ALL OF Y1 RM

Research Question

An idea you want to test- answer via experiment

Aim

A general, testable statement that describes the purpose of your investigation. “To investigate…”

Hypothesis

The prediction about what you will find- needs to be a precise testable statement

What are the 2 types of hypotheses?

Null & alternative hypothesis

Alternative hypothesis

states there will be a change

Null hypothesis

States there will be no change

What are the 2 types of alternative hypotheses?

Directional and non-directional

Directional hypothesis

Where you specify the direction of difference

Non-directional hypothesis

Where you state there will be a difference- not predicting what the difference will be

Independent variable (IV)

The variable the researcher manipulates- changes

Dependant variable (DV)

The variable the researcher measures

Operationalisation

Clearly defining variables in a way that they can be measured

Define extraneous variables

Extra unwanted variables that could have an affect on the DV & is not the IV

Define confounding variables

Extra unwanted variables that definitely have affected the DV & is not the IV - reduces validity

What are 2 types of extraneous variables?

Participant variables & situational variables

Give some participant variables examples.

• Age

• Participant motivation

• Intelligence

• Concentration levels

• Gender

• Demand characteristics

Give some situational variables examples.

• Noise

• Weather

• Temperature

• Times of day

• Instructions- researcher bias

Define researcher bias.

Term used to describe subtle cues or signals from an experimental that affect the research results

Define demand characteristics.

Features of an experiment that allow participants to work out the aim &/or the hypothesis- participants may change behaviour- interferes with the study

What are ways to control EVs to prevent them turning into CVs?

• randomisation

• standardisation- standardise instructions & standardised procedures

What is standardised procedures and instructions?

• procedures- keeping everything & method the same, except the IV so more certainty that the IV affects the DV

• instructions- pre-made set of instructions that are read out to all participants

  • reduces chance of demand characteristics because no subtle cues or hints are given

Define experimental design.

The different ways in which the testing of participants can be organised in relation to the experimental conditions.

Define independant groups design.

Ppts are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental condition.

Define repeated measures.

All participants take part in all conditions of the experiment.

Define matched pairs.

Pairs of ppts are matched on a variable that may affect the DV. One member of the pair is assigned to Condition A and one member to Condition B.

Define random allocation.

An attempt to control for ppt variables in an independent groups design which ensures that each ppt has the same chance of being in one condition than any other.

Define counterbalancing.

An attempt to control for the effects of order in a repeated measures design: half the ppts experience the conditions in one order and the other half in the opposite order.

What is a weakness of independent groups design?

Weakness- participant variables may affect study

Strength for independent groups design.

-No order effects

What is a strength of repeated measures?

Strength- fewer ppts needed- ecological, ppt variables are controlled

Weakness- order effects

Weakness of repeated measures.

Order effects

What is a strength and weakness of matched pairs design?

Strength- ppt variables are controlled

Weakness-time consuming and expensive, less economical than other designs

What are the 4 types of experimental designs?

• lab experiments

• field experiments

• natural experiments

• quasi- experiments

Define lab experiment.

Takes place in a controlled environment where the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on DV, whilst maintaining strict control of EVs

Describe a field experiment.

Takes place in a natural setting within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV.

Describe a natural experiment.

An experiment where the change in the IV is not brought about by the researcher but would have happened even if the researcher was not there. The researcher records the effect on the DV.

Describe a quasi experiment.

A study that is almost an experiment but lacks key ingredients – the IV has not been determined by anyone (the researcher or any other person) – the variables simply exist, such as being old or young.

What is a strength and weakness of lab experiments?

-strength- high control of EVs

-strength- replication is possible because environment is controlled

-weakness- may lack generalisability because lab experiments may be artificial

-weakness- participants may show demand characteristics

What is a strength and weakness of Field experiments?

-strength- higher realism than lab

-weakness- less control on EVs

What is a strength and weakness of natural experiments?

What are the 5 types of sampling?

• volunteer sampling

• random sampling

• stratified sampling

• systematic sampling

• oppurtunity sampling

What is volunteer sampling?

Participants become part of study because they volunteer in response to an advert

What is a weakness of volunteer sample?

One weakness is that it only attracts a certain type of sample, people with a certain characteristic, making the results the results not generalisable to the wider population

What is random sampling?

Every member of target population has equal chance of being chosen- computer randomiser

What is a strength and weakness of random sampling?

Strength- each member of target population has same chance of being selected- best chance of obtaining unbiased sample

Weakness- sample is not always representative of population

What is stratified sampling?

Involves classifying population into categories and then choosing sample consisting of pots of each category in same proportion as they are in population

What is a strength and weakness of stratified sampling?

Strength- most representative sampling method

Weakness- very time consuming and identifying members of all subgroups can be difficult

What is systematic sampling?

Involves taking every nth person from a list to create a sample

What is a strength and weakness of systematic sampling?

Strength- allows sample to be evenly spread over entire target population

Weakness- very time consuming or impractical for very large target population

What is oppurtunity sampling?

Takes people who are available and willing to take part- reaercher approaches them

What is a strength and weakness of opportunity sample?

Strength- quick and convenient- most economical, most often used

Weakness- unrepresentative of target population as only relies on people wanting to take part

What are ethical issues?

When a conflict exists between the rights and dignity of the participants and the aims of the research. Researchers must follow the BPS code of conduct.

What is informed consent?

Participants should be made aware of the aims, procedures and their right to withdraw before they agree to take part.

How do you make sure you have informed consent?

What is deception.

Participants should not be deliberately misled. Some deception is acceptable but participants must be fully debriefed at the end.

