Research Methods Flashcards

Question

What is a limitation of an overt observation?

Answer 1

demand characteristics; may of changed their behaviour as knew they were being observed

Answer 2

the researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording

Answer 3

increased insight to the participants so may increase internal validity

Answer 4

could lose OBJECTIVITY as may come to identify too strongly with the participants

Answer 5

the researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording

Answer 6

less danger of them adopting a local lifestyle as has maintained an objective psychological distance from their participants

Answer 7

may lose the valuable insight to be gained from becoming a participant

Answer 8

- Naturalistic vs Controlled - Covert vs Overt - Participant vs Non-Participant

Answer 9

a set of written questions use to assess a person's thoughts and/or experiences

Answer 10

question for which there are no fixed choice of response and respondents can answer in any way they wish

Answer 11

questions for which there is a fixed choice of responses determined by the question setter

Answer 12

a live encounter where one person asks a set of questions to assess an interviewee's thoughts and/or experiences

Answer 13

is a mix between pre-determined questions and follow-up questions based on previous answers

Answer 14

made up of pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order

Answer 15

like a conversation, there are no set questions and tends to be free-flowing

Answer 16

cost effective and can be completed without the researcher being present

Answer 17

responses may not always be truthful; social desirability bias

Answer 18

straightforward to replicate due to standardised format

Answer 19

limits the richness of the data as cannot deviate form the set questions

Answer 20

flexibility, which can give more rich data

Answer 21

may lead to an increase in interviewer bias

Answer 22

- Questionnaires - Structured Interviews - Semi-Structured Interviews - Unstructured Interviews

Answer 23

variables investigated within a correlation

Answer 24

an experiment the researcher controls or manipulates the IV in order to measure the effect on the DV. Correlation there is no manipulation of a variable and is not possible to establish a cause and effect

Answer 25

a general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate; purpose of the study

Answer 26

an aim is what you are going to research whereas a hypothesis is what you think will happen; a prediction of the results

Answer 27

a clear, precise, testable statement that states the relationship between the variables to be investigated

Answer 28

states the direction of the difference or relationship

Answer 29

does not state the direction of the difference or relationship

Answer 30

a group of people who take part in a research investigation and is drawn from a target population

Answer 31

a population is a group of people who are the focus of the researcher's interest whereas a sample is a smaller group of people form this population

Answer 32

all members of the target population have an equal chance of being selected

Answer 33

unbiased; confounding and extraneous variables equally divided in the groups increasing internal validity moderate generalisation; as could be unrepresentative or could not

Answer 34

is when every nth member of the target population is selected

Answer 35

unbiased; researcher has no influence over who is chosen

Answer 36

the composition of the sample reflects the proportions of people in certain subgroups (strata) within the target population

Answer 37

somewhat biased; researcher decides the strata good generalisation; produces a representative sample

Answer 38

anyone who happens to be willing and available will take part

Answer 39

very biased; researcher has complete control over who can take part very low generalisation; unrepresentative

Answer 40

participants selecting themselves to be a part of a sample

Answer 41

high bias; may attract a certain profile low generalisation; less representative

Answer 42

- Random - Systematic - Stratified - Opportunity - Volunteer

Answer 43

a small scale version of an investigation that takes place before the real investigation

Answer 44

to check that procedures, materials, measuring scales etc work and to allow the researcher to make changes or modifications if necessary

Answer 45

researcher is aware of the test being conducted. participants are unaware of the test being conducted

Answer 46

neither the participants not the researcher is aware of the aims of the investigation

Answer 47

all participants take part in all conditions of the experiment

Answer 48

participants are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental condition

Answer 49

pairs of participants are first matched on some variable that may effect the DV then one member of the pair is assigned to a condition A or B

Answer 50

- Independent groups - Repeated measures - Matched pairs

Answer 51

when a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable (operationalisation)

Answer 52

a target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs

Answer 53

a target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame e.g. every 60 seconds

