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A level Psychology Year 1 > Section 7 - Research Methods > Flashcards

Section 7 - Research Methods Flashcards

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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

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2
Q

What is a “dependent variable”

A

a measurable outcome of the action of the independent variable in an experiment

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3
Q

What is an “Aim”

A

A statement of which the researchers intend to find out in a research study

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4
Q

What is a “hypothesis”

A

A statement that states the relationship between to variables

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5
Q

What is “Operationalise”

A

Ensuring that variables are in a form that can easily be tested

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6
Q

What is a “extraneous variable”

A

A variable that cannot be controlled Ie: weather

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7
Q

What is a pilot study

A

A small scale trial run of a research design before doing the real thing

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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
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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

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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).

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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

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12
Q

What is a confounding variable

A

A variable that influences both the IV and DV

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13
Q

What is validity

A

Refers to whether an observed effect is a genuine one

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14
Q

What is Mundane realism

A

How the study mirrors the real world

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15
Q

What is internal validity

A

The degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation

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16
Q

What is external validity

A

the extent to which a research finding can be generalised to other validity types

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17
Q

What are the different validity types

A

Ecological validity
population validity
historical/temporal validity

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18
Q

What is ecological validity

A

The setting

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19
Q

What is population validity

A

Groups of people

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20
Q

What is Historical/temporal validity

A

over time

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21
Q

What is control in an experiment

A

Observation designed to minimise the effects of variables other than the IV

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22
Q

What are the 3 types of experimental design

A

Repeated measure design
Independent groups design
Matched pairs design

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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

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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

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25
Q

What is a matched pairs design example

A
  • 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
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26
Q

How does Repeated measures design deal with their limitations

A

They use counterbalancing

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27
Q

What is counterbalancing

A

Ensures that each condition is tested first or second in equal amounts

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28
Q

How does independent groups design deal with their limitations

A

randomly allocates participants to conditions which distribute variables evenly

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29
Q

How does matched pairs design deal with limitations

A

Restrict the number of variables to match on to make it easier

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30
Q

What is a field experiment

A

A controlled experiment conducted outside of the lab

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31
Q

What is a laboratory experiment

A

An experiment carried out in a controlled setting

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32
Q

Strengths of a laboratory experiment

A

Well controlled- high internal validity

easily replicated

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33
Q

Limitations of a laboratory experiment

A
  • Less realistic- participants may not behave like they would in every day life
  • May know they’re being studied
  • lacks mundane realism
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34
Q

Strengths of a field experiment

A
  • High mundane realism
  • high ecological validity
  • participants aren’t usually aware of being studied
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35
Q

Limitations of a field experiment

A

-less control of extraneous/confounding variables
reduces internal validity
-time consuming- more expensive

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36
Q

What is a natural experiment

A

Investigates the relationship between IV and DV in a natural environment

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37
Q

What is a Quasi-experiment

A

-Investigates the relationships between IV and DV in situations where IV is a characteristic of the person

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38
Q

Strength of a natural experiment

A
  • Allows research where IV can’t be manipulated for ethical or practical reasons
  • Allows psychologists to study real life situations
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39
Q

limitations of a natural experiment

A
  • Cannot demonstrate casual relationships as IV not directly manipulated
  • can only be used where conditions vary naturally
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40
Q

Strengths of Quasi experiment

A

Allows comparisons between types of people

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41
Q

Limitations of quasi experiment

A
  • participants are aware of being studied-reduces internal validity
  • DV may be artificial-reduces mundane realism
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42
Q

What is a single blind design

A

In a single blind design the participant is not aware of the aims or of which condition of the experiment they’re receiving.

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43
Q

What is a double blind design

A

In a double blind design both the participant and the person are ‘blind’ to the aims or hypotheses

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44
Q

What is experimental realism

A

The researcher makes an experimental task sufficiently engaging the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact that they’re being observed

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45
Q

What are demand characteristics

A

A cue that helps the participants work out what the researcher expects to find

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46
Q

What is an investigator effect

A

Anything an investigator does that effects the experiment other than what was intended

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47
Q

What do you do in the “opportunity sample” sampling method

A

choose people who are most convenient Ie: people in your school

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48
Q

What do you do in the “random sample” sampling method

A

Choose people at random

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49
Q

What do you do in the “Stratified sample” sampling method

A

Subgroups within a population Ie: boys and girls or ages 10-12 and 13-15

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50
Q

What do you do in the “systematic sample” sampling method

A

Predetermined system to select participants ie: every nth person from a phonebook

