Section 7 - Research Methods Flashcards
1
Q
What is an “independent variable”
A
Some event that is directly manipulated by an experimenter in order to test its effect on the dependent variable
2
Q
What is a “dependent variable”
A
a measurable outcome of the action of the independent variable in an experiment
3
Q
What is an “Aim”
A
A statement of which the researchers intend to find out in a research study
4
Q
What is a “hypothesis”
A
A statement that states the relationship between to variables
5
Q
What is “Operationalise”
A
Ensuring that variables are in a form that can easily be tested
6
Q
What is a “extraneous variable”
A
A variable that cannot be controlled Ie: weather
7
Q
What is a pilot study
A
A small scale trial run of a research design before doing the real thing
8
Q
Why does a researcher perform a pilot study
A
- To find out what doesn’t work
- What things need some fine tuning
- to get an idea of what happens to they can get funding for the real thing
9
Q
What is a confederate study
A
An individual in a study who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by an invigilator
10
Q
What is a directional hypothesis
A
A directional hypothesis is a hypothesis that states the direction of the difference or relationship (e.g. boys are more helpful than girls).
11
Q
What is a non-directional hypothesis
A
states that there is a difference between 2 conditions of participants, without stating the direction of the difference
12
Q
What is a confounding variable
A
A variable that influences both the IV and DV
13
Q
What is validity
A
Refers to whether an observed effect is a genuine one
14
Q
What is Mundane realism
A
How the study mirrors the real world
15
Q
What is internal validity
A
The degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation
16
Q
What is external validity
A
the extent to which a research finding can be generalised to other validity types
17
Q
What are the different validity types
A
Ecological validity
population validity
historical/temporal validity
18
Q
What is ecological validity
A
The setting
19
Q
What is population validity
A
Groups of people
20
Q
What is Historical/temporal validity
A
over time
21
Q
What is control in an experiment
A
Observation designed to minimise the effects of variables other than the IV
22
Q
What are the 3 types of experimental design
A
Repeated measure design
Independent groups design
Matched pairs design
23
Q
What is a repeated measures design example
A
Each participant does the task with the TV on
A week later they do a similar task with the TV off
compare the results
24
Q
What is an independent group design example
A
Group A does a task with the TV on
Group B does a task with the TV off
compare the results
25
What is a matched pairs design example
- 2 groups of participants matched on key characteristics believed to affect performance on the DV EG: IQ
- One member of pair is allocated to group A and the other to group B
26
How does Repeated measures design deal with their limitations
They use counterbalancing
27
What is counterbalancing
Ensures that each condition is tested first or second in equal amounts
28
How does independent groups design deal with their limitations
randomly allocates participants to conditions which distribute variables evenly
29
How does matched pairs design deal with limitations
Restrict the number of variables to match on to make it easier
30
What is a field experiment
A controlled experiment conducted outside of the lab
31
What is a laboratory experiment
An experiment carried out in a controlled setting
32
Strengths of a laboratory experiment
Well controlled- high internal validity
| easily replicated
33
Limitations of a laboratory experiment
- Less realistic- participants may not behave like they would in every day life
- May know they're being studied
- lacks mundane realism
34
Strengths of a field experiment
- High mundane realism
- high ecological validity
- participants aren't usually aware of being studied
35
Limitations of a field experiment
-less control of extraneous/confounding variables
reduces internal validity
-time consuming- more expensive
36
What is a natural experiment
Investigates the relationship between IV and DV in a natural environment
37
What is a Quasi-experiment
-Investigates the relationships between IV and DV in situations where IV is a characteristic of the person
38
Strength of a natural experiment
- Allows research where IV can't be manipulated for ethical or practical reasons
- Allows psychologists to study real life situations
39
limitations of a natural experiment
- Cannot demonstrate casual relationships as IV not directly manipulated
- can only be used where conditions vary naturally
40
Strengths of Quasi experiment
Allows comparisons between types of people
41
Limitations of quasi experiment
- participants are aware of being studied-reduces internal validity
- DV may be artificial-reduces mundane realism
42
What is a single blind design
In a single blind design the participant is not aware of the aims or of which condition of the experiment they're receiving.
