Social Methods Flashcards
Social Psychology
Allport 1954
Scientific investigation of how thoughts, feelings, behaviours of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others
Effects of social and cognitive processes on the way people perceive, influence and interact with others
Applied to help solve real world social issues
Scientific method
Observation -> theory -> hypothesis -> experiment -> disseminate findings -> replication
Evaluation of experimental lab assessment
Establish cause and effect
Control over extraneous variables
Objective
X- low external validity
X- demand characteristics
X- difficult to assess long term behaviour
Evaluation of experimental field experiments
Manipulate variable in real world context -> high external validity
X- less control over extraneous variables
X- difficulty obtaining accurate measures
Experimental method
Manipulate an independent variable (IV) and observe the effect on a dependent variable (DV)
Laboratory experiment
Field experiment
Randomised controlled trial
Non- experimental method
Correlation between variables (no manipulation of an IV)
Archival Case studies Qualitative research Surveys Field studies
Explicit measures
Ask people to tell us how they are feeling, thinking and behaving -> self-report
Open responses
Numeric scale
Questionnaires
Objectively assess behaviour in laboratory
Responses are within conscious control, provided deliberately
Implicit measures
Assess ppts responses outside conscious control and responses are provided automatically
Tap into cognitive representations or schemas
Schema
Mental structure that organised and collects information about something
Implicit association test
Greenwald et al (1998)
Ppts categorise two types of stimuli using buttons
Speed of categorisation responses are measured
Latency (speed) of response indicates attitude strength
Congruent trials- quick responses if associations exist-> response facilitation
Incongruent trials- slower responses if associations don’t exist-> response competition
Priming
Olson & Marshuetz (2005)
Presentation of stimulus unconsciously increases accessibility of related cognitions And influences cognitive processes and behaviour
Lexical decision tasks
Assess accessibility of cognitions
Judge whether letters form a word or not
Critical trials- target words presented that reflect cognition of interest
Reaction times correctly identify target words are used to infer the accessibility of that cognition
Expect cognitions to be more accessible in the mind compared to control primes
Greater accessibility= faster reaction times
Narrative reviews
Provide an overview of the current knowledge on a general topic
Includes introduction, separate sub headings, discuss different themes or topic areas
Any studies included or not based on researcher judgement
No new analysis
Systematic reviews
Reviews evidence for well defined and precise research Q
Includes introduction, methods, results and discussion section
Strictly inclusion and exclusion criteria, clearly defined search for articles that could be reproduced
Assesses the quality of the research studies
No new analysis
Meta analysis
Systematic review but quantifies overall effect found across all studies
Assesses magnitude of the effects from all studies to show the overall effect- new analysis
Provides strongest and most reliable evidence
