Studied by 23 people
aim
general statement that the researcher intends to investigate.
hypothesis
clear, precise, testable statement that states the relationship between variables
directional hypothesis
states direction (more, less), conclusive previous research
non directional hypothesis
no direction (differ), no conclusive previous evidence
IV
experimenter manipulates + measures impact on dv
DV
experimenter measures
operationalisation
make measurable (units)
extraneous variables
variable that effects DV that isn't IV (annoying)
confounding variables
type of EV, can't tell if it is the CV or the IV, systematic
investigator effects
impact of investigators behaviour on an outcome
randomisation
chance methods to reduce unconscious bias + investigator effects
standardisation
everything exactly the same for all participants, reduce EVs
experimental design
ways participants can be organised in relationship to experimental conditions
independent group design
participants allocated to a group that represents an experimental condition
repeated measures
all participants in all conditions
matched pairs design
pairs matched on key traits, one in group A and one in B
random allocation
each participant has the same chance of being in each condition (dec investigator effects)
counterbalancing
half AB half BA (reduce order effects)
lab experiment
controlled enviroment (measure effect of manipulated IV on DV + EVs kept track of)
field experiment
natural setting (IV manipulated + effects on DV measured)
natural experiment
measure the effect of a natural change in IV on a decided DV
quasi experiment
variables simply exist (IV not determined by anyone)
experimental condition
group with IV
control condition
group with no treatment (compare to)
population
group the sample is drawn from, the group that are the focus of the research
sample
group who take part in the research, representative of the population
random sampling
all target populations have an equal chance of being selected (random no. generator)
systematic sampling
every nth no. of the target population (e.g. every 10th person on the register)
stratified sample
sample reflects proportions of subgroups in the population
opportunity sampling
anyone willing + available
volunteer sample
participants select themselves (-ve = particular personality)
sampling bias
certain groups not correctly represented in the sample, limiting generalisations
generalisation
extent findings can be applied to populations, possible if representative sample
ethical issues
conflict between participant rights and goals of research to produce worthwhile data
informed consent
participants are aware of the aims of the research, reduce natural behaviour (consent letter, presumptive, prior general, retrospective)
deception
deliberately misleading or withholding info (full debrief + right to withhold data + counselling)
protection from harm
no more physical+ psychological risk than in their daily lives (right to withdraw at any point + withhold data + counselling)
confidentiality
participants control info about themselves, right of privacy (anonymity + not shared)
pilot study
small scale investigation before real one (check stuff works and allows modifications to be made)
single-blind
participants not told aim or condition (reduce demand characteristics)
double-blind
participant + researcher don't know who is in which condition
naturalistic observation
watching/recording behaviour where it would normally occur
controlled observation
watching/recording behaviour in a structured environment
covert observation
participants unaware of observation
overt observation
participants are aware + have consented to observation
participant observation
researcher becomes a member of the observed group
non-participant observation
researcher remains outside of the group
behavioural categories
target behaviour broken down into operationalised components
unstructured observation
write down everything they see
event sampling
record every time target behaviour occurs (tally)
time sampling
records no. time behaviour occurs in a fixed time frame e.g. every minute
inter-observer reliability
agreements between observers, correlating observations total agreed / total observations, >80 = high reliability
questionnaire
set of written questions used to assess a persons thoughts/experiences (open / closed questions)
interview
live, questions asked to assess the others thoughts / experiences (structured / unstructured)
correlation
association between two co-variables (+ve or -ve or none - no variable manipulation, can't establish cause + effect)
qualitative data
words or non numerical
quantitative data
data that can be counted
primary data
info obtained first hand by researcher for the purpose of a project
secondary data
info that has already been collected and pre-dates the project
meta-analysis
combining findings from multiple studies on a topic to produce overall conclusions
distribution
normal = mean, mode + median all same -ve = tail left, mean -> mode -> median +ve = tail right, mode -> median -> mean
peer review
ensuring high research quality by being assessed by experts (research funding, validate relevance, suggest improvements)
economy
maximum amount of people at work (£15bn, women at work/childcare)
case study
in depth investigation into an individual, group or event
content analysis
indirect study of behaviour by examining communications of others
coding
quantitative data, identify each instance of chosen categories
thematic analysis
qualitative data, identifying implicit + explicit ideas within the data (often emerges after coding)
reliability
how consistent (clustered)
test-retest reliability
assess the same person on two separate occasions (similar answers = reliable)
validity
extent observed effect is genuine + measures what it was supposed to + generalise (centre)
face validity
basic - look at it
concurrent validity
psychological measure relates to existing measure
ecological validity
findings can be generalised (external)
temporal validity
generalised to other time periods (external)
stats choosing
experiment/correlation, data type, unrelated/related/association (Carrots Should Come Mashed With Swede Under Roast Potatoes)
nominal data
discrete categories (e.g. yes or no)
ordinal data
ordered (e.g. rate how great i am, subjective)
interval data
numerical scales (e.g. science with time)
chi - square
independent group or correlation, nominal
sign test
repeated measures, nominal
mann whitney u test
independent group, ordinal
wilcoxon
repeated measures, ordinal
spearmans test
correlation, ordinal
unrelated t test
independent group, interval
related t test
repeated measures, interval
pearsons test
correlation, interval
probability
likelihood that event will occur, 0 - 1
significance
how sure we are that a difference/correlation exists, allow to reject null hypothesis (0.05)
type I error
incorrect rejection of true null hypothesis (false positive)
Type II error (beta)
failure to reject false null hypothesis (false negative)
abstract
key details of the research report
intro
look at past research on similar topic, aim, hypothesis
method
description of what the researcher did (design, sample, apparatus, materials, procedure, ethics)
results
description of what the researcher found (descriptive + inferential stats)
discussion
consideration of what results tell us
references
list of sources in full detail
objectivity
all personal bias minimised + doesn't influence research
empirical method
scientific approach based on gathering of evidence through direct observation + experience
replicability
is research can be repeated by other researchers
falsifiability
Popper - theory can't be scientific unless it can be proved false
Note 
Flashcard (56)