Research Methods #1 (complete)

what are the three types of experimental design ?

1. independent groups - each ppt tested in 1 condition, ppts randomly allocated to their condition

2. repeated measures - same ppt used in both conditions and involved in each task, tested several times

3. matched pairs - people are paired up as closely to another person using a pretest, then the pair is randomly divided into one of the 2 conditions.

What are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of independent groups

strengths

• no order effects (which order conditions applied in)

• reduced chance of demand characteristics as ppts take part in only one condition

weaknesses

• no control over ppt variables - unsure if ppts are causing change in dv or if the IV is

• need 2x as many ppts

What are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of repeated measures?

strengths

• ppt variables are eliminated as each ppt is their own control

• less time needed to find and sort ppts as there are fewer needed

weaknesses

• order effects (fatigue, boredom, practice) may cause unreliable results

  • can be controlled through counterbalancing (each condition tested first and second in equal ammount)

• more chance of demand characteristics

What are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of matched pairs?

strengths

• no order effects

• control ppt variables

weaknesses

• time consuming to match ppts

• more ppts required

How can observational research be conducted?

• cameras/CCTV

• one-way mirrors

• making notes

• behavioral checklist

what are the 6 types of observation?

* **naturalistic =** carried out in real-world setting
* **controlled =** carried out in a lab setting
* **overt =** ppts are aware they are being studied
* **covert =** ppts are unaware they are being studied
* **participant =** observer becomes part of the group being studied
* **non-participant =** observer stays separate from ppts

how can observers measure a continuous stream of behaviour?

• behavioral categories/checklist

  • should be clear and precise

how can an observer record behaviour?

event sampling = records the number of times a behavior occurs

time sampling = records behavior at certain time intervals

What is a pilot study and its aims?

• small scale trial of a research design run before the research itself

• aims to check procedures and materials, saving time and money in the long run and increasing validity of research

• in observational research can help identify if behavioural categories are appropriate, that ppts can be seen and heard clearly etc

what are potential ethical issues with observational research?

• informed consent

• deception if covert

• privacy

• right to withdraw

what are potential methodological issues with observational research?

• hard to categorize behaviors

• observer bias - due to subjective interpretations of behaviour

• demand characteristics

what are the measures of central tendency?

* mean = average
* mode = the number that occurs most
* median = middle number

what is an advantage and disadvantage of using the mean?

ad = can be representative of all data

dis = can be unrepresentative id there is a anomaly

what are the advantages and disadvantages of using the mode?

ad = useful when data is on categories

dis = not effective when there are several modes or when the mode is further from the middle value

what are the advantages and disadvantages of using the median?

ad = not effected by extremes

dis = only reflects one value so is not as sensitive as the mean

what are the 6 ethical considerations with any experiment?

• informed consent - must be told what they are doing, how long it will take and the aims of the study. under 16 can’t give consent

• right to withdraw - every ppt should no they can leave at any time and take data with them

• deception - not revealing true aims and therefor taking away their right to consent

• respect - respect individuals and any differences (age, race, gender, sex, culture etc)

• privacy/confidentiality - none of the ppts data should be identifiable, people’s personal space treated with respect

• protection from harm - nothing happen to make the ppt feel unhappy, stressed or embarrassed

who decides what is ethical research?

ethics committees - approve research proposals

• weigh up costs and benefits

• makes issues less likely and considerations take place before conducting the study

• makes ethical issues less likely as considerations have been made

• BPS (British psychological society) base decisions on 4 principles

  1. respect

  2. competence

  3. responsibility

  4. integrity

how can deception be overcome?

debriefing =

* told true aims
* reminded of their rights
* begins with ‘thankyou for taking part in this study’

means people have option to withdraw without effecting the study as it takes place

What are the three alternative forms of consent?

• retrospective = get consent after the study

• presumptive = ask a similar group to ppts taking part

• prior general consent = ppts asked whether they are prepared to take part in research where they may be deceived about true purpose

  • this combats issues with debriefing not being possible (ie in naturalistic setting)

what are the four types of experiment?