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51
Q

What do you do in the “volunteer sample” sampling method

A

When you advertise in a newspaper internet etc…

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52
Q

What is volunteer bias

A

Choosing participants based off of special characteristics

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53
Q

Strengths of opportunity sample

A

easiest method as you choose the first person you see

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54
Q

Strengths of random sample

A

unbiased

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55
Q

Strengths of stratified sample

A

likely to be more representative than other methods

56
Q

Strengths of systematic sample

A

unbiased

57
Q

Strengths of volunteer sample

A

gives access to variety of participants if you advertise on multiple platforms

58
Q

limitations of opportunity sample

A

Biased as drawn from small part of the population

59
Q

limitations of stratified sample

A

time consuming to identify subgroups then randomly select them then contact them

60
Q

limitations of systematic sample

A

not truly unbiased unless you select a number using a random method

61
Q

limitations of volunteer sample

A

biased as participants are more likely to be highly motivated and/or have extra time on their hands

62
Q

limitations of random sample

A

Need to have a list of population and contact everyone selected which is time consuming

63
Q

What is confidentiality

A

The communication of personal info from one person to another and that the info will be protected

64
Q

What is deception

A

Participant is not told the true aims of the study

65
Q

What is informed consent

A

Participant must be given comprehensive info concerning the nature and purpose of the research and their role in it

66
Q

What is privacy

A

Persons right to control the flow of info about themselves

67
Q

What is protection from harm

A

Participants shouldn’t experience negative psychological or psychological; effects

68
Q

What is right to withdraw

A

Participants can stop participating in a study if they’re uncomfortable 1

69
Q

What are the limitations of informed consent

A

If given full info of study may invalidate the purpose of the study

70
Q

What are the limitations of deception

A

Debriefing can’t turn the clock back - can cause embarrassment or low self esteem

71
Q

What are the limitations of right to withdraw

A
  • Feel as if they shouldn’t withdraw as it’ll ruin the study

- could be getting payed may not feel able to withdraw

72
Q

What are the limitations of protection from harm

A

may not be apparent a the time of the study, only judged later with hindsight

73
Q

What are the limitations of confidentiality

A

Possible to work out who the participant was using the info that’s provided

74
Q

What are the limitations of privacy

A

No agreement about what constitutes a public place

75
Q

What is a structured interview

A

Interview where the questions are decided in advance

76
Q

What is an unstructured interview

A

Has some general aims and possibly some questions and lets interviewee’s answers guide subsequent questions

77
Q

Strengths of self report techniques

A

Allows access to what people think and fell

78
Q

Limitations of self report techniques

A
  • People don’t know what they think or feel
  • Make answer up thus lacks internal validity
  • lack representativeness thus data cannot be generalised
79
Q

Strengths of questionaire

A
  • 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
Q

Limitations of a questionnaire

A

Only filled in by people who can read and write and have time to fill them in. Making it bias

81
Q

Strengths of a structured interview

A
  • easily repeated
  • answers from different people can be compared
  • easy to analyse as answers are more predictable
82
Q

Limitations of a structured interview

A
  • Interviewer’s expectations can influence the answers the interviewee gives
  • comparability is harder
  • unreliable
83
Q

Strengths of a unstructured interview

A
  • More detailed info

- better as interviewer trailers further questions to the specific responses

84
Q

limitations of a unstructured interview

A

requires more skill as you have to develop new questions on the spot
more expensive than structured ones to produce

85
Q

What is a naturalistic observation

A

Watching a behaviour within which it would normally occur

86
Q

What is a controlled observation

A

Watching a behaviour within a structured environment

87
Q

What is a Covert observation

A

Participant is being watched without their knowledge

88
Q

What is an overt observationaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

A

Participant is aware they’re being watched

89
Q

What is a participant observation

A

Researcher becomes apart of the group he’s recording

90
Q

What is a non-participant observation

A

Researcher is separate from the group he’s recording

91
Q

What is a self report technique

A

Participant states their feelings, opinions and experiences to the topic

92
Q

What is Behavioural categories

A

dividing a target behaviour into a subset of specific or operationalised

93
Q

What is event sampling

A

count how many times a certain behaviour occurs

94
Q

What is unstructured observations

A

records all behaviour but has no system of doing so

95
Q

When and why is an unstructured observation used

A

in pilot study to identify behaviour categories for the actual study

96
Q

What is a structured observation

A

divided the behaviour of interest into into a subset of specific or operationalised

