Research Methods Flashcards
(36 cards)
What’s operationalisation?
Clearly defining variables (or abstract concepts) in terms
of how they can be measured
What is a confounding variable?
A variable that varies systematically with the IV. When an EV isn’t controlled and has effected the dependent variable, it is a confounding variable
What are participant variables?
Differences between participants in condition 1 and 2 that affect the DV
A type of extraneous variable (if not controlled they become a confounding variable)
What are situational variables?
Factors in the environment that can influence behaviour
A type of extraneous variable (if not controlled they become a confounding variable)
What’s counter balancing?
Attempts to control for order effects
During a repeated measures design, half of the participants carry out condition A first and then B; the other half carry out B first and then A.
What is randomisation?
The use of chance methods to control for the effect of bias eg. participants have to recall a list of words, these word lists are randomly generated
What are investigator effects?
Any impact of the researcher’s behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research
outcome (DV).
What are time and event sampling?
Time - records participant behaviour and regular time intervals
Event - counting how many times the participant displays a behaviour
What are the two types of observation?
Covert - the participants do not know they’re being observed (ethical issues with consent, but captures more natural behaviour, reduced demand characteristics )
Overt - participants know they are being watched and that their behaviour is recorded (more likely to behave unnatural, increased demand characteristics)
What is opportunity sampling?
Participants happen to be available at the time of the study, so they are recruited conveniently
What is systematic sampling?
Selecting every nth term from a list to create a sample e.g. school register in alphabetical order.
What is stratified sampling?
- Calculate proportions of subgroups (strata) in the population (e.g. 55:45 Male:Female).
- Randomly select proportionate numbers for study’s sample, from each subgroup.
What’s volunteer sampling?
Involves self selection where the participants offers to take part in the study eg. after seeing an advent
What are the types of observational techniques?
- Naturalistic
- controlled
- overt
- covert
- participant (researcher pretends to be part of the group being studied)
- non participant (researcher remains seperate from those being studied)
What factors need to be considered when designing a questionnaire?
Type of date: qualitative/quantitative -> this usually decides whether the questionnaire will have open or closed q’s
Open = participant can respond in any way, and in much more detail. Harder to analyse but more variety of answers
Closed = participants have limited choices of answer, eg. likert scale or yes or no. Easier to analyse but restricted with their answers
- Do not use leading questions as they might lead participant to a certain answer
- avoid Jargon (technical,complex language that participants may not understand) eg. Did you experience maternal deprivation?
- avoid double barbell questions eg. Do you agree teachers are underpaid and should be given a 50% pay rise? As participants may have different answers for each question
What factors need to be considered when designing an interview? (Non experimental methods - self report techniques)
How structured the interview will be:
Structured = use a standardized set of questions asked in a specific order (use all the same questions for each participant to ensure fair comparison
Unstructured = more conversational with few set questions and allow for follow-up questions based on the participant’s responses
Use a question checklist - if interview is structured, set questions can be prepared before the interview and checklisted so that interviewer doesn’t leave out any questions
Rapport - build trust with participants by creating a comfortable environment that they feel they can disclose sensitive infirmation in
What is content analysis?
a method used to analyse qualitative data into themes or categories (quantitative data)
- uses pre-recorded examples of spoken interactions, written word or media content. Eg. Experimenter reads letters about people’s high school experience. The number of times people mentioned their friends or exams is tallied into behavioural categories
What is thematic analysis?
Analyses qualitative data allowing the researcher to identify themes and patterns
Eg. participant are interviewed about the difficulty of buying a house in their 20s, researcher identifies common ideas or concepts in the data. Researcher then categorises and defines the themes eg. ‘People in their 20s often refer to a lack of savings or high rents as obstacles to house buying’
What is correlational analysis?
method used to assess the relationship between two or more variables. It involves measuring the strength and direction of a relationship.
Produced a correlation coefficient: (from -1 to +1)
+1 = positive correlation
-1 = negative correlation
0 = no correlation
What is the British Psychological society’s code of ethics?
A quasi-legal document produced by the British psychological society, a set of guidelines about what is acceptable conduct in research.
It is based on 4 principles: respect, competence, responsibility and integrity.
Aims to protect participants from harm
What are the alternative forms of informed consent?
Used so that participants don’t find out the details of the stud, way of dealing with ethical issues
Presumptive content - ask similar people to the participants if they would consent, if they agree, consent is presumed
Prior general consent - participants give consent to a range of different studies, including one with deception, so they consent to be deceived
Retrospective consent - participants are asked for their consent (in the debriefing) having already taken part in the study
What does a debrief involve?
Used after the study
Participants are advised of:
1) The full aims of the study
2) All details they were not aware of
3) What their data is used for
4) their right to withhold data.
What does protection from harm involve?
- Should be given the right to withdraw at any stage of the process.
- Reassured their behaviour is normal/typical.
- Researcher should provide counselling if participants have been distressed.
What does confidentiality involve?
Protecting all data, but usually not record personal details at all through anonymity. Refer to participants as
numbers when writing the investigation.
