research methods

Question 1

deception

Answer 1

participants shouldn’t be lied to or misled about the aims. lying and simply withholding some information are both forms of deception,
sometimes it can be justified.

Question 2

informed consent

Answer 2

at the beginning of the study people should be informed the purpose of it and their role. they should know their rights so they can make a decision to take part.

Question 3

protection from harm

Answer 3

participants can’t be placed at risk. both physical and psychological, including no embarrassment or stressed.

Question 4

privacy

Answer 4

people expect to control information about themselves.

Question 5

confidentiality

Answer 5

identity should be protected, anonymous

Question 6

qualitative data

Answer 6

data in words may include quantitative data too

Question 7

longitudinal

Answer 7

often carried out over long periods so you can see how behaviour changes. may also collect retrospective case history.

Question 8

validity

Answer 8

weather a result is ‘true’ valid research represents something that is real.

Question 9

reliability

Answer 9

concerns the consistency of a measurement everytime a thing is measured the result should be the same.

Question 10

primary data

Answer 10

data that has been obtained first hand.

Question 11

secondary data

Answer 11

second hand data from other studies or government statistics.

Question 12

quantitative data

Answer 12

numbers but can measure thoughts and feelings

Question 13

laboratory experiments

Answer 13

is a controlled environment and the experimenter has control over everything

Question 14

strength- extra variables can be controlled, meaning the researcher can be more certain or any changes in the DV are due to the IV

Answer 14

weakness- they may not be like every day life, their behaviour may be different than what it is

Question 15

field experiment

Answer 15

take place in natural setting, researcher still changes the IV to see what effect this has on the DV

Question 16

strengths- more realistic because it is natural and participants don’t know about it so is more valid

Answer 16

weakness- ethical issues as participants don’t know

researcher can lose control of extra variables

Question 17

natural experiment

Answer 17

when the change in IV is not controlled by the researcher

Question 18

strengths- usually have high validity because it’s real-life in a natural setting

Answer 18

weakness- the natural event that is wanted to be studied may only happen rarely, meaning its fewer opportunities for this kind of research.

Question 19

order effects

Answer 19

in a repeated measures design, and extra variable arising from the order in which conditions are presented

Question 20

control groups

Answer 20

a group of participants who receive no ‘treatment’, their behaviour is a baseline against which the effect of the IV may be measured

Question 21

control condition

Answer 21

the condition in a repeated measures design that provides a baseline measure of behaviour without the experiment treatments

Question 22

allocation to conditions

Answer 22

random allocation is an unbiased method used to control for participant variables

Question 23

counterbalancing

Answer 23

used in repeated measures designs to control for order effects, half the participant complete the conditions in one order, the other half in the opposite order.

Question 24

hypothesis

Answer 24

a clear precise testable statement that is written at the beginning of an investigation. it states the relationship between the variables being investigated.

Question 25

dependent variable

Answer 25

DV is the variable that is measured by the researcher. only thing that affects it is a change in the IV

Question 26

independent variable

Answer 26

IV is the thing the experimenter deliberately changes, what the researcher manipulates

Question 27

extraneous variable

Answer 27

these are any unwanted “extra” variables that may interfere with the relationship between the IV and the DV

Question 28

random sample

Answer 28

produced by using a random technique win which every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 29

opportunity sample

Answer 29

produced by selecting people who are willing and available at the time

Question 30

systematic sample

Answer 30

produced by selecting every nth people of a list of the target population

Question 31

stratified sample

Answer 31

produced by selecting participant in proportion to their frequency in the target population

Question 32

matched pairs participants tested on variables relèvent to the study, then matched and one member of each pair goes in each condition

Answer 32

strength- no order effects. fewer participant variables weakness- takes time to match participants. doesn’t control all participants variables

Question 33

independent groups different groups of participants for each level of the IV. control and experimental groups.

Answer 33

strength- order effect are not a problem because participants only do experiment once. weakness- different participants in each group. participant variables can act as extra variables

Question 34

repeated groups all participants take off in all levels of the IV.

Answer 34

strengths- no participant variables. fewer participants needed, so less expensive weakness- order effects reduce validity

Question 35

open question

Answer 35

one that invites responders to provide their own answer rather than select one of those provided. they tend to produce qualitative data.

Question 36

closed question

Answer 36

one that has a fixed range of possible answers, they produce quantitative data.

Question 37

structured interviews

Answer 37

interviewer reads out a list of prepared questions to the interviewee

Question 38

unstructured interview

Answer 38

is like a conversation, develops questions based on the answers given.

Question 39

convert- participants are not aware behaviour is being recorded

Answer 39

overt- told in advance they are being observed

Question 40

inter observers

Answer 40

two observers should produce the same record of behaviour. researchers watch at the same time, and correlate data