Research Methods AS Flashcards
(50 cards)
Primary Research and secondary research:
Pri= Gathered directly by first-hand experience and will directly link to the aims of the research.
Sec= collection and use of existing research. Gathering and analysing research that has been conducted by another researcher.
Strength and Weakness of Quan Data
S: Easy to analyse. S bc: enables conclusions to be drawn easily and for comparisons to be made.
W: May oversimplify reality. W bc: conclusions made may be meaningless.
Strength and Weakness of Qual Data
S: data provides detailed information which provides insights into thoughts/behaviours.
S bc: reflects people’s unique thoughts/behaviours
W: complexity of analysing this type of rich data makes it more difficult to make comparisons.
W bc: makes it more difficult to draw conclusions
Ethics: Deception
Deliberately misleading or falsely informing ppts about the nature of the research. Active: deliberately misleading- lying
Passive: withholding some info/aims of research
Ethics: Valid Consent
Giving ppts enough info about the research so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to participate. Details of aims should be given.
Other ways of gaining consent:
Presumptive: gaining views on what is acceptable from the public
After research by debriefing: telling ppts true aims and asking if they still with to ppt. Ppts can withhold their data.
Ethics: Risk of stress, anx, humiliation or pain.
Research that can induce more than minimal pain through prolonged or repetitive testing. Pain experienced in everyday life, otherwise unethical.
Ethics: risk to ppts values, beliefs, status, privacy or relationships.
Research involving socially sensitive topics is likely to face these risks and includes potentially socially sensitive data.
Ethics: Confidentiality
third parties should not be able to trace the info back to individual ppts, this is usually achieved through providing anonymity; using ppt numbers instead of names.
Ethics: working with vunerable individuals
- Children under 15
- People lacking mental capacity
- Individuals in care
- Individuals in custody/ on probation
Consent can be gained through the person responsible for the individuals. This is called ‘consent by proxy’ and is consent given on behalf of a ppt by a competent other. In the case of children, this would be their guardian. However, considered unethical if children do not wish to ppt
Ways of dealing with ethical issues:
Ethics Committee: board put in place to ensure research reaches the standards of current ethical codes. Will include a cost-benefit anal and modifications will be made if necessary. Have the authority to accept, reject or amend research.
Debrief: aims to ensure ppts are aware of the true nature of the research. Should return ppts back to normal state. Will include: consent in hindsight, offer right to withdraw, disclose true aims of research and offer support if needed.
Lab Research: Description and S + W
Controlled environment whereby researchers can control ext/con variables.
Most scientific method due to control
In psych a lab is a room equipped for sci research
S: High lvls of control (inc int val) Can be replicated by others, ethical guidelines easy to follow.
W: Artificial environment may not represent real life (low ext val) Ppts are aware of being researched so may change their behaviour (dem characteristics)
Field Experiment Description and S + W
Conducted outside lab in a more natural/familiar setting. E.g- classroom, shop, hospital
S- Less artificial environment; ppts may act more naturally (inc int val) Allows research in a variety of contexts which may not be possible in a lab.
W- Difficult to control ext/con variables (low int val) Researchers may produce different findings as research cannot be repeated due to differences in settings.
Online Research Description and S+W
Most modern method of research.
Being connected to another source via the internet. Data can be collected on websites/apps
S: Can access large samples of ppts, and samples more likely to be diverse and less culturally biased. Cost-effective; cheaper than other method
W: Methods limited e.g- questionares
Ethical issues more difficult to deal with such as offering support and debriefing.
Quasi Experiment- Description and S+W
Natural experiment- conducted when it is not ethical or practical to manipulate the IV
IV arises naturally and is not manipulated.
S: Allows research where the IV cannot be manipulated for practical or ethical reasons. These circumstances not manipulated by researcher, they are naturally occurring. Allows research into ‘real problems’ which can help a greater amount of people in more situations
W: Cannot demonstrate casual relationships because the IV isn’t manipulated directly so cannot be sure if the IV manipulated the DV.
