Research Methods Flashcards
(135 cards)
What is the Aim in research?
This is a general statement describing the purpose of an investigation.
What is a hypothesis?
It states what you believe to be true. It’s a prediction, a precise and testable statement of the relationship between 2 variables.
What is a variable?
Anything that can change.
What are the 2 variables involved when a hypothesis is operationalised?
Independent variable (IV).
Dependent variable (DV).
What is the IV?
Variable that the researcher manipulates or alters.
What is the DV?
Measurement taken by the researcher.
What affects what? (DV/IV)
IV affects DV.
What is a operationalised hypothesis?
Written in a measurable form, where the variables are precise.
What are 2 types of hypothesis?
Directional (one-tailed).
Non-directional (two-tailed).
Define what’s a one-tailed hypothesis.
It states the direction of the predicted difference between 2 conditions or 2 groups of participants.
Define what’s a two-tailed hypothesis.
It predicts that there will be a difference between 2 conditions or groups of participants, without stating the direction.
What is an Extraneous Variable (EV)?
Variables that might interfere with the IV/DV that should be controlled or removed.
Give some examples of situational EVs.
Temperature, noise, lightening, room, time of the day.
Give some examples of participants EVs.
IQ, caffeine intake generally, sleep, age.
What are Confounding variables (CV)?
EVs that couldn’t be or weren’t controlled and DID affect the DV.
Explain what are Demand Characteristics.
Example of an EV.
Clue in the investigation which may help the participant guess the aim of the study.
“Please-U-effect” “Screw-U-effect”
What are Investigator effects?
Example of a CV.
Cues from an investigator that encourage participants to behave in a particular way; Participants behave in the way that the investigator was expecting.
Define what’s Randomisation.
Use of chance wherever possible to reduce the influence of the researcher on the design of the investigation. Attempt to control investigator effects.
What is Standardisation?
When procedures are standardised, all participants are in the same environment, they have the same information and experience…
Which 3 things can standardisation include?
- Briefing
- Standardised instructions
- Debrief
Which are the 3 main ways to allocate participants in an experiment?
- Independent measures
- Repeated measures
- Matched pairs
Explain what is an independent measures design?
It involves using different people in each condition.
Give 2 strengths of Independent Measures.
- Demand characteristics and order effects are less likely to affect the results.
As each group will have to do 1 condition in the experiment it won’t affect the results. This is because participants won’t have improved their skills in the first condition for the 2nd one.
This adds validity as the results will be more accurate as they aren’t impacted by order effects or demand characteristics. - It’s quicker for a psychologist to complete. Both conditions are done at the same time so the researcher could do different conditions at one time and have a wider set of results, increasing the accuracy.
This adds validity as the results will be more accurate due to larger set of data.
What are 2 weaknesses of Independent Measures?
- Individual differences are more likely to affect the results. As there are different people in each group, individual differences will affect the DV, such as age, IQ…
This questions the validity as there are other factors that are difficult to control, this can be overcome by RANDOM ALLOCATION. - More participants are needed. RESEARCHESRS will have to invest more money to recruit more participants. This also makes it more time consuming. This questions the validity as it takes more time and money to carry out.