Reporting psychological investigations & reliability/validity

What is the order of a scientific report?

1. Abstract

2. Introduction

3. Method

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. References

(Aunt Irene Makes Really Delicious Ramen)

What is the abstract section in a scientific report & why is it important?

• A short summary (150-200 words) that includes all the major elements: the aims & hypotheses, method/procedure, results & conclusions

• When researching a particular topic, psychologists will often read lots of abstracts to identify those investigations that are worthy of further examination

What is the introduction section in a scientific report?

• A literature review of the general area of investigation, detailing relevant theories, concepts & studies that are related to the current study

• Incudes the aims & hypothesis

What is the method section in a scientific report?

A detailed description of what the researcher(s) did, so other researcher are able to replicate the study:

• design → e.g. independent groups, naturalistic observation, etc & justifications given for the choice

• sample → information related to the people involved: quantity, biographical/demographic information (ensuring this doesn’t compromise anonymity), sampling method & target population

• apparatus/materials → detail of any assessment instruments used & other relevant materials

• procedure → a list of everything that happened from beginning to end (including a record of everything that was said to participants: briefing, standardised instructions & debriefing)

• ethics → an explanation of how ethical issues were addressed within the study

What is the results section in a scientific report?

Summary of the key findings from the investigation:

• likely to include descriptive statistics (e.g. tables, graphs & charts, measures of central tendency/dispersion)

• inferential statistics should include reference to the choice of statistical test, calculated & critical value, the level of significance & the final outcome (i.e. which hypothesis was rejected & accepted)

• if qualitative methods of research was used, the results are likely to involve analysis of themes &/or categories

What is the discussion section in a scientific report?

• Researchers explain results verbally in relation to previous research & psychological theory

• They also discuss limitations of the method or sample, suggest improvements for future studies & consider wider implications, including real-world applications & contributions to existing knowledge

What is the referencing section in a scientific report & why is it important?

List of sources that are referred to or quoted in the report (e.g. journal articles, books or websites) & their full details:

• provides credit for other researchers’ ideas → avoids claims of plagiarism

• helps future researchers identify the author’s sources & find related studies

How is a referencing section written for a book & journal article?

Book article:

1. Surname & initials

2. Publication date in brackets

3. Name of book

4. Location of publication

5. Name of publisher

Journal article:

1. Surname & initials

2. Publication date in brackets

3. Name of journal

4. Volume & issue number

5. Page number

What is the definition of reliability?

The consistency of measurements of procedures in a research study

What is the definition of internal reliability?

Refers to the extent to which the procedures & measurement tools used in a study are consistent & can be used again to produce similar results under the same conditions

What is the definition of split-half reliability?

• Method for assessing internal reliability of a psychological test, questionnaire or survey

• Involves splitting a measure into two halves & calculating the correlation between the scores of both halves, with high correlation indicating good reliability

What is the definition of external reliability?

Refers to the extent to which the measures/tools used to assess behaviours/attitudes produce consistent results when the study is replicated over time or conducted by different researchers

What is the definition of inter-rater reliability?

(type of external reliability): an assessment of the extent to which two or more ratings/observations of the same behaviour are consistent

What is the definition of test-retest reliability?

(type of external reliability): an assessment of the consistency of a psychological test or questionnaire to see how similar scores/responses are when a person is tested twice

What is the definition of validity?

The extent to which an observed effect is genuine, the researcher measured what they intended to & the findings can be generalised to a wider population or setting (accuracy)

What is the definition of internal validity?

The extent to which the effects of a study are due to the manipulation of the independent variable & the researcher has measured what they intended to measure

What is the definition of concurrent validity?

(type of internal validity): the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure

What is the definition of face validity?

(type of internal validity): the extent to which a questionnaire, etc appears (on the face of it) to be measuring what it claims to

What is the definition of predictive validity?

(type of internal validity): the extent to which a test, measure or study can accurately forecast future behaviour, performances or outcomes

What is the definition of external validity?

The extent to which an observed effect can be generalised to other times, people & settings

What is the definition of ecological validity?

(type of external validity): the extent to which the research effects are likely to be demonstrated in other settings

What is the definition of temporal validity?

(type of external validity): focuses on the ability to generalise findings beyond the particular historical context of the study

What is the definition of population validity?

(type of external validity): measures how well the sample of participants represents the target population & findings can be generalised to other people

How to answer ‘design a study’ questions (12 marks) ?

(always think: what, how, why?)

• Write sub-headings for each bullet point & write your answer underneath

• Define variables/co-variables & operationalise

• State the study’s aims

• Identify the research method (e.g. correlational, experimental, observational) & justify it

• Write a directional or non-directional hypothesis & justify it

• State target population & sampling method

• State the experimental design & justify it

• Explain how participants will be assigned to conditions & justify it

• Choose a statistical test & justify it

• Identify extraneous variables & how they will be controlled

• Highlight possible ethical issues & how to address them

• Outline the procedure, including resources/materials used

• Include debriefing details