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Psychology > RM: Scientific Processes (L5-11) > Flashcards

RM: Scientific Processes (L5-11) Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an aim?

A
  • a precise statement about the purpose of the study and what it intends to find out
  • should include what is being studied and what
    the study is trying to achieve
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2
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A
  • a specific, testable statement about the expected
    outcome of a study
  • the hypothesis should also be operationalised
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3
Q

What is the first part of a hypothesis that needs addressing?

A
  • whether or not the study predicts causation or correlation
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4
Q

What is correlation?

A
  • when the researcher predicts a relationship between two variables (co-variables) being investigated
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5
Q

What is causation?

A
  • when the researcher predicts a difference in the DV because of the manipulation of an IV
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6
Q

What are significant differences?

A
  • differences in the DV resulting from manipulation of the IV are known as significant differences
  • this is if it has been statistically shown using inferential statistics that the differences are highly unlikely to be due to chance
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7
Q

What are the 2 hypotheses in a study?

A
  • null
  • alternative
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8
Q

What is a null hypothesis?

A
  • states that the IV will have no effect on the DV
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9
Q

What is an alternative hypothesis?

A
  • predicts that the IV will have an effect on
    the DV
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10
Q

What 2 categories are there for an alternative hypothesis?

A
  • non directional, two tailed
  • directional, one tailed
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11
Q

What is a non directional + directional hypothesis?

A
  • nd, DOES NOT state the direction of the
    predicted differences between conditions
  • d, DOES state the direction of the predicted
    difference between conditions
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12
Q

What determines whether to use a nd or d hypothesis?

A
  • based on whether there is previous research in
    the field
  • if there is, we use a directional hypothesis
  • if not, we use a non-directional hypothesis
  • this is because previous research will enable
    us to predict which direction the results are likely to go in
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13
Q

What to remember when writing a hypothesis?

A
  • test of causation or correlation?
  • null, non-directional or directional hypothesis?
  • in the correct tense?
  • have all the variables been included?
  • have all the variables been operationalised?
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14
Q

What are pilot studies?

A
  • small-scale investigations conducted before research
  • useful because they can help to identify whether there needs to be any modifications in the design of the planned study
  • they also help to determine whether it would be feasible and worthwhile to conduct a full scale study
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15
Q

What is a target population?

A
  • used to describe the group who researchers are studying and want to generalise their results to
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16
Q

What are sampling techniques used for?

A
  • to obtain a sample of the target population
  • essential to avoid studying entire target populations, which would take loo tong and be too expensive
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17
Q

A sample should be…

A
  • representative of the population from which it is drawn
  • so that the findings of the study can be generalised to the target population
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18
Q

What is random sampling?

A
  • when every member of the target population has the same chance of being selected
  • easiest way to do this is to place all names from the target population in a hat and draw out the sample required
19
Q

+ve and -ve of random sampling:

A

+ likely to be representative and therefore results can be generalised to the target population
- sometimes difficult to get full details of a target population from which to select a sample
- not all members of the target population who are selected to take part will be available or willing to take part, making the sample unrepresentative

20
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A
  • sampling technique where participants are selected by taking every Nth person from a list
21
Q

+ve and -ve of systematic sampling:

A

+ far simpler than random sampling
- process of selection can interact with a hidden periodic trait within the target population, if the sampling technique coincides with the periodicity of the trait, the sampling technique will no longer be representative

22
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A
  • involves classifying the target population into
    categories
  • then randomly choosing a sample that consists of participants from each category in the same proportions as they appear in the target population
23
Q

+ve and -ve of stratified sampling:

A

+ all groups within a target pop are included, so the sample should be representative of the target population
+ takes into consideration proportion
- can be very time consuming as the categories have to be identified and calculated
- if you do not have details of all the people in your target population you would struggle to conduct a stratified sample

24
Q

What is opportunity sampling?

A
  • involves selecting participants who are readily
    available and willing to take part
25
Q

+ve and -ve of opportunity sampling:

A

+ easiest and most practical method of ensuring large samples
- high chance that the sample will not be representative of the target population
- sometimes people feel obliged to take part in
research even when they do not really want to, this is unethical

26
Q

What is volunteer sampling?

