Research Methods Flashcards
(32 cards)
what is peer review?
the process by which research is scrutinised by expert ‘peers’ of that field of research, to check the quality and validity of the methods used before publication.
why is peer review important?
we don’t want poor quality or unscientific theories to be published; they could have a negative effect on/in society
what is the definition of independent variable?
an event which is controlled by the researcher to see if it will impact another variable e.g. number of hours ppt is allowed to sleep each night during the study (4,6,8,etc.)
what is the definition of dependent variable?
what the researcher is measuring e.g. score out of 20 on a memory test
what is an aim?
a general statement about the purpose of an investigation - gives the investigation clear focus - always needs an aim
give an example of how to write an aim?
e.g. ‘to investigate the relationship between stress and illness’
‘to find out whether intelligence affects happiness’
what is operationalisation?
the process of clearly defining variables so they can be measured and tested in a research study. In psychology, it means turning abstract concepts, such as “stress” or “memory,” into specific, measurable variables that can be observed and quantified.
what is a hypothesis?
what must it include?
a very specific, testable statement or prediction regarding the outcome of the investigation.
it must include: significant, difference?correlation/assossiaction, means/variables and they must be operationalised.
what is an experimental (alternative/alternate) hypothesis?
what are the 2 different ways of writing it?
this type of hypothesis predicts that there will be a significant difference, association/relationship between the means/variables.
directional (one tailed) and non-directional (two tailed)
what is a directional hypothesis?
directional hypotheses are more specific and predict the direction of the findings. it will use words such as higher/lower, more/less, faster/slower, etc.
e.g. “younger ppts will recall significantly on average more words correctly from the list than older ppts”
*only to be used when there has been previous research that has found something similar
what is a non-directional hypothesis
non-directional hypotheses are more general. they simply state that there will be an effect/difference or relationship
e.g. “there will be a significant difference in the mean number of correctly recalled words from the list of 20, between younger and older ppts”
*only to be used when thee has been NO previous research that has found something similar or inconsistent findings on the subject
What is a null hypothesis?
This type of hypothesis predicts that there will be no effect/difference, association/relationship found, and that any effects found are due to chance factors.
e.g. “there will be no significant difference in the main number of words that can be correctly recalled from the list of 20 words, between older and younger participants, any difference will be due to chance.”
What is a confounding variable?
Any variable other than the IV that has had an effect on the DV
What is an extraneous variable?
Any variable other than the IV that may affect the DV
What happens if extraneous variables are not controlled?
if they are not controlled, we cannot be sure that it is the IV that has affected the DV
Why must extraneous variables be controlled?
So that participants are tested in identical conditions
What can extraneous variables be a result from?
Random error (participant) or constant error (situational)
What is a situational variable?
A variable from the environment that affects all participants and the DV consistently
What are some examples of situational variables/constant error?
E.g. temperature, noise, distractions in the environment, a failure to counterbalance the order of experimental conditions, participant, differences, errors of measurements, which affect one condition, more than another (and demand characteristics)
What is a participant variable?
The characteristic/individual differences that affect individuals differently
What are some examples of participant variables/random errors?
E.g. participants, IQ, age, gender, state of mind, level of motivation, previous experiences on the day of the experiment.
What is a type 1 error?
a false positive. where you accept the alternative/hypothesis when it is false, the result is found through chance
What is a type 2 error?
a false negative. Where you accept the null hypothesis when it is false, the result is found through chance
If sources of error/extraneous variables become confounding variables, is the experiment more at risk of committing a type 1 error or type 2 error?
Type 1 error
