Research Methods Edexcel Psychology

Front 1

What are the ethical guidelines?

Back 1

consent

Debrief

Confidentiality

Deception

Right to withdraw

Protection from harm

Front 2

What does consent mean?

Back 2

Agreeing to take part/ giving permission to be apart of a experiment.

Children under 18 would get parental consent.

Front 3

What does debrief mean?

Back 3

Given after the experiment, to tell the true aim of experiment (check on wellbeing)

Front 4

What does deception mean?

Back 4

We should not deceive someone, participant should be told the truth

Debrief at the end.

Front 5

What does right to withdraw mean?

Back 5

All participants are allowed to leave and remove their data from experiment. (Prior to data analysis)

Front 6

What does protection from harm mean?

Back 6

Participants must leave with the same mental state! No mental impact!

Front 7

What the Independent variable?

Back 7

Variable that is changed or manipulated

Front 8

What is the dependant variable?

Back 8

Variable that is measured

Front 9

What is a lab experiment?

Back 9

-takes place in controlled conditions

-standardised

-artificial setting

-controlled variables

Front 10

What is a field experiment?

Back 10

Researchers can still manipulate the variables

It is done in a real life situation

Procedure is not standardised

Less control

Harder to replicate

Front 11

What does reliability mean?

Back 11

Being consistent (if we repeat experiment with same results it’s reliable)

Front 12

What does validity mean?

Back 12

How true is your findings?

Are you measuring what you intended to measure?

Front 13

What does inter-rater reliability mean?

Back 13

Two or more observers agree about behaviours/ results.

Front 14

What does Internal validity mean?

Back 14

Is the measurement true? Can we get cause an effect?

Front 15

What does ecological validity mean?

Back 15

How realistic your research. Real life situation?

Front 16

What is meant by mundane realism ?

Back 16

How close to real life are the materials / procedures.

Front 17

What impacts validity?

Back 17

Subjectivity

Researcher

Extraneous variables

Demand characteristics

Social desirability

Front 18

What are the positives of a lab experiment?

Back 18

Controlled setting - eliminates variables, higher validity!

Easy to repeat because it’s standardised therefore more reliable.

Front 19

What are the negatives of a lab experiment?

Back 19

-ppts know it’s an experiment (more socially desirable) (low validity)

-easier to guess aim (demand characteristics) (low validity)

-artificial setting (low ecological validity, doesn’t reflect real life) (low in mundane realism)

Front 20

Positives of a field experiment?

Back 20

High in ecological validity and mundane realism! Reflects real life situation

Less social desirability

Front 21

Negatives of a field experiment

Back 21

It’s not monitored so there could be extraneous variables effecting the experiment.

Study is harder to replicate therefore less reliable.

Front 22

What is random sampling?

Back 22

When everyone in the target population has a equal chance of being selected

Front 23

What is Opportunity sampling?

Back 23

Using people who are available at the time. Eg class of psychology students

Front 24

What is volunteer sampling?

Back 24

When a participant responds to a advert, putting themselves forward to take part in research.

Front 25

What is stratified sampling?

Back 25

You divide your target population into subgroups based on a important characteristic eg age/gender. You ensure your sample is representative of those proportions.

Front 26

What is a target population?

Back 26

Group of people we wish to investigate

Can be specific (nurses or students)

Could be all humans

Front 27

Strengths and weaknesses of random sampling?

Back 27

Strengths- generalisable because validity of different people. Equal chance.

Weaknesses- hassle because they may say no, less convenience.

Front 28

Strengths and weaknesses of volunteer sampling?

Back 28

Strengths- getting consent from participants, put themselves forward (ethical)

Weaknesses- not generalisable, only a certain type of people will volunteer (shared characteristics)

Front 29

Strengths and weaknesses of opportunity sampling?

Back 29

Strengths- quick and convenient (easiest way)

Weaknesses- doesn’t represent a wide range of people as people available at the time will share characteristics. Low generalisability.

Front 30

Strengths and weaknesses of stratified sampling?

Back 30

Strengths- represents wide range of people , easy to generalise.

Weaknesses- some bias in who you select for sub groups. Low validity.

Front 31

What is a extraneous variable?

Back 31

Anything other than the IV that affects the DV

There are two types (individual factors and situation factors)

Front 32

What’s a individual factor?(extraneous variable)

Back 32

Anything that makes one person different that could effect the results (participant variable)

Eg. Health, age , IQ, mental illness, religion, gender

Front 33

What is a situational factor? (Extraneous variables)

Back 33

Something in the environment that unintentionally affects the results.

Eg noise, weather, tutors, temperature, time of day, light

Front 34

What does operationalisation mean?

Back 34

Ensuring that the variables can be tested and measures scientifically.

Eg a study to investigate whether (cats or dogs) sleep (hours) longer

Front 35

What’s a confounding variable?

