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95 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Experiment method - definition |
Assesses a cause and effect relationship. Involving the researcher directly manipulating the I.V. |
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Laboratory experiment - definition |
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 |
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 |
Can be artificial and different from real-life situations.
Participants may suffer from demand characteristics; adjust their behaviour to match their interpretation of the research. |
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Field experiment - definition |
Researcher manipulates an I.V. in a controlled but 'real' situation. |
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Field experiment - advantages |
Higher levels of ecological validity than a laboratory setting.
Lower risk of demand characteristics; participants less aware of taking part, therefore behave naturally. |
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Field experiment - disadvantages |
Replication is more difficult and results can't be generalised to all real-life situations.
It is more difficult to establish control over extraneous variables. |
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Natural experiment - definition |
Researcher does not manipulate an I.V. but takes advantage of a 'naturally occurring' I.V. |
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Natural experiment - advantages |
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 |
The naturally occurring behaviour being investigated may occur rarely.
Possible extraneous variables are not being controlled by the investigator. |
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Independent variable - definition |
The aspect that the researcher manipulates in an experiment. |
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Dependent variable - defintion |
The variable that is measured in an experiment. |
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Extraneous variable - defintion |
Any factor apart from the I.V., that has an effect on the D.V. |
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Correlational Study - definition |
Researcher examines the relationship between 2 co-variables. |
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Correlational Study - advantages |
A powerful exploratory research tool which can be used when experiments are inappropriate e.g. stress and illness.
Provides valuable information on the strength of the relationship between the co-variables. |
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Corelational Study - disavantages |
Cannot assess non-linear relationships.
Impossible to establish cause and effect between variables. |
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Observations - Definition |
Researcher records behaviours being exhibited by participants. |
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Observations - advantages |
Can be used when experimentation is inappropriate e.g. funerals.
Records actual behaviour, so results are likely to be valid. |
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Observations - disadvantages |
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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Case Study - definition |
An in-depth exploration of the behaviour and experiences of an individual, who is usually unique. |
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Case Study - advantages |
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 |
Researcher's assessments 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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Questionnaires - definition |
Researcher prepares questions and asks participant to give a WRITTEN response. |
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Questionnaires - advantages |
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 |
There is no guarantee the participant is telling the truth.
Different participants may interpret the same question in different ways. |
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Interviews - definition |
Researcher prepares questions and asks participant to give a VERBAL response. |
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Interviews - advantages |
Can permit issues to be investigated with sensitivity.
Participants can ask for clarification of a question if they are unsure of its meaning. |
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Interviews - disadvantages |
Tends to be more time consuming to complete than questionnaires.
The appearance of the researcher may have an effect on the participants response. |
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Open questions - defintion |
Open questions allow the participant to freely offer their opinion. |
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Open questions - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Participant may offer information that the researcher may not have considered. + Participants may feel more satisfied about their contribution as they have been able to give their free opinion.
- Produces qualitative data which can be tricky to analyse.
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Closed questions - defintion |
Closed questions are questions where the respondent has a limited response. |
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Closed questions - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Produces quantitative data which is easy to analyse.
- Participants may not feel they have the opportunity to respond fully. |
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Behavioural categories - definition |
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Aim - definition |
A general idea to be investigated. |
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Hypothesis - defintion |
A clear statement about what research intends to prove or disprove. |
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Directional Hypothesis - defintion and example |
Prediction of the direction the results are expected to go.
Studying improves exam marks. |
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Non-directional Hypothesis - defintion and example |
A non-directional hypothesis does not give a predicted decision.
Alcohol affects reaction time. |
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Independent Groups - explanation |
Independent groups design involves using different participants randomly allocated to each condition. |
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Independent Groups - advantages |
No order effects as participants only take part in one condition.
Less chance of demand characteristics as participants only take part in one condition. |
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Independent Groups - disadvantages |
Needs twice as many participants as a RM design.
There may be unknown intergroup differences that are responsible for any difference in the DV. |
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Repeated Measures - explanation |
A repeated measures design involves using the same participants in each condition of an experiment. |
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Repeated Measures - advantages |
Needs fewer participants than IG or MP.
There is no chance of intergroup differences as all participants take part in all conditions. |
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Repeated Measures - disadvantages |
Order effects may occur and demand characteristics.
Some research cannot use RM e.g. IVs that can't be randomly allocated. |
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Matched Pairs - explanation |
A matched pairs design involves using different but similar participants in each condition. If there are any important characteristics that might affect performance, researchers will try to match participants on those characteristics in each condition. |
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Matched Pairs - advantages |
No order effects as participants only take part in one condition.
Less chance of demand characteristics as participants only take part in one condition. |
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Matched Pairs - disadvantages |
Takes time and resources to match participants.
