reserahc methods first hand out Flashcards
what is an aim
centralstatement which set out what the researcher plans to investigate
what is an independent variable
is the variable that the researcher manipulates in order to see the effects on the dependent variable
what is the dependnt variable
is what the investigator measure which changes as a resut of the manipulation of the iv
what are extraneous variable and confounding variable
variable aside for mthe independ variable which affect the dependent variable
what is a hypothesis
a statement which his being tested and would be determined by the outcome of the research
what is the nul hypothesis
vs alternative hypothesis
there is no signifaicant diffence of the rate of death in smokers compard to non smokers
there is significant difference
what is directional and no n directional hypothesis
directional hypothesi state which way the difference will occur and the non directional states that there will be a difference but not stating the direction
what is operationalisation
objectifying and defining a dependent variable to make it objective and measurable quantitively so it can easily be compared
what is independent measures designs
strengths and weakness
each participant only expeinces one condition
strength is that they only experience the condition once so its hard to find out the aim of the experiment and decreases the demand characteristics
weakness is that different individuals are compared asnd there may extraneous variable which differ between participants so other that the iv can affect the dv
what is repeated measure design
the paricipants experience both conditions one after the other
it reduces extraneous variables as the ame participants so effct of change in the dv o=is due to the iv
however as they experience both conditions they can work out the aim of the experiment and display demand characteritics they also may display or be effected by order effects as they may get btter or bored
what is matched pairs design
participants are paired with another participant based on similar information such as iq only experience sone condition as they are compared aginst their pair
it decreases extraneous variable as they are closely paired however always extraneous variables exist there also it can be time consuming and expensive
what is a natural experiment strength and eakness
it takes place in real life environment no manipulation of iv and see the natural effect on the dv
take place in real life environment so more ecological and the finding can be applied to real life
it has lo control over extraneous variables also cannot be replicated so cannot be reliable
what Is a lab experimtn
it takes place in a lab high control over variables standardised procedures the investigator manipulates the iv to see the effect on the dv
it has high control over extraneous varibles so increasing the effect of the iv on the dv
it is in a lab and may be unnatural behaviour as they know they are being observed so may not be applicable to everyday life
what is a field experiment
some manipulation of he iv but in a natural setting
mor natural behaviour in real life setting to see the effect of the iv and dv so has ecological validitiy
however doesn’t fully control extraneous variable whci may effect the dv
what is a quasi experiment
mo control over the iv based on existing condition to see yhe effct on the dv
allows unethical variable to be investigated which may have been unethical to manipulate
however no control over extraneous variables whcih may effect the cause and effect relationship
what is random allocation
is when the participants are randomly assigned to separate groups to ensure same chance of either being group one or two
what is standardisation
using standardised same instructions to all partcipipants and give the same information so can carry out the experimet the same way
what is randomization
deciding which way the conditions will be experienced first if repeated measure design to increase likelihood of equaal cahnce of experiencing both conditions first
what is counterbalancing
when half of the participants experience one condition first and then experience another condition second whilst the other half experienced the conditions the other way round thus the order effect equally affect the group the same way if the order effects are present
oppurtunity sampling and strength and weakness
asking those who live locally or are easy accesibe whether they want to take part in the research and are willing
strength it is easy and takes less time and can found large amount of people for the study in a shorrt amount of time
weakness is that nly close so not representitive of the target population as they may live locally and have simmilair goups or beong to the same groups and share simmilair characteristics
volunteering strength and weakness
advertising the research on the newspaper and giving contact details those that are interested are asked to contact the researcher
the strengh is that you can get large amount of people quickly as people ay be interested and volunteer
one weakness is that the people who volunteer are usually belonging to same group and share common interest and they are volunteering they are really interested and may try extra hard
random sampling strength and weakness
every member of the target population has equal chance of being selected their names are put into a hat and then it is chosen randomly
prevents investigator bias as the investigator cannot choose who is being used for the research and it is due to chance
by chance the people wo are chosen can have very similair characteristics and not be totoally representitive of the population
systematic sampling
is ordering the people systematically choosing the nth term and choosing every nth person
rength the investigator has no choice on who is chosen so no investigator biase so objective
by chance the same tyoe of participants can be chosen so may not be representetive of the target population
what is stratifies population
the proportion odf the target population are used in the sample
it is representiive as the number sreflect the proprtions in the target population so it is an accurate reflection of the characteristics
it will be hard to find a sample in whoch a samll percentage is in the target population
what is reliabilty
when repeat te experiment whether the findings are consistent said to be reliable
how to test reliabilty and how to improve reliabilty
test and retest and the place the finding on a correlation if it is a strong positive correlation it is reliable
use standardised procedure control over varibales
what is validity
how well the experiment measured what it intended to measure and meet tge aims of the experiment
what are the different validity
population validity how well the finding can be applie to different people
temporal validity how well the finding can be applied to different times
ecological validity how well the finding can be applied to real life
