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Research methods Flashcards

(55 cards)

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1
Q

What does “Carrots Should Come Mashed With Swede Under Roast Potatoes” stand for

A

Chi-squared, Sign, Chi-squared
Mann-whitney, Wilcoxon, Spearmann’s rho
Unrelated T-test, Related T-test, Pearsons

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2
Q

Case studies

A

A detailed study of a particular person/persons or event, usually yielding large amounts of information

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3
Q

Content analysis

A

A research tool used to determine the presence of certain words, themes, or concepts within some given qualitative data

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4
Q

Covert observation

A

A type of observation where the observer is hidden and therefore participants do not know they are being observed. While this does reduce demand characteristics, it can raise ethical issues around consent.

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5
Q

Field experiment

A

A type of experiment that is conducted in a real life setting, which reduces the amount of control over extraneous variables, however the ecological validity is improved.
(IV still manipulated)

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6
Q

Natural experiment

A

A type of observation where ppts are observed in their natural environment, increasing ecological validity but decreasing the amount of control over extraneous variables
(IV is naturally occurring event)

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7
Q

Overt observation

A

A type of observation where the ppts know they are under observation. This preserves informed consent but may increase demand characteristics

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8
Q

Quasi experiment

A

An experiment whereby the IV has not been determined/manipulated by the researcher, instead it naturally exists (such as a persons characteristic)

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9
Q

Structured interviews

A

A form of the interview wherein questions are pre-set before hand, with no flexibility. Usually, these consist of closed questions, and allows for replicability

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10
Q

What is an Abstract?

A

A part of a scientific report that aims to summarise a report.

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11
Q

What is Bias?

A

An inclination to a certain position or thought.

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12
Q

Behavioural categories

A

An observational technique wherein ppts possible behaviours are separated into more specific components. This allows for operationalisation of the behaviour.

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13
Q

Define experimental method

A

The experimental method concerns the manipulation of an IV to have an effect on the DV which is measured and stated in the results

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13
Q

What is the difference between a directional and non-directional hypothesis?

A

A directional hypothesis states the direction of the impact of independent variable (IV) on the dependent variable (DV) whereas non-directional does not state the direction of the relationship between the IV and the DV.

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14
Q

Identify five types of sampling methods.

A

● Opportunity sampling.
● Random sampling.
● Systematic sampling.
● Stratified sampling.
● Volunteer sampling

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15
Q

Outline how you would take a stratified sample

A
  1. Identify the strata.
  2. Calculate the required proportion for each stratum based on the size of the target population.
  3. Select the sample at random from each stratum.
  4. To do this, you can use a random selection method e.g. using a computer.
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16
Q

Explain one advantage of using a stratified sample

A

The sample is able to be more representative of the target population compared to other types of sampling

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17
Q

Explain what is meant by operationalisation

A

Operationalisation is the process by which a researcher defines how a concept is measured, observed, or manipulated within a particular study. For example, social anxiety can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioral avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

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18
Q

What is a solution to the problem of order effects caused by a repeated measures design?

A

A solution would be counterbalancing. This is when half of the participants are made to do conditions in one order and the other half in the opposite order. This eliminates order effects.
(ABBA)

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19
Q

Identify the 4 types of experiments

A

Laboratory
field
Quasi
Natural

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20
Q

Describe the purpose of carrying out a peer review

A

● To allocate research funding to projects that is worthwhile.
● To make sure the research is of good quality and is relevant.
● To be able to suggest improvements so that faulty or incorrect data is not released to the public.

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21
Q

Define the two types of skewed distributions

A

● Positive skew - when plotted on a graph, the data has a long tail on the right.
● Negative skew - when plotted on a graph, the data has a long tail on the left

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22
Q

Give two limitations of a content analysis.

