PSYSFP 6) Week - Culture & Ethnicity

Deprivation effect

When a survey measures what the participants want to have rather than what they actually have. ie. data collection processes measure desire rather than actual possession or behaviour.

Eg. a survey questions participants on how frequently they run. The survey mistakenly captures a participant’s desire to run as they over inflate their experiences.

Acquiescence bias

Refers to differences in the extent to which people generally tend to agree or disagree with a statement on a survey or questionnaire due to cultural influence.

Eg. If it was found that Canadians tend to agree more when answering survey questions. (will agree with both when presented with a scale rating with 2 differing questions: “I often experience social isolation” & “I am well connected to my social network”)

Reference group effect

When a participant compares themself to their peers within their culture. This comparison across cultures can vary significantly.

Moderacy and extremity bias

Similar people may rate themselves quite differently on surveys and questionnaires across cultures.
Eg. Participants who are ‘equally’ intelligent or creative

True Experimental Design

Involves the deliberate manipulation of an independent variable (X) to observe its impact on a dependent variable (Y), usually employing random assignment to control groups. 

Pre-experimental Design

• No control group OR no random assignment

• Very weak internal validity

• Cannot establish causation

• Example: one‑group pretest–posttest

Quasi (‘Partial’) Experiment Design

• Have a comparison group, but no random assignment

• Stronger than pre‑experimental, but still not true experiments

• Can suggest causal relationships, but with limitations

• Example: non‑equivalent groups design

Between Subjects Design

Comparing different participants from different groups to each other (comparison of group A versus group B)

Within Subjects Design

The same group of participants take part in every condition.
(group A undergoes test 1, group A then undergoes test 2 and these results are compared)

Recall the WEIRD acronym to describe a demographic of research participants

W - westernised

E - educated

I - industrialised

R - rich

D - democratic

Factorial Design

A factorial study design is an experiment that tests two or more independent variables (factors) at the same time, allowing researchers to examine:

1. The effect of each factor on its own (main effects)

2. How the factors interact with each other (interaction effects)