Answer 54

- Behavioural categories - Event sampling - Time sampling

Answer 55

some aspect of the experimental situation that is manipulated by the researcher or changes naturally so the effect on the DV can be measured

Answer 56

the variable that is measured by the researcher

Answer 57

any variable other than the IV that may effect the DV if it is not controlled

Answer 58

a kind of extraneous variable but varies systematically with the IV, so cant tell if DV is due to IV or CV

Answer 59

clearly defines variables in terms of how they can be measured

Answer 60

an attempt to control for participant variables in an independent groups design which ensured that each participant has the same chance of being in one condition

Answer 61

an attempt to control for the effect of order in a repeated measures design: half participants experience conditions in one order and the other half in the opposite order

Answer 62

the use of chance methods to reduce the researcher's unconscious biases when designing an investigation

Answer 63

using exactly the same formulised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study

Answer 64

any cue from the researcher or situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation

Answer 65

any effect of the investigator's behaviour on the research outcome

Answer 66

a quasi-legal document produced by the British Psychological Society that states what is and isn't acceptable behaviour

Answer 67

- Informed consent - Deception - Protection form harm - Privacy and confidentiality

Answer 68

- allocate research funding - validate quality and relevance of research - suggest amendments and improvements

Answer 69

- Anonymity - Publication bias - burying groundbreaking research

Answer 70

- attachment research into the role of the father - development of treatments for mental disorders

Answer 71

data that can be counted; usually given in numbers

Answer 72

data that is expressed in words

Answer 73

gather numerical data in the form of individual scores from participant

Answer 74

with the interpretation of language from an interview for example

Answer 75

information that has been obtained first-hand by a researcher for the purpose of a research project

Answer 76

information that has already been collected by someone else and so pre-dates the current research project

Answer 77

the process of combining the findings from a number of studies on a particular topic to produce an overall statistical conclusion based on a range of studies

Answer 78

most frequently occurring value in a set of data

Answer 79

- mean - mode - median

Answer 80

calculation of dispersion

Answer 81

measure of dispersion that tells us how much on average each score deviates from the mean

Answer 82

- Graphs - Table - Bar charts - Histogram - Scattergram

Answer 83

bell-shaped curve which is symmetrical. mean, median and mode all occupy the same midpoint of the curve. tail never touches the x-axis

Answer 84

distributions that lean one side or the other. positive skew is towards left of graph with long tail on right. negative skew is on right of graph with long tail to the left

Answer 85

a statistical test used to analyse the difference in scores between related items

Answer 86

to determine if the difference you have found is significant

Answer 87

1) subtract data from each other resulting in a +, -, or = 2) add up total of + and total of - 3) take less frequent sign and call is S (calculated value is S) 4) i) compare calculated value with critical value ii) critical value is number of participants - any = is N, find number on table iii) use o.o5 level of significance iv) find out if one-tailed (directional hypothesis) or two-tailed (non-directional hypothesis) v) calculated value must be equal to or less than critical value to have significance 5) conclude

Answer 88

provides a way of determining whether hypothesis should be accepted or rejected by determining if the relationship between the variables are significant

Answer 89

is an association (or relation) between 2 variables, known as co-variables

Answer 90

number between -1 and 1 representing the strength and direction of the relationship between 2 variables

Answer 91

- mostly ethical - based on real life data; not artificial

Answer 92

- can't establish a cause and effect - no manipulation over variables

Answer 93

an in-depth investigation, description and/or analysis of a single individual/group

Answer 94

focuses on understanding a single person or case in depth

Answer 95

tendency to interpret data or make judgements

Answer 96

extent to which research findings obtained from a sample can be applied to a broader population

Answer 97

to use different methods to extract information to provide a clear understanding/conclusion

Answer 98

to assume that one's personal quantities and characteristics are common in the general social group or culture

Answer 99

- quantitative data - triangulation - ecological validity

Answer 100

- subjectivity - replication - time

Answer 101

observational study in which behaviour is observed indirectly in written or verbal material

