Research Methods Flashcards
1
Q
What is a laboratory experiment?
A
Experiments where researchers create a controlled environment in order to test hypotheses.
2
Q
What is a strength of laboratory experiments?
A
Allow for the precise control of extraneous and independent variables and therefore allow cause and effect to be established.
3
Q
What is a weakness of laboratory experiments?
A
The artificiality of the experiment may produce unnatural behaviour that does not reflect in real life which makes it hard to generalise the data to real life. This is low ecological validity.
4
Q
What is a field experiment?
A
Experiments that take place outside of a laboratory, in a real world setting but the independent variables are still manipulated.
5
Q
What is a strength of field experiments?
A
They are more likely to reflect real life situations and responses because of its natural setting due to higher ecological validity.
6
Q
What is a limitation of field experiments?
A
Little to no control over extraneous variables that might bias the results which makes it hard to replicate for other researchers.
7
Q
What is a natural experiment?
A
When the researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing independent variable
8
Q
What is a strength of natural experiments?
A
They often have high external validity because they involve the study of real life issues and problems as they happen.
9
Q
What is a weakness of natural experiments?
A
A naturally occurring event may only happen vary rarely, so this reduces the opportunities for research.
10
Q
What are quasi experiments?
A
They are a form of natural experiment, they have an independent variable that is based on an existing difference between people. (Age, gender)
11
Q
What is a strength of quasi experiments?
A
They are often carried out in controlled conditions meaning extraneous variables are less likely to impact the results.
12
Q
What is a naturalistic observation?
A
Takes place in the setting or context where the target behaviour would usually occur, all aspects of the environment are free to vary.
13
Q
What is a strength of naturalistic observations?
A
Tends to have high external validity as findings can be generalised to everyday life
14
Q
What is a weakness of naturalistic observations?
A
Lack of control over the research situation makes replication of the investigation difficult.
15
Q
What is a controlled study?
A
Where the researcher pre-determined and controlled the study variables and location, time, participants used and tools used to complete the study whilst in a controlled environment.
16
Q
What is a strength of a controlled study?
A
They can be easily replicated by other researchers so can be used to test for reliability.
17
Q
What is a weakness of a controlled study?
A
They lack validity due to the Hawthorne effect as participants may act differently when they know they are being watched.
18
Q
Observational design; behavioural categories
A
They need to operationalise the behaviour through the use of behavioural categories.
This involves breaking the target behaviour (e.g. aggression) into components that can be observed and measured (e.g. hitting, kicking).
19
Q
What is event sampling?
A
A method used to collect data in an observation. This is when the observer tally’s every time the event occurs within their observation period
20
Q
What is a strength of event sampling?
A
you don’t miss any behaviours as you record every time it happens
21
Q
What is a weakness of event sampling?
A
observer fatigue - you might miss something as you have to watch the whole time
22
Q
What is time sampling?
A
method used to collect data in an observation. This is when an observer will only tally the behaviours that are occurring at that specific time e.g. every 3 minutes.
23
Q
What is a strength of time sampling?
A
there is no observer fatigue - you don’t have to watch for the whole time only every 5 minutes or a time you decide
24
Q
What is a weakness of time sampling?
A
you might miss behaviours as you are only watching at certain times and not all the time
25
What is a covert observation?
Covert observation is also known as undisclosed observation, as the participants do not know that they are being observed. The researcher observes the participants from within the group.
26
What is a strength of covert observation?
high validity as people are observed in natural surroundings.
27
What is a weakness of covert observation?
has raised ethical concerns as participants haven’t been informed that they are being observed.
28
What is an overt observation?
where the participants are aware of the fact that they are being observed by researchers.
29
What is a strength overt observation?
this is the most ethical form of observation, as it requires no deception, and participants are able to give their informed consent.
30
What is a weakness of overt observation?
participants may act differently because they know they are being observed, which will affect the validity of the results.
31
What is participant observation?
where the researcher actually joins the group or takes part in the situation they are observing.
32
What is a strength of participant observation?
Allows researcher to gain empathy through personal experience . By acting as a member can get insight into their meanings, viewpoints, values and problems - gives authentic data
33
What is a weakness of participant observation?
Bias - risk of getting to involved and therefore giving biassed data, may begin to sympathise with the group and not be objective
34
What is non participant observation?
researchers collect data by observing behaviour without actively interacting with the participants
35
What is a strength of non participant observation?
it levels out researcher biases.
36
What is a weakness of non participant observation?
lacks validity because you are less able to ask why people are acting that way compared to participant observation.
