Research Methods

Sampling
1. Volunteer
  1. put themselves forwards
    1. representative sample
2. Stratified
  1. sample proportionally reflects population in sub - groups
  2. representative
  3. can't full reflect everyone
3. Oppurtunity
  1. people available at the time of the study
    1. easy and quick
    2. biased
4. Random
  1. selected rsndomly, equal chance for all
    1. not everyone willing, time consuming
  2. unbiased
5. Systematic
  1. every nth member of target population
  2. objective, no influence over sample
  3. time consuming, refusal
Experiments
1. Quasi
  1. exsisting differences between people
    1. controlled, replicatable
    2. confounding variables
2. Lab
  1. tightly controlled, IV manipulated, DV measured
    1. control extraneous variables, replicated easily
    2. demand characterisitcs, not relevant to real life
      1. changing behaviour because of research situation
3. Field
  1. natural environment typical to study
    1. unaware they are being studied
    2. no control over extraneous variables, ethical issues
4. Natural
  1. IV is naturally occuring
    1. studies real problems
    2. unsure whether IV affects DV
Experimental Designs
1. Independant measures
  1. 2 seperate groups, 1 for each condition
    1. individuals differences of personality effect results
    2. No order of effects
2. Repeated Measures
  1. 1 group do both conditions
    1. reduces individual differences
    2. Order of effects
      1. Practice - become better by 2nd condition
      2. Fatigue - tired after 1st condition
3. Matched pairs
  1. 2 groups mathced into pairs based on similar traits
  2. time consuming
Ethical issues
1. Consent
  1. told information about study aims and ptps role, sign a form
2. Confidentiality
  1. personal information anomlyous and safe
3. Deception
  1. not told true aims of study
4. Protection from harm
  1. protect participants from physical/ psychological harm
5. Right to withdraw
  1. can pull out of study at any given time
Variables
1. Independant
  1. Manipulated/ changed
2. Dependent
  1. Measured
3. Extraneous
  1. affects DV if not controlled
4. Confounding
  1. influnences reuslts but uncontrollable
Observations
1. Naturalistic
  1. natural setting, expect to be observed
    1. generlasie findings
    2. replication difficult
2. Participant
  1. observer becomes pat of group
    1. experience as a ptp, more valid
    2. line between roles blurred
3. Controlled
  1. variables contolled by researcher
    1. control over EV
    2. findings not relevant to real life
4. Covert
  1. ptps unaware, no consent, observer away from view
    1. ethical issues
    2. no demand characteristcs, natural behaviour
5. overt
  1. full consent, aware being watched
    1. ethically acceptable
6. Non - participant
  1. observer remains separate
    1. too far removed from study
    2. distant role of ptp and observer
Measures of central tendency and dispersion
1. Mean
  1. average, add values and divide by amount of them
    1. takes all data into account
    2. distorted by extremities
2. Median
  1. middle number when ordered smallest to largest
    1. doesn't represent all data
3. range
  1. spread of values, difference between smallest and largest
    1. easy to calculate
    2. doesn't consider how large data set is
4. mode
  1. most frequent occurring value in a data set
    2. used with all data types, not affected by extremes
5. standard deviation
  1. spread of data around the mean
    1. precise measures, all data used
    2. doesn't show anomalties
Self - report techniques
1. Questionnaires
  1. number of questions to find how people think or feel
  2. open questions
    1. requires detailed response
  3. closed questions
    1. yes/no or quantative data
2. Interviews
  1. Spoken questionnaires
  2. strucutred
    1. pre - determined questions asked in set order
  3. unstrucutred
    1. flexible dependant on answers - conversational
Hypothesis
1. Directional
  1. predicts the way a study will go
2. Non - directional
  1. only states there will be an impact
  2. null
    1. no effect, chance alone
Types of data
1. Primary
  1. collected by researcher at the time
2. Secondary
  1. existing data, previously found and later used
3. Quantative
  1. numerical, objective nut no meaning
4. Qualitative
  1. descriptive words
Pilot studies
1. small scale run of experiment to check runs smoothly and correct errors
investigator effects
1. researcher unintentionally effects results (behavioural cues)
event sampling
1. time sampling
  1. counting behaviour within a set time frame
2. counting times behaviour occurs
Disrubtions
1. postively scewed
  1. mean to right of mode and median
2. negatively scewed
  1. mean to left of mode and median
peer review
1. other expert judges quality of research and check for error
2. allocate funding
3. validate relevance and quality
4. suggest improvements

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	Created by Isabelle Carroll 8 months ago