Research Methods 📝

Question 1

alternate hypothesis

Answer 1

predicts something other than chance caused the results.

Question 2

null hypothesis

Answer 2

predicts chance alone caused the results

Question 3

extraneous variable

Answer 3

any variable other than the IV that may have an effect on the DV if not controlled

Question 4

confounding variable

Answer 4

any variable other than the IV that may have an effect on the DV that is directly related to IV, could affect DV without IV

Question 5

demand characteristics

Answer 5

participants work out the aim of the study and change their behaviours accordingly

Question 6

investigator effects

Answer 6

unwanted influence of researcher

Question 7

randomisation

Answer 7

using methods of chance to control the effect of bias when designing the experiment

Question 8

standardisation

Answer 8

using exactly the same procedures for all participants

Question 9

repeated measures

Answer 9

all participants experience all conditions
strength- controlled individual differences
weakness- order effects

Question 10

independent groups

Answer 10

two or more separate groups experience different conditions
strength- no order effects
weakness- individual differences

Question 11

matched pairs

Answer 11

two or more separate groups experience different conditions after being matched into pairs
strength- controlled individual differences
weakness- time consuming

Question 12

field experiment

Answer 12

IV manipulated in a natural environment
strength- higher mundane realism
weakness- less control of EV and CV

Question 13

lab experiment

Answer 13

IV manipulated in controlled environment
strength- high control of CV and EV
weakness- demand characteristics

Question 14

natural experiment

Answer 14

no control of manipulation of IV, IV is natural
strength- high external validity
weakness- may not be possible to randomly allocate

Question 15

quasi experiment

Answer 15

IV is based on pre-existing variables
strength- controlled conditions
weakness- lack of random allocation

Question 16

random sampling

Answer 16

all members of target population have an equal chance of being selected
strength- representative
weakness- time consuming

Question 17

opportunity sampling

Answer 17

select anyone who’s willing
strength- convenient
weakness- less representative

Question 18

volunteer sampling

Answer 18

participants select themselves
strength- easy and less time consuming
weakness- less representative

Question 19

systematic sampling

Answer 19

every nth number selected
strength- avoids bias
weakness- time consuming

Question 20

stratified sampling

Answer 20

small composition of target population
strength- avoids bias, representative
weakness- time consuming and generalising

Question 21

informed consent

Answer 21

participants need to know aims, procedure and rights to give consent

Question 22

deception

Answer 22

deliberately misleading information

Question 23

protection from harm

Answer 23

psychological and physical, embarrassment, stress and pressure

Question 24

privacy and confidentiality

Answer 24

participants gave a right to control what happens to their personal data

Question 25

pilot studies

Answer 25

small scale trial run for the actual experiment

Question 26

double blind procedure

Answer 26

participants and researcher aren't aware of aims/ details of the procedure

Question 27

single blind procedure

Answer 27

participants are unaware of details in the procedure

Question 28

naturalistic observations

Answer 28

take place in a setting where the target behaviour would usually occur strength- high external validity weakness- lack of control

Question 29

controlled observations

Answer 29

take place in a structured environment strength- high control weakness- lacks external validity

Question 30

covert observations

Answer 30

participants are unaware of observation strength- prevents demand characteristics weakness- ethical issues

Question 31

overt observations

Answer 31

participants are aware of observation strength- ethical weakness- demand characteristics

Question 32

participant observations

Answer 32

researcher becomes part of the observed group strength- greater insight, external validity weakness- bias

Question 33

non- participant observations

Answer 33

researcher is separate to the observed group strength- less likely to affect group dynamic weakness- may lose valuable insight

Question 34

unstructured observations

Answer 34

researcher writes down everything they see strength- rich details weakness- observer bias

Question 35

structured observations

Answer 35

target behaviours are simplified strength- recording is easier, quantitative date weakness- less detail

Question 36

behavioural categories

Answer 36

behaviour is broken down into components that are observable and measurable

Question 37

sampling methods

Answer 37

event sampling = researcher records each time target behaviour occurs time sampling = records behaviour at a fixed time frame