Threat to internal validity due to there being less control of extraneous variables that could be the reason for the DV rather than the IV.
What is experimental design and what are the 3 conditions?
If an experiment has 2 conditions.
Independent Groups- different ppts in each group- randomly assigned.
Order effects- fatigue effects; performance worse. Practice effects- performance better.
Matched Pairs- different ppts in each condition but they are matched according to age/sex- to try and make the test fair.
Repeated Measures Design: same ppts do all conditions.
Strength and Weakness of Independent Groups
S: No order effects as ppts only complete one condition S bc: no loss of ppts as only complete one condition.
W: Ppt variables may lower the val of the research
Strength and Weakness of Matched Pairs
S: High lvls of control over ppt variables S bc: increases validity
W: Almost impossible to find a perfect match for all ppt variables W bc: may affect the outcome
Strength and Weakness of Repeated Measures
S: Controls all individual differences and requires fewer ppts
W: Order effects may reduce validity of research
How to overcome order effects:
Counterbalancing; AB/BA
Half ppts do condition A first and then B
Other half do condition B first and then A
Order effects should cancel eachother out
Questionares: Desrip and S+W
D: list of written questions, which gen open/closed answers. Can be in person, online or through other methods like postal.
S: Can give insight into people’s opinions. Can be qual or quan which is useful as unexpected answers can provide new insights into research topics.
Can be used to assess psychological variables that may not be obvious by observing someone.
W: Complexity and ambiguity; it ppts do not understand questions may be incorrect or not reflect true feelings- lead to less valid findings.
Social des bias; means that people give the answer they believe is socially acceptable rather than the truth. Lowers validity.
Structured Interviews: Description and S+W
D: Standardised questions like a questionnaire, usually asked face to face. Interviewer has a pre-prepared set of questions and usually asked in a fixed order.
S: Same questions used every time with makes results easy to analyse and easy to repeat; increases rel as standardised. S bc it is better than a questionnaire as ethical guidelines can be followed.
W: Can be restrictive as no chance to ask further questions. Could be frustrating for ppt if interesting or unexpected issues arise.
Doesn’t allow for ‘spontaneous questions’ which may mean the interviewer is less responsive to the ppt.
Semi- Structured Interviews: Description and S+W
D: asking ppts questions usually face to face. Can be in form of interview schedule (standardised) but allows for follow up questions to expand on answers. AKA clinical interview because similar with an interview with a doctor.
S: More qual info can be gathered by the interviewer because they tailor the questions to the respondent’s responses.
High validity because ppts have the opportunity to fully express their true feelings/views.
W: Same questions not used every time- this makes it difficult to analyse results and to identify patterns and trends- not replicable.
Not standardised for every ppt; reducing val.
Ppt Observations: Description and S+W
D: Researcher takes part in obs as a ppt
S: Less chance of demand characteristics because ppts do not know they are being observed by the researcher who is part of the group (reducing int val) And can research people who would otherwise be very difficult to observe, so researcher may end up finding out info didn’t know that existed.
W: May be more biased when an observer becomes involved as they may not be as impartial as they normally would be. They may also ‘miss’ important events- reducing internal val.
Unreliable findings because it is difficult to take notes during observation so data relies on memory. (retrospective)
Non-Ppt Obs: Description and S+W
D: Researcher watches and records ppts behaviour without interfering in any way.
Ppts not aware they are being observed. Pre-prepared categories are decided, behaviour is recorded under the categories when it happens.
S: Observer does not take part in the action, but watches from distance so less chance of observer bias.
Researchers can see how ppts behave rather than relying on self-reports which may produce more valid findings.
W: Observer bias; difficult to make judgements on thoughts and feelings of ppts when being watched, so observer may misinterpret behaviour based on their opinions.
Unethical because ppts do not always know they are being observed.
