Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Yr 13 Psychology > Research Methods unit 4 > Flashcards

Research Methods unit 4 Flashcards

1
Q

What are aims?

A

The stated intentions of the study.

Normally start with ‘to investigate…’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

Statement that makes a prediction and states exactly which way the results will go.
‘……..will score higher/lower on…….than…….’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

A

Statement that makes a prediction - States there will be a difference but not what that difference will be.
‘There will be a difference in……..between……….and………’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the independent variable?

A

The thing that is manipulated/changed e.g. The different groups or conditions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the dependent variable?

A

The thing that is measured.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is Operationalisation?

A

Explaining how your variables will be measured/manipulated.
E.g. My dependent variable is memory, I will operationalise it by asking my participants to look at twenty pictures and try to recall them.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is a lab experiment?

A

Conducted in an artificial setting.

Independent variable is manipulated.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

Conducted in a natural setting.

Independent variable is manipulated.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is a natural/quasi experiment?

A

Conducted in a natural setting.

Independent variable is not manipulated (it is naturally occurring).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is a correlation?

A

Co-variables are tested for a relationship.

Will be either a positive, negative or no correlation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a questionnaire?

A

A self report method with written questions.

Questions could be open or closed.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is an interview?

A

Self report method with spoken questions.

Could be structured or unstructured.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is an alternative hypothesis?

A

The predictive statement, could be directional or non-directional.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is a case study?

A

In depth normally longitudinal study of one person or a small group.
Uses other methods such as observation and interview within the study.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is content analysis?

A

Method for analysing qualitative data by making it quantitative.
Themes are identified in the data, they are operationalised, the a tally is completed every time that theme occurs.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is research method?

A

The type of research conducted e.g. Lab, field etc.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is research/experimental design?

A

The way participants are organised e.g. Independent groups, repeated measures etc.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is repeated measures design?

A

When every participant completes all conditions of the experiment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is independent groups design?

A

When there are different participants for each condition of the experiment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is matched participants/pairs design?

A

When there are different participants for each condition of the experiment but they are matched or fitted for certain characteristics to try and eliminate individual differences.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is validity?

A

Accuracy - there are two types (internal and external)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is reliability?

A

Consistency

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is internal validity?

A

The extent to which you are measuring what you set out to measure (I.e. The effect of the IV on the DV)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is external validity?

