Research methods Flashcards
(121 cards)
1
Q
Repeated measures
A
All groups doing the same conditions
2
Q
Counter balancing
A
Taking the whole sample and splitting it in half. First half does condition A then B. Second half does condition B then A
3
Q
Advantage of counter balancing
A
Used to overcome order effects by spreading them equally across conditions
4
Q
Independent groups
A
When participants split into two groups and do 1 condition
5
Q
Matched pairs
A
Recruit group of ppts, but find out what sort of people are in your group then match them one for one on key characteristics. Requires pretest
6
Q
Hypotheses
A
Prediction based on previous research or theory
7
Q
Alternate hypotheses
A
One that predicts the IV will have an impact on the DV
8
Q
IV
A
The thing that changes
9
Q
DV
A
The thing your measuring. EG happiness score
10
Q
Directional hypothesis
A
When you know what direction the IV will affect the DV based on previous research
11
Q
Non-directional hypotheses
A
When you think the IV will affect the DV but you are not sure which direction. Used when there is no previous research
12
Q
Null hypotheses
A
Predicts the IV Will have no effect on the DV
13
Q
Naturalistic observation
A
Watching someone in a natural environment eg at work
14
Q
Overt
A
When someone is aware they are being watched and can see the observer
15
Q
Covert
A
When someone isn’t aware they are being watched being under cover. More chance of naturalistic and valid behaviour
16
Q
Controlled observation
A
OBservations that take place in a controlled environment eg a lab
17
Q
Participant observation
A
When observer is part of the group they are observing usually done covertly undercover cop
18
Q
Structured observations
A
When you know what behaviours you are going to observing before observing them
19
Q
Unstructured observations
A
When you have no idea what behaviours you will observe as you dont know what behaviours will come up. Eg observing people at a nudist beach
20
Q
Target population
A
Total group of participants from which a sample may be drawn
21
Q
Opportunity sampling
A
Asking people around you that are willing to take part. Biased
22
Q
Volunteer sampling
A
When an individual comes forward to take part in your study after seeing a form of advertisement, physical media or social media. Biased
23
Q
Random sampling
A
Write all names of the target population onto seperate pieces of paper and put them all in a hat. Pick out names in relation to sample size and then ask if those picked out want to be a part of the study.
Not biased
24
Q
Systematic sampling
A
Get a full list of the target population and then using a nth number to pick out the sample. Eg rolling a dice and getting a 5 and then using every 5th name
25
Stratified sampling
Researcher will find stratas of a target population. Eg 16 year olds, 17 year olds, 18 year olds
26
Strata
Classes within society
27
Time sampling
When an observer records behaviour at prescribed intervals. EG every 30 seconds
27
Inferential stats left collumn
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
28
Inferential stats rhyme
Chinese song
Man will sing
Under rainbow peagasus
29
Extraneous variable
Factors that are not the IV but could still affect the DV
30
Confounding variable
Variables that are something to do with the study that is not the IV but could have an affect on the DV
31
Standard deviation
A single numerical value which shows on average how far away people were from the mean. If higher number the more spread out the data and higher standard deviation will be
32
Inter- rate reliability
Reliability between observers results needs consistency of 80%
33
Random allocation
Splitting a sample into two or more groups but giving equal chance to all ppts in being in either group
34
Standardisation
Keeping everything the same for all participants. Same ethical treatment, instructions and environment
35
Randomisation
Give everybody the same set of questions but in a random order to spread order effects evenly
36
Percentage increase/ Decrease
Find difference between scores and divide by original score
37
Laboratory experiment
An experiment carried out in a controlled environment
38
Field experiment
An experiment carried out in a natural environment
39
Natural experiment
An experiment where the experimenter does not directly control the IV
40
Quasi experiment
an experiment where the experimenter does not directly control the IV and the IV is naturally occuring
41
Ecological validity
The extent to which a situation reflects real life
42
Internal validity
The extent to which the IV has affected the DV linked to lab studies that control extraneous and confounding variables
43
External validity
The extent to which the study represents the outside world and how much it can be applied to it
44
Face validity
On the face of it does it look like it measures what its meant to measure
45
Concurrent validity
The extent to which a new measures score correlates with the measure of an existing score
46
Temporal validity
The generalisability of a studys results across time
47
Peer reviews
Evaluation of work
Keeps research honest and suggests
improvements
Ensures psychology continues to be scientific
Checks for sound methodology and no plagiarism
48
type 1 error
This is when you accept your experimental hypothesis when you should have rejected it as the results were affected by random variables
49
type 2 error
You accepted your null hypothesis when you should have rejected it,due to you thinking there was no significance between variables
50
Nominal data
Data that can be put into categories
51
Ordinal data
Data can be ordered
52
Interval
Data can be measured with equal sets of intervals
53
Open questions
Allow depth and detail and qualitative data lots of info received
54
Closed questions
Info easily collected and can be compared with others easily
