Research Methods section 2 Flashcards
what are the 7 ethical issues
1)Right to withdraw
2)Debrief
3)Protection from harm
4)Confidentiality
5)privacy
6)Informed consent
7) Deception
what arew ethical issues
Conflicts between what the researcher wants and the rights of the participant
How do you know if a study is able to be conducted (in Britain)
-Follow BPS code of ethics
-sends proposal to an ethics comitee
Right to withdraw means that..
This means participants should be allowed to leave if they feel uncomfortable in any way
informed consent means that..
p.p have right to be given information about and purpose of experiment
Confidentiality means that..
a p.p has right to have their personal information protected
Protection from harm means that..
p.p can not be caused any psychological or physical harm
Privacy means that..
P.p have rights to not be observed in non-public places
deception means that..
when p.p not told the true aims of the study
how do psychologists deal with right to withdraw
Psychologists deal with this by ensuring they give the participants the opportunity to leave the experiment
how do psychologists deal with informed consent
by gaining full permission or by gaining presumptive consent (when you ask other people if they would have objected to the study), prior general consent or retrospective consent
Prior general consent
Before participants are recruited they are asked whether they are prepared to take part in research where they might be deceived about the true purpose.
Retrospective consent
Once the true nature of the research has been revealed, participants should be given the right to withdraw their data if they are not happy.
how do psychologists deal with confidentiality
no names should be used when psychologists are recording results
how do psychologists deal with protection from harm
psychologists should cause no harm but if this is necessary then the ethics committee should have approves of this beforehand. The study should also stop if this is caused
how do psychologists deal with privacy
Psychologists are only allowed to observe people in a public place
how do psychologists deal with deception
by giving a full debrief and should be fully approved by the ethics committee
what is the problem with dealing with the right to withdraw
If your participants leave, you have no results
what is the problem with dealing with informed consentv
Demand characteristics
Assuming the person you asked feels the same way the participant would (presumptive)
what is the problem with dealing with Confidentiality
people may still be able to work out names from sample description
e.g many professors use their own students
what is the problem with dealing with protection dfrom harm
-ethics committee may be incorrect
-Damage has been done anyway e.g Zimbardo
what is the problem with dealing with privacy
Public place may be confused
e.g public may be considered public place
what is the problem with dealing with deception
p.p may be upset. would not have taken part in study.
ethics committee may be wrong
How is an informed consent form written (frame)
-Dear potential participant ………
-As part of this investigation, Participants will be required to …
-The following considerations have been made to ensure the research is ethical ……(at least 3 described)
-Please complete the following if you agree ……. I agree to take part
sign ………….. Date ……………
How are Standardised instructtions written (frame)
-Thank you for agreeing to take part in thi study
-Please do the following ……
-The following ethical procedures have been put into place .. (at least 3)
-Thank you again
-Please let me know if you have any questions
How are Standardised instructions written (frame)
-Thank you for agreeing to take part in thi study
-Please do the following ……
-The following ethical procedures have been put into place .. (at least 3)
-Thank you again
-Please let me know if you have any questions
How is a Debrief written (frame)
-Thank you for taking part in the study
-The aim of the study was….
-We are predicting that …..
-In terms of ethics …. (least 3 issues)
-Thank you again
-Please let me know if you have any questions
what is an aim
a general statemen of what the researcher wants to investigate
what is a hypothesis
A statement of prediction
-It must be clear with how each variable is being tested
Operationalisation
-A good hypothesis must be written in a testable specific form
-You need to make it clear exactly how you are changing your IV
-You need to make it clear how you are measuring your DV
-This is operationalization
Directional experimental hypothesis template
Participants who [insert condition A] will [insert DV] than participants who [condition B]
Non-directional experimental hypothesis template
There will be a difference in [insert DV] between participants who [condition A] and participants who [condition B]
when do we use a directional hypothesis
what type of test s this
-If there is previous published research, then we do a Directional hypotesis (newspaper article doesn’t count)
-One tailed test
when do we use a directional hypothesis
what type of test is this
-If there is previous published research, then we do a Directional hypothesis (newspaper article doesn’t count)
-One tailed test
Directional Correlation hypothesis template
AS [insert covariable A] increases, [insert covariable B] increases/decreases. This will be a positive/negative correlation
Non-Directional Correlation hypothesis template
There will be a correlation between [insert covariable A] and [insert covariable B]
Description of Random sampling
-Every member of the target population has an eq1ual chance of being selected for the sample. e.g: picking names out of a hat, using RNG
Description of Stratified Sampling
This sample is a proportional representation (by calculating percentages) of the target population. The target population is broken down into sub groups (stratas) such as gender or age . You then gain a random sample from those groups
Description of Opportunity sampling
THe sampler selects participants from whoever is available at the time. E.g: whoever happens to be in your class when you want to gather data
Description of Volunteer sampling
P.p put themselves forward to be put into the sample. e.g: Milgram asked for volunteers through a newspaper Advertisement
Description of systematic sampling method
Workout the amount of people there are in your target population .
Place them in a list. selects every nth person from your sample
Strength and weaknesses of Random sampling
+ easy
+ unbiased research
- may not be representative
Strength and weaknesses of Stratified
+ representative
+ Unbiased?
