Research methods 1

Question 1

What is an alternate/ experimental hypothesis?

Answer 1

a clear, testable, precise statement that you wish to test which contains variables that have been operationalised.

Suggests there is a change

Question 2

what is a null hypothesis?

Answer 2

all results are obtained due to chance not the iv.

Question 3

What is a directional/ one tailed hypothesis? when is it used?

Answer 3

predicts direction change is expected to occur in eg bigger, smaller
used when previous research suggests and direction

Question 4

What is a non-directional/ two tailed hypothesis? when is it used?

Answer 4

predicts change but no specific direction eg effect, change
used when no previous research or previous research is contradictory

Question 5

what is operationalisation?

Answer 5

This term describes when a variable is defined by the researcher and a way of measuring that variable is developed for the research

Question 6

what is a lab experiment?
eg?

Answer 6

takes place in a highly controlled environment
eg loftus and plamers study of effect of leading qs on memory

Question 7

+ lab experiment

Answer 7

complete control of variables
forces pace of research
reliable (easy to replicate)
quantitative data
can use technical equptment

Question 8

negatives of lab experiment

Answer 8

loss of ecological validity
drawbacks of experimental design
demand characteristics
sampling bias
ethics

Question 9

what is a field experiment?
eg?

Answer 9

takes place in natural environment so reflects real life
eg pilliavans subway Samaritan study

Question 10

+ field experiment

Answer 10

can witness non biased behaviour
more valid- better reflection of real life

Question 11

negatives of field experiment

Answer 11

difficult to control variables
cant use as much technical equipment
cant control pace of research
not reliable (not easy to replicate)

Question 12

what is a natural experiment?
eg?

Answer 12

researching the aftermath of something that has already occurred
eg effects of tsunami on future mental health

Question 13

What is a quasi experiment?
eg?

Answer 13

researcher doesnt directly control iv but exploits naturally occurring differences
eg if iv is gender, this isnt technically an experimental method

Question 14

+ quasi experiment

Answer 14

reduces demand characteristics
lack of direct intervention
allows comparison between groups

Question 15

negatives of quasi experiment

Answer 15

loss of control over variables

Question 16

what is an extraneous/cofounding variable?

Answer 16

Extraneous- nuisance/ extra variables that affect the DV- things we know about eg situational/ppt variables, demand characteristics, social desirability, order effects, researcher bias

confounding variables- variables that change with the IV- cant be sure if its the IV or the CV that is causing the change

Question 17

name 6 extraneous variables
how to control

Answer 17

demand characteristics- changing behaviour to fit expectations

social desirability- changing behaviour to look good

investigator effect/ researcher bias- researcher somehow influences outcome eg through body lang or expectations

situational variables- outside influences eg time. control with standardisation (instructions, procedures etc same for each ppt)

order effects- boredom or fatigue. control with counterbalancing (ABBA technique- changes order of tasks each ppt uses in repeated measures) or randomisation (order of task etc decided by random method eg coin toss)

participant variables- difference between them eg age

Question 18

what is an experimental design?

Answer 18

way of organising participants into groups

Question 19

what is repeated measures?

Answer 19

using same participant in each condition

Question 20

+ repeated measures

Answer 20

controls individual differences
fewer particiapnts needed

Question 21

negatives of repeated measures

Answer 21

low validity
order effects

Question 22

what is independent measures?

Answer 22

using different participants in each condition.
may select itself eg age or gender

Question 23

+ independent measures

Answer 23

no order effects
more valid

Question 24

negatives of independent measures

Answer 24

reduced control of individual differences
need more participants

Question 25

what is matched pairs?

Answer 25

using similar but diff participants in each category eg twins

Question 26

+ matched pairs

Answer 26

can clearly see differences between them no order effects control of individual differences

Question 27

negatives of matched pairs

Answer 27

difficult to recruit so time consuming so expensive

Question 28

what is a naturalistic obs?

Answer 28

studying people in their natural environment without interfering

Question 29

what is a structured observation?

Answer 29

know in advance what you will look for- devise a checklist. quantitative data in form of tally

Question 30

what is event sampling?

Answer 30

keeping count each time behavior occurs

Question 31

what is time sampling?

Answer 31

note behaviours displayed at set time intervals eg every 20s

Question 32

what is an unstructured observation? when used? how to increase accuracy?

Answer 32

researcher records all behaviour. quantitative and qualitative used when dont know what to expect inter-rater reliability- 2 observers trained in same way and must meet 80% agreement

Question 33

what is a covert obs?

Answer 33

participants unaware theyre being observed

Question 34

what is an overt obs?

Answer 34

participants aware theyre being observed

Question 35

what is a participant obs?

