week 3: research methods Flashcards
what makes a good theory?
fits the known facts
makes new testable predictions
is falsifiable
what is theory?
a systematic way of organising and explaining observations
what is a hypothesis?
a tentative belief/prediction about the way 2+ variables interact/impact eachother
types of research designs
naturalistic observation case study survey correlational experiment
how to conduct research in psychology
1, choose a research design
2, choose a sample
3, choose data collecting techniques (operationalising bias)
4, control sources of bias
what is a naturalistic observation?
researcher observes behaviour without intervening
advantages and disadvantages to a naturalistic observation
advantages
1, indepth observation in a natural setting
2, can provide new insights
disadvantages
1, reactivity (difficult to remain unobtrusive)
what is a case study?
an in depth investigation of an individual person/situation
techniques used in case studies
interviews
direct observation
records
psychological tests
advantages and disadvantages to a case study
advantages
1, can provide rich data to support a theory
disadvantages
1, may not represent general population
2, subjectivity (investigator may see what they want to see)
what is a survey?
the use questionnaires/ interviews to gather info about specific aspects of behaviour
pros and cons to surveys
pro 1, data on difficult to observe behaviour 2, large sample con 1, self-report unreliable
what is correlational research?
the relationship between variables (IV, DV)
pros and cons to correlational research
pros
useful for studying variables that cant be altered (sex, age)
cons
can demonstrate a relationship exists but cant demonstrate causality
what is causality?
the value of an interdependent variable is the reason for the value of a dependent variable
how do you establish causation?
manipulate one variable (iv) in order to see its effect on another variable (dv)
what is a population?
the entire group of people we are interested in studying
what is a sample?
a subset of the population
selected for study
what is random sampling
Each member of the population is
equally likely to be included in the sample
what is a representative sample?
possesses the important characteristics of the population in the same proportions
what is reliability?
whether it produces consistent results
what is validity?
is it measuring what its meant to be
how to determine reliability?
test-retest reliability
internal consistency
inter-rater reliability
what is test-retest reliability?
is the test giving similar values if the same participant takes it two or more times?
what is internal consistency?
Different items that measure the same variable should produce similar answers
what is inter-rater reliability?
Two testers who rate the same person on the same variable, should give similar ratings to the participant.
what is a positive correlation?
People with high scores on one variable tend to have high scores on the other variable
what is a negative correlation?
People with high scores on one variable are likely to have low scores on the other variable
what is the IV and DV?
IV is cause/thing you change
DV effect/thing you measure
what is participant bias?
The tendency of people who know they are participants in a study to behave in a way other than they normally would
what is the hawthorne effect?
participant bias
The tendency of people who know they are participants in a study to behave in a way other than they normally would
what is experimenter bias?
The tendency of experimenters to let their expectancies alter the way they treat their participants
how to control bias?
single blind study
double blind study