43
What is a double blind design
In a double blind design both the participant and the person are 'blind' to the aims or hypotheses
44
What is experimental realism
The researcher makes an experimental task sufficiently engaging the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact that they're being observed
45
What are demand characteristics
A cue that helps the participants work out what the researcher expects to find
46
What is an investigator effect
Anything an investigator does that effects the experiment other than what was intended
47
What do you do in the "opportunity sample" sampling method
choose people who are most convenient Ie: people in your school
48
What do you do in the "random sample" sampling method
Choose people at random
49
What do you do in the "Stratified sample" sampling method
Subgroups within a population Ie: boys and girls or ages 10-12 and 13-15
50
What do you do in the "systematic sample" sampling method
Predetermined system to select participants ie: every nth person from a phonebook
51
What do you do in the "volunteer sample" sampling method
When you advertise in a newspaper internet etc...
52
What is volunteer bias
Choosing participants based off of special characteristics
53
Strengths of opportunity sample
easiest method as you choose the first person you see
54
Strengths of random sample
unbiased
55
Strengths of stratified sample
likely to be more representative than other methods
56
Strengths of systematic sample
unbiased
57
Strengths of volunteer sample
gives access to variety of participants if you advertise on multiple platforms
58
limitations of opportunity sample
Biased as drawn from small part of the population
59
limitations of stratified sample
time consuming to identify subgroups then randomly select them then contact them
60
limitations of systematic sample
not truly unbiased unless you select a number using a random method
61
limitations of volunteer sample
biased as participants are more likely to be highly motivated and/or have extra time on their hands
62
limitations of random sample
Need to have a list of population and contact everyone selected which is time consuming
63
What is confidentiality
The communication of personal info from one person to another and that the info will be protected
64
What is deception
Participant is not told the true aims of the study
65
What is informed consent
Participant must be given comprehensive info concerning the nature and purpose of the research and their role in it
66
What is privacy
Persons right to control the flow of info about themselves
67
What is protection from harm
Participants shouldn't experience negative psychological or psychological; effects
68
What is right to withdraw
Participants can stop participating in a study if they're uncomfortable 1
69
What are the limitations of informed consent
If given full info of study may invalidate the purpose of the study
70
What are the limitations of deception
Debriefing can't turn the clock back - can cause embarrassment or low self esteem
71
What are the limitations of right to withdraw
- Feel as if they shouldn't withdraw as it'll ruin the study
| - could be getting payed may not feel able to withdraw
72
What are the limitations of protection from harm
may not be apparent a the time of the study, only judged later with hindsight
73
What are the limitations of confidentiality
Possible to work out who the participant was using the info that's provided
74
What are the limitations of privacy
No agreement about what constitutes a public place
75
What is a structured interview
Interview where the questions are decided in advance
76
What is an unstructured interview
Has some general aims and possibly some questions and lets interviewee's answers guide subsequent questions
77
Strengths of self report techniques
Allows access to what people think and fell
78
Limitations of self report techniques
- People don't know what they think or feel
- Make answer up thus lacks internal validity
- lack representativeness thus data cannot be generalised
79
Strengths of questionaire
- Distributed to large number of people easily
| - participants are more willing to give personal info as they'd feel less self-conscious than in an interview
80
Limitations of a questionnaire
Only filled in by people who can read and write and have time to fill them in. Making it bias
81
Strengths of a structured interview
- easily repeated
- answers from different people can be compared
- easy to analyse as answers are more predictable
82
Limitations of a structured interview
- Interviewer's expectations can influence the answers the interviewee gives
- comparability is harder
- unreliable
83
Strengths of a unstructured interview
- More detailed info
| - better as interviewer trailers further questions to the specific responses
84
limitations of a unstructured interview
requires more skill as you have to develop new questions on the spot
more expensive than structured ones to produce
85
What is a naturalistic observation
Watching a behaviour within which it would normally occur
86
What is a controlled observation
