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Psychology > research methods part 3 > Flashcards

research methods part 3 Flashcards

1
Q

what is a co-variable

A

the two measured variables in a correlational analysis, the variables must be continuous

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2
Q

what is a continuous variable

A

a variable that can take on any value within a certain range

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3
Q

what is a correlation

A

determining the extent of an association between two variables, co-variables may not be linked at all (o correlation), they may increased together (positive correlation), or as one co-variable increases the other decreases (negative correlation)

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4
Q

what is a correlation coefficient

A

a number between -1 and _1, that tells us how closely the co-variables in a correlational analysis are associated

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5
Q

what is a curvillinear correlation

A

a non linear relationship between co variables

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6
Q

what is an intervening variable

A

a variables that comes between two other variables which is used to explain the association between those two variables,

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7
Q

what is linear correlation

A

a systematic relationship between co-variables that is defined by a straight line

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8
Q

what is a scattergram

A

a graphical representation of the association between two sets of scores

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9
Q

what is significance

A

a statistical term indicating that the research findings are sufficiently strong for us to accept the research hypothesis under test

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10
Q

what is a correlational hypothesis

A

This states the expected association between teh co-variables

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11
Q

What is a scattergram used for

A
  • illustrates a correlation
  • for each indiciaul we obtain two scores which are used to plot one dot for that individual, the co-variables determine the X and Y position
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12
Q

describe the correlation coefficient

A
  • the correlation coefficient is a measure of the extent of correlation that exists between co-variables
  • it is a number
  • maximum value of 1
  • 1 is a perfect positive correlation and -1 is a perfect negative correlation
  • some correlation coefficients are written with a minus sign and some with a positive sign this shows us if the correlation is positive or negative
  • the coefficient shows us how closely related the co-variables are
  • then use table of significance to find out if the coefficient is strong enough
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13
Q

Evaluation of correlation: what is the difference between correlations and experiments

A
  • the unique feature of an experiment is that the investigator changes the IV to effect the DV without this chnage no casual conclusions can be drawn
  • in a correlation the variables are simply measured and there is no deliberate change is made, therefore no conclusion can be made about one co-variable causing the other - causal conclusion
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14
Q

evaluation of correlation: What are the limitations

A
  • causal conclusions - problem because a misinterpretation of correlations may mean that people design programmes for improvement based on false premises,
  • there are intervening variables that can explain why the co-variables being studied are linked
  • correlation may lack internal/external validity
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15
Q

Evaluation of correlation: strengths

A
  • correlations have their own special value - used to investigate trends, if correlation is significant then further investigation is justified
  • if correlation is not significant then you can probably rule out a casual relationship
  • can be easily repeated again so results and findings can be confirmed
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16
Q

what is effect size

A

a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables

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17
Q

what is meta-analysis

A

a researcher looks at the findings from a number of different studies and produces a statistic to represent the overall effect

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18
Q

what is a review

A

a consideration of a number of studies that have investigated the same topic in order to reach a general conclusion about a particular hypothesis

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19
Q

describe what happens in a systematic review

A
  • a review involves identifying a aim the searching for research studies that have addressed similar aims
  • done by looking through various search databases which hold details of research published in academic journals
  • decision is made about the search criteria, this decides what kind of study will be included or excluded for example a review of attachment might include studies that have used the strange situation and infants under one year of age
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20
Q

describe what happens in a meta-analysis

A
  • technique produces an effect size as teh dependent variable in order to assess overall sides
  • an example would be the 53 studies that related to the cognitive interview which demonstrated the effectiveness of the CI compared to standard interviewing techniques, the effect size is 34% which means that of all the studies the CI technique improved recall by 34% when compared to using SI interview technique
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21
Q

evaluation of meta-analysis

A
  • results from a group of studies rather than just from one study can increase the validity of the conclusions drawn because they are based on a wider sample of participants
  • often studies in a review produce contradictory reviews whereas a meta-analysis allows us to reach an overall conclusion by having a statistic to to represent findings of different studies
  • research designs in different studies may also vary considerably which means that the studies are not truly comparable, putting them together may not always by appropriate and thus conclusions are not always valid
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22
Q

what should graph and tables be

A
  • they should clearly show the findings from a study
  • there should be a short but informative title
  • in a graph both axes should be clearly labelled, the X axis goes across the page and is the independent variable, and the Y axis is usually frequency
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23
Q

what is a bar chart

A

a bar chart is a graph used to represent the frequency of data, the categories on the x-axis have no fixed order and there is no true zero

