Research methods Flashcards
(120 cards)
1
Q
What are the four types of experiments?
A
natural
laboratory
field
quasi
2
Q
What is a laboratory experiment?
A
conducted in highly controlled environment
3
Q
What are the strengths of laboratory experiments?
A
replication more possible due to high control over confounding and extraneous variables
4
Q
What are the limitations of laboratory experiments?
A
p’s usual aware so suffer from demand characteristics
may lack generalisability as not accurate to real life
5
Q
What are natural experiments?
A
researcher has no control over IV but can still look at effect on DV as event is naturally occurring and cannot be built
6
Q
What is the limitation of natural experiments?
A
naturally occurring event may only happen rarely
may be conducted in lab so lacks realism
p’s may not be randomly experimental conditions
7
Q
What are the strength of natural experiments?
A
can research stuff not researched before due to ethical issues or practical issues
high external validity because involves study of real world problems and issues
8
Q
What is a quasi experiment?
A
IV based on existing difference between people
9
Q
What are the strengths of a quasi experiment?
A
carried out under controlled conditions
10
Q
What are limitations of quasi experiments?
A
cannot randomly allocate condition to p’s so cannot claim IV caused any observed changes as no control over IV
11
Q
What are field experiments?
A
IV is manipulated in a natural everyday setting
12
Q
What are the strengths of field experiments?
A
higher mundane realism
13
Q
What are the limitations of field experiments?
A
loss of control so more CV’s and EV’s
ethical issues due to lack of consent when creating realistic environments
14
Q
What is an aim in an experiment?
A
initial idea and narrow focus on research to produce an aim
15
Q
When should you use a directional hypothesis?
A
when theory or previous research findings are contradictory
16
Q
What is the IV
A
change
17
Q
What is the DV
A
measure
18
Q
What is operationalisation of variables?
A
ensuring all variables are measurable
19
Q
What is a directional hypothesis?
A
researcher makes clear difference anticipated between two conditions
20
Q
What is a non-directional hypothesis?
A
difference anticipated by two conditions not specified
21
Q
What are confounding variables?
A
unexpected event adding a second unintended variable
doesn’t varies systematically with IV
22
Q
What are extraneous variables?
A
dilute findings of results
(e.g. age)
Varies systematically with IV
23
Q
What is standardisation?
A
all p’s subject to same environment such as creating list and order to do research in
24
Q
What are the main types of biases?
A
researcher bias
volunteer bias
participant bias
gender
culture
sample
experimenter
publication
25
What is randomisation?
refers to use of chance methods to reduce researchers unconscious bias when designing investigation
26
What are demand characteristics?
p's responding to unconscious biases/clues and may create a please-you or screw-you effect
27
What are the three experimental designs?
independent groups
repeated measures
matched pairs
28
What is independent groups?
two separate groups experience two different conditions
29
What are the strengths of independent groups?
order effects are not a problems as p's less likely to guess aim
30
What are the limitations of independent groups?
p's who occupy the different groups are not the same in terms of p's variables
each p produce only one result so more time and money
31
What are repeated measures?
all p's experience both conditions of the experiment
32
What are the strengths of repeated measures?
participant variables controlled so fewer p's needed, less time recruiting
33
What are the limitations of repeated measures?
each p has to do at least two tasks so order of tasks may ne significant
order effects arise due to fatigue and boredom
demand characteristics may be prominent due to working out aim of study
34
What is counter balancing?
half p's do task A then B while other half does B then A(used to balance out order effects)
ABBA
35
What are matched pairs?
p's paired together variables or variable related to experiment (e.g. IQ)
36
What are the limitations of matched pairs?
initial test to match pairs time consuming
no way to match p's exactly
37
What are the strengths of matched pairs?
p's only take part in one condition so order effects and demand characteristics less of a problem
38
What are the five different sampling techniques?
opportunity
random
systematic
stratified
volunteer
39
What is opportunity sampling?
take sample from people who are already available
40
What are the strengths of opportunity sampling?
cost effective
no need to divide and make categories
41
What are the limitations of opportunity sampling?