Watching a behaviour within a structured environment
87
What is a Covert observation
Participant is being watched without their knowledge
88
What is an overt observationaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Participant is aware they're being watched
89
What is a participant observation
Researcher becomes apart of the group he's recording
90
What is a non-participant observation
Researcher is separate from the group he's recording
91
What is a self report technique
Participant states their feelings, opinions and experiences to the topic
92
What is Behavioural categories
dividing a target behaviour into a subset of specific or operationalised
93
What is event sampling
count how many times a certain behaviour occurs
94
What is unstructured observations
records all behaviour but has no system of doing so
95
When and why is an unstructured observation used
in pilot study to identify behaviour categories for the actual study
96
What is a structured observation
divided the behaviour of interest into into a subset of specific or operationalised
97
When is a structured observation used
In sampling procedures
98
What are closed questions
Tick box questions (answers are fixed)
99
What are open questions
Questions where you can write your own answer
100
What is qualitative data
Non-numerical data (quality data)
101
What is quantitative data
data in numbers
102
What is a correlation
a systematic association between two continuous variables
103
What is a systematic review
review of research finding studies with a similar aim
104
What is meta analysis
Researcher looks at findings from many studies and produces a statistic representing the overall effect
105
What is effect size
measure of strength of the relationship between two variables
106
What is a longitudinal study
A study that is done over a long period of time, to observe long term effects
107
What is measure of central tenancy
a descriptive statistic that provides information about a 'typical' value for a data set
108
What is a measure of dispersion
a descriptive statistic that provides information about how spread out a set of data is
109
what is standard deviation
shows the amount of variation in a data set, assesses the spread of data around the mean
110
Strengths of the mean
most sensitive
111
Limitations of the mean
- easily distorted by outliers
- can't be used with nominal data
- can't use it with discrete values (number of legs)
112
strengths of the median
- not effected by outliers
- appropriate fro ordinal data
- easier to calculate than mean
113
limitations of the median
not as 'sensitive' as mean as exact values are not reflected in final conclusion
114
strengths of mode
- unaffected by extreme values
- more useful for discrete data
- only method that can be used with nominal data
115
limitations of mode
- not useful to describe data when there are several modes
| - nothing about other values in a distribution
116
Quantitative strengths
- easy to analyse
| - conclusions to be easily drawn
117
Quantitative weaknesses
- questionnaires could force them to tick a box that doesn't express their emotions
- conclusions are therefore meaningless
118
Qualitative strengths
- rich detailed answers
| - provides unexpected insights into thoughts and behaviours
119
qualitative weaknesses
complex, makes it harder to analyse and draw conclusions
120
What is primary data
data collected directly from first hand experience
121
What is secondary data
data collected by someone else other than what it's being collected for
122
Primary data strengths
- great control of data
| - data collection can be designed so it fits aims and hypothesis of study
123
primary data weaknesses
lengthy & expensive process
124
Secondary data strengths
- easier and cheaper
- less time and equipment needed
- you know the data is significant
125
secondary data weaknesses
data may not exactly fit the need of the study
126
What is a histograms structure
- bars must be proportional to frequency
- no gaps
- horizontal axis must be continuous data
127
What's a line graphs structure
- continuous data on x-axis
| - marked with a cross
128
What's a tables structure like
- measurements of raw data
- data can be set out with central tenancies and dispersion
- useful when interpreting findings
129
When is a scatter graph used
when creating correlations
130
What's a bar charts structure
- Height represents frequency
- suitable for data that is not continuous
- only join bars if data on x-axis is continuous
131
What is normal distribution
The highest point on the graph is in the centre of the x-axis
132
What is negative skewed distribution
the highest point on then graph is to the right of the x-axis centre
133
What is positive skewed distribution
the highest point on then graph is to the left of the x-axis centre
134
What is an example of normal distribution
shoe size, intelligence, height
135
Why would you use the sign test
To see if your results are significant and didn't happen by chance
136
What does a 1 tailed hypothesis state
the direction it'll go
137
What does a 2 tailed hypothesis state
it'll effect it in a way without stating the direction
