psychology research methods Flashcards

Question

what are the limitations of field experiments

Answer 1

- loss of control over confounding and extraneous variables - cause and effect relationships may be more difficult to establish - precise replication is often not possible - ethical issues- cant consent - may be an invasion of privacy

Answer 2

researcher measures the effects of iv and dv researcher has no control over the iv and cant change it

Answer 3

- produce opportunities that may not otherwise be undertaken - high external validity

Answer 4

- may only happen very rarely - limit the scope for generalising findings - pps may not be randomly allocated to experimental conditions - researcher may be less sure the iv affected the dv - may lack realism if conducted in a lab - demand characteristics may be an issue

Answer 5

have an iv that is based on existing difference between people iv cant be changed

Answer 6

- controlled conditions - replication

Answer 7

- cant randomly allocate pps to conditions - may be confounding experiments - iv is deliberately not changed - cant claim the iv has caused any observed change

Answer 8

refers to the large group of individuals that a particular researcher is interested in studying representative so can be generalised

Answer 9

sophisticated form of sampling all pps have an equal chance of being selected obtain complete list of the target population names on list assigned a number use of lottery method

Answer 10

every nth member of target population is selected sampling frame produced sampling system is allocated may begin from randomly determined start to reduce bias researcher works through sampling frame until sample is complete

Answer 11

sophisticated form of sample composition of sample reflects proportions of people in certain subgroups (strata) within target population researcher first identifies different strata proportions needed for the sample are worked out proportions that make up strata are selected using random sampling

Answer 12

decide to select anyone who happens to be willing and available takes the chance to ask whoever is around at the time of their study

Answer 13

involves pps selecting themselves to be part of the sample researcher may place an advert willing pps may raise their hand when researcher asks

Answer 14

STRENGTHS - potentially unbiased - confounding or extraneous variables should be equally divided between two groups - enhances internal validity WEAKNESSES - difficult - time consuming - may end up with a sample that is still unrepresentative - pps may refuse to take part

Answer 15

STRENGTHS - objective - researcher has no influence WEAKNESSES - time consuming - pps may refuse to take part

Answer 16

STRENGTHS - representative sample - designed to accurately reflect the composition of pop - generalisation of findings become possible WEAKNESSES - its not perfect - cant reflect all the ways that people are different - complete representation is not possible

Answer 17

STRENGTHS - convenient - much less costly in terms of time and money WEAKNESSES - suffer from two forms of bias - unrepresentative of tp - researcher has complete control over the selection of pps- may avoid people they dont like the look of (researcher bias)

Answer 18

STRENGTHS - easy - requires minimal input from researcher - less time consuming - ends up with pps who are more engaged WEAKNESSES - may attract a certain profile of a person- more likely to please the researcher - affect how far the findings can be generalised

Answer 19

arise when a conflict or dilemma exists between pps rights and researchers needs to gain valuable and meaningful finidng s conflict has implications for the safety and well being of pps

Answer 20

making pps aware of the aims of the research the procedures their rights and also what their data will be used for pps should make an informed judgement whether or not to take part without being coerced or feeling obliged may make the study meaningless because pps behaviour will not be natural as they know the aims of the study

Answer 21

deliberately misleading or withholding info from pps at any stage of the study pps cant be said to have been given informed consent occasions when deception can be justified if it does not cause the pps undue distress

Answer 22

pps should not be placed at any more risk than they would in their daily lives should be protected from physical and pyschological harm latter includes being made to feel embarrassed inadequate or being placed under undue stress or pressure important feature- pps being reminded of the fact that they have the right to withdraw from the investigation at any point

Answer 23

pps have the right to control info about themselves- right of privacy confidentiality- refers to our right to have any personal data protected right to privacy extends to area where the study took place such that institutions or geographical locations are not named

Answer 24

british psychological society set of ethical guidelines researcher has professional duty to observe these guidelines when conducting research guidelines are closely matched to ethical issues attempt to ensure all pps are treated with respect and consideration during each phase guidelines implemented by thics committees in research institutions who often use coft benefit approach to determine whether particular research proposals are ethically acceptable

