week 8- critical analysis

Question 1

what are 7 features of a good piece of research

Answer 1

• Published in a good journal
• Large sample size
• Open science
• Pre-registration
• Peer reviewed
• Reliable methods
• Replicable

Question 2

what does something being reliable mean

Answer 2

if we measure the same thing more than once we get the same answer

Question 3

what does accuracy mean

Answer 3

whether it gives us the correct answer

Question 4

what does validity mean

Answer 4

something measures what it intends to

Question 5

why is replicability difficult

Answer 5

societies change over time

Question 6

2 cons of observations are

Answer 6

• Some behaviours are difficult to observe as they are rare or private
• They can’t infer causal relationships

Question 7

pro of observations

Answer 7

high ecological validity

Question 8

what is open science

Answer 8

Making data and analysis script available

Question 9

what is a survey

Answer 9

Lots of people asked
questions about their
thoughts or behaviour

Question 10

pro of survey

Answer 10

can measure unobservable behaviour

Question 11

2 cons of surveys

Answer 11

• people may give inaccurate responses, reducing ecological validity
• difficult to infer causal relationships

Question 12

what are experiments

Answer 12

Generate conditions
that differ in only one
respect and investigate impact of
these manipulations
on another variable

Question 13

pro of experiments

Answer 13

Can examine a causal relationship
(because we manipulated the IV)

Question 14

cons of experiments

Answer 14

participant effects, experimenter effects, reduced external validity

Question 15

define participant effects

Answer 15

Participant performs in the way they
think the experimenter want them to,
or in a way that is more socially
desirable

Question 16

define investigator effects

Answer 16

Effect of
experimenter
on responses

Question 17

how can we solve experimenter effects

Answer 17

using a double blind procedure

Question 18

what is external validity

Answer 18

the extent to which conclusions from the study can be generalised

Question 19

what is internal validity

Answer 19

The observed effects are only due to
the IV. Not due to chance or any other
factor.

Question 20

how can we improve internal validity

Answer 20

random selection of ps, random allocation to conditions

Question 21

can we always trust published research

Answer 21

No. Something published in a
peer-reviewed journal means
that other a couple of scientists
judged it suitable for publication, however they may be biased or not spot errors

Question 22

what are the 3 tasks of critical appraisal

Answer 22

1. Establish the facts:
   – What did the researcher do?
2. Evaluate the article against its central
   themes, with a balanced commentary:
   – Does the data support the article’s conclusions?
3. How would you improve it?

Question 23

how should we treat situational variables

Answer 23

Participants in all treatment groups should, as far as possible, have the same experience

Question 24

how should we treat instrumentation variables

Answer 24

The same measuring instrument should be used for all groups

Question 25

how do we treat nuisance variables

Answer 25

Random allocation of participants to
treatment groups

Question 26

how do we treat order effects

Answer 26

Counterbalancing order