Research methods yr 2 Flashcards
what are the three factors used to determine what statistical test is appropriate
difference or correlation
what experimental design is used
the level of measurement
what statistical test should be used with an independant groups, nominal data and test of difference
chi-squared
what statistical test should be used with a test of difference, independant groups and ordinal data
mann- whitney
what statistical test should be used with a test of difference, independant groups and interval data
unrelated t-test
what statistical test should be used with a test of difference, repeated measures and nominal data
sign test
what statistical test should be used with test of difference, related design and ordinal data
wilcoxon
what statistical test should be used with a related design and interval data, test of difference
related t-test
what statistical test should be used for a correlation and nominal data
chi-squared
what statistical test should be used with a correlation and ordinal data
spearmans rho
what statistical test should be used with interval data and a correlation
pearsons r
what is nominal data
data presented in categories and frequencies eg. number of times rat pressed the lever (fixed choice question)
what is ordinal data
data that is categorised and ranked, often subjective. eg score on a self rating questionnaire, compared to other individuals. (rating scales + likert scales)
what is interval data
data that is categorised, ranked and has equal intervals eg. time taken to complete a quiz. is objective and standardised
when would it be required to turn interval data to ordinal
when u dont have equal distribution
how do you turn interval data to ordinal
give the data a rank
which tests are parametric tests
unrelated t-test, related t-test and pearsons R
what is the criteria of a parametric test
normal distribution, interval data, equal distribution for both sets of data
what does probability mean
a measurement of the likelihood a particular event will occur, 0= statistical impossibility, 1= statistical certainty
what is the 3 criteria used for judging which critical value to use
one tailed or two tailed
number of participants
level of significance
what are the 3 measures of central tendancy
mode
median
mean
what does p= 0.05 mean
there is a 5% possibility results are due to chance, 95% sure that results are due to a true difference/ correlation
what is a type 1 error
false positive - null hypothesis is incorrectly rejected
what is a type II error
false negative - null hypothesis incorrectly accepted
what is a one tailed test
directional hypothesis
what is a two tailed hypothesis
non directional hypothesis
when are u most likely to make a type I error
when significance level is too high (too leniant)
when are u most likely to make a type II error
when significance level is too low (too stringent)
what are the features that make a theory scientific
- empiricle evidence that can be replicated
- hypothesis that can be generated and tested
- objective outcomes meaning findings are not due to bias
- the theory is falsifiable ( can be proven correct or incorrect)
why can psychology be considered a prescience
there are some subjective topics eg. freuds psychodynamic approach, humanistic approach which conflicts with other scientific approaches eg. biological
what is a paradigm shift
when there is enough evidence generated that contradicts a held view
what is an example of a paradigm shift
phrenology - is the idea that the shape of the brain and indents causes personality. First evidence to refute is post mortem exam eg. phineas gage leison in left frontanl lobe caused personality change. Idea of localisation. later biological developments such as beain scans pose idea that personality is combination of nature and nurture.
what does falsified mean
Falsification does not mean something is false; rather that if it is false, then this can be shown by observation or experimentation. Scientific theories should be falsifiable. Some theories in psychology are not falsifiable.
can theories be scientific but not falsifiable
yes- anxiety can be studied scientifically but is not falsifiable due to the deviation is results (yerks dodsons law)
what does it mean for research to be objective
not affected by personal feelings and experiences of the researcher
how can objectivity be improved
good control over extreneous variables
randomisation to prevent order effects and demand characteristics
single and double blind trials.
what is peer review
process by which psychological research, before publication, are subjected to idependant scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field, who consider the research in terms of its validity, significance and origionality.
what are the main aims of peer review
to validate the quality and relevance of research, ensure it is accurate and objective
to suggest ammendments or improvements
to allocate research funding
outline the process of peer review
1) researcher conducts their research (after ethical approval and funding) then writes a written report
2)journal contacts peer reviewers to review the report
3)report is checked by experts for validity, references, plagarism data analysis
4) feedback is given
5) peer reviewers either approve the research, send back with ammendments or dont approve
6) approved research is published
what is a potential limitation of peer review regarding bias
- researchers may be more inclined to publish significant headlines to increase the credibility and relevance of their own research.