37
What is a self report technique?
any test, measure or survey that relies on an individual’s own report of their symptoms, behaviours, beliefs or attitudes.
38
Example of self report techniques?
diary entry reports , questionnaires
39
What are questionnaires?
a written self-report technique where participants are given a pre-set number of questions to respond to. They can be administered in person, by post, online, over the telephone, or to a group of participants simultaneously.
40
What is a strength of questionnaires?
they are relatively cheap and quick to gather a large amount of data
41
What is a weakness of questionnaires?
demand characteristics stics - participants may be untruthful as they may feel uncomfortable with the actual truth or may want to try to purposely fit the criteria that the experimenter is looking for
42
What is an open question?
used in questionnaires and interviews. They do not have fixed responses so they allow the participant to answer however they wish.
43
What is a strength of an open question?
permits an unlimited range of answers
44
What is a weakness of an open question?
takes more time as there is limited control over the length of answers.
45
What is a closed question?
one that has a limited range of options to answer with. You can only answer using the options
46
What is a strength of a closed question?
improves consistency of respondents.
47
What is a weakness of closed questions?
it can put ideas into the respondents’ heads that were not there before.
48
What is an interview?
A meeting of people face to face for consultation
49
What is a strength of interviews?
can get detailed qualitative information without oversimplifying complex issues
50
What is a weakness of interviews?
Interviews can cause biases, the person being interviewed may give a different response based on how the person conducting reacts or their appearance
51
What is a structured interview?
where the interviewer uses a set of prepared, closed ended questions.
52
What is a strength of structured interviews?
Less bias as everyone is getting asked the exact same questions
53
What is a weakness of structured interviews?
Responses are not very detailed or qualitative
54
What is an unstructured interview?
where questions are not prearranged. They are more like a ‘guided conversation’.
55
What is a strength of unstructured interviews?
They generate qualitative data which means participants can give depth to their answers due to the questions being open. This allows researchers to have a greater understanding of individuals’ experiences.
56
What is a weakness of unstructured interviews?
can be time-consuming to conduct and analyse qualitative interview techniques. May also be expensive if particular skills are required by the interviewer.
57
What is a correlation?
the extent to which two variables are related. Correlations can be positive, negative or zero.
58
What is a strength of correlations?
allows researchers to investigate variables which may be difficult to test otherwise
59
What is a correlation coefficient?
The relationship between two or more variables.
60
What does a correlation co-efficient measure?
The strength of a correlation. It can range between -1 and 1.
61
What is the difference between correlations and experiments?
correlation: identifies variables and looks for a relationship between them. whereas an experiment: tests the effect that an independent variable has on a dependent variable.
62
What is content analysis?
method used to analyse qualitative data, allowing a researcher to turn qualitative data to quantitative data.
63
What are the 5 steps in content analysis?
Step 1: Identify and Collect Data.
Step 2: Determine Behavioural Categories.
Step 3: tally the behavioural categories
Step 4: Analyse and Present Results.
Step 4: Check the interrater reliability.
64
What is thematic analysis?
method of qualitative data analysis which is good for exploring patterns across qualitative data. kEEPS THE DATA QUALITATIVE
65
What is a strength of thematic analysis?
Applicable with all forms of data
66
What is a weakness of thematic analysis?
The flexibility of a thematic analysis can lead to inconsistency and a lack of coherence when developing themes derived from the research data
67
What is a case study?
the study of a person with a disorder that could be through experiments or interviews.
68
What is an example of a case study?
An example of case study was from Freud's research, Little Hans.
69
What is a strength of a case study?
provides rich detailed qualitative data
70
What is a weakness of a case study.
Often cannot be generalised to wider society as it is unique.
71
What is an aim?
An aim is the direct purpose of the investigation. What the researcher is trying to find out.
72
What is the difference between an aim and a hypothesis?
An aim is a statement which explains what the experiment is attempting to achieve. A hypothesis is a prediction the scientist who is undertaking the experiment makes before starting of what they think will happen.
73
What is a directional hypothesis?
states that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable and what that effect will be (the direction of results)
74
What is a non directional hypothesis?
hypothesis simply states that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable but does not predict how it will affect the results.
75
What is the difference between a population and a sample?
A population is the entire group that you want to draw a conclusion about. A sample is the specific group that you will collect the data from.
76
What is random sampling?
sampling technique in which every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
77
What is a bias problem with random sampling?
The data received from a randomly sampled piece of research could be the result of accidental bias as you can’t ensure that there is equality in: gender equality, age, social class etc.
