Research methods notes Flashcards

Question

what is external validity?

Answer 1

external validity - the degree to which a research finding can be generalised; to other settings (ecological validity); to other groups of people (population validity); over time (historical validity)

Answer 2

Internal validity - the degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation rather than other factors such as confounding/ extraneous variables

Answer 3

mundane realism - refers to how a study mirrors the real world. The research environment is realistic to the degree to which experiences encountered in the research environment will occur in the real world.

Answer 4

Experimental design - the different ways in which the testing of participants can be organised in relation to the experimental conditions

Answer 5

Random allocation - an attempt to control for participant variables in an independent groups design which ensures that each participant has the same chance of being in one condition as any other

Answer 6

- Counterbalancing - an attempt to control for the effects of order in a repeated measures design: half the participants experience the conditions in one order, and the other half in the opposite order - there are two ways to counterbalance order effects: 1. AB or BA - divide participants into two groups - group 1: each participant does A then B - group 2: each participant does B then A - still a repeated measures design even though there are two groups of participants, because comparison will be made for each participant on their performance on the two conditions (morning and afternoon) 2. ABBA - all participants take part in each condition twice - trial 1: condition A (morning) - trial 2: condition B (afternoon) - trial 3: condition B (afternoon) - trial 4: condition A (morning) - compare scores on trials 1 and 4 with trials 2 and 3 - as before also still a repeated measures design

Answer 7

Independent Groups Design - participants are placed in separate (independent) groups. Each group does one level of the IV; for example: - Group A does the task with the TV on (one level of the IV) - Group B does the task with no TV (the other level of the IV) We compare the performance (DV) of the two groups

Answer 8

Avoids order effects (such as practice or fatigue) as people participate in one condition only. If a person is involved in several conditions, they may become bored, tired, and fed up by the time they come to the second condition or become wise to the requirements of the experiment!

Answer 9

The researcher cannot control the effects of participant variables (i.e. the different abilities or characteristics of each participant). For example, participants in Group A might happen to have better memories than those in group B. This would act as a confounding variable. Independent groups design needs more participants than repeated measures design in order to end up with the same amount of data. Method of dealing with limitation: Randomly allocate participants to conditions which (theoretically) distribute participants variables evenly. Random allocation can be done by putting the participants names in a hat and drawing out the names so that every other person goes in Group A

Answer 10

Matched Pairs - A compromise is to use two groups of participants but match participants on key characteristics believed to affect performance on the DV (e.g. IQ or time spent watching TV). Then one member of the pair is allocated to Group A and the other to Group B. The procedure is then the same as for independent groups. It is important to realise that the characteristics for matching must be relevant to the study. In other words you wouldn’t need to match participants on gender if you were testing memory - unless there was some evidence that gender was a potential confounding variable

Answer 11

Reduces participant variables because the researcher has tried to pair up the participants so that each condition has people with similar abilities and characteristics. It avoids order effects, so counterbalancing is not necessary.

Answer 12

It is very time-consuming and difficult to match participants on key variables. The researcher probably has to start with a large group of participants to ensure they can obtain matched pairs on key variables. It is not possible to control all participant variables because you can only match on variables known to be relevant, but it could be that others are important. For example, in a memory experiment you might match on memory abilities but later find that some of the participants have been involved in a teaching programme to boost memory skills and you should have matched on this. Methods of dealing with the limitations: Restrict the number of variables to match on to make it easier. Conduct a piolet study to consider key variables taht might be important when matching.

Answer 13

Repeated Measures Design - All participants receive all levels of the IV; for example; - each participant does the task with the TV on, e.g. does a memory test - then, perhaps a week later, each participant does a similar test without the TV on We compare the performance (DV) of the participant on the two tests

Answer 14

As the same participants are used in each condition, participant variables (i.e., individual differences) are reduced. Fewer people are needed as they participate in all conditions (i.e., saves time).