55
Investigator effect
When the person collecting the research has knowledge of what the aim of the research is
56
One tailed
Based on previous research
57
Two tailed
No previous research
58
What does the researcher need to do when conducting a self-report
-Avoid complex terminology: ppts may not understand or by too embarrassed to say they don't, this can then result in inaccurate responses
-Rewording questions: when a ppts doesn't understand a skilled interviewer could reword it in way that doesn't change the meaning of the question
-Double barrled questions: ppts may agree with one part of the question but not the other, makes the question confusing
Leading questions: this can bias responses in a certain direction, to avoid this questions should be written in a way that doesn't suggest a correct way
59
how to test self reports
do a pilot study
Small scale study before the actual study to see any improvements that can be made
60
Filler questions in self reports
Used in questionnaires to stop ppts from finding out the aim
61
Structured interview
interview with a list of prepared questions
62
Unstructured interview
No setlist of questions so its an open conversation about the topic
63
What is a demand characteristics
when ppts guess the aim of experiment and this creates a pressure from them to respond in a certain way
-this means your measuring effect on demand characterises not the effect of the IV or DV
64
What is a meta-analysis
-a statistical technique used to gather data from lots of studies on the same topic and combine them to see the overall effect
65
What is meant by a case study
A case study is an in-depth study of one person or a group of people over time.
usually carried out in the real world and involves a rare event.
Produce mostly qualitative data
66
What is a co-variable
Two factors that are compared to each other
67
How is correlational data presented
Scattergram
68
What are the types of correlations
Positive: co-variables increases with the other co-variable
Negative: as one co variables increases the other co variable decreases
Zero: no relationships between co variables
69
What does the correlation co-effiecent show us
shows us the strength and direction of the relationship between co-variables as a number between -1 and +1
If its higher than 0.8 it has a strong positive correlation
lower than -0.8 has a strong negative correlation
70
Ethical guidelines
Informed consent: ppts must be told about research before taking part
Deception: shouldn't lie to ppts
protection from harm: ppts should not be exposed to psychological/physical harm more than expected in day to day life
right to withdraw: pts can lave tsudy at any yime and can withdraw data later
Confiedentiality: keep personal infomation of ppts out of publications
privacy: ppts should not obserbed unless its public
71
Features of psychology as a science
- Its predictions can be falsified
- It has a paradigm
- Collects data by empirical methods
- Tries to determine causes of why things happen
- Its objective
- Its replicable
72
How is a psychological report laid out
Abstarct: summary of 150 words of aims, hypothesis, method, findings etc
Introudction: general overview of areas studied, includes existing theories Aims and hypothesis, state the purpose of the study and talk about the IV and DV
Method: how the research was carried out Design: Research,method, design, any problems with design, external variables and how they were controlled, ethical issues, any materials, demographics, sampling, how data was collected etc
Results: includes descriptive stats (graphs), central tendencies and inferential stats, talks about significance level
Discussion: summary of results which relates aims and hypothesis, implications of study, consideration of methodology, suggestions for future research
References
73
Abstract
summary of 150 words of aims, hypothesis, method, findings etc
74
Method
how the research was carried out Research, method, design, any problems with design, external variables and how they were controlled, ethical issues, any materials, demographics, sampling, how data was collected etc
75
Results
includes raw data found in the study including descriptive stats (graphs), central tendencies and inferential stats, talks about significance level
76
Discussion
Summary of results which does the following:
1. Outlining why you found what you found
2. Correlating findings to studies outlined in introduction.
3. Identify potential weaknesses in your study
4. Identify future directions of research in context of what you found
77
Referencing a journal
- Surname
- First initial
- (YEAR)
- Title of Article
- Title of Journal
- Volume number
- Page numbers
78
Pros and Cons of case studies
- Sometimes behaviour is so rare it is limited to few people in the world
- Rich detail case studies provide
- Not representative as results cant be generalised to everyone
- Researcher bias. Researcher may feel very passionate about the area they research
79
Content analysis
Involves quantifying qualitative data through coding units. and turning qualitative data into quantitative data.
Ways to quantify qualitative data
- Words
- Themes
- Characters
80
Test-retest reliability
Repeat the test after a significant period of time and compare the results of the two separate tests
Researchers could calculate the correlation between the two ratings. Researchers generally accept 0.8 correlation between the test and re-test
81
Pros and cons of Content Analysis
- Very easy to perform and cheap
- Complements other methods to add validity to results
- Flawed results that may not be able to be applied to society
- Turns qualitative data into quantitative data so we only find out what but not why
82
Thematic Analysis
Identifying trends within the data and slowly adjusting trends as you get further into the data set.
