Research Methods and Data Analysis Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key research methodology terms, including observation types, interview structures, and data reliability concepts.

Inform consent

communication of agreement or permission

Confidentiality

Participants identify must be anonymous e.g. use pseudonym

Right to withdraw

Allow participant to refuse to answer or leave the experiment

Protection of harm

Participant must nit be harm, frighten, threaten

Deception

deceiving, lying, miss-out information

independent variable

variable directly manipulated by the research in order to examine its effect

dependent variable

variable being measure, the outcome of the study after being manipulated by IV

operationalisation

making variable in investigation detailed & specific so it can be measure

extraneous variable

variable cannot be controlled which could impact the result, called cofounding variable if extraneous occurs and results are impacted by it

extraneous variables: situational variables

environment of the investigation e.g. light, noise, temperature, & distraction

extraneous variables: participants variables

participants have their own abilities and tendencies that can affect results e.g. personality, experiences, & mood

order effect

participants improve or worsen in the 2nd condition due to practice or fatigue

investigator bias

research may unintentionally give clues of how participant should behave

demand characteristics

participants change their behavior to fit in within the aim of the study

use of standardise procedures

keeping the situation and procedure the same

counter-balancing

use to reduce order effect by assigning half of the participant to do condition A then B while other half do the reverse

randomisation

participants randomly assign to the condition

single blind technique

aim of the study is withheld from participants → prevent demand characteristics

double blind technique

aim of the study is withheld both participants and experimenter → prevent demand characteristics AND investigator bias

null hypothesis

a prediction that there will be no difference, or very little e.g. there will be no difference/relationship in memory scores between those chewing gum and those not chewing gum

hypothesis

a prediction of relationship between 2 variables

alternative hypothesis: directional hypothesis (1 tailed)

predict that there is a difference and shows the direction of the relationship between variables will go (increase/decrease/more/less/high) e.g. cat owner will have lower monthly saving than non-cat owner

alternative hypothesis: non directional hypothesis (two tailed)

non-clear prediction, state what will be found but doesn’t state what will be of the difference/relationship e.g. there will be a difference in blood pressure between cat & non-cat owner

target population

group of people to investigate

sample

a selection of the target population which is directly studied

random sampling

gather random sample of participants from target populations, every member has equal chance of being chosen

strength of random sampling

• representative as biased samples are minimized

• everyone has an equal chance of being pick

weakness of random sampling

• time consuming and requires plan

• participant can refuse to do, so less representative

stratified sampling

classifying population into subgroups then choose random sample to sender they’re proportionately represented

strength of stratified sampling

• very representative, least bias if done correctly

weakness of stratified sampling

time consuming and can be difficult to obtain as they can refuse

volunteer sampling

participants put themselves forward to be a part of the study e.g. response to an advert, social media, newspaper

strength of volunteer sampling

• ethical as informed of consent

• convenient as willing participants

• wide range of people

weakness of volunteer sampling

• unrepresentative as limited number of people respond or may not see the ad

• bias

opportunity sampling

asking people to agree to take part on the study who happen to be around

strength of opportunity sampling

• quick and simple

• immediate respond, saves time and money

weakness of opportunity sampling

• bias as not everyone will be around, so less representative

• replicate study would generate different results

interview

non experimental method as it doesn’t not manipulate IV directly, where researcher gain information directly from participants about their beliefs, options, and attitudes

structured interview

fixed orders of questions and pre-termined to respondents

strength of structured interview

• less time consuming

• reliable

• objective

weakness of structured interview

• not indent as there are no follow up questions so lack validity

semi-structured interview

fixed lists of questions, but some predetermined questions with some develope in response to answer given

strength of semi-structured interview

• free flowing conversation can occur so lots of data can be gathered which increase validity

weakness of semi-structured interview

• require training to encourage a free flowing conversation

unstructured interview

informal, flexible, as interviewee’s answer guide to the next question, interviewer has a list of topics for discussion

strength of unstructured interview

• build trust

• in-depth information as the participant can elaborate their answer, so high in validity

weakness of unstructured interview

• time consuming

• missed out important info as there are no preset of question

• hard to analyse as it’s subjective

• less reliable

Questionnaire

A self-report method used to ask a large sample of people about a topic

strength of questionnaire

• ethical

• indepth and valid

• large sample

• cheap

• reliable if it’s a close question and likert scale as they produce quantitative data

weakness of questionnaire

• social desirability, answers are not truthful

• open ended can be hard to analyse as it’s a qualitative data, so lack of validity

• low response rate

open-ended question

participants give full, detailed answers e.g. if it’s not working, can you tell us why?

close-ended question

few, stated response and no opportunity to expand answer which produce quantitative data e.g. are you feeling better? (yes/no)

Case study

A detailed investigation of one instance that provides in-depth, valid information, though it is subjective and hard to replicate.

Triangulation

The use of different techniques to produce similar results,

• which increases internal validity, can be use for long period of time, useful when IV can’t b manipulated and reliability

• but hard to Analyse and time consuming

observation

watch how participants behave directly to gather data about their behavior

Covert observation

An observation where the participant is not aware they are being observed,

• prevents demand characteristics

• can be unethical regarding privacy.

Overt observation

An observation where the participant is aware they are being observed,

• which is ethical

• but may lead to demand characteristics .

Correlation

A research method looking for a relationship between 2 measure variables,a change in variable is related to a change in the other

Positive Correlation

A relationship where as the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable also increases.

negative correlation

one value of a variable increase, the value of other variable decrease

non correlation

no relationship between variable

evaluation of correlation

• show relationship

• ethical

• cheap

• objective

• no case and effect it could be other way around, a third variable unknown

• can’t manipulate

Participant-observer

An instance where the observer is involved with those being observed, which may decrease the representativeness of the results.

Non-participant observer

A type of observation where the researcher is not involved in the activity or group being studied.

labatory experiment

strictly controlled environment where there is IV and DV

• most scientific, as high level of control

• cause and effect can be establish between IV and DV so increase internal validity

• unnatural experiment where there could be demand characteristics

• reductionist as it can ignore other variable that is involve

filed experiments

take place in a natural experiment but IV can be manipulated and DV measurable

• behavior is natural

• case and effect between IV and DV can be controlled

• not all extraneous variable can be controlled as its a real life environment

• unethical as lack of information of consent

natural experiment

real life environment where IV and DV is present but can’t be manipulate as they occur naturally

• IV occur naturally, not manipulated

• participant are studied in real and naturalistic enviroment

• extraneous variable are hard to control

• not possible to randomly allocate participants of the condition of IV, so there’s issue that can influence the finding

Reliability

The consistency of results; a study is reliable if replication produces similar findings.

Validity

The extent to which a study measures what it intends to measure and reflects real life.

Social desirability

A phenomenon where participants may respond or act in a way to make themselves look better or more desirable.

Causation

When a change in the $IV$ causes a change in the $DV$, which can only be concluded in a controlled experiment.

Qualitative data

Data that is in-depth and descriptive, often derived from open-ended responses or case studies.

Quantitative data

Numerical data that is objective and often gathered through questionnaires with closed-ended questions.