research methods

Question 1

what is an aim

Answer 1

a statement of what the researcher is intending to investigate

Question 2

what is a hypothesis

Answer 2

a statement of what the researcher believes will happen in their investigation

Question 3

what is operationalisation

Answer 3

stating how the IV and DV will be measured, specifying how variables will be measured

Question 4

what is a directional hypothesis

Answer 4

states the difference between the 2 conditions (used when there is previous research)

Question 5

what is a non directional hypothesis

Answer 5

just states that there will be a difference between the 2 conditions (used when there is no previous research to suggest what the difference will be)

Question 6

what is an experiment

Answer 6

one variable is made to change and the effects on another variable are measured

Question 7

what is a variable

Answer 7

something that can differ

Question 8

what is an independent variable (IV)

Answer 8

made to change

Question 9

what is a dependent variable (DV)

Answer 9

something that is measured

Question 10

what is validity

Answer 10

refers to how true something is

Question 11

what is internal validity

Answer 11

are the researchers measuring behaviour correctly in the study

Question 12

what is external validity

Answer 12

can you generalise the researchers findings beyond the experiment and outside the study

Question 13

what is population validity

Answer 13

the people that are studied (was only a specific group studied which wouldn’t allow it to be generalised to all groups)

Question 14

what is temporal validity

Answer 14

the time period that the study was conducted in (experiments carried out a long time ago may no longer be valid today due to changing behaviours)

Question 15

what is ecological validity

Answer 15

the place that the research was conducted in (may not be appropriate to generalise from reseach setting to other settings)

Question 16

what is face validity

Answer 16

whether the test appears to measure what it claims to

Question 17

what is concurrent validity

Answer 17

whether the results correspond to what is currently known

Question 18

what is a confounding variable

Answer 18

a variable which has changed at the same time as the IV so we can’t be sure that it was the IV that caused this change.

Question 19

what is a demand characteristic

Answer 19

a cue that makes participants figure out the aims of the study and change their behaviour as a result

Question 20

what is an extraneous variable

Answer 20

a variable which may have had an influence on the DV but is difficult to be sure (e.g some Ps may be naturally better at the task)

Question 21

what is investigator effects/bias

Answer 21

expectations and the behaviour of the person carrying out the research may influence the Ps behaviour

Question 22

what does standardising procedures mean

Answer 22

researchers should ensure that all participants have the same experience, environment and instructions

Question 23

how can you deal with demand characteristics

Answer 23

single blind procedure - Ps not told the aims of the study

Question 24

how can you deal with investigator effects

Answer 24

double blind procedure - neither Ps or researcher know the aim

Question 25

what is a pilot study

Answer 25

small scale trial run of a study - check the procedure works and make any necessary changes before the real experiment is conducted

Question 26

what is randomisation

Answer 26

use chance to select and organise the experiment materials. This reduces the researchers influence. You could randomly select numbers, words, questions, tasks and more

Question 27

What is opportunity sampling

Answer 27

Using the people available to you - often not representative

Question 28

What is random sampling

Answer 28

Picking participants randomly but still may not be representative

Question 29

What is volunteer sampling

Answer 29

Using participants who want to do the experiment and are most willing

Question 30

What is systematic sampling

Answer 30

Place all participants in a line, role a dice and generate a number (n) Every nth person in the line is in your study

Question 31

What is stratified sampling

Answer 31

Work out what percentage of each is in your target population and create the most representative sample

Question 32

What is a lab experiment

Answer 32

The IV is manipulated in a controlled environment

Question 33

What is a field experiment

Answer 33

The IV is manipulated in a natural setting

Question 34

What is a natural experiement

Answer 34

The experimenter doesn’t manipulate anything; they take advantage of a naturally occurring event

Question 35

What is a quasi experiment

Answer 35

The experimenter doesn’t manipulate anything, the IV is a pre-existing difference between people e.g age or gender

Question 36

what are the 3 experimental designs

Answer 36

- independent groups - repeated measures - matched pairs

Question 37

evaluate using independent groups design

Answer 37

strengths: - avoid order effects - reduced demand characteristics weaknesses: - participant variables - higher sample size needed

Question 38

evaluate repeated measures design

Answer 38

strengths: - reduced participat variability - fewer participants needed weaknesses: - order effects - demand characteristics

Question 39

Evaluate matched pairs design

Answer 39

strengths: - control of participant variability - reduced demand charcateristics - reduced order effects weaknesses: - can be difficult to match - time consuming - larger sample size needed

Question 40

what are the 2 ways you can assess reliability

Answer 40

- test-retest - inter-observer

Question 41

how do you do test-retest

Answer 41

test the same person twice 2 sets of scores correlated above +0.8 is considered reliable

Question 42

how do you do inter-observer

Answer 42

compare observations from two observers scores of each observer is correlated above +0.8 is considered reliable