Involves analysing every word in a qualitative piece of data and arranging them into these changing themes.
Dataset needs to be read several times to slowly become immersed in data
83
6 Phases of thematic analysis
1. Familiarisation with the data
2. Coding
3. Searching for themes
4. Reviewing themes
5. Defining and naming themes
6. Writing up
84
Familiarisation with the data
Involves intensely reading the data and becoming immersed in the data
85
Coding
Involves generating codes/labels that identify features of the data important to answering the research question
86
Searching for themes
Involves examining the codes/labels and determining if there are themes within the dataset
87
Reviewing themes
Checking the potential themes against the data. Themes are refined with the researcher sometimes splitting or discarding one
88
Defining and naming themes
Detailed analysis of each theme and creating a name that encapsulates the theme
89
Writing up
Involves combining together the information to write up the research
90
Evaluation of Thematic analysis
- Tends to be subjective as researchers use subjective judgements to gather the codes
- As a result of this subjectivity thematic analysis tends to be unreliable. A researcher who replicates it will find different results
- A thorough and labour-intensive method of research
91
Low correlations
-0.3 = low negative correlation
-0.8 = highly negative correlation
-1 = perfect negative correlation
92
High correlations
0.3 = low positive correlation
0.8 = highly positive correlation
1 = perfect positive correlation
93
Alternative Hypothesis for correlation
There will be a significant negative relationship between the heat of sun (measured in degrees Celsius) and clothing (measured by number of clothing items worn)
94
Correlational hypothesis
Must be operationalised
There will be a negative/positive/neutral relationship between two co-variables
95
Improving validity in experiments
- Having a control group as well as the experimental group
-Standardising the procedure for all groups
- Using single and double blind designs in the study
96
Improving validity for observations
- Covert observations improve validity as you would not act unnaturally if you were not aware you were being watched
97
Primary Data
Data collected by researchers directly from the participants first hand
- Tends to be more objective
- Cost and time spent in recruiting participants
98
Secondary Data
When researchers use data from studies that have already been completed, so the researchers do not have their own participants.
- Not expensive as you only have to read other peoples research
- May be outdated or irrelevant if research was conducted more than 5 years before
99
Negatively skewed distribution
If values are less than the mode its NEGATIVELY skewed
100
Positively skewed distributions
If values are greater than the mode its POSITIVELY skewed
101
Positive distributions
Skewed to the left meaning the scores that people have been measured on are generally low.
Experiencing floor effect
102
Floor effect
Scores are bunching up around the lower end of the scale
103
Negative distributions
When people are generally scoring high in what they are being measured in. With the mode on the right hand side it means people did well
Experiencing ceiling effect
104
Ceiling effect
The very few people who scored poorly on this test are bringing the mean down, but median and mode are generally unaffected as they don't take into account outlier scores
105
Likert or rating scale questions
These questions measure the strength of opinion
Strongly agree-----------------------Strongly disagree
106
Types of Self reports
Questionnaires - written form of self report
Interviews - oral type of self report
107
3 types of questions in self report
1. Open questions
2. Closed questions
3. Likert or Rating scale questons
108
Pros and cons of self report
- Can produce numerical data that can be analysed using statistical methods
- Can collect large quantities of data quickly
- Measures are usually standardised and easily reproduced
- Interviewing can be time-consuming and is not normally conducted on large samples
- Not possible to gauge whether ppts are telling the truth
109
Process of peer reviewing
- Independent researchers in the field (usually 3) will receive a copy of the manuscript
- Validity, significance and originality of the work is considered
- Reviewers can accept the manuscript as it is or accept it on the basis of changes being made
- They can also reject it outright from being published
- Editor of the journal has the final call on the manuscript
110
Referencing a book
Surname
First initials
(YEAR)
Book title
Publisher location
Publisher
111
Falsifiability
A theory should be able to be tested and therefore disproved
112
Paradigm
A set of shared beliefs about the fundamentals in a specific field.
eg biologists believing in the existence of DNA as the building block of life
113
Empiricism
If it is able to be observed or not
114
Determinism
There should be an identifiable cause or causes for an event that happens
115
Objectivity
A science should attempt to report things as they are. Subjective views have no place
116
Replicability
Using methods that can be repeated is necessary in order to accept the findings from a study
117
Kuhn (1962)
Argued that a science must have a uniting paradigm
Psychology lacks this, kuhn argues psychology is therefore a prescience as it hasn't yet developed this paradigm
118
BPS code of ethics
1. respect
2. commitment
3. integrity
4. responsibility
119
Bar charts
Used in experiments and when looking and secrete categories (Seperate)
Bars dont touch
120
Histograms
Not discrete categories
Bars touching
