Research Methods: set 1

Question 1

State the 3 types of experimental methods.

Answer 1

Lab, field, and natural experiments.

Question 2

What is the independent variable?

Answer 2

The independent variable is the variable that the researcher manipulates to see effects on the dependent variable.

Question 3

What is the dependent variable?

Answer 3

The dependent variable is the variable that the researcher is measuring. It is the effect of the changes caused by the independent variable.

Question 4

What is operationalizing?

Answer 4

Operationalising is when you have to be specific about how you are manipulating the IV and measuring the DV.

Question 5

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 5

A hypothesis is a testible prediction about what the researcher believes will happen in their study. This is before the research has taken place. Every piece of research has two hypothesis. The research will accept one and reject the other at the end when they have found their results.

Question 6

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 6

A null hypothesis is when there will not be a difference between the 2 conditions of the IV.

Question 7

What is an alternative hypothesis?

Answer 7

An alternative hypothesis is when there will be a difference between the 2 conditions of the IV.

Question 8

What are extraneous variables?

Answer 8

An extraneous variable is a variable other than the IV which affects the DV. Researchers aim to control these to establish a cause and effect. This is because they will get more accurate results which increases the validity of the study.

Question 9

Types of extraneous variables.

Answer 9

Task difficulty, Age, Eyesight, Gender, IQ, Hearing, Personality (introverted or extroverted), Demand characteristics, Order effects, etc. * the variable you pick has to be relevant to the scenario.

Question 10

What is a laboratory experiment?

Answer 10

A laboratory experiment is an experiment conducted in a lab, which is a highly controlled environment. It is where the researcher manipulates the IV and measures the effect on the DV.

Question 11

State pros and cons for laboratory experiments.

Answer 11

Pros: High control over extraneous variables because the research is carried out in a controlled environment which increases the validity of the study.
High reliability because it is easy to repeat the study in the same exact conditions to see if the researcher achieves consistent results.

Cons: Low ecological validity as it is carried out in an artificial environment which makes it difficult to generalise the results beyond the setting of the study.
Prone to demand characteristics because it is easier for the participant to pick up on clues to the experiment and change their natural behaviour, lowering the validity of the study.

Question 12

What is a field experiment?

Answer 12

A field experiment is an experiment that takes place in a natural environment such as an office or a school where the researcher manipulates the independent variable and measures the effect on the dependent variable.

Question 13

State pros and cons of a field experiment

Answer 13

Pros: High ecological validity as it is carried out in a real life environment which makes it easier to generalise the results beyond the setting of the study.
Less prone to demand characteristics because it is less likely the participant will pick up on clues to the experiment and change their natural behavior, increasing the validity.

Cons: Less control over extraneous variables because the research is carried out an natural environment with low control decreasing the validity of the study.
Low reliability because it is difficult to repeat the study and exactly the same conditions as there is no control to see if the researcher can achieve consistent results.

Question 14

What is a natural experiment?

Answer 14

Natural experiment is when the researcher takes advantage of a naturally occurring independent variable. This is a natural experiment because the variable would have changed even if the experimental was not interested.

Question 15

State pros and cons of a natural experiment.

Answer 15

Pros: High ecological validity as it is carried out in a real life environment which makes it easier to generalise the results beyond the setting of the study. Provides opportunities for research that could not be undertaken due to ethical reasons as the researcher is not manipulating the IV.

Cons: Low control over extraneous variables because the researcher is taking advantage of an event so there is a lack of control, this decreases the validity of the study. Limited opportunities for the type of research because some events may be very rare.

Question 16

What is an Independent groups design?

Answer 16

Independent groups design is when participants only take part in one condition of the IV. Different participants in each condition the (experimental condition and the control condition).
For example, a researcher wanted to see the effect of caffeine on an individual’s memory. Half the participants took a caffeine tablet an hour before memory test the other half did not have any caffeine the hour before the memory test.

Question 17

State pros and cons of independent groups design.

Answer 17

Pros: There are no order effects as participants only take part in one condition so they will not get bored, better or worse at a task this increases the validity of the research.

Cons: There are individual differences as participant variables may affect how well they do and attach depending on which condition they are in, this affects the validity of the research.

Question 18

What is repeated measures?

Answer 18

Repeated measures is when participants take part in both conditions of the IV. The same group of participants complete the experimental condition and the control condition.
For example, a researcher wanted to see the effect of caffeine on an individual’s memory. All participants took a caffeine tablet an hour before a memory test. The next day all participants came back and did not have any caffeine the hour before the memory test.

Question 19

State the prose and cons of repeated measures.

Answer 19

Pros: There are no individual differences because participants take part in both conditions so there will be no participant variables affecting their performance of the task.
Cons: There are order effects as participants may become bored, better or worse at a task because they have done it before which will affect the results.
This design is prone to demand characteristics. As the participants complete the task twice, they are more likely to pick up on clues to the aim of the experiment and may change their behaviour to help (but instead hinder) the researcher.

Question 20

What is matched pairs?