24
Q

what is a histogram

A

type of frequency distribution in which the number of scores in each category of continuous data are represented by vertical columns, there is a true zero and no spaces between the bards

25
Q

what is a negative skewed distribution

A

most of the scores are bunched towards the right, the mode is to the right of the mean because the mean is affected by the extreme scores tailing off to the left

26
Q

what is a normal distribution

A

a symmetrical bell-shaped frequency distribution, this distribution occurs when certain variables are measured such as IQ or the life of a light bulb, these events are distributed in a way that most of the scores are clustered close to the mid-point, the mean, median and mode are a the mid-point

27
Q

what is a positive skewed distribution

A

most of the scores are bunched towards the left, the mode is to the left of the mean because the mean is affected by the extreme scores tailing off to the right

28
Q

what is skewed distribution

A

a distribution is skewed if one tail is longer than another, signifying that there are a number of extreme values to one side or the other of the mid-score

29
Q

when are tables used

A
  • the measurements collected in a research study are referred to as raw data,
  • set out in a table and summarised using measures of central tendency and dispersion
30
Q

when is bar chart used

A
  • height of each bar represents the frequency of each item
  • bar charts are suitable for data that is not continuous
  • space is left between each bar to indicate the lack of continuity
31
Q

when is histogram used

A
  • histogram is similar to a bar chart except that the area within the bars must be proportional to the frequencies represented, this means that the vertical axis must start at zero
  • horizontal axis must be continuous
  • gaps between the bars
32
Q

when is a line graph used

A
  • continuous data on the x-axis and there is a dot to mark the middle top of where each bar would be and the dot is connected by a line
33
Q

when is a scattergram used

A
  • used when doing correlational analysis
34
Q

describe normal distribution

A
  • bell shaped cruve
  • predicted distribution when considering an equally likely set of results
  • for any set of data that is normally distributed 34.13% of the people lie within one standard deviation below the mean and 34.13% lie within one standard deviation above the mean
  • 95.44% of people lie within two standard deviations so only 4.56% lie in the area beyond this
35
Q

describe quantitative data

A
  • quantity
  • deals with numbers
  • data which can be measured
  • psychologists develop measures of psychological variables
  • looking at averages and differences between groups
  • dependent variable in an experiment is quantitative
  • closed questionnaires collect quantitative data
  • observational study tally of behavioural categories is quantitative
36
Q

describe qualitative data

A
  • quality
  • deals with descriptions
  • data that is observed but not measured
  • observing people through the messages they produce and they way they act
  • concerned with attitudes, beliefs, fears and emotions
37
Q

evaluation of quantitative data

A
  • quantitative data is easy to analyse using descriptive statistics and statistical tests, this enables conclusions to be easily drawn
  • data may oversimplify reality, for example a questionnaire with closed questions may force people to tick answers that don’t really represent their feelings, therefore conclusions are meaningless
38
Q

evaluation of qualitative data

A

qualitative data provides detailed information which can provide unexpected insights into thoughts and behaviours because the answers are not restricted by previous expectations
- of course the complexity makes it more difficult to analyse data and draw conclusions

39
Q

what is primary data

A

information observed or collected directly from first hand experience

40
Q

what is secondary data

A

information used in a research study that was collected by some else or for a purpose other than the current one, for example published data or data collected in the past

41
Q

what is qualitative data

A

information in words that cannot be counted or quantified, qualitative data can be turned into quantitative data by placing them in categories and counting frequency

42
Q

what is quantitative data

A

information that represents how much or how long or how many

43
Q

describe primary data

A

primary data is the information observed or collected from first hand experience

  • data collected by the researcher for the study that is being undertaken
  • collection would involve designing the study gaining ethical approval, piloting the study, recruiting and testing participants and finally analysing the data collected and drawing conclusions
  • may be observational or involve just a question
44
Q

describe secondary data

A
  • information that was collected for a purpose other than the current one, research could use data collected by themselves but for a different study or collected by another researcher
  • might make use of government statistics or data held by a hospital or other institution
  • correlation study often uses secondary data and review studies use secondary data conducting a meta-analysis on such data
45
Q

evaluate primary data

A
  • strength of generating primary data is the control the researcher has over the data
  • data collection can be designed so it fits the aims and hypothesis of the study
  • limitation is that it is very lengthy and therefore expensive process, simply designing a study takes a lot of time and then the time spent recruiting participants, conducting the study and analysising the data
46
Q

