Research methods and key terms test

Question 1

Target population

Answer 1

the group you want to study

Question 2

sampling

Answer 2

selecting a representative group from the population under study

Question 3

sample

Answer 3

group of people who take part in the investigation

Question 4

generalisability

Answer 4

how much we can apply the findings of the research to the target population we are interested in.

Question 5

non directional hypotheses (two tailed)

Answer 5

there is a difference but we don’t say which way.

Question 6

directional hypothesis (one tailed)

Answer 6

states the direction in which the results are to go.

Question 7

random sampling

Answer 7

members of a population have an equal chance of being selected

Question 8

systematic sampling

Answer 8

participants are selected by taking every nth person from a list

Question 9

stratified sampling

Answer 9

a Mini reproduction of the population using ratios and randomly selected from strata’s

Question 10

opportunity sampling

Answer 10

anyone who happens to fulfil criteria of sample at a random time and place

Question 11

self selected sampling

Answer 11

volunteers

Question 12

operationalisation

Answer 12

making variables physically measurable/testable

Question 13

null hypothesis

Answer 13

there is ‘no difference’. The hypothesis states that the IV has no effect on the DV.

Question 14

situational variables

Answer 14

these extraneous variables are related to the testing situation. e.g. noise, lighting, temp in the environment. They tend to affect the participants.

Question 15

participant variables

Answer 15

these extraneous variables are related to individual characteristics of each participant that may impact how they respond. e.g. background differences, prior knowledge, health status, mood, anxiety, intelligence etc.

Question 16

randomization- allocation

Answer 16

using chance to decide the order in which participants experience the experimental or control condition when a repeated measures design is used. (happens after sampling)

Question 17

order effects

Answer 17

weakness of the repeated measures design. Refers to how the positioning of tasks influences outcome. e.g. practice, fatigue, boredom effect on second task. Balanced across conditions through counterbalancing.

Question 18

how do you do counterbalancing?

Answer 18

used with repeated measure design and split participants into 2 groups. group 1 completes IV A then IV B. group 2 complete IV B then IV A.

Question 19

why do you do counterbalancing?

Answer 19

to balance/distribute the order effects across both conditions

Question 20

how do you match participants in a matched pairs design?

Answer 20

pick an important variable, pre-test participants, rank them. pair top two participants and the ones with 3rd and 4th highest score. then allocate one participant from each pair to each IV group.

Question 21

why do you do a matched pairs design?

Answer 21

it reduces individual differences/extraneous variables in the form of participant variables

Question 22

objective

Answer 22

no bias is possible

Question 23

subjective

Answer 23

bias is possible

Question 24

validity

Answer 24

how true the results are

Question 25

ecological validity

Answer 25

degree to which an investigation represents real-life experiences

Question 26

experimenter effect

Answer 26

ways that the experimenter can accidentally influence the participant through their appearance, mannerisms, or behaviour.

Question 27

demand chracteristics

Answer 27

subtle cue that makes participants aware of what the experimenter expects to find or how participants are expected to behave. They can change the outcome of an experiment because participants will often alter their behaviour to conform to expectations.

Question 28

control groups

Answer 28

group which does not receive the manipulation of the independent variable and can be used for comparison with the experimental groups

Question 29

reliability

Answer 29

consistency over time/between people

Question 30

single blind technique

Answer 30

way of reducing demand characteristics whereby participants are not aware of the aims of the experiment.

Question 31

double blind technique

Answer 31

both the participant and the researcher carrying out the experiment are unaware of the aim of the experiment. Reduces investigator or experimenter bias.

Question 32

standardisation

Answer 32

means of ensuring that all participants in an investigation have the same experience.

Question 33

pilot studies

Answer 33

small scale version of an investigation that takes place before the real investigation is conducted.

Question 34

aim of pilot studies

Answer 34

aim is to check the procedures, materials, measuring scales etc. allows researchers to make changes and modifications if needed. check if participants can guess the aim. allows changes to be made before money and time is spent on the study

Question 35

verbatim

Answer 35

word for word

Question 36

two criteria which made an experiment true

Answer 36

IV is manipulated with all other variables being kept constant so you can ensure the effect that this has on the DV. it is possible to randomly allocate participants to conditions.

Question 37

laboratory experiment

Answer 37

carried out under controlled conditions. artificial environment with tight control over variables.

Question 38

field experiment

Answer 38

carried out in a natural environment (for the participants) with the independent variable manipulated by researchers. e.g. in a school or hospital.

Question 39

quasi experiment

Answer 39

membership determined by conditions beyond the control of the experimenter (subjects already in box). focused around participants characteristics. for example, if the performance of males and females is being compared, participants can't be randomly allocated to conditions.

Question 40

natural experiment

Answer 40

where the independent variable is naturally occurring.

Question 41

ethics

Answer 41

set of guidelines which psychologists carrying out research should follow

Question 42

primary data

Answer 42

first hand data (collected by the researcher to study their aim)

Question 43

secondary data

Answer 43

data had been collected by someone else for their aim. second hand data. researcher may use it afterwards. data may have been published in some form. e.g. government and public sector reports, websites and books.

Question 44

meta-analysis

Answer 44

combines the results from multiple studies to increase power ( over individual studies), improve estimates of the size of the effect and to resolve uncertainty when reports disagree.

Question 45

matched pairs design

Answer 45

where pairs of participants are matched on important characteristics and one member allocated to each condition of the IV.

Question 46

independent measures design

Answer 46

where each participant only takes part in one condition of the IV.

Question 47

Repeated measures design

Answer 47

where each participants take part in all conditions of the IV.

Question 48

Extraneous variables

Answer 48

variables that mess up the results (distraction)

Question 49

Confounding Variables

Answer 49

variable that you know is guilty. (what messed up the results)

Question 50

aim

Answer 50

what you want to achieve

Question 51

method

Answer 51

experiments, observations, questionnaires

Question 52

procedure

Answer 52

step by step process

Question 53

results

Answer 53

the findings- qualitative and quantitative

Question 54

conclusion

Answer 54

an interpret/ explanation of the data

Question 55

variable

Answer 55

anything that can change

Question 56

independent variable

Answer 56

the variable the researcher CHANGES

Question 57

dependent variable

Answer 57

what is MEASURED

Question 58

control

Answer 58

what is kept the same. (standardised procedures)

Question 59

cause and effect

Answer 59

advantage of experiments

Question 60

hypothesis

Answer 60

states precisely what you expect to show (includes the IV and DV in their operationalised form)