Research Methods

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Research Methods flashcards
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Why do psychologists want their research to reflect scientific principles? Any: - Standardized Procedures - Repeatable - More likely to be taken seriously - More reliable & accurate findings
Why is it difficult for psychologists to follow the principles of science when dealing with people? People are very different to chemicals - People can change their behaviour=Participant reactivity
What is meant by the Independent Variable? (IV) The variable that gets added to the environment to see whether it causes a change in behaviour
What is meant by the Dependant Variable? (DV) The variable that is being measured for change as a result of the IV
What is meant by a causal relationship? When you are 100% sure that the Independent Variable alone caused the change in the Dependant Variable
What is meant by a correlation? A link between variables (not necessarily causal)
Advantages of Lab Experiments - Only means by which cause and effect can be established and proven - Allows for precise control of key variables - Experiments can be replicated
Disadvantages of Lab Experiments - Artificially - Not typical of real life as in "strange / unnatural" conditions - Demand Characteristics
What is an extraneous variable? Variables other than the independent variable that may have an effect on the behaviour of the DV. These are variables that are not being manipulated.
What is a confounding variable? A variable that totally changes the study, usually making it no longer valid
What is an aim? A generalised research idea
What is a hypothesis? A hypothesis puts forward a focused idea of what you are expecting to happen / aiming to find out
Name the two types of hypothesis (N0T Directional/Non-Directional). Null hypothesis ("there will be no change") and alternative hypothesis (Directional / Non-Directional).
Describe the Repeated Measures Design - 1 Group Every participant is exposed to each set of experimental conditions
Advantages of the Repeated Measures Design are.. - Cheaper - Less time - No participant variation as 1 group
What are the disadvantages of the Repeated Measures Design and how can they be controlled? - Order effects (Use counterbalancing, alter order of tasks) - Some participants may realise the purpose of experiment (Present strong cover story) - Boredom effect (Keep study short, vary task / items in task)
Describe the Independent Groups Design This design involves different participants in groups that each complete different conditions; e.g. Group 1 does task with TV on while Group 2 does task with TV off.
Advantages of the Independent Groups Design are.. - No order effect - No boredom effect - People less likely to realise purpose of experiment
What are the disadvantages of the Repeated Measures Design and how can they be controlled? - Experimenter cannot control the effects of participant variation e.g. ability - Cost / More participants needed - Experimenter Bias when choosing groups (random allocation avoids this)
Describe the Matched Pairs Design Participants are matched into each experimental condition as closely as possible based on variables that are considered important (e.g. age)
Advantages of the Matched Pairs Design are.. - Similar characteristics between participants, less participant variation - No order effect - Less likely to realise purpose of experiment
What are the disadvantages of the Matched Pairs Design and how can they be controlled? - Time consuming - Not possible to match participants on all variables known to be relevant - Hard to know what characteristics to match (Conduct a pilot study to help find out)
What is the purpose of a control group? A control group is a group of participants who do not receive the IV, this allows us to have a point of comparison to be certain that the IV did indeed cause the change in the DV
Main points of Ethics in Psych Research - Informed Consent - Confidentiality and Anonymity - Right to withdraw - Deception is usually a no - Protection from mental & physical harm - Debriefing
Ethics in Psychology: Describe Informed Consent. The idea that ideally all participants should know about all aspects of the experiment and agree to knowingly take part. - Informed consent can sometimes compromise the findings as the participant may change their behaviour. - Participant must be debriefed after study if no consent is obtained
Ethics in Psychology: Describe / Explain Confidentiality & Anonymity - All data collected should be kept confidential - If findings are published then they should not link back to any individual - Participants MUST be informed if their confidentiality and anonymity cannot be gauranteed
Ethics in Psychology: What does the Right to Withdraw mean? Participants should have the right to withdraw at any time: Participants can stop / leave the experiment at ANY time for ANY reason and remove all data relating to them from the investigation
Ethics in Psychology: Deception Deception means to mislead. Misleading participants about the purpose of the study is unacceptable and should be avoided however it can be deemed acceptable in exceptional circumstances
Ethics in Psychology: Debriefing At the end of the study the researcher should takethe time to discuss the study with all participants. - Professional help / support should be offered if necessary. (e.g. counselling) - Participant can request to remove their data at this stage.
What is a field experiment? An experiment conducted in a more natural environment - More difficult to control extraneous variables - Likely to lack internal validity
Define reliability The consistency of a measure. "Any measure we use in life should be reliable"
Estimating reliability: Test-retest reliability Measure administered to same group of people twice. If results are similar on both tests we can assume test is reliable
Estimating reliability: Split Half reliability Splitting a test in two halves and comparing scores in both halves. If the results in two halves are similar, we can assume the test is reliable.
Estimating reliability: Inter-Rater reliability If the measure depends on interpretation, we can compare results from 2+ raters. If there is high agreement between the raters, the test is reliable.
Define Validity The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
Validity: Control How well the experimenter has controlled the experimental situation. We need to control to establish cause and effect. Without control results may have been caused by extraneous variables.
Validity: (Mundane) Realism How well the experiment reflects / is typical of real life. Too much control can make the experiment lack realism as it is artificial and not typical of everyday life.
Validity: Genneralisability If the experiment can be generalised beyond the setting of the experiment. If an experiment is lacking in realism it is unlikely to be able to generalise.
Internal Validity Things that happen inside the study. - If we can be certain the IV caused the change in the DV. - If the experiment was affected by extraneous variables - If the experiment was not typical of real life (Realism), participants may have acted unnaturally.
External Validity How well the results can be generalized and applied beyond the experimental setting.
Population validity How well the participants of the study represent the general population. If we can generalise the results to the general population.
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