time looking can effect who you get
42
What is random sampling?
every member has equal chance of being picked (drawn in lots)
43
What are the strengths of random sampling?
removes researcher bias
44
What are the limitations of random sampling?
time consuming
at time of research not everyone selected may be available
can get bias due to it being repeated
45
What is systematic sampling?
selecting every nth person from population
46
What are the strengths of systematic sampling?
reduced experimenter bias
47
What is stratified sampling?
classifying population into ratio to get even distribution which represents inequalities within population
48
What are the strengths of stratified sampling?
reduces bias having more than one group
more generalisable
49
What are the limitations of stratified sampling?
time consuming
difficult to generate groups as they vary
50
What is volunteer sampling?
self selected people
51
What is the strength of volunteer sampling?
removes researcher bias
52
What is the limitations of volunteer sampling?
some may not want to take part so may end up with certain demographic of people who want to take part
53
What makes a positive correlation?
both variables increase
54
What makes a negative correlation?
as one variable increases the other decreases
55
What is the strengths of using correlations?
shows clearly if there's a correlation
suggests if research worth it
quick and economical to carry out
can use secondary data
no observation or manipulation of variables required
56
What are the limitations of using correlations?
may be third variable
can tell us if variables related but not why
sensitive especially in media publish
intervening variable problems
57
What is the role of peer review?
before research becomes part of journal written investigation it is scrutinised by a small group of usually 2-3 experts in a particular field
58
What are the three aims of peer review?
allocate research funding
validate the quality and relevance
suggest amendments and improvements
59
What is publication bias?
publishers may only choose to publish headline grabbing research
60
What is burying ground breaking research a limitation of peer review?
peer reviewers may be more critical of opposing or similar research
more likely to publish research in alliance with current opinions meaning little change
61
How does anonymity advantage and disadvantage peer review?
peer doing review remains anonymous as more likely to produce honest opinion
however due to this may criticise rival research (may be due to limited funding)
62
What are the two examples for implications of psychological research on the economy?
- attachment research into role of father
shows how both mum and dad can work creating modern parents which are better equipped to maximise income and contribute to economy
-development of treatments of mental disorders
1/3 of work abscenses caused by mild to moderate mental illnesses, £15 billion in abscense from work
treatment with SSRI and psychotherapeutic drug so more can return to work
63
What are the three scales/multiple choice you can use in a questionnaire?
lihert scale (5 points)
rating scale (strength of feeling)
fixed choice option
64
How to design an interview?
interview schedule which has a list of questions needed to cover and should be standardised
group interview (appropriate in clinical interview)
one-on-one should be done in private
good to open with neutral questions to ease person
should be reminded 7 times that treated with strictest confidence
65
What mistakes are made when writing good questions?
overuse of jargon
emotive language and leading questions
double-barrel questions and double negatives
66
What is inter-observer reliability?
not recommended for researcher to conduct alone as may miss details and opportunity so may confirm hypothesis
-multiple observers looking at at same place time with same behavioural categories and can calculate correlation between sets of data collected
67
What is a structured observation?
uses behavioural categories to simplify target behaviours good for large amounts of information
68
What is an unstructured observation?
writing down everything that is seen tends to produce detailed account for behaviour. Suited for small scale and a few p's
69
What are behavioural categories?
target behaviours to look out for and to be studied
70
What are sampling methods?
continued recording of behaviour is key feature of unstructured observation
71
What is event sampling?
involves counting number of times a behaviour occurs in target group/individual
72
What is time sampling?
involves recording behaviour with pre-established time frame
73
What are the advantages of unstructured interviews?
have more depth and detail
74
What are the disadvantages of unstructured interviews?
prone to observer bias
more difficult to analyse and compare
75
What are the advantages of structured interviews?
less prone to bias
easier to analyse and compare data
76
What are the disadvantages of structured interviews?
objective behavioural categories so less detail and depth
77
What are the advantages of behavioural categories?
important they are clear and unambiguous
categories should be exclusive
ensure all possible forms of behaviour in checklist
78
What are the aims of pilot studies?
