1.2 - planning research and methodological issues

what is cause and effect?

provides cause and effect relationships with variables

what is falsifiability?

allows for hypotheses to be refuted (shown to be wrong)

what is hypotheses testing?

should allow for hypotheses to be generated and tested

what is replicability?

research should be easy to repeat and should provide the same results each time through standardised procedure (step by step)

what is manipulation of variables?

process should allow the manipulation of an IV(cause) and allow for the measurement of its effect on the DV (effect)

what is control and standardisation?

research should seek to control extraneous variables and should use standardised procedures 

what is objectivity?

results/conclusions should not be open to subjective interpretation - results should be quantitative

what is the scientific method?

well defined steps:
1. make observations
2. produce a testable hypothesis that is operationalised
3. design a well-controlled study to test the hypothesis
4. draw conclusions

what is the order of the steps for induction?

scientific:
1. make observations
2. produce a testable hypothesis that is operationalised
3. design a well-controlled study to test hypothesis
4. draw conclusions
5. propose theory

what is the order of the steps for deduction?

non scientific:
1. propose theory
2. produce a testable hypothesis that is operationalised
3. design a well-controlled study to test hypothesis
4. make observations
5. draw conclusions

is deductive process objective or subjective?

biased so subjective

what are the key stages of planning research?

1. establish research aims (to investigate whether…)
2. decide on research method (observation, experiment etc)
3. select participants (4 sampling techniques)
4. decide on type of data to be selected (qualitative)

what are the 4 sampling techniques?

random, self-selected/volunteer, opportunity, snowball

what is random sampling?

all in the target population have an equal chance of selection

what is self-selected/volunteer sampling?

people put themselves forward to take part (newspaper, poster)

what is opportunity sampling?

readily and freely available to take part (canteen, high street)

what is snowball sampling?

asking one person from a specifci group to take part and their friends

what is the strength of random sampling?

most representative as all have an equal chance of selection - findings are generalisable to wider population

what is the weakness of random sampling?

time consuming to do from a large group - not time or cost efficient 

what are the strengths of volunteer sampling?

easy to obtain and less likely to withdraw, can set specific criteria (eg age) - cost/time efficient

what is the weakness of volunteer sampling?

only certain personalities take part - not generalisable to wider populatiohn

what is the strength of opportunity sampling?

saves time/money in finding participants - cost/time efficient

what is the weakness of opportunity sampling?

not representative to the wider population

what is the strength of snowball sampling?

representative to target population - generalisable to wider population

what is the weakness of snowball sampling?

unrepresentative as participants come from the same area - not generalisable to wider population

what are types of internal validity?

face, concurrent, criterion, construct

what is internal validity?

whether a measure is accurately measuring what it intends to measure

what is face validity?

on the surface - does it measure accurately what was intended?

what is concurrent validity?

whether 2 different tests measuring the same thing produce results in agreement

what is criterion validity?

predicts a future outcome - more criteria met, stronger the validity

what is construct validity?

measuring ideas/concepts that don’t physically exist

what is external validity?

how valid the research is in the real world and if the findings can be applied to behaviour outside the study

what is ecological validity?

if the measure enables you to reflect real life behaviour

what is population validity?

if the sample used reflects the wider target population (generalisability and represetativeness)

what is internal reliability?

how consistent the measure is within the research

what is the split half method?

in a test, does every question consistently measure knowledge on a specific topic?