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Research methods Flashcards

(64 cards)

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1
Q

name the four types of non-experimental research methods

A

observational techniques

self report

correlation analysis

case studies

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2
Q

give an example of an experimental research method

A

controlling what people eat for a specific amount of time

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3
Q

what is the definition of external validity?

A

the Degree to which research findings can be generalized

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4
Q

name six ethical issues

A

Informed consent

deception

the right to withdraw

protection from physical and psychological harm

confidentiality

pricacy

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5
Q

What does informed consent consist of

A

telling the participant the true aims behind the experiment

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6
Q

how can deception be avoided

A

by making sure all participants know the truth immediately after they finish or withdraw from the test

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7
Q

how much information is allowed to be released with out breaking the right to confidentiality

A

as much as the psychologist wants to as long as the data recorded is not made available in a form which identifies the participants

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8
Q

what does bps stand for?

A

BRITISH PSYCHOLOGY SOCIETY

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9
Q

what is the ethics comity

A

a group of people within a research institution that must approve a study before it begins

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10
Q

what is the ethics committee also called

A

The IRB

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11
Q

what does IRB stand for?

A

Institutional review board

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12
Q

what is a directional hypothesis

A

states the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions or two groups of participants

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13
Q

what is a non directional hypothesis

A

predicts simplly that there will be a difference beteween two conditions or two groups of participants without stating the direction of the difference

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14
Q

what is a pilot study

A

a small scale trial run of a study to test any aspects of the design, with a view to making improvements

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15
Q

what is a confederate

A

an individual in a study who is not a real participant and has been instructed on how to behave by the investigator/experimenter. may act as an independent variable

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16
Q

what are the three experimental designs

A

repeated measures

independent groups

matched pairs

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17
Q

list the limitations of repeated measures

A

after doing the same test twice the participant might find it easier to guess the demand characteristics

if the second test is at two different times the participant may perform better of worse (e.g preform better in the afternoon than the morning)

the participant may also get better at the test with practice for the second measure.

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18
Q

list the limitations of independent group design

A

no control over the variance in participants (e.g different abilities or characteristics) this means that participants in group one could have better memory than participants in group two and therefore un validate the results

you also need twice as many participants

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19
Q

list the limitations of matched pairs

A

it is very time consuming to match participants accurately on key variables. you would also have to start with a large group of participants to make sure you can obtain matched pairs on key variables

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20
Q

ways to deal with the limitations of repeated measures

A

you could make it harder for the participants to guess the demand characteristics by creating a back story.

make sure each test is necessarily different to stop the participants getting better with practice

counterbalancing

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21
Q

ways to deal with the limitations of independent group design

A

randomly allocate participants to conditions which theoretically distributes participant variables evenly

be prepated to spend more time and money

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22
Q

ways to deal with the limitations of matched pairs design

A

restrict matching variables to make it easier to set up

conduct a pilot study to consider key variables

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23
Q

what is counter balancing

A

an experimental technique used to over come order effects

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24
Q

what is experimental design?

A

a set of procedures used to control the influence of factors such as participant variables in an experiment

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25
what is single blind
a type of research where the participant is not aware of the research aims or of which condition of the experiment they are receiving
26
list all the main participant variables
age intelligence motivation experience gender
27
what does EV stand for
Extraneous variables
28
what are demand characteristics?
where the participant guesses the aims of the experiment
29
what is the difference between a double blind experiment and a single blind experiment
in a double blind the participant and experimenter don't know the aims of the experiment in a single blind only the participant doesn't know the aims
30
what is the advantage to a double blind experiment?
it will be much harder for the experimenter to give away the demand characteristics accidentally
31
what is the disadvantage to a double blind experiment?
it is harder and more expensive to set up
32
what is Experimental realism
the extent to which a participant becomes involved in an experminent and becomes less influenced by cues about how to behave
33
Hawthorne effect
the tendancy for participants to alter their behavior merely as a result of knowing that they are being observed
34
investigator/experimenter bias
the effect that an investigator/experimenters expectations have on the participant and thus on the result of a research study
35
the investigator effect
anything that the investigator does that has an effect on a participants performance in a study other than what was intended.
36
social desirability bias
a tendency for respondents to answer questions in a way that will present them in a better life
37
what is the measure of central tendanvy
a descriptive statistic that provides information about a typical response for a data set
38
what is the difference between qualitative data and quantitative data
qualitlive is more descriptive like a picture or a sentence. Quantative represents how long or how many somthing is as a number
39
what is standard deviation
shows the amount of variation in a data set
40
difference studies
studies where the two groups compare dvs but don't have manipulated ivs
41
natural experiment
an experiment where the experimenter cannot manipulate the iv
42
quasi-experiments
studies that are almost experiments but lack one or more features of a true experiment. e.g experimenter cannot manipulate the iv properly or the participants are exposed to many extraneous variables. This means that they cannot claim to demonstrate causal relationships
43
sampling
the process of taking a number of people which are intended to be representative of a target population
44
time sampling
an observational technique in which the observer records behaviors in a given time frame e.g noting what a target is dong every 30 seconds
45
unstructured observation
an observer records all relevant behavior but has no system. this technique is chosen mainly when the behavior to be studied is largely unpredictable
46
coding system
a systematic method for recording observations in which individual behaviors are given a code for ease of recording
47
covert observations
observing people without there knowledge
48
what is the difference between covert and overt
covert is in secret and overt is public
49
observer bias
the danger of observers seeing what they expect to see
50
inter observer reliability
where more than one different observers agree on a result and therefor increasing the reliability of the result
51
opportunity sample
a sample of participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study
52
random sample
a sample of participants produced by using a random technique such that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
53
stratified sample
groups of participants are selected according to their frequency in the population in order to obtain a representative sample.
54
systematic sample
a method of obtaining a representative sample by selecting every fifth or tenth person
55
target population
the group of people that the researcher is interested in. the group of people who from whom a sample is drawn. the group of people about whom generalizations can be made
56
volunteer bias
a form of sampling bias (distortion) because volunteer participants are usually more highly motivated than randomly selected participants
57
inter-interviewer reliability
the extent to which two interviewers produce the same outcome from an interview
58
interviewer bias
the effect of an interviewers expectations communicated subconsciously
59
intervening variable
a variable that comes between two other variables which explains the relationship between those two variables
60
significance
a statistical term indicating that research findings are sufficiently strong for us to accept the research hypotheses under test
61
list the strengths of a case study
the method offers more detail can be used to investigator rarer instances of human behavior variables are held constant
62
list the limitations of case studies
it is difficult to generalise for one unique individual it often requires basing the study of some past events that could be unreliable researchers can lack objectivity it is a grey area on ethical issues because often the person isn't in the right state of mind to give consent
63
content analysis strengths
high ecological validity because they are observing real life and not messing around with any of the variables
64
content analysis limitations
observer bias may limit validity observer may not have enough objectivity culture bias between the observer and the targets

Psychology (9 decks)

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