Research Methods

what is a population?

people you want your findings to apply to ->(biggest level is everybody everywhere)

what is a sample?

refers to how we choose the people studied on. Sample is used to infer a characteristic about everyone from the whole population. 

What is volunteer sampling? 

Involves participants selecting themselves to be part of the sample- they self-select 

E.g. Adverts or ask for volunteers  

What are the positives of volunteer sampling? 

• Keen and willing to do the study 

• Quick, easy, low effort for the researcher  

• Easy to reach a wide cross section of your population.  

what are the negatives of volunteer sampling?

• People may not actually be the target demographic  

• Volunteer bias – personality types, may try to be helpful which would lead them to change their natural behaviour, if you are short of money  

• It depends where you advertise whether it is biased or not 

what is validity?

the extent to which an observed effect is genuine- does it measure what it was supposed to measure, can it be generalised beyond the experiment environment 

what is external validity? 

the extent to which the observed effect (the findings) can be generalised beyond the research scenario in which it is observed.  

what is ecological validity?

• the extent to which the findings can be generalised beyond the setting and scenario which it was observed in  

• To what extent the setting/situation used in the representation of the settings/situations that the behaviours occur in in everyday life  

what is mundane realism?

the extent to which the task in the study is representative of the kind of tasks that are carried out in everyday life  

what is population validity? 

The extent to which the findings can be generalised beyond the sample used in the research study  

what is temporal validity?

The extent to which the findings can be generalised beyond the time period that the study was conducted in

why do ethical issues arise?

when there is conflicts between researchers and participants

what is informed consent? 

P- Have a right to be informed about the: aims, procedures, their rights, what their data will be used for

R- demand characteristics, participants no longer act natural, makes research meaningless

how do you deal with informed consent?

• Participants right to know what they are agreeing to  

• Written consent form  

• Under 16's- parent consent  

• Presumptive consent  

• Prior general consent  

• Retrospective consen

what is deception?

 deliberately misleading/withholding information from the participants  

• P- unethical, prevents informed consent  

 

• R- sometimes necessary to make studied meaningful, withholding info=reasonably acceptable, deliberately misleading= less acceptable  

deal: ethics comittee and debrief

what is protection from harm? 

Physical or psychological harm  

• P- nothing should happen in the study that might cause them harm, no more risk than in their daily lives, (psych harm= embarrassment, inadequate, stress or pressure), should leave the study in the same state as they entered it  

 

• R- important topics may require the participants to be exposed to some level of harm, difficult to predict the outcome of some procedures

stop if harm is evident of suspected

what is the right to withdraw?

• P- need to stop if uncomfortable or stressed  

 

• R- can caused biased results if the participants leave in the middle of the study- biased sample, longitudinal research can be especially problematic  

 

should be stated in the beginning and end, no persuasion or coersion

what is confidentiality?

Right to anonymity 

• P- GDPR makes confidentiality a legal right, do not what to be identified as taking part in the study  

 

• R- difficult to protect, especially if written reports are published  

how do you deal with confidentiality?

• Follow GDPR  

• Remove anything that identifies the person –E.g. name, school, location 

• Use initials rather than name

what is privacy?

Zone of inaccessibility 

• P- right to not have privacy invaded, do not expect to be observed in some situations  

 

• R- can be difficult not to invade privacy in some scenarios (e.g. covert observation)  

get consent

what is the aim?

what they are trying to find out

what is a hypothesis? 

what the researcher expects to find

what is a directional hypothesis?

states the direction of the relationship or difference

what is a non-directional hypothesis?

• does not state direction, just states that there is a difference or a relationship

what is a dependant variable? 

what is being measured

what is the independant variable?

the variable being changed

what is nominal data? 

• categorical data 

• one item can only appear in one category

what is ordinal data?

• has a natural order

• does not have equal intervals between each unit

• subjective

what is interval data?

• numerical scales with equal, precisely defined size

what is an extraneous variable?

• Any variable which is not being investigated but has the potential to affect the outcomes (results and conclusions) of the research  

• e.g. weather, time of day, season – all might affect behaviour  

what is reliability? 

the consistency of the research study- repeat and get the same results

what is an observational study?

• Researcher watches or listens to participants engaging in whatever behaviour being studied 

• Allows researcher to study behaviour within a natural or controlled setting  

• Observations recorded in some way- e.g. tally chart  

• Non-experimental- no direct manipulation of behaviour  

• Can be used within an experiment to measure the dependant variable  

what are the strengths of an observational study?

