Psychology - research

Which type of sampling involves selecting participants who are easily available?

Opportunity sampling.

What term is used to describe the group of people from which a sample is selected?

The target population.

Student researchers sometimes select a sample by asking their friends to take part in an experiment. Explain 2 ways in which such a sample might be biased.

Any 2 from:

People who are available have particular characteristics

Friends of the researcher might all be of similar ages or have similar interests/ personalities

If they are students they might be of above average intelligence

What is the name of the prediction that a researcher makes at the outset of an experiment?

Hypothesis.

Complete the following sentence.

Researchers manipulate one variable - the __________ variable - and measure the level of another variable, which is known as the __________ variable.

Independent and dependent.

Explain what is meant by experimental control. [3]

Control means manipulating one variable (the IV) while keeping extraneous variables (EVs) from impacting the results [1]. This means ensuring that everything other than the IV is exactly equal across all conditions [1], such as giving all participants the same time/ instructions [1].

Name the research design where all participants take part in every condition of the experiment.

A repeated measures design.

True or false? Participant data must be kept confidential.

True.

True or false? Once participants have given consent, they can’t back out.

False.

True or false? Harm can include psychological harm, distress or embarrassment.

True.

True or false? The usual practise is to get informed consent at the end of a study.

False.

A researcher wishes to study the memory of university students, and carries out a memory experiment in a university library. What kind of experiment is this?

A field experiment.

Which non-experimental research methods involves asking questions about people’s thoughts and behaviour?

Interviews and surveys.

“What do you like to do in your free time?” What type of data would be obtained from answers to this questions?

Qualitative data.

Define the following types of data that are gathered in psychology research.

a) Quantitative data

b) Qualitative data

c) Primary data

d) Secondary data

a) Numerical data

b) Verbal or other non-numerical data

c) Data obtained by the researcher (e.g. interviewing a participant)

d) Indirectly obtained that was originally used for another purpose (e.g. test results)

Briefly explain how the mean is calculated.

Adding up all of the numbers and dividing by the number of numbers.

Describe how a bar chart might be used in psychology. [2]

The mean of each condition (such as scores on a test) could be displayed on a separate bar on the x-axis [1] with the DV shown on the y-axis [1].

Explain what is meant by a sample being biased. [2]

A biased sample is one which is not representative of the target population [1] because certain characteristics are more likely to occur, such as a higher or lower age range, a distribution of socio-economic or ethnic background that differs from the target population, etc. [1].

Explain what is meant by a stratified sample, and give a strength and a weakness of this sampling method. [4]

Involves selecting a sample that has the same proportions as the target population; e.g. an equal mix of sexes, or people of different religious backgrounds in the same ratio as the target population [2].

Strength: ensures that selected characteristics are representative of the target population [1].

Weaknesses: only ensures representativeness of some characteristics; others are ignored [1].

Which of the following sampling methods is likely to involves numbering members of the population?

A) Random sampling

B) Opportunity sampling

C) Systematic sampling

D) Stratified sampling

A) Random sampling

Which of the following sampling methods is the simplest to carry out?

A) Random sampling

B) Opportunity sampling

C) Systematic sampling

D) Stratified sampling

B) Opportunity sampling

What term is used to refer to different parts of an experiment, each of which links to a different value of the independent variable?

Conditions.

What is the name of the variable that a researcher measures? Give an example. [2]

The dependent variable [1]. Any appropriate answer, e.g. the score on a test in a memory experiment [1].

State 2 characteristics of a normally distributed variable.

Any two from:

The normal distribution is symmetrical

The mean, the median and the mode are equal

Scores near the mean are very common and get rarer as they get more extreme

What is the name of the variable that a researcher manipulates in an experiment?

A) Independent variable

B) Dependent variable

C) Extraneous variable

D) Controlled variable

A) Independent variable

What is the name of the prediction of what will be found if the alternative hypothesis is not supported by the data in the experiment?

A) Extraneous prediction

B) Cause-and-effect prediction

C) Null hypothesis

D) Experimental hypothesis

C) Null hypothesis

What term is used in research to mean treating participants fairly and in accordance with their rights?

Ethics/ ethical standards

Which ethical consideration means that participants cannot be given incomplete information at the start of the study?

