research methods AO3

Question 1

what are the advantages of independent group design?

Answer 1

avoids order effects - as participants only do one condition

Question 2

what are the disadvantages of independent group design?

Answer 2

• larger number of participants required
• individual differences may affect results (as two separate groups have different participants)

Question 3

what are the advantages of repeated measures design?

Answer 3

• minimises individual differences (as same people in each condition)
• fewer participants required

Question 4

what are the disadvantages of repeated measures design?

Answer 4

• order effects (as same people do both conditions)
• demand characteristics (easier to guess aim of study)
• different set of materials required

Question 5

what are the advantages of matched pairs design?

Answer 5

• minimises order effects
• minimises individual differences

Question 6

what are the disadvantages of matched pair design?

Answer 6

difficult to achieve good match as it is time consuming (they are still not exactly the same)

Question 7

what are the advantages of a questionnaire?

Answer 7

• can gain large amounts of data quickly and easier data analysis
• questionnaires dont have interviewer bias so it is easier to replicate

Question 8

what are the disadvantages of questionnaire?

Answer 8

response bias and social desirability

Question 9

what are the advantages of interviews?

Answer 9

• more detailed so gives qualitative data (follow up points etc)
• reduce social desirability so can build rapport with interviewee
• no response bias

Question 10

what are the disadvantages of interviews?

Answer 10

• harder to replicate
• difficult data analysis (statistically)
• interview bias

Question 11

why are closed questions better than open ones in some studies?

Answer 11

easier to analyse using statistics as they generate quantitative data

Question 12

why are open questions better than closed ones in some studies?

Answer 12

gives qualitative data so easier to make conclusions and more detailed

Question 13

what are the strengths of random sampling?

Answer 13

the sample will likely be unbiased as there is no researcher bias and will end up with a representative sample

Question 14

what are the weaknesses of random sampling?

Answer 14

• time consuming especially if large target population
• could still be biased/unrepresentative

Question 15

what are the strengths of stratified sampling?

Answer 15

• very representative of population as everyone represent correctly
• avoids researcher bias

Question 16

what are the weaknesses of stratified sampling?

Answer 16

• time consuming and difficult
• smaller groups may not represent all the types of people in target population

Question 17

what are the strengths of opportunity sampling?

Answer 17

convenient to do as quick and easy

Question 18

what are the weaknesses of opportunity sampling?

Answer 18

• tends to be less representative as taken from small section of population
• researcher bias

Question 19

what are the strengths of volunteer sampling?

Answer 19

quick and easy as participants come to researcher

Question 20

what are the weaknesses of volunteer sampling?

Answer 20

participants likely to be similar more eager to please and more willing so reduces generalisability

Question 21

what are the strengths of systematic sampling?

Answer 21

avoids researcher bias as people are systematically chosen

Question 22

what are the weaknesses of systematic sampling?

Answer 22

• time consuming and they may refuse to take part
• could be unrepresentative (could potentially miss out whole groups)

Question 23

what are the advantages of lab experiments?

Answer 23

• extraneous variables can be controlled
• can be replicated due to control

Question 24

what are the disadvantages of lab experiments?

Answer 24

• can be artificial and could lack ecological validity
• demand characteristics
• lack of mundane realism - hard to generalise tasks to real life

Question 25

what are the advantages of field experiments?

Answer 25

- ecologically valid - more mundane realism - reduce demand characteristics as less aware of taking parts of study

Question 26

what are the disadvantages of field experiments?

Answer 26

- extraneous variables are harder to control - more difficult to replicate - ethics unaware of taking part of study and invade their privacy

Question 27

what are the advantages of natural experiments?

Answer 27

- allow study of phenomena which may not be possible for ethical reasons - high ecological validity as studying real life

Question 28

what are the disadvantages of natural experiments?

Answer 28

- loss of control extraneous variables and so unsure if IV affecting DV - conditions not always possible to find

Question 29

what are the advantages of quasi experiments?

