Psychology - research methods key terms

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about what will happen in a study

IV + DV

IV - what changes

DV - what is measured

Operationalisation

Defining how a variable will be measured/ manipulated

Extraneous + confounding variables

Extraneous: other variables that could affect the DV

Confounding: an extraneous variable that actually affects results - making it unclear whether the IV caused the result

Standardised procedure

Keeping the same procedure for every participant

Lab, field + natural experiments

Lab: controlled/ artificial setting

Field: natural setting, the IV is manipulated

Natural: IV happens naturally, it is not manipulated

Quasi experiment

An experiment where the IV is based on an existing difference between people e.g. age

3 Experimental designs

Independent groups: different people in each condition

Repeated measures: same people in each condition

Matched pairs: different people, matched by important characteristics

Random allocation + counterbalancing

Random allocation: randomly putting people in different conditions

Counterbalancing: changing the order of conditions to reduce order effects

4 Sampling methods

Random: everyone has an equal chance

Opportunity: uses whoever is available

Volunteer: people choose to participate

Stratified: sample reflects proportions of target population

Target population + sample

Target population: the wider group a researcher wants to study

Sample: the people actually studied

Quantitative vs qualitative data

Quantitive: numerical data

Qualitative: non-numerical/ descriptive data

Primary vs secondary data

Primary: researchers collects it

Secondary: someone else previously collected it

Reliability

How consistent the results of a measurement/ research method is

Validity

Whether the research actually measures what it claims to measure

Correlation

The relationship between 2 variables

Positive - both increase/ decrease together

Negative - one increases as other decreases

Correlation does not equal causation

4 Observation methods

Naturalistic: normal environment

Controlled: controlled environment

Covert: participants don’t know

Overt: participants do know

Questionnaires + interviews

What can questions be?

Questionnaires: collect written responses

Interviews: asking participants questions directly

• questions can be open or closed

Descriptive statistics + standard deviation

Mean: average

Median: middle value

Mode: most popular

Range: largest - smallest

Standard deviation: how spread out the scores are

6 Ethical Issues

• Informed consent

• Deception

• Right to withdraw

• Protection from harm

• Privacy

• Confidentiality