its a small scale trial run prior to investigation, by running the procedure through it allows the researcher to identify potential problems
79
What is a single blind procedure?
any info that may create expectations not revealed until end of study
80
What is the use of control groups?
to look at comparisons and to check cause and effect relationship of IV and DV
81
What are closed questions?
fixed number of responses
82
What are open questions?:
do not have fixed range of answers
83
What is a structured interview?
made up of pre-determined set of questions and order
84
What is a unstructured interview?
no set questions
85
What is a semi-structured interview?
list of questions but open to ask follow up questions
86
What are the positives of questionnaires?
cost effective
can gather larger amounts of data quickly
can be completed
usually straight forward to analyse
less effort
comparisons can be made easily through graphs and charts
87
What are the limitations of questionnaires?
response given not always truthful
tend to have response bias
may not give full attention
88
What are the strengths of structured interviews?
straight forward to replicate due to standardised format
89
What are the limitations of structured interviews?
not possible to deviate however not being able to will limit richness unexpected data
90
What are the positives of unstructured interviews?
more flexibility
can follow up on points meaning can gain more insight
however experienced interviewer should be able to establish sufficient rapport
91
What are the limitations of unstructured interviews?
may lead to interviewer bias
difficult to analyse as not straight forward
researcher may have to sift through irrelevant info so conclusions hard to draw
risk interviewer may lie
92
What are the types of observation?
participant and non-participant
naturalistic and controlled
covert and overt
93
What is a covert observation?
p's unaware of focus of study so behaviour observed in secret so must be in public to remain ethical
94
What is a covert observation?
p's know their behaviour is being observed and given informed consent
95
What is a naturalistic observation?
takes place in setting or context where behaviour would usually occur, all aspects of environment free to vary
96
What is a controlled observation
all aspects are controlled through two way mirror
97
What is a participant observation?
sometimes it's necessary for observer to become part of study to produce first hand account
98
What is a non-participant observation?
when researcher remains separate recording behaviour in objective man or sometime impractical or impossible to join group
99
What are the positives of naturalistic observation?
tend to have high external validity as findings generalise every day life. As behaviour studied in normal environment
100
What are the limitations of naturalistic observation?
harder to replicate due to lack of control of variables
101
What are the positives of controlled observation?
confounding & extraneous less big easier to replicate
102
What are the limitations of controlled observation?
cannot be applied to everyday life
103
What are the positives of covert observations?
removes problem of demand characteristics
increase internal validity of data
104
What are the limitations of covert observations?
right of privacy
105
What are the positives of overt observations?
seen as more ethically accepted
106
What are the limitations of overt observations?
p's may 'act'
107
What are the positives of participant observations?
increased external validity as it gives researcher insight into lives
108
What are the limitations of participant observations?
may lose objectivity due to researcher identifying too strongly with those studying
109
What are the positives of non-participant observations?
non allows researcher to maintain objective psychological distance from p's to less likely to identify
110
What are the limitations of non-participant observations?
may lose valuable insight as far removed from people being studied
111
What are the alternative ways of getting consent
presumptive consent(similar group asked if experiment is okay)
prior general consent(p's give consent to be deceived)
retrospective consent (asked for consent during debriefing)
112
What are the four ethical issues?
informed consent
deception
protection from harm
privacy and confidentiality
113
What is privacy and confidentiality?
right to control information about themselves
114
What is protection from harm?
should not be placed at more rick than normal everyday life (physical and psychological harm)
115
What is deception?
deliberately misleading or holding information
116
What is informed consent?
making p's aware of aims
117
What are the four ways of dealing with ethical issues?
BPS code of conduct
dealing with confidentiality
dealing with deception and protection from harm
dealing with informed consent
118
How do you deal with protection from harm?
p's told what their data will be used for
end of study p's should be given full debrief on true aims and any details not initially
119
How should you deal with informed consent?
p's should receive a consent letter or form with details of what will happen
120
How do you deal with confidentiality?
personal details must be proceeded and remain anonymous in report
