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Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What are the four types of confounding variables?

A

-participant variables (age,weight)
-situational variables(temperature distractions)
-demand characteristics (please you, screw you)
- investigator effects (tone, body language)

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2
Q

What is a confounding variable?

A

A variable which changes both the IV and the DV

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3
Q

What are the two ways to control extraneous and confounding variables?

A

Randomisation and standardisation

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4
Q

Define randomisation

A

Participants are assigned randomly to each condition without the researcher being able to chose

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5
Q

Define standardisation

A

When all participants are exposed to exactly the same conditions. A list can be made of exactly what happens to each participant to control this

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6
Q

What is an aim?

A

Identifies the purpose of the investigation, a straightforward expression of what the researcher trying to find out from conducting an experiment.

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7
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

States what you believe will happen. It is a precise and testable prediction of the relationship between two variables.

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8
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

Predicts the direction of the outcome. For example, ‘this group will score higher than the other group’

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9
Q

What is a non directional hypothesis?

A

Predicts a difference but doesn’t say in which direction. Always starts with ‘there will be a difference’

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10
Q

What is a bull hypothesis?

A

Predicts there will be no difference in the two conditions.

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11
Q

What type of hypothesis would be used if there had been previous research done on the topic of the experiment?

A

Directional

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12
Q

What are the four types of experiments

A

-laboratory
-field
- natural
-quasi

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13
Q

What is a laboratory experiment?

A

Carried out in a highly controlled environment such as a classroom

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14
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

Conducted in a natural environment but the IV is still manipulated

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15
Q

What is a natural experiment?

A

Conducted in a natural environment when the researcher has no control over the IV

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16
Q

What is a quasi experiment?

A

When the IV is pre-existing and cannot be changed. Can occur anywhere

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17
Q

Evaluate a laboratory experiment

A

Strength- highly controlled variables

Limitation- demand characteristics

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18
Q

Evaluate a field experiment

A

Strength- high mundane realism
Strength- no demand characteristics

Limitations- loss of control over extraneous variables
Limitation- difficult to establish cause and effect between IV and DV

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19
Q

Evaluate a natural experiment

A

Strength- high external validity and mundane realism

Limitation- can be a one-off as is like a case study

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20
Q

Evaluate a quasi experiment

A

Strength- highly controlled

Limitation- cannot allocate participants randomly (PV can be a problem)

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21
Q

Name the three types of experimental designs

A

-independent groups
-repeated measures
-matched pairs

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22
Q

Evaluate the independent groups design

A

Strength- order affects and demand characteristics not a problem

Limitation - PV are a problem
Limitation- less economical

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23
Q

Evaluate the repeated measures design

A

Strength- PV less of an issue

Limitation- demand characteristics more of a problem

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24
Q

Evaluate the matches pairs design

A

Strength- demand characteristics less of a problem
Strength- PV less of a problem