Answer 25

pps should be issued with consent letter or form detailing all relevant info that might affect their decision to participate under 16s a signature of parental consent is required other ways to obtain consent

Answer 26

pps should be given a full debrief at the end of the study pps should be made aware of true aims of investigation and any details not supplied with during the study pps should be told what their data is going to be used for must be given the right to withdraw during the study and the right to withhold data may have natural concerns related to their performance should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal if pps subject to embarrassment or stress, should be offered counselling which researchers should provide

Answer 27

personal details are held which must be protected more usual to record no details usually refer to pps using numbers or initials standard practice briefing and debriefing pps reminded their data will be protected told data will not be shared with other researchers

Answer 28

rather than getting consent from pps themselves, a similar group of people are asked if study is acceptable if group agrees then consent of original pps is presumed

Answer 29

pps give their permission to take part in a number of different studies by consenting pps are effectively consenting to be deceived

Answer 30

pps are asked for their consent having already taken part in the study they may not have been aware of their participation or they may have been subject to deception

Answer 31

pilot study- small scale trial run of actual investigation involves handful pps in order to road test procedure and check investigation runs smoothly not just restricted to experimental studies helpful to try out questionnaire or interview questions in advance and remove or reword those that are ambiguous or confusing in observational studies pilot studies provides a way of checking coding systems before real investigation allows the researcher to identify any potential issues and to modify the design or procedure saving time and money in the long run

Answer 32

pps not told about the aim of the research at the beginning of the study other details must be may be kept from pps not revealed until the end of the study attempt to conrol condounding effects of demand characteristics

Answer 33

neither pps nor researcher who conducts study is aware of teh aims of investigation important feature of drug trials expectations cant unfluence pps behaviour

Answer 34

control- refers to the baseline for the purpose of comparison if experimental group is significantly greater than that of control group then the researcher conclude that the cause o fthis effect was the iv

Answer 35

take place in the setting or context where the target behaviour would usually occur all aspects of environment are free to vary

Answer 36

control certain aspects of the research situation some control over variables manipulating variables to observe effects and also control of confounding and extraneous variables

Answer 37

pps unaware they are the focus of the study their behaviour is observed in secret must be public and happening anyway for it to be ethical

Answer 38

pps know their behaviour is being observed have given informed consent beforehand

Answer 39

observer become part of the group they are studying

Answer 40

researcher remains separate from those they are studying records behaviour in a more objective manner

Answer 41

observational study- investigating problem of defining abnormality arranged 8 pseudopatients to present themselves complaining of fake symptoms of mental disorder all 8 were admitted and given diagnosis of schizophrenia each stopped pretending and observed daily life of patients patients were quicker to catch on than staff repeated writing behaviour and pacing the corridors was interpreted as a sign of anxiety normal behaviour by researchers were seen by staff to be symptomatic of mental disorder they had been labelled with

Answer 42

STRENGTHS - benefit of capturing what people actually do - people dont often act the same as they say they would - useful- give an insight into behaviour WEAKNESSES - observer bias - observers interpretation may be affected by their expectations - may be reduced by using more than one researcher - cant demonstrate casual relationships

Answer 43

STRENGTHS - high external validity - findings can be generalised - behaviour is studied within the environment where it would normally occur WEAKNESSES - replication of the investigation difficult - may be uncontrolled confounding extraneous variables - more difficult to judge any pattern of behaviour

Answer 44

STRENGTHS - confounding and extraneous variables may be less of a factor - replication of observation becomes easier WEAKNESSES - cant be readily applied to everyday life

Answer 45

STRENGTHS - removes demand characteristics - increases internal validity of data gathered WEAKNESSES - ethics may be questioned - may not want their behaviours noted down (right to privacy)

Answer 46

STRENGTHS - more ethically acceptable WEAKNESSES - knowledge pps have they are being observed may act as significant influence on their behaviour

Answer 47

STRENGTHS - researcher can experience the situation - gives increased insight into lives of the people being studied - increase external validity of the findings WEAKNESSES - researcher may come to identify too strongly with those they are studying - may lose objectivity - adopt local lifestyle when line between being researcher and being a pps becomes blurred

