Research Methods Flashcards
(149 cards)
1
Q
ANALYSING RESULTS
Describe the three ways to measure central tendency
A
Mean, median and mode
2
Q
ANALYSING RESULTS
Describe the two measures of dispersion
A
Range and standard deviation
3
Q
ANALYSING RESULTS
What does more spread out results show?
A
A greater variation
4
Q
ANALYSING RESULTS
Define standard deviation
A
How far results deviate from the mean
5
Q
ANALYSING RESULTS
With standard deviation, what does a bigger number show?
A
More deviation
6
Q
VARIABLES
Define the IV
A
Change
7
Q
VARIABLES
Define the dependent variable
A
What you measure
8
Q
VARIABLES
Define the control variable
A
What stays the same
9
Q
SAMPLING
Random
A
Every member of the population having an equal chance to be chosen
10
Q
SAMPLING
Opportunity
A
Using people who are available and convenient at the time
11
Q
SAMPLING
Volunteer
A
Pps who respond to an advertisement
12
Q
SAMPLING
Systematic
A
Selecting every nth member of a target population
13
Q
SAMPLING
Stratified
A
Splitting the population into sub groups, samples which then consist of direct percentage representation
14
Q
SAMPLING
Random strength and weakness
A
- Free from bias
- May not be representative
15
Q
SAMPLING
Opportunity strength and weakness
A
- Convenient, quick, easy
- Unrepresentative
16
Q
SAMPLING
Volunteer strength and weakness
A
- Simple and easy
- Volunteer bias
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Q
SAMPLING
Stratified strength and weakness
A
- Representative of the pop
- Time consuming
18
Q
SAMPLING
Systematic strength and weakness
A
- Free from bias
- Time consuming
19
Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Define an independent measures design
A
Pps only take part in one condition of the experiment
20
Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Define a repeated measures design
A
Pps all take part in both conditions of the experiment
21
Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Define a matched pairs design
A
Pps matched on characteristics relevant to experiment performance, they then do each different condition
22
Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Positive of Independent measures design
A
Avoids order effects bc only doing one condition
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Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Negative of independent measures design
A
Individual differences may affect results: could use a random generator
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Q
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Positives of repeated measures design
A
- Individual differences are reduced
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EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Negatives of repeated measures design
Order effects: fatigue or practice, ABBA
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EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Positives of matched pairs design
Avoids order effects
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EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Negative of matched pairs design
Time consuming
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Describe a lab experiment
- To establish a cause and effect between IV and DV
- Takes place in controlled environment
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two positives of lab experiments
- Limiting extraneous variables
- Accurate measure of DV
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two negatives of lab experiments
- Low ecological validity
- Low mundane realism
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Describe a field experiment
- Take place outside of a lab, natural environment, basic scientific procedures are followed
- IV manipulated, DV measured, non-controlled environment
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two positives of a field experiment
- Ecological validity
- Mundane realism: viable
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two negatives of a field experiment
- Ethics: consent
- Extraneous variables
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Describe a natural experiment
- Researches make use of naturally occurring variables
- No manipulation of an IV, but DV is measured
- Impossible or unethical, so cannot be arranged
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two positives of a natural experiment
- High ecological validity
- Provide research opportunities
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give two negatives of a natural experiment
- Can lack generalisability
- Lack of opportunity for full study
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Describe a Quasi experiment
- All features of a lab experiment but IV is a pp characteristic, such as gender
- Thus, IV is not fully under researchers control
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give one positive of a quasi experiment
Controlled conditions
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EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Give one negative of a Quasi experiment
Cannot randomly allocate pps to a condition
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CORRELATIONS
What are correlations plotted on?
Scatter graphs
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CORRELATIONS
What do correlations look at?
The strength of the relationship between two variables
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CORRELATIONS
What do correlations look at?
The strength of the relationship between two variables
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CORRELATIONS
What are the variables often referred to as?
Co-variables
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CORRELATIONS
Describe a positive correlation
Both variables increase
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CORRELATIONS
Describe a negative correlation
As one increases the other decreases
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CORRELATIONS
Define no correlation
There is no relationship between two variables
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CORRELATIONS
How is the strength of a correlation written as?