Limitation- expensive and time consuming

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25
What is a positive correlation?
When both variables increase or decrease at the same time
26
What is a negative correlation?
When as one variable increases the other decreases
27
What are the strengths of correlations?
-can be used to asses patterns between variables, which leads to further research. -shows how two variables are related -quick and cheap and often use secondary data
28
What are the weaknesses of correlations?
-cannot demonstrate cause end effect (say HOW not WHY) - a third variables could affect the orhet 2 -findings can be misinterpreted
29
What are the three types of interview
-Structured -unstructured -semi-structured
30
Evaluate a structured interview
S- easy to replicate S- lack of unexpected information L- information received may lack detail
31
Evaluate an u structured interview
S- more flexible S- gain insight into view of the interviewee S- receive unexpected info L- higher risk of interviewer bias L- more difficult to analyse
32
What should an interviewer avoid in an interview?
Overuse of jargon, emotive language, double negatives
33
What are the two different types of sampling
Event sampling and time sampling
34
What is event sampling
Counting the number of times and event occurs
35
What is time sampling
Recording events with an established time frame (what is going on every 5 mins)
36
What are the four stages of inter-observer reliability?
1) familiarisation of behavioural categories 2)observe behaviour and gather data 3) compare date, discuss differences 4) correlate findings and calculate reliability (correlation coefficient of 0.8)
37
Evaluate open questions
S- lots of qualitative data S- rich in detail S- tells us WHY L- harder to analyse
38
Evaluate closed questions
S- produces quantative data S- easy to analyse S- can be displayed on graphs and charts L- lacks details
39
Evaluate questionnaires
S- cost effective S- can be completed without researcher being present S- quick and easy to analyse L- participants can lie (social desirability bias) L- participants can show a response bias
40
What are the 4 main ethical issues?
Consent, deception, protection from harm, privacy and confidentiality
41
What are the 4 different types of observation techniques
Naturalistic Controlled Overt Covert
42
What are the different types of sampling participants?
Oppurtunity Volunteer Random systematic Stratified
43
what is qualitative data
uses language and context to asses what is going on rich in depth and detail can find out about attitudes, beliefs etc
44
what is a strength of qualitative data
broader and more detailed information
45
what are the limitations of qualitative data
difficult to analyse relies on subjective interpretation of researcher
46
what is quantitive data
numerical data questions not probing if collecting quantitive data sample sizes usually bigger easy to analyse
47
what are the strengths of quantitive data
simple to analyse objective easy to compare
48
what is the weakness of quantitive data
lacks detail
49
what is primary data
data collected first hand from participants for a study
50
what is secondary data
data that has been collected by someone else, can be found in articles, books etc
51
what is a strength of primary data
collected specifically for investigation
52
what is a limitation of primary data
more expensive and time consuming to collect
53
what is a strength of secondary data
cheap and requires little effort
54
what is a weakness of secondary data
may lack accuracy- may be incomplete, outfdated or not foot investigation
55
what are is an advantage of finding the mean
most 'sensitive' measure as it includes all scores in data set so is more representative of all data
56
what is a disadvantage of finding the mean
distorted by extreme values/anomalies
57
what is an advantage of finding the median
extreme scores do not effect a median
58
what is a disadvantage of finding the median
doesn't represent all the data in na set
59
what is an advantage of finding the mode
easy to calculate sometimes the only thing that can be used (what is your favourite sport etc)
60
what is a disadvantage of finding the mode
doesn't represent all the data
61
what is standard deviation
a measure of how far away the scores in a data set are away from the mean . the larger the deviation the bigger the spread of the scores
62
what are the two ways of measuring dispersion
range standard deviation
63
when would you use a bar chart
when data is discrete for example, what pets people have
64
when would you use a histogram
when plotting continuous data for example, how long it took people to run 100m
65
when would you use a line graph
used when looking at continuous data over time for example, how someones time at running 100m changed every year
66
what is a normal distribution graph
when the mean, median and mode all fall around the highest, centre point of the bell curve
67
what does a normal distribution graph mean
most people are located in the middle, with very few scores at the extremes
68
what is a negative skew
where the concentration leans towards the right, with a long tail on the left
69
what is a positive skew
where the concentration leans towards the left with a long tail on the right
70
what is an example of a negative skew
a very easy test where most people got a high score a few anomalous results (tail)
71
what is an example of a positive skew
a very hard test where most people got a low score with a few anomalies (tail)
72
what is the single bind technique
when the researcher keeps some details from the participants, such as what condition they are in or if there is another condition
73
what is an example of the single bind technique
giving one of two pills to participants but not telling them that other participants are receiving different pills
74
what is the double blind technique
when neither the researcher or the participants know the aim of the investigation
75
what is an example of the double blind technique
drug trials- person administering drugs does not know if they are placebo or not
76
what is a pilot study
when a small scale version of the investigation is run before actual thing. also done with questionnaires and interviews. identifies any problems that need fixing, can save time and money
77
what is the aim of peer review
all aspects of written investigations being scrutinised by a small of usually two or three peers. these peers should conduct an objective review and be unknown to the author or researcher
78
what are the three aims of peer review
allocate research funding to validate the quality and relevance of research to suggests amendments or improvements
79
what are the limitations of peer review
anonymity- some researchers use anonymity to put down rival researchers who crossed their paths publication bias- editors tend to only want to publish positive or headline grabbing results leading to file drawer bias Bury groundbreaking research- publishers may not want to publish research that goes against main stream theories.
80
how do you deal with informed consent
signed form before experiment
81
what are the three types of consent
presumptive prior general retrospective
82
how do you deal with deception and protection from harm
full debrief right to withdraw data pay for counselling
83
how do you deal with confidentiality
keep them anonymous tell them this in brief and debrief
84
what are the strengths of participant observations
increases external validity
85
what are the limitations of participant observations
researcher may lose objectivity
86
what is unstructured observation
writing down everything that is seen
87
what is a structured observation
uses behavioural categories
88
what is continuous recording
part of unstructured observation when everything to do with target behaviour is written down
89
what are the limitations of unstructured observation
observer bias doesnt work for complex observations.
90

Psychology (13 decks)

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