• laboratory

• field

• natural

• quasi

What is a laboratory experiment?

• conducted in a controlled environment specific for research

• IV is manipulated by researcher, DV is measured

What are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of lab experiments?

strengths

• researcher can control variables therefore extraneous variables are controlled - confidence in cause and effect (IV affecting DV)

• high replicability so results can be checked if they are reliable.

weaknesses

• high level of control makes situation very artificial so is difficult to generalise from lab to real life (lacks ecological validity)

• demand characteristics as people may act differently to the way that they would in real life.

What is a field experiment?

• studies conducted in real world setting

• IV is manipulated by the experimenter and ppts are allocated to conditions.

• in most field experiments, ppts do not know that they are in the experiments (covert)

what are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of a field experiment?

strengths

• are less likely to show demand characteristics as they usually covert

• Research has higher ecological validity as it is a natural setting so research can be generalised to a similar setting.

weaknesses

• less control over extraneous variables decreasing validity, and confidence that it is the IV affecting the DV

• ethical issues such as deception due to research being covert

what are natural experiments?

• conducted in natural environment

• IV varies naturally based on existing differences, natural events occur that the experimenter studies

what are the 2 strengths and weaknesses of natural experiments?

Strengths

• people in a natural setting behave more authentically increasing ecological validity

• allows study of effects if an IV that would be otherwise unethical to study

weaknesses

• no random assignment of PPTs to conditions so individual differences could be an issue (risk of confounding variables)

• extraneous variables not controlled so hard to know what aspects have a direct effect on the DV and what parts of the IV are having an effect.

What is the difference between extraneous and confounding variables?

extraneous variable = variable that you're not investigating that can potentially affect the dependent variable of your research study.

confounding variable = type of extraneous variable that not only affects the dependent variable, but also the independent variable

What are quasi-experiments?

• IV is based on existing differences between people (age/gender). means no one has manipulated the variable, it already exists

• if anxiety levels were compared across people, the IV of having anxiety would not have come about due to any manipulation

• different from natural as conducted in a lab

what is the strength and weakness of quasi-experiments?

• strength = allow for comparison of conditions impossible to manipulate. control of variables - better cause and effect conclusions and replicate

• weaknesses = not possible to randomly allocate ppts to conditions, that may be confounding variable (adds to the effects of another variable)

what are self report methods and the types?

methods are where ppt provides information about their own feelings and thoughts to a researcher.

interviews = people are asked questions about their experiences/beliefs. they can be either structured or unstructured. they are normally analysed using a recording or transcribed.

questionnaires = a written survey

what are open and closed questions?

closed = yes or no

open = invites a person to give a more detailed and in-depth answer

What are the two types of interview?

• unstructured = have little structure and are more conversational, inviting the interviewee to talk more freely.

• structured = a standard set of questions are asked in the same order to all interviewees. not as good for in-depth information

can be written down or recorded and transcribed for analysis

what are the strengths (2) and weaknesses (3) of interviews?

strengths

• open questions give rich information

• researcher is present so ppts may be more honest and feel they can’t lie and misunderstandings can be clarified

weaknesses

• Open-question data is harder to analyse and manipulate

• more time-consuming and expensive than using a questionnaire

• as researcher is present, increased risk of investigator effects and social desirability bias affecting validity

what are some considerations that you should take when making a questionnaire?

• open or closed questions

• questions and instructions must be easily understood

• the pilot study should be carried out first to tests if adequate

what are the strengths (3) and weaknesses (4) of questionnaires?

strengths

• lots of data from a large sample in quickly and cheaply

• researcher does not need to be present so investigator effects are reduced, such as social desirability bias

• anonymous so more ethical way to collect data for sensitive topics

weaknesses

• leading questions may lead to social desirability bias

• biased as only certain people will fill in the questionnaire eg. if you illiterate

• based on the trust that people will be truthful

• easy misunderstanding can lead to invalid results

what is the correlational method?

