Research methods: section 2 ‘scientific processes’ Flashcards
What is an aim and what does it do?
- a general statement about what the researcher intends to study
- the aim states the purpose of the study
What is a hypotheses and what does it do?
- a precise and testable statement that steers the relationship between variables
What is a key part of making a hypotheses precise and testable
- operationalisation: if the findings support the hypothesis then it can be accepted, but if not it must be rejected
What is a non-directional hypotheses?
- states that there will be an effect but does not state which way the effect will go (eg not saying which results will score higher in an experiment)
What is a directional hypotheses?
- not only states that there will be an effect but also states which way it will go (eg stating which results will score higher in an experiment)
Why do psychologists use directional hypotheses?
- when past research suggests that the findings will go in a particular direction
What is operationalisation?
- the process of clearly defining the variables to make them testable and measure able
- this is how variables are ‘put into operation’
What is a pilot study and when do they take place?
- a small scale trial run of a research study using a small number of participants who can be questioned afterwards about their experience
- they take place before the full scale research
What are the aims of a pilot study and why?
- to check the research works as it is intended to, does not have any extraneous variables and is practical
- any problems can then be rectified before running the full scale study (eg instructions and questions can be clarified)
What is the purpose of asking participants if they understood the instructions after a pilot study?
- to rectify any problems before the full study begins
What is the purpose of checking the materials and timings are appropriate after a pilot study?
- to ensure the words/pictures are clear and the right amount of words/images were used to rectify any problems before the full study begins
What is the purpose of asking participants about their experience of taking part after a pilot study?
- to help identify demand characteristics which will provide an opportunity to reduce any issues before the full study begins
What is the purpose of ensuring variables have been operationalised sufficiently after a pilot study?
- to help ensure all variables have been identified and fully operationalised before the full scale study begins
What is an IV?
- an independent variable which is manipulated / changed by the researcher
What is a DV?
- a dependant variable which is measured by the researcher
What is an extraneous variable?
- any variable other than the independent variable that might affect the dependent variable if it is not controlled
- researchers should try to identify all possible EV’s and attempt to control them
What are participant variables and examples? [4]
- any characteristics or traits of the participants (other than the IV) that might unfairly influence the results
- eg personality, mood, age, gender
What are investigator effects and examples? [3]
- any cues from an investigator (other than the IV) that encourage certain behaviours in the participant which may allow the researchers expectations to unfairly influence the results
- eg wording in instructions, tone of voice, age/personality of researcher
What are environmental variables and examples? [5]
- any aspect of the research environment or situation (other than the IV) that might unfairly influence the results
- eg weather, room/surroundings, noise, lighting, temperature
What are demand characteristics and examples? [3]
- cues that reveal the aims of the study to the participants, if the participants become aware that they are being studied, these cues may help them work out what the researcher expects to find and cause them to change their behaviour by wanting to please the researcher
- knowing the aim, opinion on the researcher, practice or order effects
What are 2 key ways of controlling variables in research to ensure accurate (valid) results?
- standardisation and randomisation
What is standardisation and examples? [2]
- putting in place ‘controls’ to ensure every aspect of the research is the same for all participants and meets a consistent ‘standard’
- eg standardised procedures and standardised instructions
What is randomisation and examples? [2]
- ensuring all research ‘choices’ are randomly selected by chance rather than being determined by the researcher to avoid bias
- eg using a random name/number generator or ensuring random allocation of participants
What are confounding variables?
- any extraneous variable that is not controlled and may therefore have ‘spoiled’ (confounded) the results as it is no longer clear if any change in the DV was caused by the IV or the confounding variable