78
What could accidental bias of random sampling result in?
It being generalised to the whole population when maybe not everyone is accounted for.
79
What is systematic sampling?
a type of sampling process in which all the members of a population are listed and then some objective, orderly procedure is applied to randomly choose specific cases
80
What is stratified sampling?
a sampling technique where the researcher divides or 'stratifies' the target group into sections, each representing a key group (or characteristic) that should be present in the final sample.
81
What is a strength of stratified sampling?
It avoids the problem of bias which is sometimes caused accidentally.
82
What is an example of stratified sampling?
Systematic samples are relatively easy to construct, execute, compare, and understand, which in turn would make it easy to replicate for other researchers.
83
What is a weakness of systematic sampling?
greater risk of data manipulation with systematic sampling because researchers might be able to construct their systems to increase the likelihood of achieving a targeted outcome rather than letting the random data produce a representative answer.
84
What is a strength of stratified sampling?
It avoids the problem of bias sometimes caused by purely random sampling.
85
What is a weakness of stratified sampling?
Care must be taken to ensure each key characteristic present in the population is selected across strata, otherwise this will design a biased sample.
86
What is opportunity sampling?n
Participants who are both accessible and willing to take part are targeted,
87
What is a strength of opportunity sampling?
method is easy and inexpensive to carry out
88
What is a weakness of opportunity sampling?
consequent sample may not be representative as it could be subject to bias
89
What is volunteer sampling?
A sample that consists of people who have volunteered to be in the study.
90
What is a strength of volunteer sampling?
This often achieves a large sample size through reaching a wide audience, for example with online advertisements
91
What is a weakness of volunteer sampling?
Those who respond to the call for volunteers may all display similar characteristics (such as being more trusting or cooperative than those who did not apply) thus increasing the chances of yielding an unrepresentative sample.
92
What are pilot studies?
small, trial versions of proposed studies to test their effectiveness and make improvements.
93
What are the three reasons on why you conduct a pilot study?
1. They are helpful in identifying potential issues early, which can then be rectified before committing to the length and expense of a full investigation.
2. Any part of the study could be tested, for instance the validity of measure (e.g. does the questionnaire measure what it is supposed to?)
3. whether a procedure is effective (e.g. does it take too long, are the instructions too complicated for participants to understand, or have any vital steps been left out)
94
What is the difference between experimental design and experimental type?
Experimental design refers to how participants are allocated to the different groups in an experiment whereas experimental type refers to whether it's a lab, field, natural or quasi experiment.
95
What is a repeated measures design?
all participants take part in all conditions. The DV is measured for each group and results are compared.
96
What is a strength of the repeated measures design?
: DV not affected by individual differences
97
What is a weakness of the repeated measures design?
may be affected by the practice/order effect so counterbalancing is needed
98
What is an independent groups design?
two groups are exposed to different experimental conditions
99
What is a strength of the independent groups design?
Prevents practice effect and demand characteristics.
100
What is a weakness of the independent groups design?
Can result in false conclusions because of individual differences.
101
What is a matched pairs design?
1 pair of participants in each group are matched by a key variable. Such as income.
102
What is a strength of the matched pairs design?
Lots of experimental control.
103
What is a weakness of the matched pairs design?
It takes a lot of time.
104
What does it mean to manipulate the independent variable?
means to change its level systematically so that different groups of participants are exposed to different levels of that variable
105
What is an independent variable?
independent variable is a variable that is manipulated by the researcher. It is usually the cause and is independent to other variables in the study.
106
What is the dependent variable?
dependent variable is the variable that is being measured in an experiment. It is usually the effect and depends on changes in the independent variable.
107
What is the difference between a confounding and extraneous variable?
An extraneous variable is something that you're not investigating but can affect the dependent variable. The confounding variable is similar yet it's caused by the independent variable.
108
What does it mean to operationalise the variables in an experiment?
Changing a variable to make it measurable.
109
What does random allocation mean?
a technique that chooses participants for experimental groups and control groups entirely by chance.
110
What does counterbalancing mean?
technique used to deal with order effects in a repeated measures design. Completing the conditions in a different order.
111
What experimental design should
| counterbalancing be used for?
counterbalancing should be used when you have a repeated measures experiment
112
What problems does counterbalancing solve?
problem of order effects
113
What are demand characteristics?
where a person changes their behaviour when they know they are part of psychological research
114
What are investigator effects?
Investigator effects are where a researcher acts in a way to support their theory
115
What is an example of investigator effects?
