Research Methods

Question 1

Strengths and Weaknesses of Questionnaires

Answer 1

+ and - Close and open ended- Close is easy to analyze while not fully accurate as feelings aren’t measured. Open-more detailed data, open to interpretation
+Can distribute to large samples can reduce anomalies, more accurate data
+Replicating questionaires can improve reliability
-Subjectivity of questions are open to interpretation by the participants
-Social desirability bias-answering to feel socially accepted

Question 2

Features of Questionnaires

Answer 2

Close and open ended questions
Large distribution
Questions in the questionnaire could be biased as they reflect the ideas of the researcher
Replicating questionnaire for reliability

Question 3

Interviews Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 3

+Interviews can draw out the beliefs and opinions from the participant
-Social desirability effect.
+Structured interview-Gathers information quickly
-Do not allow participants to answer freely
+Semi-structured interview-allow participants to answer freely
-Requires more training and time consuming
+Unstructured interview- Has in depth qualitative data
-Requires a lot of training

Question 4

Interview Features

Answer 4

1.Structured, semi structured, unstructured
2. Doesn’t have to be face to face
3. Doesn’t manipulate IV entirely
4. Gains information about participants beliefs and values.

Question 5

Correlation Strengths and Weaknesses (Only 3 for some reason)

Answer 5

+ Data gathered can be tested by observation, can lead to other investigations based on relationship
-No relationship of how a variable causes another variable, no IVs manipulated
- results and conclusions may suffer from bidirectional ambiguity- where its impossible to tell if one variable causes the other

Question 6

Correlation features

Answer 6

1. Measures the relationship between variables
   2 No variables are being manipulated
2. Researcher can look at the relationship between data
3. Can be done without any research method, easy to implement.

Question 7

Strengths and Weaknesses of Lab Experiments

Answer 7

-may not reflect real life scenarios, decreases ecological validity
+Identifies causal relationships, how one variable causes another
- High controls could mean participant may know the aim of the study, leads to demand characteristics
+ more reliable

Question 8

Features of Lab experiments

Answer 8

1.. Takes place in a controlled environment
2.Manipulates an IV to test the effects on a DV
3.Aims to discover cause and effect relationships by eliminating extraneous variables
4.. Very useful for studying
behaviour that might not be affected by artificial environments eg. memory recall

Question 9

Strengths and Weaknesses of Case studies

Answer 9

+Provides most in-depth information about a particular individual
+Can be used in situations that would be unethical to set up experimentally
-Cannot be repeated, decreases reliability
-Findings from case studies may not be applicable to other people (lack generalisability)

Question 10

Features of Case studies

Answer 10

1. In-depth investigation into one person or a group of people
2. Method triangulation: the use of range of research method (Interviews,experiments and observations)
3. Suitable for study of unique or rare individuals
4. Suitable for unique circumstances that psychologist can not have staged ethical or practical reasons