• Capture what people actually do  

• Unexpected or spontaneous behaviours  

• High internal validity- shows if behaviour is solely affected by the dependant variable – cause and effect relationship  

what are the weaknesses of an observational study?

• Risk of observer bias – researchers interpretation may be affected by expectations and previous experiences 

• Cannot demonstrate causal relationships (unless in expt)

what is a naturalistic observation?

• Take place in the setting/context where behaviour would normally occur  

• Environment is free to vary  

• Everything left as normal- no interference  

what are the strengths of naturalistic observations?

• High external validity – can be generalised to situations outside of research environment  

• More likely to see spontaneous activity  

• More generalisable  

what are the weaknesses of a naturalistic observation? 

• Low control  

• May be uncontrolled variables (EV's and CV's)  

• More difficult to detect patterns in behaviour  

• Difficult to replicate- low reliability  

what is a controlled observation?

some variables in the environment are controlled by the researcher

what are the strengths of controlled observations

• Can focus observation on certain aspects of behaviour  

• Replication is easier as EV's and CV's are minimised

what are the weakneses of controlled observations? 

• Low external validity  

• Environment not as natural  

• Causes behaviour to not be as natural

what is a covert observation?

• Undercover  

• Participants unaware they are being observed  

• MUST be public behaviour and happening anyway- ethical issues if it wasn’t public  

what are the strengths of covert observations?

• Demand characteristics (expected to behave in a certain way) are reduced 

• Behaviour is more natural  

• Increases internal and external validity  

what are the limitations of covert observations? 

• Ethical issues- invasion of privacy and consent?  

• e.g. watching people shopping = okay  

• Finding out amount of money spent= invasion of privacy  

what is an overt observation?

• Participants are aware that they are being observed  

• Have given consent beforehand  

what are the strengths and weaknesses of overt observations?

Strengths: 

• More ethically acceptable 

 

Limitations:  

• Demand characteristics increased 

• Change behaviour when know your being watched 

• Reduces internal validity  

what is participant observation? 

• Researcher becomes part of the group they are observing  

• being undercover  

what are the strengths of participant observation?

• Can lead to greater insight and understanding of the target behaviours 

• Researcher experiences the same situation that participants do  

• Enhances external validity  

 

what are the weaknesses of participant observation?

• Possible loss of objectivity  

• Researcher may identify too strongly 'go native'  

• Threatens internal validity  

what is non-participant observation? 

• The observer remains separate from the group being studied  

• Sometimes not possible to be participant  

• e.g. female researcher in a boys school  

what are the strengths of non-participant observation?

• More objective  

• Less chance of observer bias  

• Increased internal validity  

what are the weaknesses of non-participant observation?

• Loss of insight  

• Too far removed  

• Reduces external validity- could be too far removed to understand what is actually going on  

what is a piolet study? 

• A small scale test run of the trial before doing the actual study 

• Done to find aspects of the planned study that don’t work  

• The researcher can then use the findings of what didn’t work to improve the study for when they carry out the actual thing  

• Allows the researcher to eliminate EV's to improve the validity  

what is a correlation?

a systematic association between two variables

what are co-variables?

• the variables that are measured in a correlational study

• they are not referred to as IV and DV

• they must be continuous

what is one weakness of correlational studies? 

it doesn’t allow us to see causations.

what is one strength of correlation studies?

preliminary tools can be used to assess trends in the data.

what is operationalisation

ensuring that variables are clearly defined in a form that can be easily measured and tested

what is an extraneous variable

any variable other than the IV that may affect the DV if it is not controlled

make it more difficult to detect a significant effect

what is randomisation

• the use of chance methods to control the effects of bias

• attempts to control investigator effects

how should randomisation be done

• the order of conditions should be randomly determined

• p’s should be randomly assigned to groups/conditions

• order of items recalled should be randomly determined

• e.g. random number generator or names in a hat

what is standardisation

• all p’s should be subject to the same: environment, information, experience

• make a list of exactly what will be done in the study

• reduces EV’s and CV’s

what is a single blind procedure

• researcher knows which conditions the p’s are in

• p’s dont know what condition they are in

what is a strength of the single blind procedure

removes p’s demand characteristics

what is a weakness of the single blind procedure

doesn’t remove investigator effects

describe the double blind procedure

• participants and investigator don’t know which condition the p was given

what are the strengths of a double blind trial

• no demand characteristics

• no investigator effects

what is an opportunity sample

asking whoever is available at the time if they will take part in the study

what is random sampling

• all members of the target population have an equal chance of being selected for the sample