Zimbardo’s prison study he made himself warden, this means he could have subconsciously acted in a way to change the results of the study.
116
What is the role of the British
| Psychological Society’s code of ethics?
The aim of the British psychological society’s code of ethics is to guide psychologists decision-making while conducting experiments.
117
How would you deal with confidentiality in research?
Participants must be asked during the debrief of the experiment whether they want their results to be published. All names and personal info must be removed from the findings of the experiment.
118
How would you deal with ‘the right to withdraw’ ethical issue in research?
Participants must be given the right to withdraw at any point throughout the experiment, even if the participant is being deceived.
119
How would you deal with protection from harm in research?
All research should be pre-approved by an ethics committee to minimise harm to participants, however the researcher additionally should take the participants through a debriefing so they are aware exactly what happened during the experiment.
120
How would you deal with deception in research?
Participants should not be deceived for an experiment but if it is necessary for the validity of the data then at the end the researcher must debrief them to inform them on what happened.
121
How would you deal with informed consent in research?
Psychologists should ensure that all participants are helped to understand fully all aspects of the research before they give consent to take part
122
What is the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques?
Quantitative data is information about quantities and numbers whereas qualitative data is descriptive which can be observed but not measured.
123
What is primary data?
refers to data that has been collected directly by the researcher, solely for the purpose of their investigation.
124
What is a strength of primary data?
Primary data is a reliable way to collect data because the researcher can do it again as they know the procedures.
125
What is a weakness of primary data?
Researchers may be subjective in what kinds of data they look for in particular data that fits the hypothesis they are trying to test.
126
What is secondary data?
information that someone else has collected
127
What is a strength of secondary data?
It is cost effective as there is no need to spend money on collecting data.
128
What is a weakness of secondary data?
the data may be biased in favour of the person who gathered it.
129
What is a meta analysis?
meta-analysis is a systematic review where you identify an aim and then search for research studies that have looked at similar aims/hypotheses.
130
How is a meta analysis done?
This is done by looking through databases and deciding what studies to include.
131
What is a strength of a meta analysis?
Increases the validity of the conclusions drawn as they’re based on a wider range of data
132
What is a weakness of a meta analysis?
Research designs can vary between different studies so they can’t be compared fairly.
133
What are descriptive statistics?
Descriptive statistics describe the data and show a summary of the results.
134
What is an example of a descriptive statistic?
measures of central tendency (mode, mean, median)
135
What are measures of central tendency?
There are three main measures of central tendency, mode, median and mean
136
What is the mean?
The mean is the average, it’s when you add the value of each number and divide it by how many numbers there are.
137
What is a strength of the mean?
A strength of the mean is that it is an accurate average as it takes all the data into account
138
What is a weakness of the mean?
that it can be influenced by rogue scores.
139
Calculation of the mean
Add the numbers up then divide by how many there are
140
What is the mode?
The number that occurs the most often.
141
What is a strength of the mode?
It’s unaffected by extreme scores
142
What is a weakness of the mode?
It doesn’t take all the scores of the data into considedtaion
143
Calculation of the mode
Put the numbers in order from lowest to highest. Work out which number appears most.
144
What is the median?
median is the measure of central tendency that is calculated by finding the middle score when the data set is placed in numerical order.
145
What is a strength of the median?
unaffected by extreme values. Makes the median score more representative of the whole data set, making this a strength as a median can be said to be an accurate measure of central tendency.
146
What is a weakness of the median?
doesn’t take all the scores in the data set into consideration as it is only concerned with the middle number. This is a weakness because it means all the other data is ignored and therefore might not be an accurate measure of central tendency.
147
Calculation of the median
s calculated by finding the middle score when the data set is placed in numerical order. If there is an even number of data, then the median is the sum of the two middle numbers, divided by two.
148
What are measures of dispersion?
Measures of dispersion describe the spread of data around a central value (mean, median or mode). They tell us how much variability there is in the data. There are two measures of dispersion: range and standard deviation (SD)
149
What is the range?
The difference between the highest and lowest value.
150
What is a strength of the range?
easy to calculate mathematically without using a calculator.
151
What is a weakness of the range?
Does Not indicate the distribution pattern across the whole data set.
152
Calculation of the range
Smallest value subtracted from the largest value
153
What is standard deviation?
A measure which shows to what extent the values in a set of data deviate from the mean.
154
Method for the calculation of percentages
(value/total value)x100
155
What are positive, negative and zero correlations and what do they tell us?
Positive - As y increases, x increases
Negative - As y increases, x decreases
No correlation - A change in y has no apparent effect on x
156
When do you use scatter gram?