97
Q

When is a structured observation used

A

In sampling procedures

98
Q

What are closed questions

A

Tick box questions (answers are fixed)

99
Q

What are open questions

A

Questions where you can write your own answer

100
Q

What is qualitative data

A

Non-numerical data (quality data)

101
Q

What is quantitative data

A

data in numbers

102
Q

What is a correlation

A

a systematic association between two continuous variables

103
Q

What is a systematic review

A

review of research finding studies with a similar aim

104
Q

What is meta analysis

A

Researcher looks at findings from many studies and produces a statistic representing the overall effect

105
Q

What is effect size

A

measure of strength of the relationship between two variables

106
Q

What is a longitudinal study

A

A study that is done over a long period of time, to observe long term effects

107
Q

What is measure of central tenancy

A

a descriptive statistic that provides information about a ‘typical’ value for a data set

108
Q

What is a measure of dispersion

A

a descriptive statistic that provides information about how spread out a set of data is

109
Q

what is standard deviation

A

shows the amount of variation in a data set, assesses the spread of data around the mean

110
Q

Strengths of the mean

A

most sensitive

111
Q

Limitations of the mean

A
  • easily distorted by outliers
  • can’t be used with nominal data
  • can’t use it with discrete values (number of legs)
112
Q

strengths of the median

A
  • not effected by outliers
  • appropriate fro ordinal data
  • easier to calculate than mean
113
Q

limitations of the median

A

not as ‘sensitive’ as mean as exact values are not reflected in final conclusion

114
Q

strengths of mode

A
  • unaffected by extreme values
  • more useful for discrete data
  • only method that can be used with nominal data
115
Q

limitations of mode

A
  • not useful to describe data when there are several modes

- nothing about other values in a distribution

116
Q

Quantitative strengths

A
  • easy to analyse

- conclusions to be easily drawn

117
Q

Quantitative weaknesses

A
  • questionnaires could force them to tick a box that doesn’t express their emotions
  • conclusions are therefore meaningless
118
Q

Qualitative strengths

A
  • rich detailed answers

- provides unexpected insights into thoughts and behaviours

119
Q

qualitative weaknesses

A

complex, makes it harder to analyse and draw conclusions

120
Q

What is primary data

A

data collected directly from first hand experience

121
Q

What is secondary data

A

data collected by someone else other than what it’s being collected for

122
Q

Primary data strengths

A
  • great control of data

- data collection can be designed so it fits aims and hypothesis of study

123
Q

primary data weaknesses

A

lengthy & expensive process

124
Q

Secondary data strengths

A
  • easier and cheaper
  • less time and equipment needed
  • you know the data is significant
125
Q

secondary data weaknesses

A

data may not exactly fit the need of the study

126
Q

What is a histograms structure

A
  • bars must be proportional to frequency
  • no gaps
  • horizontal axis must be continuous data
127
Q

What’s a line graphs structure

A
  • continuous data on x-axis

- marked with a cross

128
Q

What’s a tables structure like

A
  • measurements of raw data
  • data can be set out with central tenancies and dispersion
  • useful when interpreting findings
129
Q

When is a scatter graph used

A

when creating correlations

130
Q

What’s a bar charts structure

A
  • Height represents frequency
  • suitable for data that is not continuous
  • only join bars if data on x-axis is continuous
131
Q

What is normal distribution

A

The highest point on the graph is in the centre of the x-axis

132
Q

What is negative skewed distribution

A

the highest point on then graph is to the right of the x-axis centre

133
Q

What is positive skewed distribution

A

the highest point on then graph is to the left of the x-axis centre

134
Q

What is an example of normal distribution

A

shoe size, intelligence, height

135
Q

Why would you use the sign test

A

To see if your results are significant and didn’t happen by chance

136
Q

What does a 1 tailed hypothesis state

A

the direction it’ll go

137
Q

What does a 2 tailed hypothesis state

A

it’ll effect it in a way without stating the direction

A level Psychology Year 1 (7 decks)

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