Psych research methods key terms

Investigator effects

Any unwanted influence of the investigator on the outcome, perhaps through unconscious cues e.g smiling more at some behaviours that may be seen as expected by the investigator

How to overcome investigator effects

Use a blind approach

In an observation - use more than one observer and confirm that their observations match

In a questionnaire - ensure there are no leading questions

Observer effects

If people know they are being observed, they act less naturally and alter their behaviour if they know they are part of a study

How to overcome observer effects

Observation - conduct a covert observation so participants do not know they are being observed

Investigators also rely on ‘acclimatisation’ whereby participants forget over time that they are being watched so they revert back to natural behaviour

Demand characteristics

Participants try to work out what is going on, looking for cues to work out how to behave to guess the intentions of the experimenter

How to overcome demand characteristics

Questionnaire - could use filler questions which distract participant from true nature of the study

Observation - use a double blind procedure whereby both the participants and observer don’t know the aims of the investigation

Order effects

When the same people take part in multiple conditions, their experience in one condition can influence how they perform in the next

How to overcome order effects

Counterbalancing - half participants do condition A then B, while the other half do condition B then A

Evaluate independent groups

Strength - prevents order effects and / or demand characteristics

Limitation - individual differences may be more to do with the DV than the effects of the IV - can be resolved using random allocation

Limitation - It is less economical as each participant contributes a single result only

Evaluate repeated measures

Strength - Participant variables like individual differences are controlled and fewer participants are needed

Limitation - Order effects as each participant has to do at least 2 tasks

Limitation - Demand characteristics as participants experience all conditions of the experiment

Evaluate matched pairs

Strength - No order effects as each group only need to do experiment once

Limitation - participants can never be matched exactly on variables affecting the DV

Limitation - time consuming and expensive

What is a lab experiment

When the researcher manipulates the IV and control key extraneous variables

Evaluate a lab experiment

Strength - high internal validity as DV occurs because of IV, as experimenter controls any extraneous variables

Strength - easy to replicate as conditions are highly controlled

Limitation - If setting is too artificial, participants would behave differently from a real life situation, leads to low external validity (ecological)

Limitation - If tasks carried out don’t represent real life situations, it has low mundane realism

What is a field experiment

Takes place where behavior naturally occurs, IV is also manipulated

Evaluate a field experiment

Strength - High mundane realism as environment is natural

Limitation - Lack of control over extraneous variables - low internal validity

Limitation - May violate ethical issues like informed consent as participants may not know they’re being watched

What is a natural experiment

Researcher takes advantage of a naturally occurring IV e.g after a natural disaster, IV is not manipulated

Evaluate a natural experiment

Strength - Involve study of real life issues as they happen, high external validity (ecological)

Limitation - A naturally occurring event like a natural disaster may happen very rarely making it different to generalize the findings to other situations

Limitation - Participants may not be randomly allocated to experimental conditions so other variables other than the IV might affect the DV, low internal validity

What is a quasi experiment

IV is based on a pre existing difference between people e.g age, IV is not manipulated

Evaluate a quasi experiment

Strength - high internal validity as DV occurs because of IV, as experimenter controls any extraneous variables

Strength - easy to replicate as conditions are highly controlled

Limitation - Participants may not be randomly allocated to experimental conditions so other variables other than the IV might affect the DV, low internal validity

Evaluate random sampling

Strength - Can form a representative sample

Strength - Free from researcher bias as researcher has no influence over selection

Limitation - Difficult and time consuming as you need to get a target population

Limitation - You could still end up with an unrepresentative sample

Limitation - There is no guarantee the sample you choose want to take part

Evaluate opportunity sampling

Strength - Less time consuming and more likely that participants will take part

Limitation - There could be researcher bias as they may select desired participants

Limitation - Will be unrepresentative of the target population if it is drawn from a specific area e.g one park

Evaluate volunteer sampling

Strength - Relatively simple and does not involve too much effort from researchers

Limitation - Volunteer samples attract a particular profile of a person, volunteer bias

Evaluate stratified sampling

Strength - Produces a representative sample as it reflects the population accurately

Strength - Avoids researcher bias as once target population has been sub - divided, participants are randomly selected

Limitation - Time consuming and difficult to complete thoroughly

Evaluate systematic sampling

Strength - Avoids researcher bias as they have no influence over who is chosen

Strength - Fairly representative as it would be unlikely to get all males for example

Limitation - It is possible that you may end up with a sample that does not represent a target population

What is a naturalistic observation

Takes place where behavior naturally occurs, no manipulation of any variables

Evaluate a naturalistic observation

Strength - High external validity as behavior is studied where it’d naturally occur

Limitation - Lack of control over extraenous variables makes replicability difficult

What is a controlled observation

When there is some control over variables i.e extraneous variables

Evaluate a controlled observation

Strength - Replicability is easier as extraneous variables are controlled

Limitation - Might produce results which cannot be easily applied to everyday situations, low external validity

Evaluate a covert observation

Strength - There is no participant reactivity, increasing internal validity

Limitation - Unethical due to informed consent and privacy and confidentiality

Evaluate an overt observation

Strength - More ethical as participants know they’re being watched

Limitation - Participants know they’re being watched which may influence behavior, lower internal validity