Answer 35

researcher is part of action theyre observing

Question 36

+ structured obs

Answer 36

quantitative data analyse reliable (can be replicated)

Question 37

negatives of structured obs

Answer 37

researcher bias hard to decide what to look for miss behaviours not on list

Question 38

+ unstructured obs

Answer 38

good if dk what to expect wont miss anything

Question 39

negatives of unstructured obs

Answer 39

qualitative hard to record less specific purpose hard to record everyhting

Question 40

+ covert obs

Answer 40

reduces demand characteristics increase validity as no artificial behaviour

Question 41

negatives of covert obs

Answer 41

participants havent consented but in public anyway

Question 42

+ overt obs

Answer 42

more ethical -consent

Question 43

negatives of overt obs

Answer 43

demand characteristics reduce validity

Question 44

+ participant obs

Answer 44

in action so can see things you cant from far away

Question 45

negatives of participant obs

Answer 45

researcher bias may influence behaviour hard to see everything from middle difficult to make notes whilst in action

Question 46

what is self reporting? what needs to be done first?

Answer 46

asking participants questions through interviews or questionnaires need pilot studies to check for ambiguity and increase validity and reliability

Question 47

what are 4 types of question?

Answer 47

open- elaborate closed- forced to pick contingent- depend on previous answer Likert scaling- assess strength but use odd nos so people often pick middle

Question 48

why use a variety of q types in self report?

Answer 48

not bored gather diff types of data eg qualitative and quantitative

Question 49

what to avoid in questionnaires?

Answer 49

jargon emotive language leading qs double barrelled qs double negatives

Question 50

+ interviews

Answer 50

highly valid see body language- put them at ease so decrease demand characteristics can elaborate on qs

Question 51

+ structured interview

Answer 51

less researcher bias reliable (standard qs so can have multiple interviewers) valid, focused, targeted can ask set qs then others

Question 52

+ and - unstructured interview

Answer 52

+ flexible, follow up qs broader info more comfy- less demand characteristics _ less reliable( hard to replicate) and researcher bias

Question 53

negatives of interview

Answer 53

smaller sample size low reliability difficult to analyse can see and misjudge body lang demand characteristics and researcher bias

Question 54

+ questionnaire

Answer 54

quick, easy,cheap reliable ethical(consent) gather lots of data quantitative data Ask range of qs so engaging

Question 55

negatives of questionnaire

Answer 55

low validity (demand characterisics) social desirability lading questions- bias can control sample

Question 56

what is a corelation? what is a corelation coefficient?

Answer 56

the relationship btwen two variables tells you the strength of the relationship

Question 57

+ of correlations

Answer 57

useful starting point for futher research quick, easy,cheap

Question 58

negatives of correlations

Answer 58

dont explain why it happens validity flawed if method of measurment is poor

Question 59

what is random sampling? + and -

Answer 59

all members of target pop have equal chance of being chosen + no researcher bias equal chance of selection - difficult to access list of target pop may not be representative time consuming people picked might not have consented

Question 60

what is stratified sampling? + and -

Answer 60

target pop divided into subsets and random sample taken from subsets + more representative free from researcher bias - difficult to get list of target pop time consuming subsets may not represent how people are diff

Question 61

what is opportunity/convenience sampling? + and -

Answer 61

selecting anyone available from target pop + quick, easy, convenient - researcher bias not representative

Question 62

what is self selected/ volunteer sampling? + and -

Answer 62

participants volunteer sometimes not on purpose eg passersby + simple and quick willing to engage - demand characteristics participants similar eg extroverted so not represntative ppts may have ulterior motive eg in schaffer and emmersons study, mothers may just want reassurance of their parenting

Question 63

what is systematic sampling? +and -

Answer 63

picked from list at fixed intervals + no researcher bias - might as well do random sample time consuming participants may not consent

Question 64

what is a snowball sample? + and -

Answer 64

getting to a hidden population + representative find hidden pop no researcher bias - may endanger participants difficult to find hidden pop less control

Question 65

what is reliability? interrater reliability test retest

Answer 65

consistency of test/ procedure would 2 people come to same conclusion with 80% concordance would results be consistent in a second test

Question 66

what is validity? what are the 5 types?

Answer 66

something being valid and comparable to real life face validity-would common sense tell us it would work predictive validity- predicts future performance w some accuracy concurrent validity-high concurrent validity is where there is close agreement between the data produced by the new test compared to the established test. Close agreement is indicated if the correlation between the two sets of data produced by the two tests exceeds +0.8. ecological validity- findings generalized beyond lab temporal validity- results valid in past but not now

Question 67

what is primary data? + and -

Answer 67

data collected directly by researcher + more up to date more accurate conrol over quality and accuracy - expensive time consuming researcger bias

Question 68

what is secondary data? + and -

Answer 68

data that already exists but is analysed by researcher + cheap, quick, easy historical, comparable data benefit from pervious researchers expertise - may be inaccurate or irrelevant no control over quality or accuracy

Question 69

what is meta analysis? what is triangulation?

