Psya1 - Research Methods

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Experiment method - definition

Back 1

Assesses a cause and effect relationship. Involving the researcher directly manipulating the I.V.

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Laboratory experiment - definition

Back 2

The manipulation of an independent variable that takes place in a setting or conditions that allows for the careful control of confounding variables.

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Laboratory experiment - advantages

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.Researcher has a high degree of control over variables.
.Researchers can easily replicate studies conducted by other researchers.

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Laboratory experiment - disadvantages

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.Can be artificial and different from real life situations.
.Ps may suffer from demand characteristics;adjust their behaviour to match their interpretation of the research.

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Field experiment - definition

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.Researcher manipulates an independent variable in a controlled but 'real' situation.

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Field experiment - advantages

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.Higher levels of ecological validity tha a laboratory setting.
.Lower risk of demand characteristics;Ps less aware of taking part, therefore behave naturally.

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Field experiment - disadvantages

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.Replication is more difficult and results can't be generalised to all real-life situations.
.It is more difficult to establish precise control over confounding variables.

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Natural experiment - definition

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.Researcher does not manipulate an IV but takes advantage of a 'naturally occurring' IV.

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Natural experiment - advantages

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.Can be used to exploit a naturally occurring event which would be unethical or impractical to manipulate.
.The researcher does not intervene directly in the research situation and so realism may be higher.

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Natural experiement - disadvantages

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.The naturally occurring behaviour being investigated may occur rarely.
.Possible confounding variables are not being controlled by the investigator.

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Operationalisation - definition

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.Process of defining the measurement of a phenomenon that is not directly measurable, though it's existence is indicated by another phenomena.

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Independent variable - definition

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.Variable the experimenter manipulates (i.e. changes) – assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.

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Dependent variable - defintion

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.Variable the experimenter measures, after making changes to the IV that are assumed to affect the DV.

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Extraneous variable - defintion

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.These are all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could affect the results (e.g. dependent variable) of the experiment.

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Correlational Study - definition

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.Researcher examines the relationship betel wren 2 co-variables.

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Correlational Study - advantages

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.A powerful exploratory research tool which can be used when experiments are inappropriate e.g. Stress & illness.
.Provides valuable info. on the strength of the relationship between the co-variables.

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Corelational Study - disavantages

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.Cannot assess non-linear relationships.
.impossible to establish cause & effect between variables.

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Observations - Definition

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.Researcher records behaviours exhibited by participants.

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Observations - advantages

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.Can be used when experimentation is inappropriate e.g. Funerals.
.Is recording ACTUAL behaviour, so results are likely to be valid.

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Observations - disadvantages

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.Replication may be difficult due to differences in naturalistic settings.
.The presence of an observer may change behaviour of those observed.

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Behavioural categories - definition

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.behavioural categories are behaviours that might be observed in an observation study. these are behaviours and not emotions so laughing, smiling or crying would be behaviours but happiness and sadness wouldn't be cause they are emotions.

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Questionnaires - definition

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.Researcher prepares questions and asks participant to give a WRITTEN response.

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Questionnaires - advantages

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.Can be used to assess psychological variables that may not be obvious by just observing someone.
.Data can be collected from a large group of participants more quickly than interviewing them.

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Questionnaires - disadvantages

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.There is no guarantee that the P is telling the truth.
.Different Ps may interpret the same question in different ways.

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Interviews - definition

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.Researcher prepares questions and asks participant to give a VERBAL response.

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Interviews - advantages

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.Can permit issues to be investigated with sensitivity.
.Participants can ask for clarification of a question if they unsure of it's meaning.

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Interviews - disadvantages

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.Tends to be more time consuming to complete than questionnaires.
.The appearance (e.g. Ethnicity,gender etc.) of the researcher may have an effect on the Ps response.

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Closed questions - defintion

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.Close-ended questions are those which can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no".

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Closed questions - advantage and disadvantage

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.answers are easier to code and statistically analyse
.respondents can be frustrated because their desired answer is not a choice

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Open questions - defintion

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.open-ended questions are those which require more thought and more than a simple one-word answer.

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Open questions - advantage and disadvantage

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.respondents can answer in detail and can qualify and clarify responses
.comparisons and statistical analysis become difficult

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Case Study - definition

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.An in depth exploration of the behaviour and experiences of an individual, who is usually unique.

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Case Study - advantages

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.Can collect data from individuals who have experienced situations which would be unethical to manipulate.
.Can be a good way to describe changes occurring as a result of psychological processes which occur over time.

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Case Study - Disadvantages

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.Researchers assessment may become less objective with familiarity.
.'Unique' experiences of one person may have little/no application to the lives of others.

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Aim - definition

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.The aim of an investigation is its general purpose.

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Hypothesis - defintion

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.The hypothesis is a precise, testable statement or prediction about the expected outcome of an investigation.

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Directional Hypothesis - defintion and example

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.States the direction in which the results are expected to go.
E.g. "Studying improves exam marks".

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Non-directional Hypothesis - defintion and example

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.Does not give a predicted direction.
E.g. "Studying effects exam marks".

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Independent Groups - explanation

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. Testing separate groups of people, each group is tested in a different condition.

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Independent Groups - advantages

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.Their performance is not affected by another time they've done it.
.avoid order effects.

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Independent Groups - disadvantages

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.People have different intelligence.
.More people are needed than with the repeated measures design.

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Repeated Measures - explanation

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.Testing the same group of people in different conditions, the same people are used repeatedly.

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Repeated Measures - advantages

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.Same intelligence (recall), same memory abilities.
.fewer people are needed

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Repeated Measures - disadvantages

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.They can remember what happened in the first condition.
.Order effects are more likely to occur.

