all research methods

lab experiments

experiments where researchers create a controlled environment in order to test hypotheses. IV is manipulated to lead to a change in the DV

what is a strength of lab experiments

they allow for the precise control of of extraneous and independent variables and therefore allowing cause and effect to be established

what is a weakness of lab experiments

the artificiality of the experiment may produce unnatural behaviour that does not reflect real life, making it hard to generalise data to real life settings - this gives it low ecological validity

field experiments

experiments that take place outside of a laboratory, in a real world setting (experiments still manipulate independent variables)

what is a strength of field experiments?

they are more likely to reflect real life situations and responses because of its natural setting due to them having higher ecological validity

what is a weakness of a field experiment?

it has little to no control over extraneous variables that might bias the results which also makes it hard for other researchers to replicate

natural experiment?

when the researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing IV

what is a strength of a natural experiment?

they often have high external validity because they involve the study of real life issues and problems as they happen

what is a weakness of a natural experiment?

a naturally occurring event may only happen very rarely, reducing the opportunities for research cannot repeat so low scientific validity

quasi experiment?

a form of natural experiment, they have an independent variable that is based of an existing difference between people (eg. age/gender)

what is a strength of a quasi experiment?

often carried out in controlled conditions

what is a weakness of a quasi experiment?

cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions and therefore there may be confounding variables

naturalistic observation?

takes place in the setting or context where the target behaviour would usually occur all aspects of the environment are free to vary.

what is a strength of a naturalistic observation?

tend to have high external validity as findings can be generalised to everyday life

what is a weakness of a naturalistic observation?

the lack of control over the research situation makes replication of the investigation difficult

controlled observation?

the researcher decides where the observation will occur, at what time, with which participants, and in what circumstances, and uses a standardised procedure. participants are randomly allocated to each independent variable group.

what is a strength of a controlled experiment?

they can be easily replicated by other researchers so cane used to test reliability

what is a weakness of a controlled observation?

they lack validity due to there Hawthorne effect as participants may act differently when they know they are being watched

behavioural categories?

When conducting structured observations, psychologists have to decide which specific behaviours should be examined.

why do we use behavioural categories in experiments?

they need to operationalise the behaviour through the use of behavioural categories

how do you create behavioural categories?

involves breaking the target behaviour (e.g. aggression) into components that can be observed and measured (e.g. hitting, kicking)

event sampling?

a method used to collect data in an observation this is when the observer tally’s every time the event occurs within their observation period

what is a strength of event sampling?

you don't miss any behaviours as you record every time it happens

what is a weakness of event sampling?

observer fatigue - you might miss something as you have to watch the whole time

time sampling?

when an observer will only tally the behaviours that are occurring at that specific time e.g. every 3 minutes

what is a strength of time sampling?

there is no observer fatigue - you don't have to watch for the whole time only every 5 minutes or a time you decide

what is a weakness of time sampling?

you might miss behaviours as you are only watching at certain times and not all the time

covert observation?

also known as undisclosed observation, as the participants do not know that they are being observed the researcher observes the participants from within the group

what is a strength of a covert observation?

high validity as people are observed in natural surroundings

what is a weakness of a covert observation?

has raised ethical concerns as participants haven’t been informed that they are being observed

overt observation?

when the participants are aware of the fact that they are being observed by researchers

what is a strength of an overt observation?

most ethical form of observation as it requires no deception and participants can give informed consent

what is a weakness of an overt observation?

participants may act differently because they know they are being observed, which will affect the validity of the results

participant observation?

where the researcher actually joins the group or takes part in the situation they are observing

what is a strength of a participant observation?

allows researcher to gain empathy through personal experience by acting as a member can get insight into their meanings, viewpoints, values and problems - gives authentic data

what is a weakness of a participant observation?

there is a risk if the observer getting too involved and therefore giving biased data, they may begin to sympathise with the group and not be objective.

non-participant observation?

researchers collect data by observing behaviour without actively interacting with the participants

what is a strength of a non-participant observation?

it levels out researcher biases

what is a weakness of a non-participant observation?

it lacks validity because you are less able to ask why people are acting that way compared compared to participant observation

what is a self report measure?

any test, measure or survey that relies on an individual’s own report of their symptoms, behaviours, beliefs or attitudes.

what are examples of self reports?

questionnaires, diary entry reports, interviews

what are questionnaires

written self-report technique where participants are given a pre-set number of questions to respond to.

how are questionnaires administered?

they can be administered in person, by post, online, over the telephone, or to a group of participants simultaneously.

what is a strength of questionnaires?

they are relatively cheap and quick to gather a large amount of data

what is a weakness of questionnaires?

demand characteristics - participants may be untruthful as they may feel uncomfortable with the actual truth or may want to try to purposefully fit the criteria that the experimenter is looking for.

what are open questions?

used in questionnaires and interviews. they do not have fixed responses so they allow participants to answer however they wish.

what is a strength of open questions?

they permit an unlimited range of answers

what is a weakness of open questions?

they take more time as there is limited control over the length of answers

what are closed questions?

one that has a limited range of options to answer with. you can only answer using the options provided

what is a strength of closed questions?

it improves consistency of respondents

what is a weakness of closed questions?

they can put ideas into the participants heads that were not there before

what is an interview?

involve an experimenter asking participants questions (generally on a one-to-one basis) and recording their responses.

what is a strength of interviews?

you can get detailed qualitative information without oversimplifying complex issues

what is a weakness of interviews?

they can cause biases, the person being interviewed may give a different response based on how the person conducting reacts or their appearance.

what is a structured interview?

where the interviewer uses a set of prepared, closed ended questions.

what is a strength of structured interviews?

there will be less bias as everyone is getting asked the exact same questions

what is a weakness of structured interviews?

