Scientific Processes Flashcards
what is the first step into conducting research?
aims
developing an aim and hypothesis
what is an aim?
aims
a general statement outlining the purpose of the investigation e.g. ‘to investigate effect of loud noise on recall’
what is an hypothesis?
hypothesis
a specific prediction about the outcome of the investigation - it will be tested in the investigation. e.g. ‘ loud noise will have a negative effect on recall’
how can a hypothesis be operationalized?
hypothesis
the nature of the variables and how they are to be measured must be clear in the hypothesis. e.g ‘exposure to 100 decibels of noise during a task will lead to poorer recall’
what is an experimental hypothesis?
hypothesis
a hypothesis for research adopting an experiment design
what is an alternative hypothesis?
hypothesis
a hypothesis for research adopting a non experimental deisgn e.g correlations, observation or self reporting studies.
what is a null hypothesis?
hypothesis
a hypothesis that predicts there will be no difference/relationship/association etc.
‘plant growth is not effected by light colour’
what are the two types of experimental/alternative hypotheses.
hypothesis
- directional
- non directional
what is a directional hypothesis?
hypothesis
a hypothesis that predicts a specific direction of outcome e.g ‘reaction time in sober ppts will be **greater than **that of drunk ppts’
usually has ‘greater than’ or ‘less than’
when would a directional hypothesis be useful?
hypothesis
when prior reserach indicates the results will go in one direction
what is a non-directional hypothesis?
hypothesis
a hypothesis that does not predict a specific direction of the results e.g ‘drinking alcohol will affect reaction time’
usually use ‘affect’ or ‘alter’
what is a sample?
sampling
the ppts selected to take part in research
what is the first step to sampling?
sampling
identifying the target population
what is a population?
sampling
the wider group of people identified as those that the findings of research should apply to
what the target population?
sampling
the particular group of interest to the research
how do we study the behaviour of the target population?
sampling
select a number of people from the population who are representative of everyone in the target pop.
what happens if the sample is not representative of the target population?
sampling
it is biased and we would not be able to generalise our findings to anyone other than the ppts in the study. e.g. all male sample, cannot be generalised to females
what else needs to be considered when choosing a sample?
sampling
sample size
what do researchers need to do to avoid a bias?
sampling
as large a sample size as possible and as representative a sample as possible
what are the 5 sampling techniques?
sampling techniques
- random
- stratified
- systematic
- opportunity
- volunteer
what is a random sample?
sampling techniques
a sample where all members of the target population have an equal chance to be selected
what is the logic behind a random sample?
sampling techniques
chance selection should mean no ppt characteristic is more likely than any other to appear, reducing likelihood of a bias
what are the ways to create a random sample?
sampling techniques
- computer selection
- lottery method
what is the computer selection method in random sampling?
sampling techniques
all potential ppts names are entered into a program that selects a specific number of entrants at random