How do you deal with deception?

Debrief your participants at the end of the experiment

What is debrief.

What is protection from harm?

Participants should not be exposed to any more risk than they would be in everyday life. If harm has been caused, participants should be offered counselling as part of the debrief.

How do you ensure protection from harm?

What is privacy and confidentiality?

Participants' anonymity and privacy must be respected and names should not be recorded

Describe withdrawal.

What is a pilot study?

‘Small-scale’ practice run of actual investigation where researchers can check if all aspects of research work and allows researcher to make changes or modifications if necessary

What is the purpose of pilot studies?

• participants are able to suggest appropriate changes for real study

• participants can admit if they showed demand characteristics

What are the 6 types of observations?

• Naturalistic

• Laboratory

• Covert

• Overt

• Participant

• Non-participant

What is a naturalistic observation?

The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching

Evaluate naturalistic observations.

• strength- high external validity

• strength- findings can be generalised to real life

• weakness- lack of control makes replication difficult

• weakness- uncontrolled extraneous variables

What is a controlled observation?

Watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment, i.e. one where some variables are managed

What is a covert observation?

Participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge and consent

What are overt observations?

Participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent

Evaluate covert observations.

• strength- limited participant reactivity so observed behaviour will be natural

• strength- high validity

• weakness- ethics

Evaluate overt observations.

• strength- ethically acceptable

• weakness- knowledge that they are being watched may affect participant behaviour

What is a participant observation?

The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching

Evaluate participant observations.

• strength- researcher can experience the situation as the participants do, giving them increased insight

• weakness- researcher may lose objectivity- ‘going native’

What is a non-participant observation?

The researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching

Evaluate non-participant observations.

• strength- researcher can maintain an objective psychological distance

• weakness- may lose valuable insight as they are too far removed

What are the 2 types of self report techniques?

Questionnaires and interviews

What is a questionnaire?

set of pre-written questions (sometimes referred to as ‘items’) used to assess a person’s thoughts and/or experiences

What are weaknesses of questionnaires?

• Responses given might not always be truthful- may be keen to present themselves in a positive light (social desirability bias) and this may influence their answers.

• Response bias: this is where participants tend to reply in a similar way e.g. always ticking yes

What are strengths of questionnaires?

• Cost effective – questionnaires can gather large amounts of data quickly

• Can be completed without the researcher being present → reduces effort on the part of the researcher

• Straightforward to analyse, especially if there are fixed choice questions

• Quantitative data lends itself to statistical analysis

What is Aquiescence bias?

When a person agrees with items on a questionnaire regardless of the content of the question

What are the 2 types of questions that can be asked in a questionnaire?

Open and closed questions

What are open questions?

Does not have a fixed range of answers and respondents are free to respond in any way they wish.

Open questions produce qualitative data rich in detail.

What are closed questions?

Offers a fixed number of responses and generates quantitative data.

Easy to analyse

What are interviews?

A ‘live encounter’ (either over the phone or face-to-face) where an interviewer asks an interviewee a set of questions to assess an interviewee’s thoughts and/or experiences.

What are the 3 types of interviews?

Structured, Unstructured and Semi- structured

What is a structured interview?

Made up of a pre- determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order

Evaluate structured interviews.

+ Straightforward to replicate due to their standardised format, format also reduces differences between interviewers.

- Not possible for participants to elaborate which may cause frustration/lead to less insightful results

What is a semi-structured interview?

Falls somewhere in between the two. There is a list of questions that has been worked out in advance but the interviewer is also free to ask follow up questions if they feel it is appropriate.

What is an unstructured interview?

Flows like a conversation. No set questions but there will be a general aim and a certain topic will be discussed. The interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate their answers, prompted by the interviewer

Evaluate unstructured interviews.

• strength- flexibility – interviewer can follow up points as they arise so will be more likely to get rich insights

• weakness- Analysis is difficult, which makes it hard to draw firm conclusions

• weakness- Risk that interviewees might lie due to social desirability

Define ‘correlation’.

Correlation illustrates strength & direction of an association between 2 or more co-variables (things being measured)

• plotted on a scatter graph

Define co-variables.

One co-variable forms the x-axis and the other forms the y-axis

-each point/ dot on the graph is x and y of each co-variable

-co-variables shops the relationship between variables, not establishing a cause and effect

Define positive correlation.

As one variable increases, so does the other

Define negative correlation.

As one variable increases, the other decreases

Define zero correlation.

There is no relationship between the co-variables

What are 2 strength do using correlations?

• quick and economical- correlations only assess the relationship between 2 co-variables, no need for a controlled environment or to manipulated variables

• Useful as a primary tool- provide quantifiable measure of how 2 variables are related, if 2 variables are strongly correlated, might suggest ideas for later research

What are 2 weaknesses of using correlations?

• third variable problem- another untested variable (intervening variable) may be causing the relationship between the 2 co-variables

• Cannot demonstrate cause and effect- due to lac of experimental manipulation, studies can tell us how variables are related but not why- we don’t know which us causing the other to change, establishing direction of effect is an issue

What are the numbers for each type of correlation (zero correlation to perfect correlation)?

• Zero correlation = 0

• Weak correlation. = 0.1-0.3

• Moderate correlation = 0.4-0.5

• Strong correlation = 0.6-0.9

• Perfect correlation = 1

What are the 4 types of data?

• Primary & Secondary

• Quantitative & Qualitative

What is primary data?

Data collected first-hand by the researcher, specifically for the use of the experiment