Even with our best matching there could still be an uncontrolled intergroup difference that is responsible for any difference in the DV. |
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Random Sampling - definition and method |
Each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
"Drawing straws", "Pulling names from a hat"
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Random Sampling - advantages and disadvantages |
+ Potentially unbiased as everyone in the target population has equal chance of being selected; the researcher doesn't intervene.
- The selected sample could be biased (e.g. more of one sub-group than another.) |
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Opportunity Sampling - definition and method |
Where those easily available are selected. |
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Opportunity Sampling - advantage and disadvantage |
+ As you are using the easiest to find, the sample tends to be quite quick to locate than using another sampling technique.
- Sample is likely to be biased (e.g. cliques are unlikely to be representative.) |
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Volunteer Sample - Definition and method |
Participants chose themselves.
e.g. answering an advertisement in a newspaper |
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Volunteer Sample - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Possibility of a variation of people as they have volunteered themselves.
- This is not a representative sample. |
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BPS Code of Ethics - description |
Guidelines set out for psychologists because "Ethics guidelines are necessary to clarify the conditions under which psychological research can take place." |
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Ethical Issue - definition |
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Confidentiality - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
Whether data collected from the participant is kept confidential. |
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Observation - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
Whether the participants are aware of any observers. |
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Withdrawl - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
If the participants are told they are able to withdraw from the experiment if they wish to do so. |
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Deception - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
If the participants are being actively or passively deceived. |
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Informed Consent- definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
Whether the participants are fully aware of the aim and the procedure before they agree to take part. |
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Protection from physical harm - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
If there is any possibility the participants will be exposed to any physical harm. |
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Protection from psychological harm - definition of issue and way of dealing with it |
If there is any possibility the participants will be psychologically harmed at all. |
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Reliability - defintion |
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measuring instrument, usually means the consistency of a test or of an observer. |
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Internal relaibility - defintion |
Internal reliability refers to whether a test is consistently measuring what's supposed to be measuring. |
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External reliability - definition |
External reliability refers to whether the findings of research are found to be similar over time. |
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Validity - definition |
Validity refers to whether a measuring instrument measures what it is supposed to measure. |
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Internal validity - definition |
If a test or research findings have internal validity it has shown that what it has measured are due to the factors being assessed. e.g. intelligence test measures intelligence, rather than educational level. |
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External validity - definition |
If findings have external validity then it can be said that they can be generalised to other people or situations than the research situation. |
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Demand Characteristics - definition |
Demand characteristics are all the cues which convey to the participant the purpose of the study which many cause them to behave in a way they would not have or ordinarily done. |
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Investigator Effects - definition |
If the researcher conveys to participants how they should behave; these are called investigator effects. The researcher may be totally unaware of the influence and the cues may be very subtle indeed. |
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Pilot Study - definition |
A pilot study is a small scale version of research, it acts as a 'dress rehearsal' for the real research. |
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MOCT - Mean - defintion |
Measure of central tendency which is the result of all scores divided by the number of participants. |
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MOCT - Mean - advantage and disadvantage |
+ All scores taken into account
- May be effected by an outlying or anomalous result. |
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MOCT - Median - definition |
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 |
+ Not affected by an anomalous result.
- Not all of the scores are taken into account. |
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MOCT - Mode - definition |
Measure of central tendency which is the result that is most frequently occurring. |
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MOCT - Mode - advantage and disadvantage |
+ 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 |
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 |
+ Shows just how varied the participants performances are.
- A very crude measure of dispersion. |
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Bar chart - definition |
Graph which shows the frequency of category data. |
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Bar chart - advantage and disadvantage |
+ 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 |
Graph which shows the frequency of continuous data. |
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Histogram/Line Graph - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Clear pictoral representation of continuous data.
- Cannot determine if any noted differences are significant or not. |
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Standard Deviation - definition |
Measure of dispersion that assesses how varied a score from the mean. |
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Standard Deviation - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Much more precise measure than the range.
- May hide some characteristics of a data set (e.g. extreme scores) |
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Scattergram - definition |
Graph which shows the relationship between the co-variables. |
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Scattergram - advantage and disadvantage |
+ Indicates both the strength and the nature of the relationship.
- Cannot determine if any noted relationship is significant or not. |
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Positive correlation - definition |
As one co-variable increases, so does the other. |
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Negative correlation - definition |
As one co-variable increases in value, the other decreases. |
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Correlation coefficient - definition |
Aim to see if there's an association between two co-variables. |
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Qualitative Data - definition |
Non-numerical data. |
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Quantitative Data- definition |
Numerical data. |
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Content Analysis - definition |
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Content Analysis - processes involved in... |
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Content Analysis - advantage and disadvantage |
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Operationalisation - definition |
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