A

Whether you can accurately generalise (includes population validity and ecological validity)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What is participant reactivity?
Extraneous variables to do with the participants behaving unnaturally E.g. Demand characteristics, social desirability and Hawthorne effect
26
What are demand characteristics?
One of the participant reactivity extraneous variables. | Extraneous variable where the participant acts differently because they think they have figured out the aim of the study
27
What are extraneous variables?
Anything that affects the DV that is not the IV
28
What is social desirability?
One of the participant reactivity extraneous variables. | Extraneous variable where the participant changes their behaviour in order to look good or socially acceptable
29
What is the Hawthorne effect?
One of the participant reactivity extraneous variables. When the participant doesn't act naturally because they are aware they have attention on them e.g. Might be a bit shy
30
What are experimenter effects?
Extraneous variables to do with the researcher influencing the results in some way.
31
What is experimenter bias?
One of the experimenter effects extraneous variables - how the researcher influences the DV e.g. Through the way they interpret, through unconscious cues they give participants like body language and facial expressions etc.
32
What is interviewer bias?
One of the experimenter effects extraneous variables - how the researcher influences the DV in an interview situation
33
What is the greenspoon effect?
One type of interviewer bias - where the interviewer makes affirmative noises 'mmmmhhhhmmmmm' which influence the participants.
34
What are order effects?
An extraneous variable in repeated measures design where the order the conditions are completed affects the results e.g. Through learning or boredom.
35
What is single blind design?
A control for demand characteristics - deception (the participant doesn't know the aims of the study)
36
What is double blind design?
Controls for demand characteristics and experimenter effects. Where the participant and researcher are deceived about the aims of the study
37
What is counterbalancing?
Control for order effects - the participants are split in half, half do condition one first, the other half do condition two and them they swap
38
What are standardised instructions and procedures?
Controls for experimenter effects - keeps the experiment the same for every participant e.g. Written/recorded instructions, same time limits, do everything in same order et .
39
What is random allocation?
A control for experimenter bias - groups are chosen randomly e.g. Picked out of a hat to prevent the researcher unconsciously influencing the DV through how they select the groups
40
What is a placebo condition?
Control for the Hawthorne effect - where one group thinks they are receiving the experimental treatment but they actually aren't (in psychology this is the control group)
41
What are measures of central tendency?
Calculations that find the average - mean, mode, median
42
What are measures of dispersion?
Calculations that find the spread/variety of the data - range and standard deviation
43
What is a correlation coefficient?
This is the observed value in a spearmans rho test. It is a number between 0 and 1 - the closer to 1, the stronger the correlation. There is a sign in front of the number which shows if the correlation is positive or negative.
44
What is a contingency table?
Table of results in a chi square test. IV groups go on one side and DV categories on the other.
45
When would you draw a scatter graph?
When there is a correlation - no IV, measuring two things (co-variables). The co-variables go on the axes
46
When would you draw a bar graph?
When there is an independent variable - put the IV on the x axis and the DV on the y axis.
47
What is a confederate?
Stooge - Person working for the experimenter, pretends to be a member of public/another participant.
48
What is longitudinal design?
When a study goes over a period of time I.e. A number of days
49
What is attrition?
An extraneous variable in longitudinal design where participants drop out of the study
50
What is a control group/condition?
Condition or group that is not receiving the experimental treatment
51
What is the experimental group/condition?
The group/condition that is receiving the experimental treatment
52
What are the ethical issues?
Moral guidelines for research - informed consent, confidentiality, deception, right to withdraw, protection of participants
53
What is a pilot study?
A trial run, small scale practise of the actual study. Used to test materials, ensure participants understand instructions, to identify and eliminate extraneous variables, to ensure study is ethical, to test reliability of measures
54
What are descriptive statistics?
Calculations that characterise the data e.g. Graphs, tables, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion
55
What are inferential statistics?
Calculations that tell us how significant our data is and whether we can generalise with any certainty, helps us draw conclusions about which hypothesis to accept
56
When would you conduct a chi-square test?
When there is nominal data, testing for a difference and independent groups design
57
When would you conduct a spearmans rho test?
When you have ordinal, interval or ratio data, testing for a correlation and related scores.
58
When would you conduct a mann whitney u test?
When you have ordinal, interval or ratio data, testing for a difference and independent groups design
59
When would you conduct a wilcoxon t test?
When you have Ordinal, interval or ratio data, testing for a difference and repeated measures design
60
What is type two error?
When you accept the null hypothesis even though it was actually significant (can occur if there are mistakes in experimental design, sampling or analysis that cloak actual relationships e.g. Extraneous variables or Sample too small)
61
What is a type one error?
When you accept the alternative hypothesis even though it wasn't actually significant (normally occurs if the significance level is too generous I.e. There is a high probability the results are down to chance)
62
What is a significance level?
The probability the results are down to chance e.g. P
63
How can you tell if an inferential test is significant?
Compare the observed value to the critical value (which you need to find from the table of critical values), for chi square and spearmans rho observed should be greater than critical and for mann whitney u and wilcoxon t observed should be less than critical (for it to be significant)
64
What is volunteer sampling?
Where you advertise for participants to take part
65
What is random sampling?
Where everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected e.g. Names from a hat
66
What is opportunity sampling?
Where readily available people are selected e.g. Stopping people on street, testing an already formed group
67
What is systematic sampling?
Selecting every nth name
68
What is stratified sampling?
When groups in the population are identified and the same proportions of those groups are included in the study sample
69
How can you test reliability?
Test and re-test and then do a spearmans rho test to check if there is a correlation
70
How can you test validity?
Concurrent validity - compare the scores on your test with those on another test that has already been established as a valid measure Predictive validity - check if the test accurately predicts future behaviour
71
What is inter-rater reliability?
Whether different observers are consistent in the way they conduct and score the observation
72
What is an abstract?
Paragraph that goes at the start of a psychological report, outlines the aims, hypotheses, method, findings and conclusion
73
What is the introduction section of a psychological report for?
Outlines the background research and gives the rationale for this study
74
What goes in the method section of a psychological report?
Design - method, IV, DV, design, ethics, validity and reliability Participants - States who is studied e.g. Number, age, gender, ethnicity etc. Materials - lists all items e.g. Instructions, questionnaires, debriefing etc. Procedure - step by step instructions of how method carried out
75
What goes in the results section of a psychological report?
Descriptive stats - tables, graphs, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion Inferential stats - what inferential stat test and why, level of significance, results of inferential test
76
What goes in the discussion section of a psychological report?
Conclusion of study Linking to background research from intro Limitations and modifications (problems with study and how you would deal with them if you were to do study again) Applications (how the findings could be used in the real world) Suggestions for future research
77
What is the appendix section of a psychological report?
Where all the resources from the study are included for full replication e.g. Instructions, consent form, questionnaires, debriefing, raw data etc.
78
What should you include in a consent form?
Tell them aim Tell them a bit about what they will have to do Tell them they have the right to withdraw and that everything will be kept confidential Ask them if they have any questions Give the somewhere to sign
79
What should be included in instructions?
Remind them of right to withdraw Give specific instructions including how long they have to complete tasks etc. Ask them if they have any questions
80
What should be included in a debriefing?
Tell them what the aim was and how they were deceived Remind them that they have the right to withdraw still Tell them where they can get more information Ask them if they have any questions
81
What are the scientific criteria?
``` Empirical Objective Replicable Controlled Theory construction ```
82
How is psychological knowledge validated/what is peer review?
Peer review (sometimes called refereeing) is where at least 3 'peers' (psychologists from the same field) review work and check it for validity. Serves three purposes: - allocation of research funding - publication in journals - assessing research rating of university departments
83
What are the animal ethical issues?
Reduction Replacement Refinement Choice of species

Yr 13 Psychology (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions