research methods 2 Flashcards

1
Q

what are ethical issues?

A

conflicts about what is acceptable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what are ethical issues a conflict between?

A

1) what the researcher needs to do in order to conduct useful and meaningful research

2) the rights of participants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

what are ethical guidelines and who provided them?

A

a set of principles and codes of conduct that guide psychologists
↳ BPS (british psychological society)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what does informed consent mean?

A

-revealing the true aims of the study or
telling the ppts what is going to happen
-participants should be informed of aims of the investigation & given any details of participant activities that may influence the decision to participate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

downside of informed consent

A

telling ppts the true aim of the study may change the behaviour of the ppts as details may give away the aims of the research

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what happens after participants are fully informed?

A

-participants are asked to consent to participating
-ppts are given a consent form

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

who must sign a consent form?

A

both the researcher and the ppts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what should a consent form include?

A

-the purpose of the study where possible
-the role of the participant
-expectations i.e. time commitment etc.
-explanation of participant rights
-any risks
-an opportunity to ask questions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

how do children consent?

A

under 16s – parents’ permission is required in addition to the child

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

what is deception?

A

when information is deliberately withheld from participants / they are knowingly misled

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

why is deception unethical?

A

-it prevents participants from giving fully
informed consent, this means they might be taking part in research that goes against their views or beliefs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

why is deception allowed sometimes?

A

if to the experiment has significant benefit & low risk then the BPS will accept it, if the participants knew the aim of the study, they would change their behaviour & the results would be useless

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

how to deal with deception

A

-at the end of study, participants should be fully debriefed & told the true aim of the research
-the participant should be given the right to withdraw the publication of their
results
-the contact details of the experimenter
should be given if participants have any further questions or queries

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

what is a debrief?

A

-a post research interview designed to inform ppt of the true nature of the study and restore them to the state they were in at the start of the study

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what should be included in a debrief?

A

-the real purpose of the study
-info on the participant’s right to withdraw their data at any time
-how confidentiality will be maintained & wat will happen to their data
-background information about the research
-opportunity for participants to ask any questions/air concerns
-details of where any further support/info can be obtained
-thank them for taking part

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what is the right to withdraw?

A

-participants have the right to withdraw
at any stage (even after the research has been conducted)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

why is the right to withdraw unethical if broken?

A

-participants who are not given the right to withdraw may feel stressed and are therefore not protected from harm

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

how to deal with the right to withdraw if it’s broken?

A

-at the beginning of the study in the consent form the ppt should be informed of their right to withdraw
-at the end of the study the participants should be fully debriefed & given the right to withdraw the publication of their
results

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

what is privacy and confidentiality?

A

-privacy is the right of individuals to decide how information about them will be communicated to others
-confidentiality is where a participant’s
personal information is protected by law

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

why is privacy and confidentiality unethical if broken?

A

-a researcher may obtain more
information from a participant than they
wish to give which could be an invasion of privacy, the participant may later
feel ashamed or embarrassed
-a person’s details or data may be used by other parties against the participant’s wishes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

how to deal with privacy and confidentiality

A

-the participant should be provided with fully informed consent and the right to withdraw at any stage
-the researcher should explain to
participants how their information will be protected and kept confidential
-participants are provided with a fake
name, number or initials to protect their identity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

what is protection from harm ?

A

-psychologists have the responsibility to
protect their participants from harm,
including stress
-the risk of harm must be no greater than that which they are exposed to in
everyday life

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

why is protection from harm unethical if broken?

A

-participants should leave the research in the same state as they entered it
-if they are harmed, they may suffer from long‐term effects

24
Q

how to deal with protection from harm?

A

-the researcher should remind participants of their right to withdraw throughout and after the research
-the researcher should terminate the
experiment if the level of psychological or physical harm is higher than expected
-participants should be debriefed at the end of the experiment & they may be referred to counselling

25
Q

what is a cost benefit analysis?

A

an ethics committee would weigh up the costs of the research compared to the benefits that the research would bring

26
Q

are reliability and validity the same?

A

no

27
Q

what is internal validity?

A

are the results solely affected by changes in the variable being manipulated

28
Q

what is external validity?

A

the findings can be generalised beyond
the context of the research situation – to
other people, cultures and to other times

29
Q

which factors could affect
the internal validity of a study?

A

-demand characteristics
-investigator effects
-extraneous variables
-order effects

30
Q

how to improve internal validity

A

control of variables is needed through standardisation:
-random allocation in independent groups designs
-counterbalancing in repeated measures designs

31
Q

what three types can external validity be broken into?

A

-ecological validity
- temporal validity
-population validity

32
Q

what is ecological validity?