Evaluate a participant observation

Strength - Researcher may gain more insight which increases the validity of the findings

Limitation - Researcher bias as they could lose objectivity as they may identify with the participants

Evaluate a non - participant observation

Strength - Researcher maintains an objective distance from participants, so there is less researcher bias

Limitation - Might lose valuable insight gained from a participant observation, reducing validity

Evaluate self report technique - questionnaires

Strength - Cost - effective as they can gather large amounts of data quickly

Strength - Data produced is usually straightforward to analyze, especially with closed questions

Limitation - Responses given may not be truthful, social desirability bias

Limitation - Data may not be as detailed as you’d like, especially with closed questions

Evaluate self report technique - interviews

Strength - Allows for ‘rich data’ as it produces detailed responses that explore the topic in depth

Limitation - Time consuming as data produced is more complex and longer to analyze

Limitation - Responses given may not be truthful, social desirability bias

What is content analysis

A quantitative method for analyzing communications (e.g texts, images) by coding it into categories to identify patterns

What is thematic analysis

A type of content analysis which is a qualitative method used to identify themes across qualitative data (e.g interviews) to describe and interpret aspects of the data

Evaluate content analysis

Strength - Is ethical and has external validity as the data it analyses is public

Strength - Is flexible as it can produce either quantitative or qualitative data

Strength - Can provide a systematic way of analyzing large amounts of data to make comparisons

Limitation - As people are studied indirectly, the researcher may attribute opinions to the person in the research that were not intended originally

How do we test for reliability

• Test re-test

• Inter- observer reliability - more than one observer, 0.8 correlation level (should match at least 80% of the time)

• Split half method - if the two halves produce similar results - high internal reliability

How do we improve reliability

Questionnaires - Test re-test - correlation level of 0.8

Interviews - use same interviewer each time, use unstructured interviews

Experiments - use lab experiment to control variables

Observations - ensure behavior categories have been properly operationalized

How do we test for validity

Internal:

• Predictive validity - do scores on one measure enable you to predict results of another

• Face validity - do experts in the field think that the test appears to be measuring what it set out to

• Concurrent validity - when there is a close agreement between the data produced by the new test compared to the established test; close agreement is established if the correlation between the two sets of data exceeds 0.8%

How do we improve validity

Questionnaires - incorporate a lie scale within the questions, assuring data is anonymous

Experiments - use control groups, standardize procedures, single and double blind procedures

Observations - use a covert observation as behavior is likely natural and authentic

Features of a science

Paradigms - a set of shared assumptions within a scientific discipline

Paradigm shifts - When there is a significant change in the dominant theory within a scientific discipline

Theory construction - Developing an explanation for the causes of behavior by systematically gathering evidence and organizing it into a theory

Hypothesis testing - Using systematic and objective methods to determine whether the hypothesis will be supported or refuted

Falsifiability - Admitting theory can be proved untrue

Replicability - Can procedures and findings be repeated by other researchers

Objectivity - Minimizing sources of personal bias

Empirical method - When an approach gathers evidence through direct observation and experience

How to conduct scientific reporting

1. Abstract - a short summary including aims, hypothesis, methods, results and conclusions

2. Introduction - A literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories that are related, should begin broadly then become more specific

3. Method - include: Design of study, Sample (background info of participants), Materials / Apparatus (detail of any assessment materials), Procedure, Ethics

4. Results - summarise key findings, likely to include descriptive statistics like bar charts, measures of central tendency, inferential statistics

5. Discussion - Qualitative- Summarise findings in general, discuss limitations - suggest how they may be addressed, wider implications

6. Reference - Make the source of work clear, reference websites, books etc.

What is the role(s) of peer review

• Validate quality and relevance of research

• Suggest amendments or improvements before publication

• Allocate research funding

What are the implications (of Psychology) for the economy

• Development of treatments for mental disorders - Gets people back in work

• Attachments research into role of the father - Show the father can be caregiver and mother can be breadwinner, so families maximise their income and contribute more effectively to the economy

What is the ‘Rule of R’

The statistical tests with the letter R are those whose calculated value must be more than or equal to the critical value

What is peer review

The assessment of scientific work by others who are experts in the same field to ensure any research conducted is of high quality

How to do peer review

Either:

• Single blind: Researchers name is released but peers is kept anonymous

• Double blind - Both researchers and peers names are anonymous

• Open review - No anonymity for peer or researcher

What is the difference between Nominal, Ordinal, and Interval data

Nominal - Least scientific, Categories, e.g head count

Ordinal - Somewhat scientific, Data can be ordered from most to least, Subjective e.g self created scale

Interval - Most scientific, Pre- existing scientific scale that is commonly used e.g Seconds

What are the advantages and disadvantages of peer review

Advantages:

• Helps to establish the validity and accuracy of research

• Technical function - ensures science is sound

• Subjective function - Is the science interesting and/ or important

• Generally regarded as having the confidence of the science community

Disadvantages:

• Research funding committees tend to be male dominated

• Biases - reviewers may use their anonymity as a way of criticising rival researchers

• Editors are under pressure to generate results that have big impacts