Answer 15

The order of the conditions may affect performance (an order effect). For example, participants may do better on the second test because of a practice effect or because they are less anxious. Alternatively, in some situations participants may do worse on the second test because of being bored with doing the same test again (boredom effect ) When participants do the second test they may guess the purpose of the experiment, which may affect their behaviour. For example, some participants may purposely do worse on the second tests because they want it to appear as if they work less well in the afternoon methods for dealing with limitations: Researchers may use two different tests to reduce a practice effect - though the two tests must be equivalent. This can be done by constructing a test of, say, 40 items and randomly allocating items to Test A and Test B. The main way that order effects are dealt with is using counterbalancing. In order to avoid guessing the aims of a study, a cover story can be presented about the purpose of the test.

Answer 16

- laboratory experiment - natural experiment - field experiment - quasi experiment

Answer 17

Laboratory experiment - an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV, whilst maintaining strict control of extraneous variables

Answer 18

- High internal validity because extraneous variables can be controlled. This means that we can be confident that any observed change in the DV is due to the IV. - reliable - Participants usually aware that their behaviour is being studied. This leads participants to search for cues about the aims of the experiment and may affect the participants’ behaviour, reducing ‘realness’ (ecological validity) - The IV or DV may be operationalised in such as way that it doesn't represent everyday experiences i.e. it is low in mundane realism - Low ecological validity can be experienced in terms of setting. Participants may feel uncomfortable in an unknown and artificial environment. This means they may not behave as they usually would.

Answer 19

Field Experiments - an experiment that takes place in a natural setting within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV

Answer 20

- Participants are not likely to be aware that their behaviour is being studied. This means they don’t respond to demand characteristics and therefore their behaviour may be more ‘natural’ - A field experiment takes place in a more natural setting, so participants can be more relaxed - Many issues with lab experiments are the same for field experiments - may lack mundane realism - therefore not necessarily more like everyday life than lab experiments - It is more difficult to control extraneous variables - There is a major ethical issue - difficult to debrief participants if they don't know that they are being studied - more time consuming than lab experiments

Answer 21

Natural Experiment - an experiment where the change in the IV is not brought about by the researcher but would have happened even if the researcher had not have been there. The researcher records the effect of the DV

Answer 22

- allows opportunities for research that may not otherwise be undertaken for practical or ethical reasons, such as the studies of institutionalised Romanian orphans - high external validity, involve the study of real life issues and problems as they happen - naturally occurring event may happen verry rarely, reducing opportunities for research - participants may not be randomly allocated to experimental conditions (this only applies when there is an independent groups design). This means the researcher might be less sure whether the IV affected the DV

Answer 23

Quasi-experiment - a study that is almost an experiment but lacks key ingredients. The IV has not been determined by anyone (the researcher or any other person) - the ‘variables’ simply exist, such as being old or young. Strictly speaking this is not an experiment.

Answer 24

- often carried out under controlled conditions and therefore share the strengths of a lab experiment - like natural experiments, cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions and therefore may be confounding variables - no manipulation of the IV - this means we cannot say for certain that the change measured in the DV was due to the IV (what do we call this?) - unique participant characteristics - the sample could have unique characteristics meaning we can’t generalise the findings to other group of people (we call this low ecological or population validity)

Answer 25

- single blind design - in this design, the participant is not aware of the research aims and/or of which condition of the experiment they are receiving - ‘double blind design - in this design, the participant and the person conducting the experiment are blind to the aim/hypothesis - experimental realism - if the researcher makes the task sufficiently engaging, the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact taht they are being observed

Answer 26

any characteristic or aspect of a participant's background that could affect study results, even though it's not the focus of an experiment. Participant variables can include sex, gender identity, age, educational attainment, marital status, religious affiliation, etc.

Answer 27

Features of an environement that affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures. Such as the presence of authority figures, group dynamics, social norms, and situational ambiguity.

Answer 28

validity - are we measuring what we intend to?

Answer 29

mundane realism - degree to which a procedure is similar to events taht occur in the real world

Answer 30

ecological validity - specific type of external validity, how generalisable are experiments to the real world

Answer 31

- single blind design - in this design, the participant is not aware of the research aims and/or of which condition of the experiment they are receiving - ‘double blind design - in this design, the participant and the person conducting the experiment are blind to the aim/hypothesis - experimental realism - if the researcher makes the task sufficiently engaging, the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact taht they are being observed

Answer 32

- Sample - a selection of a subset within a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population - we attempt to collect samples that are representative of the whole population. In psychology, we have 5 main sampling methods.