• an association or relationship between two variables rather than the difference in conditions

• no IV or DV. variables are called co-variables

• positive (increase/decrease together) or negative (increase when other decreases) depending on the relationship

• described as strong or weak

best displayed in a scatter-graph

what are the two ways to know when to collect data?

• event sampling - recording when a behaviour takes place

• time sampling - recording at specified time intervals

what are the three types of correlation and their coefficients?

• positive - both variables move in the same direction (+1)

• negative - the variables move in opposite directions (-1)

• none - no relationship between the two variables (0)

what is a correlation coefficient?

number calculated to show the strength of the relation between variables. the closer to the correlation values the calculated number is, the stronger the neg/pos correlation.

what are the three types of hypothesis?

• null = there will be no difference/correlation between variables

• experimental hypothesis - testable statement of an effect of the IV on the DV, based on previous research

  • directional = stating there will be a difference/correlation and the type that it will be

  • non-directional = saying there will be a difference/correlation but not aware what it may be

name one strength and one weakness of the correlational method…

strength = can look at situations that are unable to be manipulated due to ethical issues

weakness = only a relationship is found, although there is no defining the cause and effect, there may be other variables involved.

what are the main three rules for a hypothesis?

1. hypothesis should always include both conditions of the IV

2. operationalisation - must be written so it is clear how IV and DV are to be tested

3. hypothesis to be written in future tense

what are the 5 sampling techniques to select ppts?

• opportunity

• volunteer

• systematic

• stratified

• random

What is random sampling and it’s evaluations?

everyone in the target population has an equal chance of being selected - e.g. names out of a hat

• strength = least bias - all members have equal chance of being selected (representative sample)

• weakness = even if random, may not be truly representative - can be helped by using a large number of ppts

what is systematic sampling and it’s evaluations?

There is a system used for selecting ppts from the ‘sampling frame’ - e.g. every 5th name (system) in the register (sampling frame)

• strength = avoids researcher bias, the researcher has no influence over who will be selected also fairly representative

• weakness = no guarantee the sample is representative

What is stratified sampling and it’s evaluations?

sample population’s subgroups are identified, ppts then divided into them (age, gender etc.). proportions to make the sample representative are calculated (in the whole population how prevalent is each subgroup?). PPTs from each subgroup are selected by random sampling.

• strengths = ensures each subgroup of the population is represented so generalisation is more valid

• weaknesses = can’t represent all the ways people are different (subgroups) so representative of some subgroups more than others

What is opportunity sampling and its evaluations?

selecting people based on who is most readily available at the time

• strengths = convenient and less time-consuming

• weaknesses = high possibility sample will be biased as it has low population validity (small part of the popu) and not be easily generalised

What is volunteer sampling and it’s evaluations?

ppts select themselves for the study due to an advertisement.

• strength = no ethical issues as ppts have chosen to be involved

• weaknesses = volunteer bias - a particular type of person will volunteer eg. highly motivated making the sample less representative.

what are the two measures of dispersion ?

range = the difference between the highest value and the lowest value

standard deviation = The spread of data around the mean

What is a case study and the strengths (2) and weaknesses (3)?

detailed investigation of individual or group of people, involves a variety of methods (observation, interview etc) and are studied in some way

strengths

• can give large amount of quan/qual data diving detailed investigation

• longitudinal so changes can be observed over time

weaknesses

• focus on small sample means difficult to generalise findings

• detailed investigation of one person cannot be replicated - can’t be tested for reliability

• bias may occur as researcher becomes deeply incolved with the individual/group - lacks objectivity

what are a strengths and weaknesses of primary and secondary research?

primary

• strength = data will match research aims - increases validity

• weaknesses = takes time and effort

secondary

• strength = quick cheap and easy, gives good overview as can have larger sample sizes

• weakness = data may not match research aims as person has not collected data first hand

What are the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative data?

quantitative

• strength = easier to analys and draw conclusions as is numerical

• weakness = oversimplification, may decrease depth of data

qualitative data

• strength = provides rich detail

• weakness = analysis and interpretation is subjective by researcher, harder to categorise/analyse