Answer 69

combining primary and secondary to come to overall conclusion looks for similarities and differences. combines strengths of both linked to concept of triangulation which improves reliability and validity by using more than 1 research method or source of data

Question 70

what is interval data?

Answer 70

Evenly spaced interval between each of the values eg minuets

Question 71

what is ordinal data?

Answer 71

scores placed in rank order

Question 72

what is nominal data?

Answer 72

frequency

Question 73

what are the measures of central tendency? + and -

Answer 73

mode-most frequently occuring value +not affected by extreme variables, easy to calculate _ doesnt take all values into account, may not be a mode median- middle value + not affected by extreme value, more representative _ ignores other values, extreme values can be useful, just numerical mean- arithmetic average + takes all values into account, more general and overall impression _affected by extremes, not representative as easly distorted

Question 74

what are measures of dispertion? what are they?

Answer 74

examine variability in data set help us understand if data is similar or diff range- over how many numbers distribution is spread standard deviation- how far each score is from mean interquartile range- subtract Q1 from Q3 range+ mode standard deviation+ mean Interquartile range+ median

Question 75

on which graphs is the x axis continuous? discrete?

Answer 75

continuous-histogram, line graph(frequency polygon) discrete- bar chart

Question 76

what is normal distribution? what are characteristics of the curve?

Answer 76

definition - bell shaped - symmetrical - mean, median, mode all on same point - two tails never reach horizontal axis

Question 77

what are the 4 types of distribution? what do they look like?

Answer 77

normal- bell shaped positive/right skew- coming towards you negative/ left skew- going away from you bi-modal- camel

Question 78

what are orders of magnitude?

Answer 78

used to make up very approximate comparisons and reflect very large differences

Question 79

what are ethics? what are the BPS guidelines?

Answer 79

standards of conduct distinguishing between right and wrong Deception Protection from harm Confidentially Withdrawal Debriefing

Question 80

what is peer review? what 4 things can be done?

Answer 80

evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to the producers of the work. maintain standards of quality, improve performance and provide credibility 1) unconditionally accept 2) accept but ask to improve (most common) 3) reject but encourage resubmission 4) reject outright

Question 81

evaluate peer review

Answer 81

anonymity- reviewers are anonymous so may use this to unfairly criticize if hold grudge publication bias- file drawer effect. only produce statistically sig findings burying groundbreaking research- research that falsifies existing theories will find it hard to be published

Question 82

what are the implications of psychological research for the economy?

Answer 82

how gov can use findings and how useful they are 1) attachment research- Bowlbys WHO report in 1950s stated babies needed mum for healthy psychological development but later evidence disproved this so mums went back to work 2) psychopathology research- to do with treatment and ability to work eg therapy initially more expensive than drug but get back to work sooner 3) memory research- 4) forensic psychology research-

Question 83

what are inferential statistics?

Answer 83

discoveringif results are statistically significant. 5% or 1/20 or o.o5 chance that it is due to chance. express in terms of null- accepting or rejecting

Question 84

what is a type 1 error? type 2?

Answer 84

type 1- false positive. not cautious enough. rejecting null when shouldn't type 2- false negative. being over cautious. accepting null when shouldn't

Question 85

describe the sign test

Answer 85

1) add up no of time least frequent sign appears ( doesnt matter if + or - as long as all that are same have same sign) this value is s 2) add no of participants (ignoring no changers) this value is n see if hypothesis is 1 or 2 tailed check critical value table for 1 or 2 tailed at the value of n 3) if our value of s is less than or equal to the value in the table, it is statistically significant and we can ignore the null. vice versa

Question 86

describe how you would obtain a stratified sample (4)

Answer 86

- identify strata/sub-groups in their population, eg the four different schools - calculate the required proportion from each stratum based on the proportion in the population - select sample at random from each school/stratum/sub-group. - use a random selection method, eg assign each student a number then use a computer, calculator or random number table to select specified number of numbers between 0 and X (or hat method).

Question 87

how to match ppts and assign to groups

Answer 87

1 mark for each of the following: * explanation of how the participant variable will be measured, eg participants could be paired together for happiness using the initial happiness questionnaire OR participants could be paired together for the type/frequency of sport they usually participate in by asking them to complete a sports survey * participants with the two highest scores are paired, then the next two highest score are paired and so on until all participants are paired (10 pairs) * one participant from each pair would be randomly allocated to a different condition of the experiment (so that there were 10 participants in each group).