Answer 33

Target population - every member of the group that the investigator plans to study

Answer 34

Random Sampling Systematic Sampling Opportunity Sampling Volunteer Sampling Stratified Sampling

Answer 35

1. Random Sampling - each member of the target population has a mathematically equal chance of being in the experiments sample - uses a full list of entire target population, all names are put into container or computer system, names pulled/ randomly selected - strengths - a random sample avoids researcher bias as it’s not a choice as to who’s in the sample - limitations - need to have a list of all available members of the population you wish to study, which could take time. By chance, the sample could be unrepresentative of the whole population

Answer 36

2. Systematic Sampling - participants are chosen from a list of the target population. Every Nth participant is chosen to form the sample (every 5th or 10th or 100th name on the list) - strengths - avoids researcher bias as researchers can’t choose their sample. If there is an existing list of names (like a school or Uni) can be a quick way of sampling - limitations - by chance the method can produce an unrepresentative sample. If target population is large, can be difficult to obtain names

Answer 37

3. Opportunity Sampling - the researcher directly asks available members of the target population to take part in the research. This is likely to be individuals the researcher has easy access to and is familiar with. Any individuals who agree to take part are added until the target number is reached - strengths - not time consuming at all, therefore low cost as well. use first available participants you can - limitations - researcher decides who to ask so it could lead to researcher bias. opportunity samples are unlikely to be representative

Answer 38

4. volunteer Sampling - Also known as a self-selecting sample, participants offer to take part after finding out about the research (they are not directly asked by the researcher). This is likely after seeing an advert in a newspaper or online - strengths - advertising for participants can reach a wide range of people (social media). easiest sample to collect as they are self selecting - limitations - chance sample collected have volunteer bias. The type of people likely to volunteer may be different to the target population

Answer 39

5. Stratified Sampling - By selecting from within strata, the characteristics of participants within the sample are in the same proportion as found within the target population - strengths - sample is representative of the larger target population, meaning results should be generalisable. participants randomly chosen from each stratum meaning it avoids researcher bias - limitations - not every possible characteristic can be included in a stratified sample. Researcher chooses the stratum, which could lead to bias. Can be time consuming to identify stratum

Answer 40

random - each item in a population has an equal chance of being selected. There are various random techniques that are used to obtain a random sample (or also to achieve random allocation of participants to groups) - the lottery method - random number table - random number generator

Answer 41

- The lottery method: - easiest method - drawing names or numbers ‘out of a hat’ 1. obtain a list of all the people in the population. this may simply be the names of all the people in your school 2. put all the names in a lottery barrel or hat 3. select the number of names required

Answer 42

- Random number table - printed table of random numbers 1. this time every member of the population is given a number 2. the starting position in the table is determined blindly by placing your finger anywhere 3. If your population is less than 100 you only need two digit numbers so read the table two digits at a time

Answer 43

- Random number generators - calculators have functions that generate random numbers as do computers and apps on phones 1. Number every member of the population 2. using, for example., Microsoft Excel type =RAND(100) to get a random number between 1 and 100

Answer 44

A population is the group of people that a researcher is interested in - the group of people from which the sample is drawn. A sample is a selection of people from a population.

Answer 45

Ethical issue - These arise when there is conflict between the rights of the participant and the goal to produce authentic results.

Answer 46

- BPS code of ethics - A document which instructs psychologists what is and isn't acceptable when dealing with human participants in research. - This Code is based on four ethical Principles, which constitute the main domains of responsibility, within which ethical issues are considered. These have been agreed after many years of consultation within and outside the profession. The manner in which they apply and the contexts that they apply in will inevitably change over time. 1. Respect - for the dignity and worth of all persons. This includes standards of privacy and confidentiality and informed consent. Intentional deception (lack of informed consent) is only acceptable when it is necessary to protect the integrity of research and when the deception is disclosed to participants at the earliest opportunity. One way to judge acceptability is to consider whether participants are likely to object or show unease when debriefed. Participants should be aware of the right to withdraw from the research at any time 2. Competence - psychologists should maintain high standards in their professional work 3. responsibility - psychologists have a responsibility to their clients, to the general public and to the science of psychology. This includes protecting participants from psychological harm as well as debriefing at the conclusion of their participation 4. integrity - psychologists should be honest and accurate. This includes reporting the findings of any research accurately and acknowledging bringing instances of misconduct by other psychologists to the attention of the BPS