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Matched Pairs - explanation

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.Testing separate groups of people - each member of one group is same age, sex, or social background as a member of the other group.

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Matched Pairs - advantages

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.Performance on A won't effect performance on B.
.avoids order effects.

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Matched Pairs - disadvantages

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.Matching process is difficult and time consuming to do.
.they are still different people.

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Random Sampling - definition and method

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.Everyone in the entire target population has an equal chance of being selected.

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Random Sampling - advantages and disadvantages

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.Least biased
.however may not be representative of the target population

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Opportunity Sampling - definition and method

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.Uses people from target population available at the time.

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Opportunity Sampling - advantage and disadvantage

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.Provides a very biased sample but is a commonly used one & one you are most likely to use in your own research.

Front 52

BPS Code of Ethics - description

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.Code of ethics are guidelines set out by the governing body, all psychologists who are part of the BPS must follow the guidelines.

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Ethical Issue - definition

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.Ethical dilemmas, however, are defined rather more narrowly, as situations in which, on moral grounds, persons ought both to do and not to do something. Such a definition implies that issues of conflict and choice are central to moral dilemmas.

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Confidentiality - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Was the data collected confidentially? Confidentiality is a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information.

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Observation - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.the action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or someone.is the situation somewhere where people expect their behaviour to be observed?

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Withdrawl - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Do they know they can withdraw, or can they? the action of ceasing to participate in an activity.

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Deception - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Are Ps being deceived, purposely being told a lie?!

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Informed Consent- definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Are Ps fully informed about the aim of the experiment ?!

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Protection from physical harm - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Might Ps be physically harmed during the experiment ?!

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Protection from psychological harm - definition of issue and way of dealing with it

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.Might Ps be psychologically harmed during this experiment ?!

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Reliability - defintion

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.the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials. It's about consistency !

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Internal relaibility - defintion

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.Whether a test is consistently measuring whatever it is supposed to be measuring.

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External reliability - definition

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.Whether the findings of research are found to be similar overtime.

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Validity - definition

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..About the truth !
Refers to whether a measuring instrument measures what it is supposed to measure.

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Internal validity - definition

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Has that test shown that what it has measured is what it has claimed to measure.

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External validity - definition

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. They can be generalised to other people of situations than the research situations.

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Demand Characteristics - definition

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.demand characteristics refers to an experimental artifact where participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and unconsciously change their behavior to fit that interpretation.

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Investigator Effects - definition

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.The people conducting the experiment unconciously [unintentionally] effect the results due to the procedures of the research itself, resulting in invalid research results

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Pilot Study - definition

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. a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate feasibility, time, cost, adverse events, and effect size in an attempt to predict an appropriate sample size and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research project.

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MOCT - Mean - defintion

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Measure of central tendency which is the result of the total of all scores divided by the no. of Ps

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MOCT - Mean - advantage and disadvantage

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.All scores are taken into account
May be effected by an outlying or anomalous result

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MOCT - Median - definition

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.Measure of central tendency which is the middle value after all the scores being put in rank order

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MOCT - Median - advantage and disadvantage

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.Is not affected by an anomalous result
Not all of the scores are taken into account

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MOCT - Mode - definition

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.Measure of central tendency which is the result that is most frequently occurring

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MOCT - Mode - advantage and disadvantage

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.The score is definitely one that occurred in the data set
There may not be one, or there may be two, three etc.

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Range - definition

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.Measure of dispersion that is the difference between the highest and lowest score in a data set

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Range - advantage and disadvantage

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.Shows us just how varied participants performances are
A very crude measure of dispersion

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Standard Deviation - definition

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.Measure of dispersion that assesses how varied a score from the mean.

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Standard Deviation - advantage and disadvantage

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.A much more precise measure than the range
May hide some characteristics of a data set (e.g. extreme scores)

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Positive correlation - definition

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.If there is a positive correlation, then, as one co-variable increases, so does the other

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Negative correlation - definition

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.A negative correlation means that one co-variable increases in value, the other decreases.

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Correlation coefficient - definition

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. we can express the degree of association between two sets of variables by using a statistic called a correlation coefficient.

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Bar chart - definition

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.Graph which shows the frequency of category data

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Bar chart - advantage and disadvantage

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.Clear pictoral representation of categories of data
Cannot determine if any noted differences are significant or not

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Histogram/Line Graph - definition

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.Graph which shows the frequency of continuous data

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Histogram/Line Graph - advantage and disadvantage

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.Clear pictoral representation of continuous data
Cannot determine if any noted differences are significant or not

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Scattergram - definition

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.Graph which shows the relationship between two co-variables.

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Scattergram - advantage and disadvantage

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.Indicates both the strength and the nature of the relationship
Cannot determine if any noted relationship is significant or not

Front 89

Qualitative Data - definition

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. In qualitative research information obtained from the participant is not expressed in numerical form.

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Content Analysis - definition

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A content analysis involves a quantitative analysis of information people have produced. This could include information obtained during interviews or questionnaires, books, films and so on.

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Content Analysis - advantage and disadvantage

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.May not always be reliable information
.its an easy way of getting statistics

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Content Analysis - processes involved in...

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The researcher firstly identifies and designs categories and then the number of times that each category occurs throughout the material is counted. Sometimes counting is replaced by timing the duration of each category occurring
.

Front 93

Volunteer Sample - Definition and method

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.Ps choose to take part in the research themselves by, for example, responding to an advert in a newspaper of responding to a postal questionnaire.

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Volunteer Sample - advantage and disadvantage

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.Its ethical as people are not forced into taking part however, it's not a representative sample since most people do not volunteer.