When you want to compare pairs of numerical data
157
When do you use a bar chart?
You would use a bar chart to compare the effect of a variable on different groups and/or track changes over time
158
Draw a normal distribution. Draw the mean media and mode. What does it mean ?
The mean, median, and mode of a normal distribution are equal. The area under the normal curve is equal to 1.0. Normal distributions are denser in the centre and less dense at the sides, having a symmetrical, bell shape curve.
159
Draw a positively skewed distribution. Draw the mean, median and mode. What does it mean ?
Data that is positively skewed has a long tail that extends to the right. when data is positively skewed, the mean will be greater than the median
160
Draw a negatively skewed distribution. Draw the mean, median and mode. What does it mean ?
Data that is negatively skewed has a long tail that extends to the left. when data is negatively skewed, the median will be greater than the mean
161
What do repeated measures designs look for?
A difference before and after with the same participants
162
What do independent groups look for?
Difference between 2 groups of participants
163
What do matched pairs look for?
Difference between 2 groups of participants ur you control a confounding variable by placing 1 matched participants in each group.
164
What are the different ways that variables can be measured?
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
165
Nominal data
The data that can only be categorised
166
Ordinal data
The data that can be categorised/ranked (rating scale)
167
Interval data
Data that can be categorised, ranked and evenly spaced (a numerical scale with equal distances)
168
Significance tests
Statistical tests are used to determine whether the result of an experiment is significant. For example, if a difference between two scores is due to chance or not.
169
What do you have in a sign test?
Repeated measures
Experiment is looking for a difference between the before and after conditions
Nominal data
170
Steps in a sign test
1. A table of data with conditions and number of pps
2. Look at each row and if second condition is higher scoring put a + if it is lower use a -
3. Any scores that are the same discount that pp from the analysis
4. Add up the number of + and -
5. Take the least frequent sign and call this the S value.
171
What else is the S value referred to as?
The calculated/observed value
172
What is chi squared?
A test of difference or association. The data is nominal and recorded as a frequency count of the categories.
173
How do you analyse the data from a chi squared test?
1. The calculated value. X
| 2. The degrees of freedom
174
How do you work out the degrees of freedom?
Look at the contingency table
| Rows-n)x(columns-n
175
What is the Mann-Whitney test?
A statistical test of difference that allows psychologists to determine if their results are significant.
176
When is the Mann-Whitney test used?
In studies that have an independent group design where the data collected is ordinal
177
What is the Wilcoxon test?
A statistical test of difference that allows a researcher to determine the significance of their findings
178
When is the Wilcoxon test used?
In studies that have a repeated measures or matched pairs design where the data collected is ordinal.
179
When would you use a spearmans rank test?
When there is a relationship/correlation, when there are two naturally occuring varibales and when ome variable has ordinal data?
180
When would you use a pearsons test?
When there is a relationship/correlation, when there is two naturally occuring varibales and when both varibales are interval data.
181
What is reliability?
The consistency of a research study or messuring test
182
What are the two ways of assessing reliability?
Test retest experiments
| Inter observer observations
183
What do test retest experiments do?
Check reliability of a test/questionaire over time
184
How is a test retest experiment done?
Conduct a test
Conduct it again with same participants
Do a correlation between the scores on both tests
Do correlation coefficient - atleast +0.80 to be reliable
185
What does a inter observer observation look for?
The reliablility of am observation
186
How would you conduct an inter observer observation?
Find source
Decide on behavioural catagories
Each observer sit apart
Do a correlation between scores in catagories
Correlation co efficient above 0.80 to be reliable
187
What is internal validity?
Is your experiment measuring what it claims to be?
188
Face validity
Basic form of assessment - whether the test appears (at face value) to measure what it claims to
189
How can you improve internal validity?
Control extraneoud varibsles so you can be confident that your change in the IV has caused the change in the DV with nothing else involved.
190
What is external validity?
How generalisable is your experiment?
191
What is temporal validity?
Can the experiment you are studying be still relevant today when it was first conducted years ago? If not it has low temporal validity
192
How can you improve temporal validity?
Repeat the experiment today to assess if you get the same results
193
Ecological validity
Can the results of a study be generalised to real life settings?
194
How can you improve ecological validity?
Repeat the experiment in different settings to assess if you get the same results
195
Concurrent validity
Indicates the amount of agreement between two different assessments. If i want to assess if mine is valid i run a pre existing test on my participants to get the same results. E.g Experiment on attachment could be ran past Ainsworths study