Answer 47

Informed Consent - making participants aware of the aims, procedure and their rights before the study goes ahead - all participants should sign a consent form - parental consent for those under 16 - presumptive consent - retrospective consent - prior general consent

Answer 48

Deception - deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants. This makes informed consent impossible - debrief participants at the end (inform them what happened, what their data will be used for and allow opportunity to withdraw results)

Answer 49

Protection from harm - participants should not be placed at any more risk than normal daily life - this includes embarrassment/ stress - reassure participants that their behaviour was normal - offer counselling if effects are extreme - follow up

Answer 50

Privacy and confidentiality - this is in line with data protection laws which is the right to have personal data protected - maintain anonymity - don’t record names - use numbers - don’t share data with other researchers

Answer 51

right to withdraw - participants can stop participating in a study if they are uncomfortable in any way. This is especially important in cases where it was not possible to give fully informed consent. Participants should also have the right to refuse permission for the researcher to use any data they protected

Answer 52

presumptive consent - if you can’t ask your participants if they are happy to take part in the study, you ask similar people if they would be. If they agree, you presume your real participants would agree too

Answer 53

retrospective consent - if you cant get informed consent at the beginning of the study, you ask them at the end and as them whether they agree to be a participant

Answer 54

prior general consent - you tell people that you may be studying them at different times, ask if they generally agree to be a participant

Answer 55

- consent forms - consent forms are given to each participants for every study, which states… - the purpose if the study - an outline of what happens during the study and what happens to participants to participants results - the length of time needed to complete the study - informing the participants they have the right to withdraw - informing participants they are available for medical supervision and protection from harm (psychological and physiological) - consent forms may also include tick boxes where participants have to ensure that: - they understood and read the consent form - they have asked any questions they wished too - they understand they have the right to withdraw - they consent to participate

Answer 56

- This is an important way of dealing with deception and reminding participants of their other ethical rights. It should be written so that it can be read out to the participant and include: - True aim of the study - If an independent groups design has been used, there should be an outline of both conditions of the study. Otherwise, an outline of the study should be given. - Ask the participants if they have any questions and if so who they can address these to - Relevant ethical considerations e.g. remind them of their right to withdraw, privacy, confidentiality etc. - Offer someone that they can talk to if their distressed - Thank the participants for taking part

Answer 57

Strengths - Observational studies have high validity: they record what people actually do rather than what they say they do. - Observations may capture spontaneous and unexpected behaviour. - Observations are often used as a way to measure the DV in an experiment and therefore are a fundamental method of gathering data. Limitations - There is the serious issue of observer bias. It is difficult to be objective when making observations because what people observe is distorted by their expectations of what is likely or what they would hope to see. Using more than one observer may reduce the risk of observer bias affecting the validity of the observations. - Only observable behaviour is recorded and not information about what people think or feel. - Therefore data from observations must be interpreted carefully.

Answer 58

- **Naturalistic and controlled observation** - In a naturalistic observation, behaviour is studied in a natural situation where everything has been left as it is normally. In other words the researcher does not interfere in any way with what is happening. Examples might include watching an infant playing in their normal (ie. 'natural) environment. This might be a nursery school if that is an environment that the infant is used to. Observing an animal in a zoo could be considered a naturalistic observation because the environment is normal to them. - In a controlled observation, some variables in the environment are regulated by the researcher, reducing the naturalness' of the environment and, most importantly, the naturalness of the behaviour being studied. Participants are likely to know they are being studied and the study may be conducted in a laboratory. - A controlled observation allows the researcher to investigate the effects of certain things on behaviour, for example in Bandura's study of social learning theory (see left) various toys were present to see how the children would interact with these (note that this study was an experiment and observation was used to assess the dependent variable). Such things are not the same as independent variables unless another group of participants had a different set of toys as a comparison.