what is systematic sampling

there is a system of selecting participants- every nth person is selected

what is stratified sampling

taking a proportional number of p’'s from each strata of the target population

what are the strengths of opportunity sampling

easy and quick

what are the strengths of opportunity sampling

reduces bias, more representative

what are the strengths of systematic sampling

evenly spread sample, unbiased, representative

what are the strengths of stratified sampling

very representative and reflects all of the target population

what are the limitations of opportunity sampling

biased and not representative

what are the limitations of random sampling

needs a full list of the population, EV variables

what are the limitations of systematic sampling

can be biased if there is a pattern

what are the limitations of stratified sampling

more complex and time consuming

what are demand characteristics

a cue that makes participants unconsciously aware of the aims of a study or helps participants work out what the researcher expects to find

may lead the p to change their behaviour

what are the types of demand characteristics

screw-you effect

please-you effect

what are investigator effects

anything that an investigator does that has an effect on a participant’s performance in a study, other than what was intended

includes direct and indirect effects

may act and CV or EV

describe direct effects

as a consequence of the investigator interacting with the participant

describe indirect effects

as a consequence of the investigator designing the study

what are the features of lab experiments

 

• An experiment conducted in a controlled setting 

• Often a special setting 

• Variables can be well controlled and manipulated 

• Researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV whilst controlling EV's  

what are the strengths of lab experiments

• High control 

• Confident that IV causes change in the DV - causation 

• High internal validity  

• Easily replicable-> reliability-> validity  

• Easy to replicate  

what are the limitations of lab experiments

• Artificial and contrived setting-> low ecological validity 

• High internal validity 

• Easily replicable-> reliability-> validity  

• Task lacks mundane realism  

• Demand characteristics  

describe the features of field experiments

• An experiment conducted a more ordinary setting- where the behaviour might naturally occur 

• Researcher manipulates the IV and records effect on the DV

what are the strengths of field experiments

• More natural setting-> representative of real life -> higher ecological validity 

• P's may be less likely to be aware that they are in an experiment-> reduced demand characteristics-> more natural behaviour-> increased internal validity

what are the limitations of field experiments

• Hard to control EV-> lower internal validity  

• Artificial tasks-> low mundane realism  

• Ethical issues if Ps are not aware they are taking part in a research study-> difficult to debrief or to get any form of consent  

describe quasi experiments

• Almost an experiment  

• Iv not and cannot be manipulates by the researcher- simply exist 

what are the strengths of quasi experiments

• If under controlled conditions-> same for labs expts:  

• High internal validity- things that have actually happened 

what are the limitations of quasi experiments

• If under controlled conditions-> same as for lab experiments  

• Low ecological validity  

• Low mundane realism  

• High demand characteristics  

• No random allocation-> potential CVs-> reduced internal validity 

• Cannot draw causal conclusion as no direct manipulation of IV 

describe natural experiments

• A type of quasi experiment  

• Researcher has no control over IV- something or someone else causes the IV to vary  

• Natural- the IV varies naturally  

• Researcher records the effect of the IV on the DV that they have decided upon  

what are the strengths of natural experiments

• Allows research where not otherwise possible due to ethical/practical reasons 

• High external validity

what are the limitations of natural experiments

• Limited opportunities-> limited generalisability  

• No random allocation-> potential CVs-> reduced internal validity 

• Cannot draw causal conclusions as no direct manipulation of IV  

• If conducted in a lab-> lab experiments limitations

what are the main features of an experiment

• allow us to measure cause and effect

• IV and DV

• IV is manipulated and other variables are kept constant to measure the effect of the IV on the DV

how are experiments different to correlational studies

• experiments can establish causal relationships between IV and DV- correlational studies only tell us nature of relationship between co-variables

• correlational studies- variables are simply measured whereas in experiments the IV is deliberately manipulated

describe the relationship between realism and validity

• as one increases, the other tends to decrease

• increase in realism, control reduces and therefore Internal validity

• increase control and therefore internal validity and realism is reduced

what are the types of experiment

lab

field

natural

quasi

what is the standard format for directional hypotheses

P’s in condition x will score [comparitive adjective] than Ps in condition y