- similarly if the research being reviewed refutes their own research or opinions, it may be disregarded. This means society does not get accurate understanding of research and may have a biased understanding of psychological research
outline implications of attachment research for the economy
attachment research into role of father - fathers can be confident they can have a caring role not just mothers, therefore paternity leave is more accepted. allows mothers to get to work or both parents to take in turns working increasing the income of a household.
outline the implication of social influence research has had on the economy
increased understanding of token economy built on basis of operant conditioning, how to decrease smoking habits through informational social influence and normitive social influence
outline a beneficial implication research into mental health has had on the economy
development of SSRI’s which treats depression, allows people to get back into work
what comes first in reporting a psycholgical investigation
the abstract- a small summary of all the major elements of the research, allows other researchers to quickly indentify if the report is useful for them
what comes after the abstract in a report of a psychological investigation
the introduction - A literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies that are related to the current study
what comes after the introduction in a report of a psychological investigation
the method - detailing the design, sample, apparatus, procedure and ethics. should be detailed enough to be repliacted by other researchers
what comes after the method in a report of a psychological investigation
the results- a summary of key findings should be given detailing descriptive statistics eg. tables charts measures of central tendancy and statistical tests
what comes after the results in a report of a psychological investigation
the discussion - summarising the results in verbal form discussing the limitations of present investigation and how they might be adressed in the future. what are the conclusions they are drawing from the research
what comes after the discussion in a report of a psychological investigation
referencing - a list if all the sources that were quoted or referenced to in the report. - so reader can find exact source the researcher was referencing to
outline the format of a journal reference
author, date, article title, journal name (in italics) volume (issue) page numbers,
outline the format of a book reference
author, date, title of book (in italics), place of publication, publisher.
outline the format of a web reference
source, date, title, weblink, date data was accessed
describe what you should include in a procedure
IV and DV (operationalised)
choice of experimental design + why
how will sample be recruited + why
relevant materials
what statistical test + why
what are the 4 types of validity
face
concurrent
ecological
temporal
what does validity mean
if the test measures what it should and therefore produces a legitimate result
what is face validity and how would you test for it
does the test appear to measure what it is supposed to. would test with non experts carrying out tests, then self reporting if it appeared to have face validity, compare this with another non expert group and then experts
what is concurrent validity, and how would you test for it?
the extent to whcih a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure, measure the procedure against a gold standard benchmark
what is ecological validity and how is it different to mundane realism
how realistic the setting of test is, mundane realism is how realistic the task is.
what is temporal validity
the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other historical times and eras.
how can you improve the validity of procedures (4)
use a control group,
standardise procedures to reduce participant variables and investigator effects,
counterbalence to evenly spread the effect of order effects,
use single and double blind trials
how can you improve the validity of a questionnaire (2)
incorperate a lie scale within questions to assess the consistency of a response and control for social desirability bias
ensure responses are anonymous
how can you improve the validity of observations
ensure they are covert so pps act naturally
ensure behavioural categories are specific, not too broard and standardised.
how can qualitative research be improved for validity
triangulation - using different number of sources as evidence eg data compiled through interviews with friends and family to ensure a researcher has interpretive validity and their conclusions match those of the pps
what is content validity
does the questions measure what we are intending them to
define construct validity
does the test relate to underlying theoretical concepts
define predicitive validity
does the test predict later performance on a related criterion
outline the features of a case study
in depth analysis of an individual, qualitative data through interviews often longitudinal
what is content analysis
where people are studied indirectly via communications they have produced eg. texts, emails . This is summarised and then the qualitative data is analysed in a quantitative way.
what is coding in relation to content analysis
is the first stage, information is categorised into meaningful units, may involve counting up the number of times a particular word appears
what is thematic analysis
form of content analysis but end result is qualitative data. Involves the identification of main themes which is compiled into a final report using direct quotes.
what are the 3 main limitations of content analysis
lack of objectivity on behalf of researcher, leading to subjective findings.
communication that is studied rather than people so is limited in what analysis tells us
only describes data cannot extract deeper meaning or explanation for patterns
outline how thematic analysis is carried out
read and transcribe data carefully to develop codes
search for repeated patterns in coding
review themes to see if they do explain the data
define and name the themes
what is a strength of thematic analysis
systematic way of summarising qualitative data in a purely quantitative way
few ethical concerns as people not studied directly.
what is reliability
measure of consistency
how can reliability be tested
test-retest method, administering same test to same person on different occasions (eg. 2 weeks later). if reliable then results obtained should be very similar, for questionnaires the two scores will be correlated and should correlation co-efficient of 0.8.
how can observational research be improved for reliability
research should be conducted with more than one person, and inter-rater reliability established first. this may involve a pilot study to be sure that the observers are applying the behavioural categories in same way, watch same event independently then data is correlated.
how can questionnaires be improved for reliability
questions may need to be rewritten with less open questions and ambiguity
how can interviews be improved for reliability
same interviewer should be used and trained in not asking leading questions
how can observations be improved for reliability
ensuring categories have been operationalised, observers should check for inter-rater reliability
what is a paradigm
what is a paradigm shift
paradigm = a shared set of ideas and assumptions within a scientific discipline
paradigm shift = a significant change in the central shared assumptions within a scientific discipline, resulting from scientific revolution.
what is meant by a theory
a set of general principles and laws which can be used to explain scientific events or behaviours
