Year 1 Chapter 6 research methods

Question 1

What is an aim?

Answer 1

-A general statement of what the research intends to investigate

Question 2

Explain what you know about hypotheses

Answer 2

• Needs to clearly state the relationship between two variables
  
  • Can be directional or nondirectional
  • Variables need to be operationalised (made testable/measurable)

Question 3

Distinguish between a IV and a DV

Answer 3

• The researcher changes / manipulates the IV

- The effects of this change can be seen/measurable in the DV

Question 4

Distinguish between extraneous and confounding varibles

Answer 4

• Both are any other variables that, if not controlled, could affect the DV
  
  • An confounding variable varies systematically with the IV - this means it is related to the IV in some way
  • An extraneous variable does not vary systematically with the IV - It is not directly related to the IV, but could still affect the DV

Question 5

What is meant by demand characteristic?

Answer 5

• Any cue from the researcher or research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the interview
  
  • This may lead to a participants changing their behaviour within the research situation

Question 6

What is meant by investigator effects?

Answer 6

• Any effect of the investigator’s behaviour on the research outline
  
  • Could include everything from the design of the study to the selection of the participants during the study

Question 7

What is meant by randomisation and standardisation?

Answer 7

• Randomisation
  - The use of chance in order to control for the effect of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of conditions
  
  • Standardisation
    
    • Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study

Question 8

Name and describe 3 types of experimental design

Answer 8

• Independent groups
  - Participants are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental conditions
  
  • Repeated measures
    
    • All participants take part in all conditions of the experiment
  • Match pairs
    
    • Pairs of participants are first matched on some variable that could affect the DV
    • Then one member of the pair is assigned to each condition

Question 9

Explain what is meant by measures of central tendency

Answer 9

• Averages that give us information about the most typical values in a data set
  
  • There are three to consider; mean, median and mode

Question 10

Outline what you know about mean, median and mode

Answer 10

• Mean
  - The common average - derived from adding up all the values in a data set and dividing the total by the number of values
  - The mean is the most sensitive as it includes all values from the dataset - more representative of the data as a whole
  - However because of this the mean can be distorted easily by extreme values
  
  • Mode
    
    • The mode is most commonly occurring score / values in a data set. Sets can have two modes or no mode at all if all the values are different
    • The mode is a very crude measure - it is often completely different to the median and the mean and unrepresentative of the data
    • For some data the mode is the only way to identify the most common value
  • Median
    
    • The median is the middle value when the dataset is arranged in numerical order
    • In an even number of values the median is halfway between the two middle points

Question 11

Give one strength and one weakness of each type of experimental design

Answer 11

• Independent groups
  - The ppts in the different groups are not the same - Individual differences are an issue - random allocation is used to help deal with this
  - less economical - twice as many ppts are needed for every study
  - Order effects are less of a problem
  
  • Repeated measures
    
    • order effects can arise because ppts take part in both conditions - Fatigue, boredom and practice can affect the results
    • It’s more likely that the ppts will work out the aim, as they experience both conditions - demand characteristics
    • ppt variables are controlled and fewer ppts are needed
  • Matched pairs
    
    • Order effects and demand characteristics are less of an issue because ppts only take part in one condition
    • ppts can’t be matched easily - ppt variables can never be eliminated
    • Very time consuming and expensive if pre-testing is required

Question 12

Name and describe three types of experiment

Answer 12

• Lab experiment
  - Takes place in controlled environment
  - Researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV
  - Researcher maintains strict control of the EVs
  
  • Field experiment
    
    • Experiment takes place in a natural setting within which the researchers manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV
  • Natural experiment!!!!!!!!!!!!