Answer 102

a quantitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data

Answer 103

where the communication is analysed by identifying every time an identified, operationalised behavioural categories is mentioned. turns qualitative data into quantitative

Answer 104

- uses both Quantitative and Qualitative data - limited ethical issues - high external validity highly reliable

Answer 105

- subjectivity - data is analysed outside the context in which it was produced - indirect method

Answer 106

findings are certain as the changes of the DV are due to the IV

Answer 107

findings from a research study can be generalised to other settings

Answer 108

generalising research methodology to specific real-life tasks and behaviour

Answer 109

refers to whether you can reasonably generalise the findings from your sample to a larger group

Answer 110

findings from a research study can be generalised to other times and eras

Answer 111

test looks like it measures what it is supposed to measure

Answer 112

measure is in agreement with another pre-existing measurement. Correlation must exceed +0.8

Answer 113

measure of consistency

Answer 114

compete it multiple times to show the extent the test produces the same answers

Answer 115

when there is an agreement between two or more observers

Answer 116

Experiments: - control group - standardisation Questionnaires: - social desirability - anonymous Observations: - non-participant - covert Qualitative research: - triangulation

Answer 117

Experiments: - test retest method - maximise control Questionnaires: - don't ask too leading or ambiguous questions - test retest method Observations: - operationalise behavioural categories - utilise a structed approach to the research method Interviews: - use same interviewer every time - prioritise closed, less ambiguous questions

Answer 118

__________/_____difference____/correlation __________/Unrelated/Related/____________ Nominal/__Chi Sq___/Sign Test/__Chi Sq__ Ordinal_/Mann-Whi_/_Wilcox_/__Sp Rho__ Interval_/_Un T test_/ R T test / Pearson R

Answer 119

Carrots Should Come Mashed With Suede Under Roast Potatoes

Answer 120

categorical data, discrete. each item can only appear in one category (look at DV)

Answer 121

ordered in some way, does not have equal intervals between each unit. Lacks precision as based on subjective opinion. Often in the form of rankings or scale

Answer 122

based on numerical scales that include units of equal, precisely defined size. There is a true 0, most sophisticated form. Objective as everyone would get the same measurement.

Answer 123

1) Find your calculated value (in the STEM or calculated via Sign Test) 2) What statistical test is being used? Find the table of critical values 3)Was the hypothesis used one tailed or two tailed? 4) Do you need to use the number of participants (N) or degrees of freedom? a. If degrees of freedom, what formula do you need? 5) What level of probability will the psychologist use? 6) Read the table of critical values and find your critical value 7) Does the name of the statistical test have an R in it? a. If yes (R) – calculated value must be greater than the critical value to be significant b. If not (no R) – calculated value must be lower than the critical value to be significant 8) What hypothesis (alternative or null) will you be accepting?

Answer 124

States there is no relationship or difference between 2 variables It is the hypothesis that the researcher tries to disprove H0

Answer 125

States there is a relationship or difference between 2 variables It is the hypothesis that the researcher tries to prove This can be directional or non directional H1 or Ha

Answer 126

agreed set of beliefs, methods, principles etc

Answer 127

change form an old agreed belief to a new agreed belief

Answer 128

you need to be able to disprove a theory

Answer 129

gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience

Answer 130

all sources of personal bias are minimised so as not to distract the research process - maintaining a critical distance between the person and data

Answer 131

repeating specific procedures to test validity of findings

Answer 132

collecting data through investigations and formulating it into a single explanation/account (theory)

Answer 133

developing a hypothesis, collecting data and then proving it correct and keeping the hypothesis. Or proving it incorrect and altering the hypothesis to be re-tested.

Answer 134

Paradigm Paradigm Shift Falsifiability The Empirical Method Objectivity Replicability Theory of Construction Hypothesis Testing

Answer 135

If there is a letter R in the name of the test, the calculated value should be greater or equal to the critical value Cal>/S If there is no R, the calculated value should be less than or equal to the critical value Cal