Research methods Flashcards
(51 cards)
What is objectivity?
Non-biased research that is verified through measurements and not personal opinion.
What is empricism?
Providing evidence through direct observation rather than an argument.
What is reliability?
The findings being easy to repeated again with the controlled variables included.
What is a paradigm?
A shared agreement of assumptions and views about a view or approach.
Why is scientific approaches to psychology criticised?
- To study people’s behaviour is hard because behaviour is complex to measure.
- Human personality makes the scientific method to psychology objectively impossible.
- Lab experiments can provoke demand characteristics.
What does peer review do to help studies?
- Gather more funding as it is credible and approved by others
- Prevent faulty studies being published
- Get a wider view to get more ideas.
Criticisms of peer reviews
- Bias towards more prestigious institutions meaning that smaller researchers may not be popularised
- Peers may not want to publish research that go against their views or beliefs and therefore may discredit it.
What are experiments in psychology and evaluate.
Designed to establish cause and effect. Strictly control variables to eliminate extraneous variables.
Quasi experiments, evaluate
Groups in a condition are there because of they’re the independent variable. (Men vs Women)
GOOD
Less artificial: generalisable to real life
BAD
Confounding variables may affect results
Can’t establish cause and effect
Lab experiments, evaluate
GOOD
- High degree of control
- High reliability
- Cause and effect
BAD
- Demand characteristics
- Low in validity
- Lacks ecological validity and can’t be generalised
Field experiments, evaluate
GOOD
- Can be generalised to the public: high ecological validity
- Experimenter bias is reduced
BAD
- Less control, extraneous variables may affect behaviour and findings
- Low reliability.
What is repeated measures?
PPs are in both conditions
- D
What are independent groups
PPs are in both conditions
- High demand characteristics
What are matched pairs
PPs are matched into pairs and randomly allocated to one condition
- Less chance of demand characteristics
BUT..
Needs more participants
What is a natural observation, evaluate
- High ecological validity
- Demand characteristics don’t affect the findings.
- Can’t control all variables
- Can’t make cause and effect because an extraneous variable may have caused that behaviour
- Unethical if they didn’t consent to being watched.
What is a controlled observation, evaluate
- Variables are more controlled, you can make and cause and effect.
- Hawthorne effect
What is participant observation, evaluate
Observer interacts with the participants.
- Easier to get a deeper understanding of the behaviour.
- Observer can become too involved and the findings may be biased,
What is non-participant observation? evaluate
Observer isn’t involved and steps away.
- Observer can remain objective
- Can’t gain a deeper understanding towards the behaviour.
What is overt and covert participant observation?
Overt = they know they’re being observed.
Covert = they are not aware they’re observed.
Pros and cons: surveys
GOOD
- Quick collection of data from a lot of people
- Can make judgements of quantitative data
- Easy to replicate
- Detached method, more likely to give personal information as there is no opinion on your answers.
BAD
- It may be hard to get responses
- People may not understand the question
- Time consuming and therefore deters people to answer.
-
Pros and cons: interviews (structured, unstructured, semi-structured).
STRUCTURED
Questions are set by the interviewer in a fixed order
PROS
- Easy to compare responses and gather an understanding
- Quick to conduct and analyse
CONS
- Can’t gain a richer understanding of the answers
- No flexibility
UNSTRUCTURED
Asks questions and may create more questions based off the answers: more like a conversation. Open-ended questions
PROS
- High validity: more in-depth responses
- Builds a rapport: PPs are more comfortable
- Allows the interviewer to gain a deeper understanding
CONS
- Low reliability
- Findings are harder to compare
- Time consuming to interview and analyse the answers.
SEMI-STRUCTURED
A set of questions but the answers the respondent says can mean the interviewer asks for a deeper understanding
PROS
- Easier to analyse and still gain rich understanding
- Flexible and adaptable than structured interviews
CONS
- Interviewer bias may influence answers
- More time consuming than structured interviews
Case study: pros and cons
In-depth study into an individual or group
PROS
Can gain rich data about the subject
CONS
Difficult to generalise: small sample size
Low reliability
What is external reliability?
If the study’s results can be replicated when it is repeated again
What is internal validity?
The study being able to test the hypothesis it was designed to test