A co-efficient from -1 to +1, the - and + indicate the direction of correlation, making both equally as strong
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CORRELATIONS
Negative
Cannot establish cause and effect
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CORRELATIONS
Positive
They are useful for studying potentially unethical topics
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QUESTIONNAIRES
What do pps do?
Record their own answers
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QUESTIONAIRRES
What are the three types of questions which can be used?
Closed questions, open questions, likert scale
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QUESTIONAIRRES
Give three positives of questionnaires
- Give out to large numbers
- Less time consuming
- Accessible
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QUESTIONAIRRES
Give two negatives of questionnaires
- Self report technique
- Low response rate
54
INTERVIEWS
What is an interview?
Face to face questioning to build a narrative
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INTERVIEWS
What are the three types of interview
Structured, semi structured and unstructured
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INTERVIEWS
Give two positives of interviews
- Clarification and expansion
- Body language
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INTERVIEWS
Give two negatives of interviews
- Time consuming
- Interviewer presence may affect pp response
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CASE STUDIES
What is a case study?
A detailed study of an individual or small group.
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CASE STUDIES
What do researchers do?
Post their data and look for common themes and threads
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CASE STUDIES
Why are case studies often undertaken?
To investigate uncommon/ unique conditions/ situations people
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CASE STUDIES
Give two examples of case studies
Phineas Gage, Genie
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CASE STUDIES
Give two examples of what might be investigated during a case study
Biographical information, psychological test results
63
CASE STUDIES
Give two case study positives
+ Can gather data which can't be gathered through other means
+ Ecological validity
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CASE STUDIES
Give two case study negatives
- Generalisation problems
- Not easily replicable
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CASE STUDIES
Give two case study negatives
- Generalisation problems
- Not easily replicable
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FACTORS ASSOCIATED W RESEARCH STUDIES
Define operationalisation
Making a variable more specific and measurable
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FACTORS ASSOCIATED W RESEARCH STUDIES
What is IV?
Manipulated
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FACTORS ASSOCIATED W RESEARCH STUDIES
What is DV?
Measured
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Define an aim
A statement about the general purpose/point of research
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Define a hypothesis
A specific, testable statement predicting outcome
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Define an experimental hypothesis
Predicting a difference between experimental conditions, directional or non directional
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Define a directional hypothesis
States a direction - more or less, higher or lower. Used when BG research available
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Define a non directional hypothesis
Simply states there will be a difference
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Describe a null hypothesis
Says there will be no difference
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AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
Describe a null hypothesis
Says there will be no difference
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EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
Define
External variables which make it more difficult to establish cause and effect within a study
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EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
Give an example
Temperature, sound
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CONFOUNDING VARIABLES
Define confounding variables
Changes in a dependent variable may be due to the confounding variable rather than the IV
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STANDARDISATION PROCEDURES
Define standardisation procedures
A set of procedures which are the same for all pps in order to repeat study
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DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
Define demand characterisitics
When pps pick up on cues during an experiment and modify their behaviour, possibly altering study results
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DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
How can you control demand characteristics?
Deception or the single blind technique
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INVESTIGATOR EFFECTS
Define investigator effects
A term used to describe subtle cues or signals from an experimenter which affect performance of pps in a study
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INVESTIGATOR EFFECTS
How to control?
- Double blind
- Inter rater reliability
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
How could research into EWT have implacations for the economy?
Better training for police, prison detectives when investigating. Increased costs but not paying for guilty prisoners.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
What effect does the cognitive interview have for the economy?
Increases validity and reliability, training, guilty prisoners
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
How could understanding minority influence lead to implications for the economy?
Advertising for target audience
Consumerism
Protests
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
If treatments for mental illness are found to be more effective than other treatments, how could the more effective ones impact the economy?
Saves money from testing and drug trials
Transport
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
Why would it be beneficial for the economy if effective treatments send people back to work?
More money for businesses, efficiency, can be put into hospitals
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
Why might it be more beneficial for the economy for pp to have CBT rather than drug treatments?
97% effective after 21 sessions
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY
Bowlby's view that children need their mother's, making them feel like they should stay at home, had what effect on the economy?