Answer 48

STRENGTHS - allow researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance from pps - less danger of adopting a local lifestyle WEAKNESSES - may lose valuable insight - too far removed from pps and behaviour they are studying

Answer 49

researcher writes down everything they see tends to produce accounts of behaviour rich in detail may be appropriate when observations are small in scale and involve few pps

Answer 50

simplified target behaviours that will become main focus of investigation using behavioural categories

Answer 51

target behaviour that has been broken up should be precisely defined and made observable and measurable researcher should ensure that they have included all the ways in which target behaviour may occur within their behavioural checklist

Answer 52

counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group

Answer 53

recording behaviour within a pre established time frame

Answer 54

STRENGTHS - involve use of behavioural categories that make the recording of data easier and more systematic - data produced more likely to be numerical- analysing and comparing behaviour observed is more straightforward

Answer 55

STRENGTHS - benefit from more richness and detail WEAKNESSES - harder to analyse data and record - greater risk of observer bias

Answer 56

should be clear observable measurable and self evident shouldnt require further interpretation ensure all possible forms of target behaviour are included should not be a dustbin category where many different behaviours are deposited should be exclusive and not overlap

Answer 57

STRENGTHS - useful when target behaviour happens infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was to be used WEAKNESSES - if too complex, observer may overlook important details

Answer 58

STRENGTHS - effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made WEAKNESSES - when behaviour is sampled it might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole

Answer 59

self report technique pre set list of written questions for pps to answer assess thoughts and feelings may be apart of experiment to assess dependent variable

Answer 60

doesnt have fixed range of answers respondents free to answer in any way they wish produce qualitative data may be difficult to analyse

Answer 61

fixed number of responses produce quantitative data easy to analyse may lack depth and detail

Answer 62

pre determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order conducted face to face

Answer 63

no set questions general aim that a certain topic will be discussed interaction tends to be free flowing interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate their answers

Answer 64

most likely to encounter in everyday life list of questions that have been worked out in advance interviewers free to ask follow up questions based on previous answers

Answer 65

STRENGTHS - cost effective - can gather large amounts of data quickly- can be distributed to large numbers of people - can be completed without the researcher being present- reduces the effort - usually straightforward to analyse - data lends itself to statistical analysis - comparisons between groups of people can be made using graphs and charts WEAKNESSES - responses given may not always be truthful - pps may be keen to present themselves in a positive light- influence their answers (social desirability bias) - produce response bias- respondents reply in similar ways- complete it too quickly and fail to read questions properly

Answer 66

STRENGTHS - straightforward to replicate - format reduces differences between interviewers WEAKNESSES - interviewers cant deviate from the topic or explain their questions - limit the richness of the data collected - limit unexpected information

Answer 67

STRENGTHS - more flexibility - more likely to gain insight into the worldview of interviewee - can build a rapport WEAKNESSES - lead to an increase of interviewer bias - analysis of data is not straightforward - researcher may have to sift through irrelevant info - drawing firm conclusions may be difficult - risk that interviewees may lie for reasons of social desirability

Answer 68

respondent indicates their agreement with a statement using a scale

Answer 69

respondent identifies value that represents their strength of feeling about particular topic

Answer 70

list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them

Answer 71

involves interview schedule- list of questions that interviewer intends to cover- should be standardised to reduce contaminating effect of interviewer bias interviewer will take notes throughout or record to be analysed later may involve a single pps and interviewer should conduct in a quiet room- increase likelihood interviewee will open up practice with neutral questions- make pps feel relaxed should remind them that answers will be treated in strictest confidence

Answer 72

refers to technical terms that are only familar to those within a specialised field or area

Answer 73

researchers attitude towards particular topic is clear from the phrasing guides respondent towards particular answer

Answer 74

double barrelled- contains two questions in one- respondents may agree with one half and not the other double negatives- may be hard to decipher

Answer 75

illustrates strength and direction of an association between two or more co variables plotted on scattergram one co variable represented on x axis and the other the y axis each point or dot on the graph is the x and y position of each co variable