A) Informed consent

B) Right to withdraw

C) Avoiding harm

D) Debriefing

A) Informed consent

Which of the following is not an ethical issue in research?

A) Right to withdraw

B) Avoiding harm

C) Confidentiality

D) Control

D) Control

A researcher carries out a study into perception, where participants are asked to view with or without a backing colour. Everyone does condition 1 first and then condition 2. What problem could occur, and how could the researcher have avoided this? [2]

Order effects - when a participants does condition 2, everyone has already seen the illusion in condition 1 [1]. Could have been avoided by counterbalancing conditions or using an independent groups design [1].

A researcher wishes to study the effects of caffeine on how well university students can concentrate when watching a lecture. Explain how this could be done either as a field experiment or as a lab experiment. Give you views on which experimental design should be used. [4]

Field experiment:

Could go to a real lecture and give half of the participants caffeine and half none as the control group (or placebo, e.g. a decaffeinated drink) [1].

Lab experiment:

Would have to be conducted in controlled conditions, perhaps testing students viewing video of a lecture one at a time in a lab [1].

An appropriate design should be chosen [1] and justified [1] e.g. independent groups should be used, because watching the same lecture twice would lead to significant order effects.

Why is it important to randomly allocate participants to conditions in an independent groups design? [2]

Random allocation helps to ensure that participant variables are randomly divided among conditions [1] and avoids systematic bias [1].

What name is given to an experiment condition that is used purely for comparison?

A control condition.

Explain what is meant by a closed question and state a research method that might use one.

Questions with a limited selection of possible answers, e.g. a multiple choice question. Research method: surveys or interviews.

Researchers gather different types of data in psychology.

a) Name a research method that gathers primary data.

b) Name a research method that gathers secondary data.

a) Any one from:

Experiment

Observation

Survey

Interview

b) Case study

Give a strength and a weakness of the observation method.

Strength: gathers real-life behaviour as it happens.

Weakness: any one from:

Can risk invasion of privacy, if participants are informed about the observation, this can affect their behaviour.

True or false? Non-experimental methods always obtain qualitative data.

False.

True or false? For ethical reasons, it is important to inform and gain consent from participants who are being observed.

True.

True or false? Surveys only use closed questions.

False.

True or false? Case studies only use secondary data.

False.

Which of the following is an example of secondary data?

A) School reports

B) Observations

C) Brain scans

D) Ability tests

A) School reports

Which of the following research activities would obtain qualitative data?

A) A survey with closed questions.

B) A checklist used in an observation.

C) An interview with open questions.

D) An IQ test.

C) An interview with open questions.

A research is studying an individual with an accidental brain injury. Discuss the different research methods or techniques that might be involved, and any other data that should be gathered. [3]

The case study method would be used but this could involve a number of other techniques [1]. Brain scans would be necessary in this case and probably also personality tests, ability/ IQ tests, etc. [1]. It would be useful to gain secondary data in the form of scores on tests or descriptions of the patients behaviour prior to the injury e.g. any test that were done while at school. [1].

Explain why observation studies often use more than one observer. [2]

Data from a single observer can be unreliable [1]. Therefore, studies tend to train observers, and get two or more people to observe the same behaviour. This increases the reliability of the results [1].

How is the range calculated, and what does it show?

The difference between the lowest and highest score. Shows how spread out the data are overall, but is not very sensitive/ powerful statistic.

A researcher placed all of the scores from one experimental condition in order. The he identified which score was at the midpoint of this set of data. Which statistic was he calculating?

A) The mean

B) The mode

C) The median

D) The range

C) The median

What term is used to describe the correlation that is shown when dots on a scatter graph are randomly spread out, with no determinable pattern?

A) Strong correlation

B) Zero correlation

C) Weak correlation

D) Negative correlation

B) Zero correlation

Explain the difference between a bar chart and a histogram.

Visually, a histogram does not have gaps between the bars. The graphs are used for different purposes: a bar chart usually represents the conditions of an experiment; a histogram shows survey responses from groups that vary along a specific variable, e.g. a different age groups.

Explain the difference between a weak correlation and a negative correlation.

A weak correlation means that the two co-variables are not closely linked; this can be either in a positive or a negative direction. A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases; this relationship can be either weak or strong.