research methods

Question 1

define alternative hypothesis.

Answer 1

a prediction that states what the effect of the IV will be on the dependent variable investigation

Question 2

define null hypothesis.

Answer 2

a statement that predicts there will be no effect of the IV on the DV

Question 3

what are the 2 types of alternative hypothesis and define them.

Answer 3

• directional-difference predicted or relationship and the direction of the effect
• non-directional-difference predicted or relationship but no direction specified

Question 4

writing frame for directional hypothesis.

Answer 4

there will be higher number of/more…who/when…than…who/when….

Question 5

writing frame for non-directional hypothesis.

Answer 5

there will be a difference in the…between…and…

Question 6

what is the operational definition?

Answer 6

giving clear definitions of what these variables are and exactly how we are going to measure them e.g. a score out of 20

Question 7

what are the 7 extraneous or confounding variables?

Answer 7

• situational variables
• participant variables
• investigator effects
• social desirability
• the Hawthorne effect
• demand characteristics
• order effects

Question 8

define situational variables.

Answer 8

outside influences on the experiment e.g. time of day,weather,noise,type of room

Question 9

define participant variables.

Answer 9

individual differences between participants e.g. IQ, age,gender,social class,fitness etc

Question 10

define investigator effects.

Answer 10

any conscious or subconscious bias caused by the investigator e.g. giving ratings based on opinion

Question 11

define social desirability.

Answer 11

when participants change their behaviours or answers to conform to social norms

Question 12

define the Hawthorne effect.

Answer 12

when participants change their behaviour when they know they are being observed

Question 13

define demand characteristics.

Answer 13

when participants pick up cues from the situation during an experiment, try to guess the aim and modify their behaviour

Question 14

define order effects.

Answer 14

effects that occur in a repeated measures design, participants behaviour is affected by the order they experience the conditions

Question 15

what are the 4 controls for extraneous or confounding variables?

Answer 15

• randomisation
• standardisation
• random allocation
• counterbalancing

Question 16

define randomisation

Answer 16

the use of chance in order to control the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of conditions

Question 17

define standardisation

Answer 17

using the exact same formalised procedure in a research study

Question 18

define random allocation

Answer 18

an attempt to control for PARTICIPANT VARIABLES in an independent group design, ensures each participant has the same chance as being in one conditions any other

Question 19

define counterbalancing

Answer 19

an attempt to control for ORDER EFFECTS in a repeated measures design :half participants in one order and the other half in the opposite order

Question 20

what is repeated measures?(CV)

Answer 20

all the participants do all conditions

Question 21

what is independent groups?(CV)

Answer 21

half of the participants do one condition and the other half do another

Question 22

what is matched pairs?(CV)

Answer 22

participants are pretested for a characteristic and matches with someone with similar characteristic

Question 23

what are single and double blind trials?

Answer 23

(single) the participant doesn’t know what group they belong to
(double) the participant and experimenter doesn’t know what group they belong to

Question 24

what does deceiving help control?

Answer 24

social desirability

Question 25

what is a lab experiment?

Answer 25

taken place in controlled setting | researcher manipulates IV and measures DV

Question 26

what is a field experiment?

Answer 26

takes place in a natural setting e.g. town centre | researcher manipulates IV and measures DV

Question 27

what is a natural experiment?

Answer 27

natural environment | IV has not been manipulated

Question 28

what is a quasi experiment?

Answer 28

investigation where two groups are compared based off a characteristic about them.

Question 29

what is the difference between natural and quasi experiment?

Answer 29

in quasi IV selected by the researcher whereas natural IV occurs naturally

Question 30

strengths and weaknesses of lab experiments.

Answer 30

``` STRENGTHS🙂 -easy replication-standardised-increases reliability - WEAKNESSES😠 -tasks often lack mundane realism(real world activities) -high chance of demand characteristics due to ppts knowing they're being tested

Question 31

strengths and weaknesses of field experiments.

Answer 31

STRENGTHS🙂 -high ecological validity(people behave more natural) -reduced demand characteristics WEAKNESSES😠 -lack of control of extraneous variables e.g. situational -impractical-time consuming and expensive -ethical issues(consent)

Question 32

strengths and weaknesses of natural experiments.

Answer 32

``` STRENGTHS🙂 -excellent research opportunities -reduced demand characteristics WEAKNESSES😠 -random allocation not possible -small sample size-generalisation of results can be difficult ```

Question 33

strengths and weaknesses of quasi experiments.

Answer 33

STRENGTHS🙂 -can be tested under controlled conditions WEAKNESSES😠 often artificial-results may be low in ecological validity

Question 34

what is systematic sampling?

Answer 34

target population is listed and ordered and every nth person is selected to be in sample

Question 35

what is stratified sampling?

Answer 35

population chosen by age, gender, ethnicity e.g

Question 36

what are all the types of sampling?

Answer 36

- random - systematic - stratified - opportunist - volunteer

Question 37

pros and cons of random sampling?

Answer 37

pros-individuals all have equal chance of being selected -eliminates sampling/researcher bias cons-requires a lot of time to conduct

Question 38

pros and cons of systematic sampling?

Answer 38

pros-avoid researcher bias | cons-hard to achieve due to costs and time taken to select a set of participants

Question 39

pros and cons of stratified sampling?

Answer 39

pros- | cons-determining and constructing accurate strata would consume a large amount of time and be difficult to do

Question 40

pros and cons of opportunity sampling?

Answer 40

pros-convenient | cons-lack of care about ppt variables causes representation of population to decrease heavily

Question 41

pros and cons of volunteer sampling?

Answer 41

pros-less time consuming | cons- has great volunteer bias.