research

Question 1

What is a directional hypothesis?

Answer 1

Participants A will be better at DV than ps B

Question 2

Non directional hypothesis…

Answer 2

There will be a significant difference

Question 3

What does operationalise mean?

Answer 3

You make variables clear and measurable, this is important to make variables in a form that can be tested

Question 4

Null hypothesis

Answer 4

There will be no difference

Question 5

What is a situational variable?

Answer 5

aspects of the research situation that may influence the DV

Question 6

What are experimenter variables?

Answer 6

Effects of the experimenters expectations which are communicated to the ps intentionally or unintentionally

Question 7

What are participant variables

Answer 7

Aspects of the ps characteristics which might influence the DV

Question 8

What are confounding variables?

Answer 8

Variable that is not the IV but varies systematically, therefore may cause the DV to change

Question 9

How might experimenters control the effects of demand characteristics?

Answer 9

Double blind techniques, involve confederates that can help control the situation

Question 10

What is order effect?

Answer 10

Extraneous Variable arising from the order in which conditions are presented e.g fatigue effect

Question 11

What is counterbalancing?

Answer 11

An experimental technique used to overcome order effects, ensures each condition is tested in equal amounts

Question 12

Lab experiment

Answer 12

Experiment carried out in controlled setting

Strengths- high internal validity
Weaknesses- low ecological validity

Question 13

Field experiment

Answer 13

Controlled experiment conducted OUTSIDE a lab , IV is still manipulated by experimenter

Strengths- higher ecological validity and realism, more natural and representative
Weaknesses- less control of extraneous variables and more time consuming and have ethical issues as some may not be aware they are being observed

Question 14

Natural experiment

Answer 14

Investigates relationship between IV and DV in natural environment

Strengths- allows research where IV can’t be manipulated for ethical or practical reasons, high ecological validity

Weaknesses- casual conclusions can’t be drawn because IV is not changed there may be individual differences

Question 15

Quasi experiment

Answer 15

IV is naturally occurring but DV may be experimented in a lab

Strengths- allows comparison between types of ppl

WeAknesses- participants may be aware they are being studied
DV may be artificial reducing ecological validity

Question 16

What is independent groups?

Answer 16

Two groups are used, one for each condition

Strengths- only requires one set for one condition

Weaknesses- researcher cannot control the effects of p variables

Question 17

Matched participants

Answer 17

Two groups are matched to be as similar as possible

Strengths- lower risk of demand characteristics
Fewer ps variables
Weaknesses- very time consuming, impossible to control all ps variables

Question 18

Repeated measures

Answer 18

One group of ps used in both conditions

Strengths- requires few ps, reduces effects of individual differences

Weaknesses- order effects may occur and demand characteristics

Question 19

Internal reliability

Answer 19

assesses consistency of results, control and realism

Question 20

external reliability

Answer 20

the extent to which a measure varies from one use to another, generalisation to other situations

Question 21

Why might and experiment often lack ecological validity?

Answer 21

It may not be appropriate to generalise it, especially to every day life

Question 22

What is the issue with informed consent and how can we deal with it?

Answer 22

May give away aims

Retrospective consent

Question 23

Issue with confidentiality and privacy

Answer 23

Difficult to guarantee because it’s unpredictable

Can stop study

Question 24

Naturalistic observation

Answer 24

Everything is left as it is normally in an everyday setting

High in ecological validity as the participants are unaware

Realistic

May not have consent and little control

Question 25

Controlled observation

Answer 25

Researcher regulates aspects of the environment, useful for focusing on certain behaviour Unnatural environment Lacks validity as behaviour is less natural

Question 26

Covert observation

Answer 26

Participants are unaware therefore it's more natural, however there are ethical issues

Question 27

Overt observation

Answer 27

Participants are aware that they are being observed, this is less natural Awareness is not an issue

Question 28

Participant observation

Answer 28

Participant is part of a group being observed, may provide better insights Issues of participant awareness

Question 29

Non participant observation

Answer 29

More objective, not part of a group

Question 30

Observation design: structured

Answer 30

A system is used enabling the observer to be more objective rather than being overwhelmed by information

Question 31

Unstructured design

Answer 31

Useful when observing behaviour for the first time, observer records everything

Question 32

Behavioural checklist

Answer 32

Dividing a behaviour into a subset of specific and operationalised behaviour

Question 33

Time sampling design

Answer 33

An observational technique in which the observer records behaviour in a given time frame

Question 34

Event sampling

Answer 34

Observational technique in which a count is kept of the number of times a certain behaviour occurs

Question 35

Self report technique

Answer 35

Any method which states their opinions on thoughts for example with questionnaires or interviews Access to what people think and feel lacks validity as some people don't know what they feel

Question 36

Structured interviews

Answer 36

Pre determined question, face to face Can be easily repeated so answers can be easily compared so easier to analyse May be interviewer bias

Question 37

Unstructured interview

Answer 37

New questions are developed throughout the interview More information can be obtained than in structured Require interviewers with more skills therefore are more expensive to produce

Question 38

Questionnaires

Answer 38

Designed to collect information about a topic, they are always predetermined It can be distributed to a large number of people quickly and cheaply Respondents may be more willing to give personal information only people who have the time fill them in, answers may not be truthful

Question 39

Closed questions

Answer 39

Questions that have a predetermined range of answers Answers are easy to analyse Forced to select answers that don't reflex their real thoughts

Question 40

Open questions

Answer 40

Respondents provide their own answers Can gain new insights Less literate respondents may find it difficult to answer

Question 41

Qualitative data

Answer 41

Non numerical data

Question 42

quantitative data

Answer 42

Data in numbers

Question 43

What is a case study?

Answer 43

Depth study on one person or a small group, they are longitudinal meaning they occur over long periods of time

Question 44

strengths of case studies.

Answer 44

Provides detailed info Provides insight for further research Permits investigation of otherwise impractical or unethical situations

Question 45

Weaknesses of case studies

Answer 45

Can't generalise to a wider population Researchers own subjective feeling may influence the case study Difficult to replicate Time consuming

Question 46

What is dispersion?

Answer 46

How 'spread out' data is

Question 47

What does standard deviation tell you?

Answer 47

On average how close to the mean all of your scores are, the higher the standard deviation the more variation you have in your data

Question 48

Primary data

Answer 48

Researcher has control over data Expensive process

Question 49

Secondary data

Answer 49

It's simpler to access someone's data if cheaper and less time is needed Data may not fit the needs of the study