the responses are not very detailed or qualitative

what is an unstructured interview?

where questions are not prearranged. they are more like a ‘guided conversation’

what is a strength of unstructured interviews?

they generate qualitative data which means participants can give depth to their answers due to the questions being open, allowing researchers to have a greater understanding of individuals’ experiences.

what is a weakness of unstructured interview?

they can be time-consuming to conduct and analyse qualitative interview techniques. they may also be expensive if particular skills are required by the interviewer.

what is a correlation?

the extent to which two variables are related. they can be positive, negative or zero

what is a strength of correlations?

it allows researchers to investigate variables which may be difficult to test otherwise. showing a relationship that could become a starting point to base an experiment on

what is a weakness of correlation?

it only shows a relationship rather than any causation not a true experiment as there is no manipulation of the IV

what are correlation coefficients?

psychologists use the statistic correlation coefficient to measure the strength of a correlation

what do correlation coefficients range between?

-1.0 (perfect negative) and +1.0 (perfect positive)

what is the difference between a correlation and an experiment?

correlation - identifies variables and looks for a relationship between them experiment - tests the effect that an independent variable has on a dependent variable

what is content analysis?

a method used to analyse qualitative data, allowing a researcher to turn qualitative data (eg. a filmed observation) to quantitative data (a tally)

what are the 5 steps of content analysis?

**Content** - identify and collect data Categories - determine behavioural categories

**Code** - make sure that behavioural categories are operationalised

**Count** - tally the behaviours that you see

**Correlation** - check the interrater reliability - do a correlation (+8.0)

what is thematic analysis?

a method of qualitative data analysis which is good for exploring patterns across qualitative data (eg. newspapers and magazines) keeps the data qualitative

what is the difference between content analysis and thematic analysis?

thematic - keeps data qualitative content - turns qualitative data into quantitive data

what is a strength of thematic analysis?

it is applicable with all forms of data

what is a weakness of thematic analysis?

the flexibility can lead to inconsistency and a lack of coherence when developing themes derived from the research data

what is a strength of content analysis?

easily replicable by others as long as the content being analysed are available for others (the same magazines, TV shows etc), the analysis could be repeated and reliability measured using inter-rater reliability.

what is a weakness of content analysis?

they are only as generalisable as the content being studied - if the content is limited to a particular culture or group (like recording conversations among Sixth Form schoolgirls), then the findings won't be generalisable to wider society.

what are case studies?

a description of the behaviour or abilities of a single individual

what is an example of a case study?

Freud’s Little Hans

what is a strength of case studies?

they provide rich detailed qualitative data

what is a weakness of case studies?

they often cannot be generalised to wider society

what is the aim of an experiment?

the direct purpose of the investigation, or what the researcher is trying to find out

what is the difference between the aim and hypothesis in an experiment?

an aim is a statement which explains what the experiment is attempting to achieve. a hypothesis is a prediction the scientist who is undertaking the experiment makes before starting of what they think will happen.

what is a directional hypothesis?

states that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable and what that effect will be (the direction of results).

what is a non-directional hypothesis?

states that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable but does not predict how it will affect the results.

how do you know whether to use a directional or non-directional hypothesis?

if there is previous research which suggests the direction then it directional if there is no previous research to tell you what the effect will be then it is non directional

what is the population of an experiment?

the entire group that you want to draw a conclusion about.

what is the sample of an experiment?

the specific group that you will collect the data from.

what is random sampling?

a sampling technique in which every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

how do you conduct a random sample?

you would first define your target group and sample size (e.g 10 psychology students from your college class).

You could then assign a number to every student in the class and then select 10 participants in an unbiased way.( eg. by using a random number generator on a computer)

You could also put the name of every student in to a hat, mix thoroughly, and select 10 names from the hat, again ensuring that this is done in an unbiased way.

what is a strength of random sampling?

it is widely accepted that since each member has the same probability of being selected, there is a reasonable chance of achieving a representative sample.

what are the issues with random sampling?

the data received from a randomly sampled piece of research could be the result of accidental bias as you can’t ensure that there is equality in: gender equality, age, social class etc. this then is generalised to the whole population when maybe not everyone is accounted for

what is systematic sampling?

a type of sampling process in which all the members of a population are listed and then some objective, orderly procedure is applied to randomly choose specific cases

what is a strength of systematic sampling?

assuming the list order has been randomised, this method offers an unbiased chance of gaining a representative sample.

what are the issues with systematic sampling?

if the list has been assembled in any other way, bias may be present, eg if every fourth person in the list was male, you would have only males in your sample.

what is stratified sampling?

a sampling technique where the researcher divides or 'stratifies' the target group into sections, each representing a key group (or characteristic) that should be present in the final sample - then each of those sections is sampled individually. The sample thus created should contain members from each key characteristic in a proportion representative of the target population.

what is a strength of stratified sampling?

it avoids the problem of misrepresentation sometimes caused by purely random sampling

what are the issues with stratified sampling?

it takes more time and resources to plan care must be taken to ensure each key characteristic present in the population is selected across strata, otherwise this will design a biased sample

what is opportunity sampling?

participants who are both accessible and willing to take part are targeted, e.g. employees from a conveniently located employer near the laboratory could be selected for the sample group.

what is a strength of opportunity sampling?

it is easy and inexpensive to carry out

what are the issues with opportunity sampling?

the consequent sample may not be representative as it could be subject to bias (e.g. the conveniently located employer may undertake a selection process for job applicants, making it likely that employees possess certain similar characteristics that are unrepresentative of the wider target group).

what is volunteer sampling?

the sample consists of people who have volunteered to be in the study.

what is a strength of volunteer sampling?

this often achieves a large sample size through reaching a wide audience, eg. with online advertisements