q

What is the role of theory in scientific research?

A

Theories are a set of ideas from which hypotheses can be developed and tested. Observations will then inform further development of the theory.

69
Q

What is the role of hypothesis testing in psychology?

A

Hypothesis testing allows us to gather empirical evidence through observation to support or refute our theory and to allow further theory development.

70
Q

What must a psychologist do in order to ensure replicability of their research?

A

Be specific and clear - operationalise variables and use standardised methods and tasks.

71
Q

Why is replicability important?

A

Our research needs to be open to scrutiny by others or our findings cannot be considered reliable.

72
Q

Why can a researcher not generalised their conclusions if the sample is small?

A

A small sample is unlikely to be representative of the target population, as they may be a unique or unusual group, and so the results cannot be generalised.

73
Q

Why can’t a researcher generalise their conclusions if the experiment was set in a laboratory?

A

Cannot be generalised to everyday behaviour because behaviour may be different in real life - it has low ecological validity.

74
Q

Why can’t a researcher generalise their conclusions to different cultures?

A

Cultures are different so people may behave differently. If we generalise when we shouldn’t this is known as an imposed etic.

75
Q

What are the features of a scientific report?

A 
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
Referencing
76
Q

What is an abstract?

A

A summary of the study covering aims, hypothesis, method, results and conclusions.

77
Q

What is an introduction?

A

Begins with a review of previous research so the reader knows why it is being done. This should lead logically to the current study. The researcher states their aims and hypothesis.

78
Q

What is a method?

A

Provides information about what the researcher did in conducting the study and should be detailed enough that replication is possible.

79
Q

What are the results?

A
  • Details are given about the findings
  • Not raw data (this can be put into an appendix)
  • Descriptive statistics
  • Inferential statistics
  • For qualitative research: themes are described
80
Q

What is the discussion?

A
  • The findings are interpreted
  • Explanation of what the results show is given (conclusion)
  • Consideration of the meaning of the findings with reference to the previous research outlined in the introduction
  • Criticisms of the methodology/ limitations of research may be made
  • Implications of the research - on the economy; social sensitivity may be discussed
81
Q

What is the format for a journal article?

A

Author’s name(s), date, title of article, journal title, volume (issue number), page numbers.

82
Q

What is the format for a book?

A

Author’s name(s), date, title of book, place of publication, publisher.

83
Q

What is peer review?

A

Other psychologists working in a similar field check the research report in terms of its validity, significance and originality before deciding whether it should be published.
This is independent - the reviewer should not be aware of who has written the research report and should be anonymous themselves.

84
Q

What is the purpose of peer review?

A

It improves the quality of research by preventing dissemination of irrelevant findings/ unwarranted claims/ unacceptable interpretations/ personal views and deliberate fraud.
It ensures published research is taken seriously because it has been independently scrutinised.

85
Q

What are the strengths of peer review?

A
  • It ensures scientific rigour is applied to psychological research. Showing the work to others increases the probability that weaknesses will be identified and addressed.
  • Peer reviewers also judge the quality and the significance of the research in a wider context. So wellbeing is improved and it contributes overall to the field of psychology.
86
Q

What are the limitations of peer review?

A
  • It isn’t always possible to find an expert in a particular field
  • Journals tend to publish studies with positive results, known as publication bias. However, negative findings can be important, but these are not often published
  • Once a study has been published it is difficult to retract, even if it is proved to be wrong
  • Peer review does not always spot the mistakes

Psychology - Exam content (78 decks)

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