Answer 59

Strengths - Naturalistic observation gives a realistic picture of spontaneous behaviour - Therefore, it is likely to be high in ecological validity (though this may be less so if participants know they are being observed). - In a controlled observation an observer can focus on particular aspects of behaviour. Limitations - In a naturalistic observation there is little control of all the other things that are happening, which may mean that something unknown to the observer may account for the behaviour observed. - In a controlled observation the control comes at the cost of the environment feeling unnatural and participants' behaviour also being less natural as a result. - Therefore there is a trade-off between ecological validity and control.

Answer 60

- **Overt and covert observation** - In both naturalistic and controlled observations the person being observed may be aware of the observations. This is called an overt observation. Since this is likely to have an effect. on the naturalness of participants' behaviour, observers try to be as unobtrusive as possible. They may even use one-way mirrors so they are hidden from view - but the study would still be classed as overt if participants knew beforehand that they were being observed. - In a covert observation participants do not have any knowledge of being observed, at least not before or during the study. They may be informed afterwards.

Answer 61

Strengths - In covert observations participants are unaware of being observed and thus their behaviour is more natural. Limitations - For overt observations participants are aware of being studied which may affect the naturalness of their behaviour - they may respond to demand characteristics. In covert observation, there are important ethical issues - it is acceptable to observe people in a public place as long as the behaviours being observed are not private ones, such as kissing your boyfriend. Covertly observed participants by definition cannot give consent, although it may be possible to seek retrospective consent. Both methods have contrasting strengths and limitations.

Answer 62

- **Participant and non-participant observation** - In most cases an observer is merely watching (or listening to) the behaviour of others and acts as a non-participant. The observer observes from a distance and does not interact with the people being observed. - The alternative is participant observation. In this case the observer is part of the group being observed. In both covert and overt observations the observer may be a participant, unbeknown to the people being observed.

Answer 63

Strengths - Participant observation may provide special insights into behaviour from the 'inside' that may not otherwise be gained. - In non-participant observation observers are likely to be more objective because they are not part of the group being observed. Limitations - Participant observation is more likely to be overt and thus have issues of participant awareness. - Non-participant observation is more likely to be covert and then there are ethical issues, as discussed above. - Researchers therefore need to weigh up these strengths and limitations when designing observational research.

Answer 64

reliability - a measure of consistency. It refers to how consistent the findings from an investigation or measuring device are. A measuring device is said to be reliable if it produces consistent results every time it is used - used for measuring mental health issues and personality

Answer 65

- internal reliability - describes the internal consistency of a measure (consistency within itself) - for example, whether the different questions (or ‘items’) in a questionnaire are all measuring the same thing

Answer 66

external reliability - measures how consistently a test produces similar results over repeated administrations or under different conditions. It ensures that a test is stable over time and situations

Answer 67

- we can test for external reliability using two methods: test re-test and inter-rater reliability - test re-test measures how well a test remains stable over repeated uses - inter-rater reliability tests whether different raters (or observers) record the same data based on the protocol of the study

Answer 68

likert scale - rating system, used in questionnaires, allows us to rank participants

Answer 69

acquiescence bias - also known as agreement bias, the tendency for survey respondents to agree with research statements, without the action of being a true reflection of their own position or question itself

Answer 70

Strengths: - The key strength is that all self-report techniques allow access to what people think and feel, to their experiences and attitudes. limitations: - People may not supply truthful answers. It's not that people deliberately lie, but they may simply answer in a socially desirable way (called a social desirability bias). For example, if asked whether you are a leader or a follower, many people would prefer not to class themselves as a follower even if they are. - People sometimes simply don't know what they think or feel, so they may make their answer up, and thus their answers lack validity. - The sample of people used in any study using self-report may lack representativeness and thus the data collected cannot be generalised. - Despite these limitations, self-report techniques are an important way of gathering information about people's thoughts, attitudes and experiences.