A
  • involves people self-selecting to participate in a
    study
  • researcher will usually advertise for people to take part in their research
27
Q

+ve and -ve of volunteering sampling:

A

+ can be a useful way of finding specific people to take part in particular areas of research
- volunteer bias, certain type of individuals (people who are more confident/helpful/curious) tend to volunteer for research, means that there is a very high chance that the sample obtained will be unrepresentative

28
Q

What is the experimental design of a study?

A
  • how the participants are assigned
    to different conditions
29
Q

3 main types of experimental designs?

A
  • independent groups
  • repeated measures
  • matched pairs
30
Q

What is the independent groups design?

A
  • different ps are used in each of the conditions
  • so each group of participants is independent from one another
  • ps are usually randomly allocated to each condition to balance out any participant variables
31
Q

+ve independent groups design:

A
  • order effects will not occur as there are different ps in each condition
  • order effects are when the sequence in which
    ps take part in conditions influences their performance or behaviour
  • e.g. in a memory test participants may get better with practice
  • ps may also get tired or bored or fatigued when being asked to take part in more than one condition
    = chance of demand characteristics is reduced as ps do only one condition each and so have less chance to guess the purpose of the study
  • same task/materials can be used in both conditions as ps are always naïve to the task
32
Q

-ve independent groups design:

A
  • more ps are needed for this experimental design
    = always a chance that the different results between the two conditions are due to participant variables rather than manipulation of the independent variable (IV)
33
Q

What is the repeated measures design?

A
  • each participant is tested in all
    conditions of the experiment
34
Q

+ve repeated measures design:

A
  • as the same people are measured in all conditions there are no participant variables between the conditions
    = half as many ps are needed compared to an independent groups design
35
Q

-ve repeated measures design:

A
  • order effects may affect the results
  • one way to avoid this is counterbalancing, this is when half the participants do condition A first and condition B second and the other half of the participants do condition B first and condition A second
  • counterbalancing does not eliminate order
    effects, which will be present because there are two separate tasks to be completed by each person
  • but counterbalancing controls the
    impact of order effects (practice, fatigue or boredom) and allows order effects to be distributed evenly across both conditions
    = demand characteristics are more likely to occur as ps are involved in the entire study
  • design takes more time, especially if a time gap between different conditions is required
36
Q

What is the matched pairs design?

A
  • different participants are used in all of
    the conditions, just as with the independent groups design
  • however, ps in the two groups are matched on characteristics important for that study
  • such as age, gender, level of education etc.
  • identical twins are often used in matched pairs designs
37
Q

+ve matched pairs design:

A
  • less risk of order effects
    = less risk of demand characteristics.
  • participant variables are unlikely as the groups have been closely matched
38
Q

-ve matched pairs design:

A
  • twice as many participants are required compared with a repeated measures design
    = matching process is incredibly difficult; even two closely matched individuals have different levels of motivation and fatigue at any given
    time
  • matching process in incredibly time consuming
39
Q

In order to ensure that a study has validity…

A
  • extraneous variables must be controlled for to prevent them from becoming confounding variables
40
Q

What are participant variables?

A
  • characteristics of the participants which may affect the dependent variable (DV)
  • e.g. intelligence, age, gender, personality etc
41
Q

How can participant variables be overcome?

A
  • appropriate experimental design can help to try and overcome these types of EV
  • matched pairs and repeated measures can help to avoid participant variables
  • but repeated measures can lead to order effects, so counterbalancing should
    be used to avoid this
  • random allocation of participants to conditions (e.g. by drawing names out of a hat) when using independent groups should also ensure that groups are not biased
  • but random allocation is not possible for a quasi-experiment
42
Q

What is the process of random allocation (participant variables) ?

A
  • involves all the participants being
    identified either by name or number
  • names/numbers are put in a container (e.g. a hat) or into a computer
  • assign alternate names/numbers
    drawn to Condition 1 then Condition 2 and so on until there are the required number in each condition
  • or set the parameters on the computer for two groups to be randomly generated
43
Q

What are environmental variables?

A
  • factors in the env where the experiment is conducted that could affect the DV
  • e.g. temperature, time of day, lighting, noise etc
  • the answer to this is standardisation (i.e. making sure that all the
    conditions, materials, and instructions are the same for all participants)

Psychology (30 decks)

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