Answer 20

Match pairs are when participants are pretested on a key variable that could affect the study. The participants with similar scores are then matched together and split across the 2 experimental conditions.
For example, the researcher wanted to see the effect of caffeine on an individual’s memory. Participants were first pretested on their memory using a memory test. Participants were then matched to another person who had a similar memory score. One member of the pair went to the caffeine condition the other went to the non-caffeine condition.

Question 21

What are the 4 types of research procedures?

Answer 21

-Random allocation, which reduces individual differences in an independent groups design.
-Counterbalancing, which reduces order effects in a repeated measures design.
-Standardization, which keeps procedures the same for both conditions and reduces bias in any experiment.
-Randomization, in which aspects of the research are chosen by chance or randomised to avoid bias.

Question 22

What is individual differences?

Answer 22

These are participants variable or extranous variables that might affect the results because of the differences between the participants.

Question 23

What is order effects?

Answer 23

Order effects is when participants become bored, better or worse at a task because they have done it before.

Question 24

What is demand characteristics?

Answer 24

When participants pick up on clues in the experiment and change their behaviour.

Question 25

How does random allocation work?

Answer 25

Random allocation is when each participant has an equal chance of being in each condition in order to avoid any potential researcher bias.
This can be done by writing all the names of the participants on equal sized pieces of paper.
Put the pieces into a hat.
And then pull out half of the participants for condition a and the remaining half will be in condition b.

Question 26

How does counterbalancing work?

Answer 26

Counter balancing helps balance order effects by splitting the group of participants into 2 groups.
1/2 will then complete condition a while the other half complete condition b.
After completing this, they swap and complete the opposite condition.
Using counterbalancing does not get rid of order effects but allows for the effects of it to be balanced out equally between the 2 conditions for the participants and thus providing more valid results.

Question 27

How does standardization work?

Answer 27

Standardisation means to keep procedures the same for both conditions. The only thing that should be changing between the 2 conditions is the IV.
For example participants should all have same instructions, same amount of time for the task, and same difficulty of the task.
This will reduce bias and extraneous variables that could impact the DV. Controlling this will increase the validity of the study. This can be considered reliable as the study can be repeated in the same conditions to achieve consistent results.

Question 28

How does randomisation work?

Answer 28

Randomization is when aspect of a research is chosen by chance or randomized and is not decided by the researcher, as it may be open to bias.
The researcher could do this by writing the possible words on equal sizes of paper.
Placing these papers in a hat, then pulling out the desired amount of words for the wordlist and they will be in the order they were pulled from.

Question 29

Definition of a sample.

Answer 29

A sample is a group of people taken from the target population to take part in the research. It is assumed that the sample is representative of the target population. A population is a group of people who are the focus of the researchers interest. It is not possible to include all members of the target population which is why a sample is generated.

Question 30

What does it mean by representative?

Answer 30

Representative in this context means how accurately the sample reflects the population. If a sample is not representative it is difficult to generalize to the target population.

Question 31

Types of sampling.

Answer 31

Random sampling, opportunity, systematic sampling and stratified sampling.

Question 32

What is random sampling?

Answer 32

Random sampling as when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
This can be done by writing the names of everyone the target population on an equal size piece of paper.
Put the pieces of paper in a hat and without looking select the number you want in your sample from the hat.

Question 33

State pros and cons of random sampling.

Answer 33

Pro: Avoid researcher bias because everyone in the target population has an equal chance of being selected therefore less chance of a bias sample.
Cons: Very time consuming because it takes time getting all the participants and it’s not guaranteed that the selected participants would want to take part.

Question 34

What is opportunity sampling?

Answer 34

Opportunity sampling is when whoever is at the place at that moment in the time is asked to participate. For example, waiting for participants in a canteen doing break and asking the first 30 participants who walk past to participate.
This can be achieved by going somewhere where you will have access to the population you wanna study. Then ask whoever is there at that moment to take part in your study.

Question 35

State pros and cons of opportunity sampling?

Answer 35

Pros: Very quick, easy and convenient to get a sample as you choose who is available at the time.
Cons: May not be representative of the target population, this is because the researcher can choose who they want because they may feel that these people may fit their hypothesis, resulting in bias.

Question 36

What is systematic sampling?

Answer 36

This is when a system is applied to select participants. A sampling frame is created to organize the target population such as putting all the people in alphabetical order. Then a system is decided, such as choosing the 5th or the 10th person until there are enough participants for the sample.

Question 37

State pros and cons of systematic sampling.

Answer 37

Pros: Avoid researcher bias so the researcher has no influence over who is chosen.
Cons: The sample may not be representative as not everyone has an equal chance of being picked and can still result in a biased sample.

Question 38

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 38

Stratified sampling is an advanced way of sampling where the makeup of the sample reflects the proportions of certain subgroups in the target population. Example 70% of the target population are female than 70% of the sample will be female as well.
We can do this by identifying the different subgroups that make up a population, calculate how many of each proportion would you need for your sample size and the number of participants which will make up each proportion that are chosen using random sampling.

Question 39

State pros and cons of stratified sampling.

Answer 39

Pros: The most representative sample as it reflects the makeup of the target population and the correct proportions or amounts, meaning that findings can be generalised to the target population.
Cons: It is very time consuming because it takes time working out proportions of participants need and is not guaranteed that participants would consent to take part.