Answer 76

positive correlation, negative correlations and zero correlations

Answer 77

experiment- researcher controls or manipulates iv to measure the effect on the dv correlation- there is no manipulation, cant establish cause and effect relationship

Answer 78

- useful preliminary tool for research - provide a precise and quantifiable measure of how two variables are related - may suggest ideas for possible future research - often used as a starting point to assess possible patterns between variables before researchers commit to experimental study - relatively quick and economical to carry out - no need for manipulation or controlled environment - data collected by others can be used - less time consuming

Answer 79

- studies can only tell us how variables are related but not why - cant demonstrate cause and effect relationships- dont know which is affecting which - could be another untested variable is causing the relationship- third variable problem - can be misused or misinterpreted - relationships between variables can be presented as casual when they arent

Answer 80

expressed in words- may take form of written description of thoughts feelings and opinions of pps

Answer 81

expressed numerically- may take form of individual scores from pps open to being analysed statistically can be converted into graphs charts etc

Answer 82

refers to original data that has been collected specifically for the purpose of the study arrives first hand from pps would be gathered by conducting an experiment

Answer 83

data that has been collected by someone else data already exists before researcher began their investigation already been subject to statistical testing and the significance is already known

Answer 84

refers to process in which a number of studies are identified which have investigated the same aims/ hypothesis results can be pooled together and a joint conclusion produced allows to create larger more varied sample and results can then be generalised across larger populations increasing validity can be prone to publication bias- may not select all relevant studies choosing to leave out those studies with negative or non significant results- conclusions will be biased because they only represent some of the relevant data

Answer 85

STRENGTHS - offers researcher richness of detail - more broader in scope - gives pps opportunity to more fully report feelings thoughts and opinions - greater external validity - more meaningful insight into pps worldview WEAKNESSES - difficult to analyse - tends not to lend itself to being summarised statistically- patterns and comparisons may be hard to identify - conclusions rely on subjective interpretations - may be subject to bias

Answer 86

STRENGTHS - relatively simple to analyse - comparisons between groups can be easily drawn - tends to be more objective - less open to bias WEAKNESSES - much narrower in meaning and detail - may fail to represent real life

Answer 87

STRENGTHS - fits the job - authentic data WEAKNESSES - requires time and effort on the part of the researcher - requires considerable planning prep resources

Answer 88

STRENGTHS - inexpensive - easily accessed requiring minimal effort WEAKNESSES - may be substantial variation in quality and accuracy of data - may be outdated or incomplete - content may not match researchers needs or objectives - may challenge validity of any conclusions

Answer 89

calculated by adding all values up and dividing this by the total number of scores there are most sensitive- more representative easily distorted by extreme values- doesnt represent the data overall

Answer 90

middle value in a data set when the scores are arranged from lowest to highest extreme scores doesnt affect it easy to calculate less sensitive lower and higher numbers are ignored- may be important

Answer 91

most frequently occurring value within a data set easy to calculate crude measure- not representative of the data as a whole

Answer 92

worked out by taking away the lowest value from the highest value and adding 1 adding 1- rounding may not give fair representation doesnt indicate whether most numbers are closely grouped around mean or spread out easy to calculate

Answer 93

single value that tells us how far scores deviate the larger the standard deviation the greater the dispersion much more precise includes all values within final calculation distorted by extreme value extreme values may not be revealed

Answer 94

can be represented visually used when data is divided into categories- discrete data bars are separate- denote dealing with separate conditions

Answer 95

bars touch each other- continuous data x axis equal sized intervals y axis represents frequency

Answer 96

depict associations either co variable occupies x and y axis each point corresponds to x and y position of co variables

Answer 97

frequency form bell shaped curve- symmetrical most people located in the middle area of the curve with very few at extreme ends mean median and mode occupy the midpoint tails never touch horizontal x axis as they are always theoretically possible

Answer 98

most distribution concentrated towards left resulting in long tail on the right mode remains at the highest point then median then mean

Answer 99

bulk of scores concentrated on the right resulting in long tail of scores on the left mean is pulled to the left then median then mode at highest point

psychology research methods Flashcards

(123 cards)