A

refers to the extent to which psychologists can apply their findings to other settings – predominantly to everyday life

33
Q

what is a weakness of lab based studies?

A

a lack of ecological validity
↳ due to the artificial setting of laboratory, it is difficult to generalise the findings to a more natural situation since behaviour may be very different

34
Q

how is ecological validity heightened?

A

both the setting in which the experiment or study takes place, and the tasks
involved must have mundane realism (be similar to everyday life)

35
Q

what is temporal validity?

A

refers to the extent to which research findings can be applied across time

36
Q

what is population validity?

A

the extent to which research can be applied to other groups of people

37
Q

which two ways do you assess validity?

A

face validity
concurrent validity

38
Q

what is face validity?

A

whether a test appears to measure what it’s supposed to measure

39
Q

who conducts a test of face validity?

A

a specialist in the given area

40
Q

what is concurrent validity?

A

where the performance of the test in question is compared to a test that is already recognised and trusted within the same field

41
Q

what is a laboratory experiment?

A

-conducted under controlled conditions in which the researcher manipulates the independent variable to measure the effect on the dependent variable
-conditions are heavily controlled to minimise the effect of any extraneous variables

42
Q

strengths of lab experiments

A

-high degree of control over extraneous variables → prevent confounding variables which negatively affect the DV
-high internal validity → cause and effect can be determined

43
Q

weaknesses of lab experiments

A

-lack external validity/ecological validity
↳ findings of the study cannot always be generalised to settings beyond the laboratory due to demand characteristics

44
Q

what are field experiments?

A

-experiments that are carried out in natural conditions
-field’ is any location which is not a laboratory
-participants typically do not know that they are in an investigation = natural behaviour

45
Q

strengths of field experiments

A

-natural settings = higher level of ecological validity, in comparison to laboratory studies
↳ more likely to be representative of behaviour witnessed in everyday life

46
Q

weaknesses of field experiments

A

1) more natural setting = less control over extraneous variables
↳ these can become confounding variables & distort the findings meaning a firm cause and effect relationship cannot be drawn

2) there are ethical issues associated with field experiments, participants are often unaware that they are participants in a psychological investigation, they cannot give informed consent to take part → the research may involve a breach of their privacy rights

47
Q

what are natural experiments?

A

the researcher examines the effect of an existing IV on the dependent variable

48
Q

process of natural experiment + examples

A

-the behaviour of people affected by the naturally occurring IV (eg: flood) is either compared to their own behaviour beforehand, or with a control group who have not encountered the IV

49
Q

where can a natural experiment take place?

A

field OR lab:
it’s the IV which is natural in this type of experiment, not necessarily the context in which the investigation is taking place, participants could be tested in a laboratory

50
Q

strengths of a natural experiment

A

1) naturally occurring IV = higher external validity than lab and field experiments / real-life issues that are being studied rather than manipulated artificially

2) unique insights are gained into real-life situations, research can be conducted into areas of psychology that could not be generated for ethical reasons or because of logistical and practical constraints

51
Q

weaknesses of a natural experiment

A

1) no control over the environment & extraneous variables = difficult for the research to accurately assess the effects of the IV on the DV / confounding variable may have affected the results so a cause and effect relationship must be drawn with extreme caution, if at all

2) a naturally occurring event that interests researchers may only occur very rarely = limits the opportunity to generalise the results to other similar events or circumstances

52
Q

what is a quasi experiment?
(& examples)

A

-contain a naturally occurring independent variable (IV), but one which already exists → the IV is a difference between people such as gender, age or a personality
-the researcher examines the effect of this IV on the dependent variable

53
Q

where do quasi experiments happen?

A

field OR lab;
quasi experiments do not have to be conducted in a natural setting, they may also be conducted in a laboratory setting, under controlled conditions

54
Q

strengths of quasi experiments

A

allow researchers to compare different types of people easily, to provide insight into similarities or differences between these groups which could not be ethically generated otherwise

55
Q

weaknessses of quasi experiments

A

1) that participants cannot be randomly allocated to research conditions to remove bias in the procedure, since the IV is a naturally occurring difference between the participants, the level of IV to which they belong is pre-decided / the psychologist will be less certain that the IV alone will have caused the effect which is measured through the DV, as environmental factors may have played a role in the outcome

2) there are methodological issues associated with conducting quasi experiments, when quasi experiments take place under natural conditions, there is no control over the environment and subsequent extraneous variables, making it difficult to be sure that factors such as age, gender or ethnicity have affected the DV

3) when quasi experiments take place under lab conditions the high level of control means that the research often lacks ecological validity, and the findings cannot always be generalised to a real-life setting since behaviour may not translate outside of the research environment