Scientific processes

Question 1

What is an aim?

Answer 1

A precise statement of why a study is taking place

Question 2

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 2

A precise, testable research prediction

Question 3

Describe directional hypotheses

Answer 3

States exactly what outcome is expected using comparative language to describe each condition

Question 4

Describe non-directional hypotheses

Answer 4

States that there will be a difference in the conditions but not what the difference will be

Question 5

When would a directional hypothesis be used?

Answer 5

When previous research predicts a likely direction of the results

Question 6

What is sampling?

Answer 6

The selection of participants to represent a wider population

Question 7

Describe random sampling

Answer 7

Each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected. This could be achieved by putting names in a hat

Question 8

Describe opportunity sampling

Answer 8

Selecting participants who are available and willing to take part, such as people passing on the street

Question 9

What is volunteer sampling?

Answer 9

Individuals select themselves as participants by volunteering to take part

Question 10

Describe systematic sampling

Answer 10

Taking every nth person from a list to create a sample

Question 11

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 11

A small-scale reproduction of a population by dividing a population into characteristics important for the research, then the population is randomly sampled within each stratum

Question 12

What are pilot studies?

Answer 12

A small-scale reproduction of a population by dividing a population into characteristics important for the research, then the population is randomly sampled within each stratum

Question 13

What is the purpose of pilot studies? What should you also discuss when discussing pilot studies in-depth?

Answer 13

To find any problems with the study before money and time is invested in it; the floor and ceiling effect - catching a test that is too hard or too easy will benefit the test as the effect of the variable will not be able to be measured properly

Question 14

Describe the repeated measures experimental design

Answer 14

Experimental design where each participant performs all conditions of an experiment

Question 15

Describe the independent measures experimental design

Answer 15

Experimental design in which each participant performs one condition of an experiment

Question 16

What is the matched pairs experimental design?

Answer 16

Experimental design where participants are in similar pairs, with one of each pair performing each condition. Participants are matched on one personality trait relevant to the study

Question 17

What is opportunity sampling?

Answer 17

Selecting participants who are available and willing to take part, such as people passing on the street

Question 18

What is volunteer sampling?

Answer 18

Individuals select themselves as participants by volunteering to take part

Question 19

What are behavioural categories?

Answer 19

Dividing target behaviours into unique and exhaustive subsets of behaviours through use of coding systems

Question 20

What is event sampling?

Answer 20

Recording all instances of a behaviour in the appropriate column when they happen

Question 21

What is time sampling?

Answer 21

Recording all occurrences of behaviour at set time intervals

Question 22

What is operationalisation?

Answer 22

The process of defining variables into measurable and observable factors so a cause and effect can be established

Question 23

What are extraneous variables and what increases when these are controlled?

Answer 23

A variable irrelevant to the study that could still affect the results; internal validity

Question 24

What are confounding variables?

Answer 24

A variable related to the study that isn’t the IV but could still affect the results

Question 25

What are co-variables?

Answer 25

The variables investigated in a correlational study. The relationship between them is investigated, not cause and effect

Question 26

What is randomisation and why might it be used?

Answer 26

To prevent the order of the experiment becoming an extraneous variable the researchers may randomise parts of the procedure, e.g. mixing the order of questions

Question 27

What is counterbalancing and when and why might it be done?

Answer 27

Participants are split into two groups, with half doing condition A first and the other group doing condition B first; To counteract order effects, as it distributes order effects evenly across both conditions; In a repeated measures design

Question 28

What is random allocation and why is it done?

Answer 28

Participants are randomly allocated to one condition; to reduce individual variables and selection bias

Question 29

What is standardisation and why is it done?

Answer 29

Ensuring all participants experience the process in the same way; prevents the procedure becoming an extraneous variable and also increases reliability

Question 30

What are demand characteristics and what does this reduce?

Answer 30

Participants may guess the aims/hypotheses of the experiment and change their behaviour and so frustrate the aim of the research, which reduces internal validity

Question 31

What are investigator effects?

Answer 31

A research effect where researcher features influence participant responses, such as body language giving away the correct answer

Question 32

What four responsibilities do researchers have to participants?

Answer 32

• Right to withdraw
• Protection from harm
• Informed consent
• Confidentiality

Question 33

What is peer review and why are they carried out?

Answer 33

Scrutiny by experts of research papers to determine scientific validity; to prevent invalid research being published and maintaining a standard of research

Question 34

What impact does clinical psychology have on the economy?

Answer 34

Treatments allow individuals to live independently, stay in the community rather than institutions and be in work

Question 35

What are the four features of science?

Answer 35

• Falsifiable predictions
• Shared paradigms
• Empirical methods
• Tries to determine causality

Question 36

What does Popper discuss?

Answer 36

We can’t prove theories, but we can falsify them (prove them wrong), and psychological theories should be falsifiable to be considered a science. Some psychological theories can’t be falsified, such as the psychodynamic unconscious. Also discusses paradigm shift

Question 37

What does Kuhn discuss?

Answer 37

A theory can only be scientific if the people working in the field have a common set of shared beliefs about the fundamentals in the field (a paradigm). Psychology is therefore a prescience because it doesn’t have a paradigm yet

Question 38

What does Kant discuss?

Answer 38

A theory can only be scientific if it is based on publicly available evidence gathered through observation. This is known as empiricism

Question 39

What is objectivity?

Answer 39

Observations made without bias

Question 40

What is replicability?

Answer 40

Being able to repeat a study to check the validity of the results

Question 41

How does a correlational hypothesis start?

Answer 41

There will be a relationship between…

Question 42

What are the positive and negative evaluations of the peer review process?

Answer 42

• There can be a publication bias where negative findings are not published

+ Funding allocation - more funding can be given to institutions who publish more research

Question 43

What should be included and in what order, in an APA reference?

Answer 43

Surname, initials, date, title, publisher, place of publication

Question 44

What are the features of science?

Answer 44

F-falsifiable
R-replication
O-objective
G-tries to establish general laws

Question 45

What does the “P” in p<0.05 stand for?

Answer 45

The probability that the results are due to chance