Research Methods (paper 2) Flashcards
What is a research method?
Strategies/processes of collecting data for analysis
What is a research aim?
Statement of what a researcher is intends to find out, should be stated before any study
What are the two independent variables?
1-control condition (baseline/no change)
2-experimental condition (change)
What is directional versus non-directional hypothesis?
D-one tailed (–>) predicts results direction
ND-two tailed (<–>) no prediction of direction
•in exam clearly state an appropriate directional, operationalised hypothesis
When is a non-directional hypothesis used?
When their is no pre-existing research or too much contradictory research
What is a difference hypothesis?
States the difference between conditions
(Experimental - says ‘difference’)
What is a relationship/correlation hypothesis?
Predicts the relation between two things
(Correlation - says ‘relation’)
What ate the five things psychology research should be?
1-General: representative if many people (gender/race/lifestyle)
2-Reliable: up to date and repeatable
3-Applicable: works in the real world to support a theory or to improve life
4-Valid: uses real life tasks and applies to real life (measure what it meant to)
5-Ethical: moral, participants have informed consent, can leave not harmed ( physically/mentally)
What are operationalised variables?
Variables that are in a form that can be tested easily.
(Dependant variable=time or anxiety, operationalised variable=stopwatch minutes/seconds/milliseconds or scale of 1-5, ask participant)
•You need to be specific!
What are extraneous variables?
any variable other than the IV that may have an effect on the DV that is not controlled
(Eg noise/temperature/light/room size/mood/intelligence/age/anxiety/gender/concentration etc)
What is a confounding variable?
EV that varies systematically with IV, so cannot be sure of the true source of change of DV
What is a demand characteristic?
A cue from the researcher/research situation that could reveal the purpose of the investigation (leads to changing behaviour)
What is the investigator effect?
Any effect of the investigator’s behaviour on the DV
(conscious/unconscious)
How can you reduce the investigator effect?
1-Randomisation: use of chance to control for the effects of bias (random selection)
2-Standardisation: exact same procedure and instructions for every participant
3-Single Blind procedure: participants don’t know which condition they’re taking
4-Double Blind procedure: both participants and experimenter don’t know which condition they’re taking
*these reduce demand characteristics
What are the three experimental designs?
1-independent groups design
2-repeated group design
3-matched pairs design
*they ate meant to represent our population as a whole
What is independent group design?
-different participants used in each condition
-two levels of IV, experimental condition group and control group
-allocation of group should be random
What are the strengths/limitations of independent group design?
+order effects avoided
+demand characteristics are avoided
-more participants needed (take time)
-participant varibles
What is repeated measures design?
-same participants used in both conditions if the experiment
*in order to counterbalance the limitations, half the participants do the conditions (A to B) and the other half do the opposite (B to A)
What are the strengths/limitations of repeated measures design?
+fewer participants requires
+participant variables are controlled
-order effect is possible
-demand characteristics likely
What is matched pairs design?
-pairs of participant in terms of key variables (such as age)
-one member of each pair is then placed in the two different conditions
What are the strengths/limitations of matched pairs design?
+participant variables are reduced
+order effects are avoided
+demand characteristics reduces
-individual differences occur
-time consuming and expensive
What are the types of experimental methods?
-laboratory experiments
-field experiments
-natural experiments
-quasi experiments
What is a laboratory experiment?
-takes place in a controlled environment
-researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV
-maintaining strict control of extraneous variables
-has the highest level of control of IV but the lowest level of ecological validity
-high internal but low external validity
-low ethics issues
-high reliability but high demand characteristics
What is a Feild experiment?
-an experiment that takes place in a natural environment
-the researcher manipulates the IV and records effect on the DV
-strikes balance between control on IV and having ecological validity
-low internal but high external validity
-high ethics issues
-low reliability but low demand characteristics
What is a natural experiment?
-an experiment where the change to the IV would have occurred without reacher, its not done by reseacher
-researcher records effect on DV
-has the lowest control of IV, but has the highest level of ecological validity
-low internal but mid external validity
-low ethics issues
-low reliability but low demand characteristics
What is a quasi experiment?
-a study that is almost an experiment but the IV is not detirmined by anyone
-the variables simply exist (eg being old or young)
-the environment of the study is controlled
-mid internal but low external validity
-low ethics issues
-high reliability but high demand characteristics
What is ecological validity?
-high, indicates the findings can be generalised and applies to real life
-so people in real life situations will experience the same things as in the study
What are the different sampling methods?
-random
-systematic
-stratified
-opportunity
-volunteer (or self selection)
What is random sampling?
-Each member of a population has equal chance of being selected (lottery method used to select from obtained list of target population)
+free from researcher bias
-time consuming
-difficult to get list of everyone
-could be unrepresentative (chance)
-people may not want to take part
What is systematic sampling?
