Study Unit 5: Research design

Question 1

what is internal validity:

Answer 1

extent to which the study confirms the existence of a cause-effect relationship

Question 2

what are confounding variables

Answer 2

Confounding variables (variables that confound or confuse the interpretations) are also called nuisance variables or extraneous variables.

Question 3

name some threats to internal validity

Answer 3

History refers to uncontrolled events that influence the outcome of the research. If an event that is not related to the study occurs during the study and influences the dependent variable, this event will confuse the causal relationship that the researcher assumes exists

ƒThere may be changes within the subjects themselves over time. The subjects being studied may undergo physical or psychological changes (this is known as maturation)

Instrumentation is a threat to the validity of the study if the measuring instrument deteriorates or improves over time.

Selection of subjects to be assigned to a specific group could bias the study if there are important, unsuspected differences between the subjects in each group.

Mortality refers to the fact that some subjects do not continue throughout the study, but drop out (not necessarily die!) before it is completed. The subjects who drop out may be different from those who complete the study and this could well influence the results.

Regression effect refers to a tendency of extreme scores to move towards the average upon retesting

testing effect implies that subjects may become familiar with the testing procedure or be more aware of certain issues after the pretest.

Question 4

what is external validity:

Answer 4

extent to which results can be generalised to other populations or circumstances

Question 5

what is Researcher expectancy

Answer 5

refers to the situation where expectations cause a researcher to behave in a manner that makes the expected event more likely to occur.

Question 6

what are treatments

Answer 6

This deliberate action on the part of the researcher is called a treatment. Treatments are any intervention that modifies or changes the situation. Treatments could include counselling, showing a video, using specific teaching strategies,

Question 7

what is a treatment condition

Answer 7

Treatment condition refers to whether a particular group receives the treatment or not, and what kind of treatment it receives.

Question 8

what is the experimental group:

Answer 8

group that receives the treatment

Question 8

what is the

Question 9

what is the control group:

Answer 9

group that does not receive the treatment

Question 10

what is a pretest

Answer 10

If the dependent variable is measured before the introduction of the treatment, this is called a pretest

Question 11

what is a posttest

Answer 11

posttest is the measurement of the dependent variable after the treatment has been introduced

Question 12

what is random assignment

Answer 12

: every subject has an equal chance of being assigned to any treatment condition or group

Question 13

why should pre experimental designs be avoided

Answer 13

Pre-experimental designs may or may not involve manipulation of treatment conditions, but they do not include randomisation.

Question 14

what are quasi experimental designs

Answer 14

Quasi-experimental designs resemble true experimental designs in that the researcher aims to establish cause-effect relationships
These designs are better than pre-experimental designs for identifying causal relationships;

quasi-experimental designs do not involve randomisation

Question 15

what is a time series design

Answer 15

time-

series design: comparing a number of observations of the same group over a period of time

Question 16

what is single case experimental design

Answer 16

single-case experimental design: to assess interventions in educational, clinical and counselling settings

Question 17

what is a classification factor

Answer 17

study the difference between existing groups that have been classified according to fixed levels of an independent variable. This type of variable is referred to as a classification factor;

Question 18

what is meant by ex post facto

Answer 18

Ex post facto research deals with relationships between two or more variables without any planned intervention.

Question 19

comment on survey research

Answer 19

survey research: the purpose of a survey research is to describe the population’s attitudes, opinions, etcetera based on sample research

Question 20

discuss five strategies identified by Creswell as representative of common practice in qualitative research

Answer 20

Biography
is used to document an individual’s life and experiences, as told to a researcher or found in documents and archival material.

Phenomenology aims at understanding and interpreting the essence of the meaning that subjects give to their daily lives.

Grounded theory refers to the creation of a theory based more (but not exclusively) on observation than on deduction. …

Ethnography is the study of an intact cultural or social group, characterised by (participant) observation, description and interpretive data analysis.

Case study is the observation of a process, activity, event, programme or individual bound within a specific time and setting

Question 21

what are basic principles of qualitative research

Answer 21

1. boundaries (i.e. the scope of the research)
2. design flexibility
3. the research relationship
4. intended outcome

Question 22

what is meant by scope

Answer 22

scope: range of situations, techniques, and observations included in the research