- Takes time
-percentages may be difficult
Strength and weaknesses of opportunity
+ easy
-biased
-not representative
-similar people
Strength and weaknesses of volunteer
+all population sees advert
-similar type of people
Strength and weaknesses of systematic sampling
+ easy
+low risk of contaminating data
-not always representative
what are research designs
refers to how you will organise participants into groups A and B
what are the 3 types of research designs
- independant groups
-matched pairs
-repeated measures
what is the independent groups design
different p.p are used in each of conditions.
One group does one condition, other groups does the other
what is the matched pairs design
uses two separate groups of people who are matched on a one-to-one basis on important variables, such as age or sex. This controls for some indiv. differences which might affect the study
what is repeated measuers design
The same group of people is used in ach condition. They do one after the other. This controls for all individual differences
what is repeated measures design
The same group of people is used in each condition. They do one after the other. This controls for all individual differences
advantages of independent group designs
no p.p are lost between two conditions
-can be used when repeated measures is inappropriate
-No problems with order effects
Disadvantages of independant groups design
-indiv. differences
-need more p.p
Advantages of repeated measures design
-controls for all individuals
-requires fewer p.p
disadvantages of repeated measures design
-cant be used when one condition affects responses in the other
-people likely to guess purposes of the study =?demand characteristics
-Problems of order effects - can be helped via counterbalancing
what is counterbalancing
, the participant sample is divided in half, with one half completing the two conditions in one order and the other half completing the conditions in the reverse order.
advantages of matched pairs design
-controls some indiv. diff
-can be used when repeated measures in inappropriate
disadvantages of matched pairs designs
-difficult to match p.p in pairs, need large amount of people to choose from
-need more p.p than repeated measures design
investigator effects
when a researcher unintentionally, intentionally, unconsciously influences the outcome of any research they are conducting. possibly through non-verbal communication, physical characteristics, or bias in interpretation o results
Extraneous variables
a general term for any variable, other than the IV that may effect the results
Confounding variables
any variable (that is difficult to control because it changes with the experimental set up) that is not the IV that has caused a change in the DV
demand characteristics
cues that reveal the purpose of the investigation
how to control against demand characteristics
use a singe blind
how to control against investigator effects
Double blind (experimenter or p.p don’t know aim of study)
how to improve control of experiments
-randomisation
-standardisation
-checking with a pilot study
validity
the extent to which the study measured what it intended to
reliability
consistency of results
Internal (validity/reliability)
inside/at time of study
External (validity/reliability)
outside of the study
e.g ecological, temporal, population validity
how to assess reliability of experiments
same result
how to assess reliability of observation
-repeat. see if u get same result
-inter-rater reliability (correlation)
how to assess reliability of self-reports (questionaires)
Internal - split half technique (split questionnaire in half, see if scores are similar)
External - test, retest method (compare answers to questionnaire proven to be reliable)
How to improve the reliability of Experiments
-standardised instructions
-all conditions the same
How to improve the reliability of observations
-ensure quality of BCS
-train observers
How to improve the reliability of Sef-reports
-Internal - all questions about same thing
-external - keep the same
How to improve the validity of an experiment
Internal - remove extraneous variables
external - wider sample
-repeat
-more realistic
How to improve the validity of observation
Internal - improve behaviour checklist
-train observers
-double blind
External
- wider sample
-repeat
-more realistic
How to improve the validity of self-report
Internal = questions
How to assess the validity of experiments
Internal - assess extraneous variables
External- sample ? realism? time period?
Bias, temporal, ecological
How to assess the validity of Observations
internal + external
Internal - behaviour checklist
-observer bias
External -sample ? realism? time period?
Bias, temporal, ecological
How to assess the validity of self-report (more commonly used in )
Internal -Face validity: does its measuring what it says it is
If more people agree = face validity
If it is logical = face validity
External -Concurrent validity: extent to what the same result is found from a different study or a test on the same topic (not just q’s)
concurrent validity assess procedure
1)Complete new study/measure
2) Get result for new study/measure
3)Find exiting established study /measure on same topic, get results
4)Compare results
5) If similar, then new study has concurrent validity
procedure of split in half technique for questionairres
1)split Q in half,
2) add up scores on first half,
3) Add scores to second half
4) If scores are similar, you have internal reliability
procedure of split in half technique for questionnaires
1)split Q in half,
2) add up scores on first half,
3) Add scores to second half
4) If scores are similar, you have internal reliability
IS crying a social behaviour
NO
IS smiling a social behaviour
yes
IS being aggressive a social behaviour
no (it’s antisocial)
What is operationalisation
Making variables specific + measurable.
Includes making the way you changing the IV clear
And the way you measure your DV clear
What is face validity
Appears to measure what it is supposed to measure
What is counterbalancing
Counterbalancing isa technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design. With counterbalancing, the participant sample is divided in half, with one half completing the two conditions in one order and the other half completing the conditions in the reverse order.
Prior general consent
Before participants are recruited they are asked whether they are prepared to take part in research where they might be deceived about the true purpose.