Study These Flashcards
A

● Causality cannot be established as it merely describes the data
● As it only describes the data it cannot extract any deeper meaning or explanation for the data patterns arising

23
Q

Give 3 limitations of conducting a case study

Study These Flashcards
A

● As it only concerns one person it is not really generalisable to wider populations.
● Retrospective studies may rely on memory which can be unreliable.
● They are time consuming

24
Explain two ways of assessing the validity of research
● Face validity: A measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears to measure what it is supposed to. ● Concurrent validity: Checking the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing and well-established similar one.
25
What are the three factors that help you decide which inferential statistical test to use?
● The level of data that was collected. ● Whether the design of the study is related or unrelated ● Whether a difference or correlation is being measured
26
Identify the three levels of measurement
Nominal data Interval data ordinal data
27
Describe nominal data and give an example.
Data that describes characteristics or groups, for example ethnicity, car brand, place of birth. There’s no ranking or natural order. A level of measurement that refers to variables that can be counted in whole numbers, to indicate frequency
28
Interval data
A level of measurement that refers to variables that exist on scale with fixed, standardised intervals
29
Ordinal data
A level of measurement that refers to variables that can be placed on a scale of relative importance
30
Standard deviation
A measure of dispersion that represents the average distance of values from the mean. It is calculated by subtracting each value from the mean, squaring that difference and finding the sum of all these squares. Then, dividing by the number of values and finding the square root.
31
Median
A measure of the average of a data set by determining the middle value in the data set. This means it only takes into account the very middle value, ignoring the value of any others.
32
Correlation coefficient
A value between -1 and 1 that indicates the relationship (correlation) between two data sets.
33
Test-retest reliability
Completing a test multiple times and comparing the scores for similarity.
34
Pilot studies
Preliminary/trial studies carried out to ensure the clarity of the study itself. For example, using a pilot questionnaire on a sample of people that give feedback on the clarity of the questions
35
Paradigm shift
When previously accepted core concepts in a science are changed, usually due to the emergence of new evidence.
36
Paradigm
A basic concept: a well accepted core belief
37
Investigation effects
Unconscious changes in the investigators behaviour to comply with the hypothesis of the investigation
38
Participant observation
A type of observation where the observer joins the group under observation. This form of observation yields highly valuable qualitative information with insight, but can reduce the objectivity of the researcher
39
Describe the difference between unstructured and structured observation.
An unstructured observation consists of continuous recording where everything the researcher sees is written down, whereas structured observation has a predetermined list of behaviours and sampling methods with which the researcher quantifies their observation with (e.g., notes the number of times a participant crosses their arms)
40
Identify three measures of central tendency
Mode Median Mean
41
Outline three things a researcher should think about when constructing a questionnaire.
● Clarity - the researcher should make sure it is clear what each of the questions are asking. ● Analysis - the questionnaire should be written in a way that can be easily analysed. ● Sequencing questions- the researcher should think about the order of questions, maybe easy ones first then harder ones last to build up the confidence of the participants.
42
Give two strengths of conducting an unstructured interview.
● Lots of data is collected which has more depth and detail. ● It can be tailored to individuals giving more insight into the subjective experience of the person being interviewed.
43
What is a type 1 error?
False positive This is when the researcher incorrectly accepts the experimental hypothesis. This can happen when the significance level is too lenient
44
What is a type 2 error?
False negative This when the researcher incorrectly accepts the null hypothesis This can happen when the significance level is too stringent
45
Cost-benefit analysis
Ethics committees undergo a cost-benefit analysis, where the benefit of the research is compared to the costs of the ethical guidelines
46
What are some impacts and implications of research?
The public - Being influenced by the psychological findings Groups studied - May suffer bias or discrimination due to awareness of harmful psychological research Government - May use the psychological findings to develop policies and legislation
47
Coding
A type of analysis wherein huge texts are simplified to certain key words that are aligned with certain themes First stage of a content analysis
48
Give two strengths of a content analysis
● Less ethical issues as most of the information is already public - there is no issues with obtaining permission ● It has high mundane realism and external validity as what is being studied is already out there in the real world. ● Produces a large data set of both qualitative and quantitative data that is easy to analyse.
49
What are the BPS's 5 ethical guidelines.
Informed consent Avoid deception Protection from harm Right to withdraw Confidentiality
50
What does 'Can Do Can't Do With Participants' stand for
Informed consent Deception Confidentiality Debriefing Withdraw Protection from harm
51
External validity
The extent to which research findings can be generalized to other situations, populations, and times beyond the specific study context
52
Internal validity
The extent to which a study's findings accurately reflect a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables, and are not influenced by other extraneous factors
53
Ecological validity
The degree to which research findings can be generalized to real-world settings
54
What descriptive statistic is always in the middle for skewed data? (mean, median, mode)
Mean

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