Answer 71

Questionnaire - a set of written questions. It is designed to collect information about a topic or topics. They permit a researcher to discover what people think and feel. They can be objective and scientific. They are always pre-determined

Answer 72

Strengths: - Once designed and tested, questionnaires can be distributed to large numbers of people relatively cheaply and quickly. This enables a researcher to collect data from a large sample of people. - Respondents may be more willing to give personal information in a questionnaire than in an interview, where they may feel self-conscious and more cautious. Limitations: - Questionnaires are only filled in by people who can read and write and have the time to fill them in. This means that the sample is biased. - Therefore, although questionnaires are a powerful way of gathering a large amount of information, issues of design, distribution and bias need to be thought through carefully.

Answer 73

Structured Interview - predetermined questions, questionnaire delivered face to face or over the telephone - no deviation from the original questions - conducted in real time

Answer 74

Strengths: - The main strength of a structured interview (as well as a questionnaire) is that it can be easily repeated because the questions are standardised. This means answers from different people can be compared. - This also means that they are easier to analyse than an unstructured interview because answers are more predictable. Limitations: - Comparability may be a problem in a structured interview (but not a questionnaire) if the same interviewer behaves differently on different occasions or different interviewers behave differently (low reliability). - A limitation of both structured and unstructured interviews is that the interviewer's expectations may influence the answers the interviewee gives (a form of investigator effect called interviewer bias). - The many benefits of structured interviews therefore depend on having skilled interviewers and avoiding interviewer bias as far as possible.

Answer 75

Unstructured Interview - new questions are constantly developed during the course of the interview - interviewer may begin with some general aims and possibly a few pre-determined questions but subsequent questions develop on the basis of the answers that are given - sometimes called a clinical interview

Answer 76

Strengths: - More detailed information can generally be obtained from each respondent than in a structured interview. This is because the interviewer tailors further questions to the specific responses. Limitations: - Unstructured interviews require interviewers with more skill than a structured interview because the interviewer has to develop new questions on the spot. The requirement for well-trained interviewers makes unstructured interviews more expensive to produce compared with structured interviews. - Such in-depth questions may be more likely to lack objectivity than predetermined ones because of their instantaneous nature, with no time for the interviewer to reflect on what to say. - Therefore, while unstructured interviews allow researchers to gain deeper insights into the respondent's feelings and thoughts, there are issues of objectivity and cost to consider.

Answer 77

An interviewer may take notes throughout the interview to document answers. However, this is likely to interfere with their listening skills, and potentially make the participant feel a sense of evaluation because the interviewer may not write everything down and then the respondent feels that what they said was not valuable. This could lead to social desirability bias or demand characteristics. Alternatively, interviews may be audio recorded or video recorded.

Answer 78

- One of the strengths of conducting an interview compared to a questionnaire is that the presence of an interviewer who is interested in the respondent’s answers may increase the amount of information provided. This means that the interviewers need to be aware of behaviours that demonstrate their ‘interest.’ This includes: - Non-verbal communication – various behaviours such as sitting with arms crossed and frowning communicate disapproval and disinterest, whereas head nodding and leaning forward may encourage the respondent to speak. - Listening skills – an interviewer needs to know when and how to speak e.g. they should not interrupt too often and when they do speak they should have a range of encouraging comments to show that they are listening.

Answer 79

In an unstructured interview, there are special skills to be learned about what kind of follow up questions should be asked. It is important to be aware of the questions already asked avoid repeating them. It is also useful to avoid probing too much, or to ask ‘why?’ too often. It is better to ask more focused questions – both for the interviewee and, also for the analysis of the answers later.

Answer 80

Analysis, lack of bias, clarity

Answer 81

Analysis – questions need to be written so that they are easy to analyse. Closed questions are easiest to analyse, but they may force people to select answers don’t represent their real thoughts or behaviour. Whereas open questions may really represent their real thoughts or behaviour, but because everyone could potentially give a different answer, they are more difficult to analyse.

Answer 82

Bias – questions should be free of bias. This is because any bias in a question could lead the respondent to be more likely to give a particular answer (a leading question or emotive language). The greatest problem is social desirability bias as participants may give answers to make themselves look more attractive, nicer, more generous etc. rather than being truthful.

Answer 83

Clarity - questions should be clear and unambiguous i.e. they should be written in a way that the respondent understands what is being asked (i.e. do not overuse jargon). The use of double negatives reduces clarity (e.g. Are you against banning capital punishment?), as do double barrelled questions (e.g. Do you suffer from sickness and headaches?)