-when every nth member of target population is selected from sampling frame
+free from researcher bias
+fairly representative (usually)
-time consuming
-list of everyone is difficult to get
-people may not want to take part
What is stratified sampling?
-The composition of sample reflects the proportion of people in certain sub groups within the target population
+free from researcher bias
+most representative
-time consuming
-complete representation of sample is not always possible
-people may not want to take part
What is opportunity sampling?
-selecting anyone who is willing/available to take part, researcher simply asks whoever is around
+saves money (time)
+quick and efficient
-unrepresentative (only people there and only some will say yes)
-researcher bias
What is volunteer sampling?
-an advert is produced, individuals self select themselves to take part
+easy
+less time consuming
-volunteer bias occurs
-usually less representative
What are ethical issues in studies as outlined by the British Psychological Society (BPS) in their quasi-legal document?
-informed consent:
the right to be given detailed information about the nature/purpose of the research and their role in it, so they can make the informed decision to take part or not
-right to withdraw:
the right to leave the study for any reason and should also be able to refuse permission for the data they produced to be used
-confidentiality:
the right to have personal information protected (inc right for anonymity)
-protection from harm: during study, participant should not experience any negative physical/psychological effects
-deception:
deliberately misleading/withholding info from participants at any stage in the study (so informed consent cannot truly be given)
What is a cost-benefit analysis?
-ethic committees weight up the cost vs the benefits of research proposals to decide if the study should go ahead
-benefits may include the value of the research
-possible costs may inc the damaging effects on individuals or in the reputation of psychology as a whole
How to deal with informed consent?
-need to give participant detailed letter with all relevant info that may affect decision to join study, that will be signed if they agree
-Presumptive consent: rather than consent from participant, a similar group of people are asked if study is acceptable, they agree than participant consent is presumed
-Prior general consent: participants give permission to take part in multiple different studies (inc one that involves deception), so they are agreeing to being deceived
-Retrospective consent: during debrief after study participants are asked for consent
How to deal with deception, protection form harm and confidentiality?
-if they were deceived, participants should be informed of all details and the true intentions of the study after, as well as what their data will be used for so they can decide if it will be used
-maintain anonymity and remind participants they can withdraw their data
What are observations?
-study of observable behaviour
-non experimental method as there is *no independent variable * (cannot establish cause and effect)
-can be used within experiments
What are naturalistic vs controlled observations?
Naturalistic- watching behaviour in the setting it would normally occur
+ high external validity
+ low demand characteristics
- low reliability (difficult to replicate due to lack of control)
- low internal validity (extraneous variables may effect DV)
Controlled- watching behaviour in a structured environment
+ high internal validity
+ high reliability (easily repeatable)
- high demand characteristics
- low external validity (not applicable)
What are covert vs overt observations?
Covert- behaviour is watched without knowledge or consent of participants
+ high internal validity (will act natural)
+ low demand characteristics
- high ethical issues (no informed consent and cant withdraw)
Overt- behaviour is watched with knowledge and consent
+ low ethical issues
- high demand characteristics
- low internal validity (act less natural)
What are participant vs non participant observations?
Participant- researcher is member of group whose behaviour they’re watching
+ high internal validity (more insight)
- low objectivity
Non participant- researcher remains outside group whose behaviour they’re watching
+ high objectivity
- low internal validity (loose insight)
What are structured vs unstructured observations?
Structured
-used when there is too much going
for researcher to record it all
-produces quantitive data (analysis is more straightforward)
Unstructured
-researcher writes down everything they see
-used on small scale when their is few participants
-produces qualitative data, so it is difficult to analyse but more in depth
-prone to bias as researcher may miss of purposely ignore things
Observer bias = expectations impact what they see and hear, this reduces validity of observations
What are behavioural categories and why are they used?
-the target behaviour must be clearly defined before an observation
-they use a predetermined list of behaviours to quantify their observations put into a checklist
-researcher should include all realistic ways target behaviour may occur
-they make data collection more structured and objective
-the categories must be clear and unambiguous so no interpretation required (as it may differ for people)
-no overlap of categories to avoid confusion of where behaviour belongs
What are the two sampling methods used during observation?
Event sampling
-researcher records every time event/target behaviour occurs (using a tally chart)
-used when event occurs infrequently
Time sampling
-used when lots of people are observed
-researcher records behaviour in a fixed time frame (eg every 10mins)
-important behaviours may be missed if they don’t occur at interval
What is inter-observer reliability and how is it gained?
The agreement between multiple observers involved in the observation of a behaviour
-it should make data objective/unbiased
-should be 2 or more observers
-before observation, should ensure they interpret behavioural categories the same
-pilot test of categoriesso they can practice using them and see if the categories need to be changed
-whilst doing observations, they are separate
-after observation, their observations are correlated to check for reliability
-if positive correlation of 80+ the observations are deemed reliable
