Research Methods

What is a pilot study?

A small scale trial run of the investigation/experiment first.

Why are pilot studies used?

To find out whether to study works or not and whether the procedures need changing.

What is a double blind trial?

What is a confederate?

Someone playing a role, they know whats going on in the investigation.

What are the six ethical guidelines

-Informed consent

-Right to withdraw

-Deception

-Debriefing

-Protection from harm

-Confidentiality

What type of consent should be obtained after a study to address deception?

retrospective consent

What should you include in a brief consent form?

-the aim of the study

-length of the study

-what the participant would do each day

-the results will be confidential

-they have the right to withdraw

-the harm they could experience

-ask for a signature and date in order to give consent

If you were writing a potential debrief what would you include?

-Thank them for taking part in the study

-Full disclosure of the true purpose of the study

-state the hypothesis/research questions

-how their data will contribute to the findings

-assure them anonymity + confidentiality will remain

-let them know they still have the right to withdraw

-offer an opportunity to discuss their feelings

-do you have any questions?

-

What is the target population?

the group that the researchers draw the sample from and wants to be able to generalise the findings to

What is the sample?

a small number of people selected from the target population who take part in the investigation

What is random sampling?

All names of individuals in a population are randomly selected to become the sample group

What is a strength of random sampling?

the best technique for being representative becuase every person in the sample has an equal chance of being selected.

what is a weakness of random sampling?

the sample may still be unrepresentative especially if the sample is too small, similar demographics could be selected e.g. all female

What is opportunity sampling?

when you select the participants who happen to be around at the time

Whats a strength of opportunity sampling?

Its easier and more convenient because less money, time and resources are required.

whats a weakness of opportunity sampling?

The sample is not likely to be representative because the people are taken from one area and may not reflect the target population

What is volunteer sampling?

this is when participants volunteer themselves to take part by responding to an advert, could be newspaper or online

A strength of volunteer sampling?

easier and more convenient because it requires minimal input from researcher

whats a weakness of volunteer sampling?

Its not likely to be representative because volunteers may be a certain profile of person

What is systematic sampling?

every nth member of the population are selected

A strength of systematic sampling?

it is convenient if the sample is small and is also very objective once the system has been established

A weakness of systematic sampling?

Its difficult if the population is large and could be unrepresentative of the wider population

What is stratified sampling?

Researcher identifies strata (subgroups) and correct proportions are calculated

Whats a strength of stratified sampling?

Likely to be most representative of all as it reflects the strata in the target population

A weakness of stratified sampling?

requires the most amount of time and resources

What is a independent variable?

the variable manipulated by a researcher to investigate whether it consequently brings change in another variable

What is a dependent variable?

the variable that is measured and predicted to be dependent upon the IV

What is operationalising?

phrasing variables to make them measurable and as specific as possible

What are the two types of experimental hypotheses?

directional and non-directional

What is a null hypothesis?

States that the IV will have no effect on the DV and any observed differences will be due to chance

How would you frame a directional hypothesis?

Participants in condition 1 will score higher/lower on …DV… than participants in condition 2

How would you frame a non-directional hypothesis?

There will be no difference in …DV… between participants in condition 1 and condition 2

How would you frame a null hypothesis?

There will be no difference in the …DV… between participants in condition 1 and condition 2

When should you use a directional hypothesis?

when there is previous research into this area sugesting a likely outcome.

What are the two types of extraneous variables?

Situational and participant

Name some participant variables?

gender, social class, age, intelligence

Name some situational variables

time of day, lighting, instructions, location, levels of noise

What is a demand characteristic?

an aspect of the research situtation which leads participants to guess the aim and change their behaviour accordingly hence they do not behave naturally

What can demand characteristics be partially controlled by?

Deception and Single blind method

What is an experimental hypothesis?

prediction of what the researcher thinks will happen to the DV when the IV changes

what is internal reliability?

refers to the extent the experiment was conducted consistently

what is external reliability?

refers to the extent to which the study is consistent over time

What is internal validity?

this is whether or not we can say for certain that the IV has caused the effect seen in the DV

What is external validity?

this is the extent to which results can be generalised to ecological validity, population validity and temporal validity

what are the features of lab experiments?

-tightly controlled experiments

-the experimenter deliberately manipulates the IV across conditions

-experimenter measures DV

-experimenter controls the extraneous variables

-procedure and instructions are standardised

A strength of a lab experiment?

-Highly controlled which means cause and effect can be established because there is manipulation of the IV = high in validity

-reliability can be checked because they tend to have standardised procedures = consistency of findings can be verified

A weakness of lab experiments?

-they are artificial and lack ecological validity because they are in controlled settings = less credible and cant be applied beyond the setting of the experiment

-more prone to bias from demand characteristics = internal validity of study is compromised

What are the key features of a field experiments?

-conducted in a more natural environment

-deliberately manipulates the IV across conditions

-experimenter measures the DV

-controls some of the extraneous variables

A strength of a field experiment?

-greater ecological validity because participants are in a natural environment = more credible findings

-less bias from demand characteristics because they are unlikely to to know they are in a study = verifies internal validity

A weakness of field experiments?

-More difficult to establish cause and effect because of the lack of control of extraneous variables = low in validity

-More difficult to check reliability due to fewer standardised procedures = consistency of findings could be compromised

What is a natural experiment?

investigating situations where the whole study is naturally occurring and the Iv cannot be directly manipulated

What is a quasi experiment?

an experiment carried out in laboratory or in the field where the experimenter doesnt manipulate the IV, the IV is naturally occurring e.g. age

What is a strength of natural/quasi experiments?

-have the greatest ecological validity because participants are in their natural environment = likely to represent real life settings

-least likely to suffer bias from demand characteristics because people partaking might not be aware they are being studied = internal validity is verified

A weakness of natural/quasi experiments?

-difficult to establish cause and effect due to the IV not being directly manipulated = low in validity

-difficult to check reliability due to the lack of standardised procedures = consistency of the findings could be compromised

What are the strengths of independent measures designs?

-It completely avoids practice and order effects because participants are only taking part in one condition meaning less fatigue or boredom

-It can be quick and easy to set up, its the easiest design to implement

What are the strengths of repeated measures designs?

-fewer participants than any other designs and less time/resources needed for reasonable sample size

-impact of individual difference is less likely to be an issue because participant variability is partially controlled

What are the strengths of matched pairs design?

-Participant variability is held constant as same participants taking part in each condition- not contaminated by individual differences

-it completely avoids practice and order effects because participants are only taking part in one condition

What are the weaknesses of independent measures?

-some participant variability i.e. some participants in one group may simply be “better” than others, could be effected by individual differences

-need lots of participants, could prove taxing in time and resources

What are the weaknesses of repated measures?

-order and practice are likely to be encountered, problem because the results of the study will be effected by both the IV and improved/worse scores due practice or tiredness

-demand characteristics may be a problem because they are doing the task twice and may guess the experiment then alter their behaviour

What are the weaknesses of matched pairs?

-participants are not perfectly matched so individual differences are still likely to impact results

-you will need lots of participants which again could prove taxing in time and resources

What is counterbalancing?

Used in repeated measures and its where half the participants perform first in condition A and half the participants perform first in condition B, its used to reduce order effects

What is randomisation?

The use of chance factors in the setting up of an investigation e.g. with sampling of participants; the order of words in a list; the allocation of participants in a study

What are control groups?

Groups that provide a baseline for comparison against the experimental group who receive treatment

What are standardised procedures?

This is when every participant carries out the study in the same way e.g. same timings, task and materials