Answer 84

- Writing good questionnaires - They should contain good questions (above) - They should contain filler questions – irrelevant questions to distract participants from the aim of the study. This may reduce demand characteristics. - Think carefully about the sequence of questions – start with the easy ones and save the ones that may make people anxious or defensive for when the participant has relaxed. - Think carefully about your sampling technique. Questionnaires often use stratified sampling. - Test your questionnaire in a pilot study before the main study. This means that the questions can later be refined in response to any difficulties encountered.

Answer 85

These design decisions are to make questionnaires objective and systematic ways of doing psychological research (i.e. it makes them a scientific tool) so that the data collected truly reflects what a person actually thinks and/or feels.

Answer 86

- Correlations systematically show how strong a relationship is between two continuous variables (e.g. stress and illness) - In correlations, the variables are called co-variables - Correlations are not technically a research method; it is a method to analyse data

Answer 87

- Coefficients are always between -1 and +1. The bigger the number, the stronger the relationship between the co variables. - + = positive correlation - - = negative correlation

Answer 88

- Rule of thumb: - .8 and above = strong correlation - around .5-.79 = moderate correlation - around .3= weak correlation - near 0 = zero correlation

Answer 89

Correlations are used in the assessment of reliability and validity. The coefficient must be above +.8 for a study to be considered reliable and/or valid. The statistical test would be Spearman’s or Pearson’s

Answer 90

In a corelation the experimenter does not control the variables

Answer 91

- Directional states whether there is a positive or negative correlation - Non directional just states that there is a correlation (not whether it is strong or weak)

Answer 92

Strengths: - Investigating data trends - If correlations are significant, further research is justified. If insignificant, likely rules out a causal relationship - Procedures in correlational research are often replicable, which means findings can be corroborated in the future Weaknesses: - The co-variables are only measured and not altered, meaning we can’t conclude one co-variable causes the other - Can't assume causal relationships - Supposed causal link can be due to intervening variables - Correlations can lack internal and external validity

Answer 93

- when interpreting a scattergram, four pieces of information are needed 1. Type of correlation - +, -, or 0 2. strength of correlation - strong, moderate, weak, zero, moderately strong etc 3. what the correlation means in plain English - e.g. as height increases, weight increases 4. any anomalies or a change in direction

Answer 94

Intervening variable - a variable that comes between two other variables, which is used to explain the association between those two other variables. For example, if a positive correlation is found between ice cream sales and violence this may be explained by an intervening variable - heat - which causes the increase in ice cream sales and increase in violence

Answer 95

- Curvilinear correlation - a non-linear relationship between two other variables - Linear correlation - a systematic relationship between co-variables taht is defined by a straight line

Answer 96

Correlation coefficient - a number between -1 and +1 that tells us how closely the co-variables in a correlational analysis are associated

Answer 97

- Unstructured observations - The researcher records all relevant behaviour but has no system - Sometimes used in situations where research has not been previously conducted, such as a piolet study - May be too much to record and the behaviours recorded may not be the ones taht are most important or relevant, only the ones most eye-catching

Answer 98

- Structured observations - Observational techniques, like all research techniques, aim to be objective and rigorous - The two main ways to use structured observations: - Using behaviour categories - Sampling procedures

Answer 99

- Behavioural categories - In order to conduct systematic observations, a researcher needs to break up the stream of behaviour into different behavioural categories. What is needed is operationalism - Behavioural categories should: - Be objective: the observer should not have to make inferences about the behaviour, but should just record explicit actions - Cover all possible component behaviours and avoid a ‘waste basket’ category - Be mutually exclusive, meaning that you should not have to mark two categories at one time

Answer 100

- Sampling procedures - In many situations, continuous observation is not possible because there would be too much data to record; therefore there must be a systematic method of sampling observations: - Event sampling - counting the number of times a certain behaviour (event) occurs in a target individual or individuals, for example counting how many times a person smiles in a 10 minute period - Time sampling - recording behaviours in a given time frame. For example, noting what a target individual is doing every 30 seconds or some other time interval, At that time the observer may tick one or more categories from a checklist