research methods: 3

Question 1

how does a random sampling technique work?

Answer 1

every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Question 2

strengths of random sampling?

Answer 2

no researcher bias because researcher has no influence over who’s in the sample
representative because everyone has an equal chance of being chosen

Question 3

limitations of a random sample?

Answer 3

there’s a chance it’s unrepresentative because all of the sample could turn out to be male
it’s time consuming/difficult to obtain a list

Question 4

how does opportunity sampling work?

Answer 4

the researcher selects people who are convenient, willing and available to take part

Question 5

strengths of opportunity samples?

Answer 5

convenient/quick to do

economical because it saves money

Question 6

limitations of opportunity sample?

Answer 6

very unrepresentative and biased as the sample is only from one area
researcher bias because it’s based on people who look approachable

Question 7

how does volunteer sampling work?

Answer 7

participants self select to take part in research that’s advertised in a newspaper and whoever responds is the sample

Question 8

strengths of a volunteer sample?

Answer 8

easy/less time consuming and more economical

participants are likely to be more motivated and less likely to drop out

Question 9

limitations of a volunteer sample?

Answer 9

may be biased
difficult to generalise findings
demand characteristics may be a problem because volunteers are likely to be eager to please

Question 10

how does systematic sampling work?

Answer 10

the researcher identifies the target population and selects every nth person until they have a big enough sample

Question 11

strengths of a systematic sample?

Answer 11

no researcher bias as they can’t influence the sample

fairly representative as an objective system is used

Question 12

limitations of a systematic sample?

Answer 12

possible to be unrepresentative but unlikely (could coincide with a pattern)
only truly unbiased if you start with a random person or first will always be chosen
if a participant drops out the whole system breaks down

Question 13

how does stratified sampling work?

Answer 13

the researcher classifies population into strata (categories) and randomly selects a sample consisting of participants from each category in the same proportions

Question 14

strengths of a stratified sample?

Answer 14

avoids researcher bias because it’s beyond the scope of researcher
very representative as it’s proportional and accurately reflects the composition of population
can be generalised

Question 15

limitations of a stratified sample?

Answer 15

not cost effective and is very difficult/time consuming to identify/categorise/contact participants
strata cannot reflect all the ways people are different

Question 16

outline confidentiality and privacy

Answer 16

confidentiality = the right to have personal data protected
privacy = the right to control information about yourself

Question 17

issues with confidentiality and privacy and how to overcome

Answer 17

data could be accessed by unauthorised people or other info supplied could lead to identification
destroy data when no longer being used and refer to people with numbers/false names

Question 18

outline deception

Answer 18

deliberately misleading or withholding info

Question 19

issues with deception and how to overcome

Answer 19

ppts can provide fully informed concent
debrief after and remind them of the right to withdraw
ask permission from ethics committee/ask similar people how they would respond

Question 20

outline concent

Answer 20

when ppts provide informed concent to be included in the study after being told the true aims

Question 21

issues with concent and how to overcome

Answer 21

they may not have agreed if they knew the true aims but if they did know it could cause demand characteristics
if concent in an issue get retrospective/presumptive concent

Question 22

outline the right to withdraw

Answer 22

can withdraw at any time which is bad for the researcher if they drop out because it could lead to a biased sample

Question 23

issues with the right to withdraw and how to overcome

Answer 23

might feel pressured to continue to not spoil the study/loose money
emphasise their right throughout study and assure it won’t affect payment

Question 24

outline protection

Answer 24

shouldn’t be subjected to physical or psychological harm exceeding that experienced in everyday life

Question 25

issues with protection and how to overcome

Answer 25

extent of harm may not be apparent until it’s too late
debrief ppts and check whether they’re okay after the study to ensure no long-lasting effects and terminate experiment if they’re being harmed

Question 26

what’s a cost-benefit analysis?

Answer 26

where psychologists judge the cost of doing an experiment against the benefits it will have

Question 27

what’s an ethics committee?

Answer 27

a committee that assesses possible ethical issues and have to approve studies before they take place

Question 28

what are behavioural categories?

Answer 28

precisely defined and observable target behaviours a researcher wants to focus on

Question 29

strengths of behavioural categories

Answer 29

data collection is structured and objective however they must be clear and unambiguous

Question 30

weakness of behavioural categories

Answer 30

there shouldn’t be any behaviours that don’t fit into a category

Question 31

what’s continuous recording?

Answer 31

all instances of a target behaviour is recorded

Question 32

what’s event sampling?

Answer 32

counts the number of times a particular behaviour occurs
useful when target behaviour happens infrequently
doesn’t take into account the chronological order

Question 33

what’s time sampling?

Answer 33

records behaviour within a pre-established time frame

effective in reducing amount of observations made and considers the order of events

Question 34

what’s a questionnaire?

Answer 34

a list of predetermined questions the ppts answer so the researcher can establish peoples attitudes

Question 35

what are open questions

Answer 35

don’t have a fixed set of answers so ppts can answer in more detail

Question 36

what are closed questions?

Answer 36

questions with fixed answers ppts must choose from and provides numerical quantitative data

Question 37

strengths of questionnaires

Answer 37

gathers large amounts of data quickly
can be completed without the researcher being present
easy to analyse

Question 38

weaknesses of questionnaires

Answer 38

responses may not be truthful due to social desirability bias
may answer the same way throughout to finish quicker (response bias)