Less workers therefore less tax
90
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define temporal validity
Assessing whether experiment results hold the test of time
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define ecological validity
Findings being put onto a real world setting
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define concurrent validity
Assessing whether the measure produces similar outcomes to a similar test known to be valid. Correlation of +0.8
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define face validity
Whether material looks like it is measuring what it claims to measure
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
External
Temporal, ecological
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Internal
Concurrent, face
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
How to improve internal validity?
- Extraneous variables
- Demand characteristics
- Research bias
- Single/double blind procedure
97
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define internal validity
Did IV produce a DV change?
98
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
How to improve external validity?
- Realistic tasks
- Sample size/ range
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define external validity
Generalization
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define internal reliability
Extent to which something is consistent within itself
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define external reliability
Extent at which a test measures consistency over time
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define test re test
ER: giving the same test to each pp on diff occasions, then seeing if same results are obtained
103
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define inter-observer reliability
IR: two or more observers see if they view behaviour in the same way. +0.8
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VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Define operationalised behavioural categories
IR: breaking target behaviour into components that can be observed and measured consistently
105
SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Define abstract
A summary of research, 150 - 200 words, must be written at the end
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SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Introduction
Introduces background and rationale of a study. Shows relevant theories to highlight context to a reader.
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SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Define method
Describe how and why study was conducted in chosen way. Replicable. Equiptment, procedure, design, pps
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SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Results
Summarise findings clearly and accurately. Descriptive and inferential sections
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SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC REPORT
References
Complete details of all research docs, journals, online resources and books mentioned for bg research
110
PEER REVIEW
What is a peer review?
A process carried out after research has been conducted, to assess the quality before publication. Reviewed by psychologists of a similar field.
111
PEER REVIEW
What are judgements made about?
Validity or reliability of study
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PEER REVIEW
What are the three main purposes?
- Allocation of research funding
- Publication in scientific journals
- Assessing research rating of university departments
113
PARADIGMS
What is a paradigm?
A shared set of assumptions and method to study
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PARADIGMS
What do paradigms distinguish?
Scientific disciplines from non scientific disciplines
115
PARADIGMS
Define a paradigm shift
Accumulation of contradictory evidence means the theory is overthrown
116
INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
What is probability?
A measure of how likely it is that something will happen
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
What tests are used to test the probability of whether a null hypothesis is supported or not?
Statistical tests
118
INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
What is the level of significance in psychology?
0.05 or 5%, written as P < 0.05 (meaning only a 5% probability results occurred by chance)
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Why is the 0.05 level of significance normally used in psychology?
To avoid type I and type II errors
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Define type I error
Accepting hypothesis when results were to do with chance
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Define type II errors
Rejecting hypothesis when results were likely to have been significant
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS: levels of measurement
Nominal
Categorical data where frequency is counted
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS: levels of measurement
Ordinal
Data is ordered/ranked
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS: levels of measurement
Internal
Data is measured in units of equal measurement
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CHOOSING A STATISTICAL TEST
Sign test
Difference, repeated measures, nominal
126
INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Wilcoxon
Difference, repeated measures, ordinal
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Related T test
Difference, repeated measures, interval
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Chi squared
Difference, independent, nominal
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Mann Whitney
Difference, independent, ordinal
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Unrelated t test
Difference, independent, interval
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Chi squared (other)
Correlation, nominal
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Spearman's rho
Correlation, ordinal
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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Pearson's r
Correlation, interval
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3D'S
Difference/correlation
Design
Data
135
CONTENT ANALYSIS
Define
Turning qualitative data into quantitative data
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Sampling
Deciding what material to use
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Pilot
Familiarise with material and construct a system for categorising data
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Common themes
Deciding on a coding category
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Tally data
Description into numbers
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
What is the final step?
Compare sets of data
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Positive
Quantitative
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CONTENT ANALYSIS
Negatives
Subjective
Validity
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
What is thematic analysis?
Keeping data qualitiative
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
1
Reread data and transcript
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
2
Break data into meaningful codes
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
3
Combine codes into categories
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
4
Identify overall themes from the categories
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
Positive and negative
Validity, subjective