Answer 29

- extraneous variables controlled - can be replicated due to high control

Question 30

what are the disadvantages of quasi experiments?

Answer 30

can't randomly allocate participants which may lead to confounding variables

Question 31

what are the strength of naturalistic observation?

Answer 31

- high ecological validity - lack of control

Question 32

what are the weakness of naturalistic observation?

Answer 32

- harder to replicate - more extraneous variables - lower internal validity

Question 33

what are the strengths of controlled observations?

Answer 33

- control of extraneous variables - higher internal validity

Question 34

what are the weaknesses of controlled observations?

Answer 34

- can't be generalised into real life - lower ecological validity

Question 35

what are the strengths of an overt observation?

Answer 35

informed consent given so more ethical

Question 36

what are the weaknesses of an overt observation?

Answer 36

- more investigator effects - demand characteristics - participant reactivity - lower internal validity

Question 37

what are the strengths of a covert observation?

Answer 37

- less investigator effects - less demand characteristics - high internal validity

Question 38

what are the weaknesses of a covert observation?

Answer 38

- goes against privacy - ethical issues

Question 39

what are the strengths of participant observations?

Answer 39

- allow first hand account - high external validity

Question 40

what are the weaknesses of participant observations?

Answer 40

lose objectivity

Question 41

what are the strengths of non participant observations?

Answer 41

more objective

Question 42

what are the weakness of none participant observations?

Answer 42

less valuable insight as removed from first hand situations

Question 43

what are the strengths of correlations?

Answer 43

- useful preliminary tool as it can investigate how variables are related to suggest further ideas for research - quick and easy to carry out as usually using secondary data

Question 44

what are the weaknesses of correlations?

Answer 44

- can't demonstrate cause and effect (no infer of causation) - third variable may cause link between variables so may not be related at all

Question 45

what are the strength of meta analysis?

Answer 45

good population validity so can be generalised across larger populations

Question 46

what are the weaknesses of meta analysis?

Answer 46

publication bias so may not select all relevant data so data may be biased (file drawer problem)

Question 47

what are the strengths of primary and secondary data?

Answer 47

- all data relevant to study as its purpose is only for that - less time consuming as data already exists

Question 48

what are the weaknesses of primary and secondary data?

Answer 48

- more time consuming to collect data as have to carry out study - data purpose not for study

Question 49

what are the advantages of case studies?

Answer 49

- rich interesting data so high ecological validity - allow study of rare cases where large samples unavailable - starting point for further researcher

Question 50

what are the disadvantages of case studies?

Answer 50

- low reliability as unable to replicate - may be subjective as relationship between interview and case may impact study - large amount of data may lead to bias when selecting - lack of population validity - could be less considered due to idiographic nature

Question 51

what are the strength and weaknesses of mean as a measure of central tendency?

Answer 51

+ uses all data so most representative of data as a whole - can be distorted due to extreme values

Question 52

what are the strength and weaknesses of median as a measure of central tendency?

Answer 52

+ not affected by extreme values - doesn't take account of all the values in data

Question 53

what are the strengths and weaknesses of mode as a measure of central tendency?

Answer 53

+ easier to calculate - crude measure - may not be useful

Question 54

what are the strengths and weaknesses of range as a measure of dispersion?

Answer 54

+ easy to calculate compared to standard deviation - only looks at extreme values so may be unrepresentative

Question 55

what are the strengths and weaknesses of SD as a measure of dispersion?

Answer 55

+ more precise as it includes all data into calculation + more representative - can be distorted by extreme values - difficult to calculate

Question 56

what are the strengths and weaknesses of peer review?

Answer 56

+ anonymity so peers more likely to produce honest criticism of work - publication bias as editors and journalists may choose more headline grabbing work to increase circulation so some research can be ignored - burying ground breaking research as it may oppose mainstream theories as peers are more critical of work that doesn't match their own so work follows current ideologies