evaluate secondary data

A
  • simpler and cheaper to access data, less time and equipment is needed
  • data might have been subjected to statistical data and then it is known whether it is significant
  • limitation is that from some studies the data may not fit the needs of the study
47
Q

when do you use the sign test

A
  • use it when looking at paired or related data
  • two pieces of related data could come from a repeated measures design
  • the sign test can also be used with matched pairs design because the participants are paired and therefore count for the purposes of statsitcs as one person tested twice
48
Q

what is the sign test

A

the sign test is a statistical test to determine the significance of a sample of related items of data

49
Q

what is peer review

A

the practise of using independent experts to assess the quality and valditiy of scientific research and academic reports

50
Q

what are the 3 main processes of peer review

A
  1. allocation of research finding
    - research is paid for by various government and charitable bodies, the overall budget for science research in the year 2015-16 was set at 5.8bn, organisations spending this money had a duty to spend it responsibly, therefore public bodies such as the medical research council require reviews to enable them to decide which research is likely to be worthwhile
  2. publication of research in academic journals and books
    - scientific or academic journals provide scientists with the opportunity to share teh results of their research, the peer review process has only been used in such journals since the middle of the twentieth centry as a means of preventing incorrect or faulty data entering the public domain, prior to the idea of peer review research was simply published and it was assumed that the burden of proof lay with opponents of any new ideas
  3. assessing the research rating of university departments
    - all university science departments are expected to conduct research and this is assessed in terms of quality, future funding for the department depends on receiving good ratings from the REF peer review
51
Q

evaluation of peer review

A
  • finding an expert - it inst always possible to review a research proposal or report, this means that poor research may be passed because the reviewer doesn’t really understand it
  • anonymity - anonymity is usually practices so that reviewers can be honest and objective, it may have the opposite effect if reviewers use the veil of anonymity to settle old scores or bury rival research, research is conducted in a social world where people compete for research grants and jobs and make friends and enemies, social relationships affect objectivity, some journals now favour open reviewing
  • publication bias - journals tend to prefer to publish positive results possibly because editors want research that has important implications in order to increase the standing of their jounrla this results in bias in published research that in turn elads to a misperception of the true facts. Furthermore it appears that journals also avoid publishing straight replications of a study
  • preserving the status quo - peer review results in a preference for research that goes with existing theory rather than dissenting or unconvetional world,
  • cannot deal with already published research - results remain in the public view even if they have been shown to be fraudulent or simply the result of poor research practices therefore peer review does not ensure that all data we are exposed to is valid
52
Q

describe parts that make up economic psychology

A

irrational thinking
avaliability heuristic
the framing effect
real world influence

53
Q

What is irrational thinking (economic psychology)

A
  • irrational thinking is in depression but it isnt just depressed people who think irrationally all of us do,
    0- dnaiel kahneman has led the field of research into everyday irrational thinking and uncovered and explained many fascinating aspects of this behaviour
54
Q

what is avaliability heurisitic (economic psychology)

A
  • people typically overestimate the likelihood of dying in a plane accident this is because we often read about these accidents therefore they are more avaliable when making a probability judgement about the likelihood of begin in such an accident
  • the availability heuristic is the rule that the likelihood of selecting something is related to its availability
55
Q

what is the framing effect (economic psychology)

A
  • another example of irrational thinking is that peoples decisions differ depending on whether a choice is presented as a gain or loss,
  • Tversky and Kahneman asked partcipants to choose between two treatments that were going to be used with 600 people suffering from a deadly disease, two groups of partcipants were given teh same facts about the success and failure rates of teh treatments but they were framed differently
  • one group of partcipatns were told that reatment A would result in 400 deaths but treatment B would have a 33% chance that no one would die and a 66% chance that all 600 would die
    a second group were told that treatment A would save 200 lives whereas treatment B has a 33% chance of saving everyone and a 66% chance of savind no one
  • the first example is postiive framing and 72% selected treatment A when partcipants were given teh same scenario but in a negative frame only 22% selected treatment A
56
Q

what is real world influence (economic psychology)

A

understanding the systematic biases caused by irrational thinking is important in improving our personal lives as well as fabric of our society,
- Kahneman irrational thinking as been applied to decision making, treatment of mental health, fiancail advice and governemnt programmes

Psychology (37 decks)

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