Back 35

When the researcher fails to control the variable, so it does impact the results.

Front 36

How can we control situational variables?

Back 36

Standardised procedure

Counterbalancing

Double blind technique

Front 37

How can we control participants variables?

Back 37

Random allocation

Matched pairs design

Front 38

What’s a hypothesis?

Back 38

A prediction about what is going to happen in the study

Front 39

What’s a one tailed/ directional hypothesis?

Back 39

The direction of the results can be predicted.

Front 40

What is a non-directional/ two tailed hypothesis?

Back 40

A change or difference is predicted but not the direction it will go in.

Front 41

What is a Null hypothesis?

Back 41

There will be no difference/ no relationship found.

Front 42

what is quantitative data?

Back 42

data is numerical form (e.g. categories like ranks, order. measurement)

This data is easy to put in a graph.

Front 43

what is qualitative data?

Back 43

in depth and detailed data. finds out peoples thoughts and opinions.

this data is harder to analyse.

Front 44

Types of Quant data?

Back 44

Nominal (category data)

Ranked data (happiness for 1-10)

interval/ratio (scaled data where increments are known, consistent and measurable)

Front 45

positives and negatives of Quant data?

Back 45

P: Statistically test it (reliable)

easier to analyse and compare

easier to put into graph

less time consuming

N: less in depth (low in validity)

cant turn in Qual

Front 46

Positives and negatives of Qual data?

Back 46

P: more in depth (high in validity)

can turn into quant data by identifying themes.

N: subjective to interpretation of responses (low in generalisability)

cannot be tested (low in reliability)

data may change

Front 47

what are open questions?

Back 47

the ppt can give any answer they wish, usually long sentences.

Front 48

what are closed questions?

Back 48

There are a set number of responses which the ppt selects from.

Front 49

what is identifying characteristics?

Back 49

participants circle, tick or select words which apply to them.

Front 50

what are semantic differentials?

Back 50

there are a number of responses to a question which demonstrates a degree of agreement.

Front 51

what are likert scales?

Back 51

the participant makes a a mark on a line to express their opinion on a certain issue or how well a word describes them.

Front 52

positives of Questionnaires?

Back 52

Quantitative data's positives

easy to repeat (more reliable)

feel more to reveal info rather than being face to face (higher validity)

standardized

Front 53

negatives of questionnaires?

Back 53

limited amount of data (low in validity)

social desirability

prone to order effects.

questions may be interpreted differently.

Front 54

strengths/negatives of mean?

Back 54

S: every piece of data is used, most descriptive of the statistics.

N: can be effected by outliers (extreme scores) (lowers validity)

Front 55

strengths/negatives of mode

Back 55

S: it is not affected by extreme scores

N: doesn't consider all of data from the set (not as informative)

Front 56

strengths/weaknesses of median

Back 56

S: not affected by extreme scores

N: not all scores are used in calculations, not as informative as mean

Front 57

what is measures of dispersion?

Back 57

Tells us how far people's scores are away from the average person/average.

shows how much variation there is so psychologists can then determine the relevance of their of the data supporting their hypothesis.

Front 58

strengths and weaknesses of range

Back 58

S: it is quick to calculate and relates directly to actual scores therefore gives a quick insight.

N:affected by extreme values, may be misleading (low in validity)

Front 59

what is standard deviation?

Back 59

shows the variation in data. if the data is close together , the standard deviation will be small. if the data is spread the standard deviation will be large.

The bell curve which represents a normal distribution of data shows what standard deviation represents.

Front 60

positives and negatives of structured interviews

Back 60

P:questions are the same each time, standardized therefore easy to replicate and high in reliability.

researcher doesn't need to have skill

get more data (high in genrelisability)

N:collects quant data, not in depth, low in validity.

Front 61

positives and negatives of semi structures interviews

Back 61

P:follow up questions, more detail (higher in validity)

N:more training required to carry out interview

qual data is harder to analyse (low in reliability)

Front 62

positives and negatives of unstructured interviews

Back 62

P: ask follow up questions, more detail (high validity)

N: more training needed

not standardized, harder to repeat (low reliability)

Front 63

Positives and negatives of interviews in general

Back 63

P:get more in depth info (build a relationship) (high validity)

N: More prone to social desirability

cant do a lot at once, time consuming.

Front 64

what is a structured interview?

Back 64

All participants are asked the same questions. these are normally closed questions which allows he researcher to gather Quant data.

Front 65

what is a unstructured interview?

Back 65

normally no set questions given, just a general topic area you wish to research. mostly open questions so collect Qual data

Front 66

what is a semi structured interview?

Back 66

have some set questions but allow the researcher to ask follow up questions. gathers a mixture of Qual and Quant data.

Front 67

What is a interview?

Back 67

a method of self report that can be done face to face or over the phone. They find out thoughts and feelings and experiences.