a-level psychology research methods flashcards

OCR a-level psychology research methods flashcards

what is the purpose of peer review

what is the purpose of peer review

to ensure that only high quality psychological research is published into the public domain

step one of peer review

psychologist sends the editor of a magazine or journal their research

step two of peer review

the editor examines the topic of the research and send it to experts on the field

step three of peer review

the reviewers assess it for the editor

step four of peer review

reviewers send the research back to the editor with comments and a recommendation of what to do with it

step five of peer review

the editor decides for themself if the research should be accepted for publication, sent back for revisions, or rejected

why does peer review check about a piece of research

it’s validity

limitation of peer review

failure to detect fraudulent data, rejection on the basis it goes against the status quo, bias, positive results being more favoured than negative or null ones

purpose of a title in a report

inform readers what the report is about

purpose of the abstract in a report

a brief summary of the paper

purpose of an introduction in a report

provide background details of the topic and study

purpose of a method in the study

tells readers how the research was done

purpose of results in a study

summarise the findings of the research

purpose of a discussion in a report

discuss the findings and their implications

purpose of references in a report

informs readers of where the researchers found their sources

purpose of appendix

to inform readers of details not mentioned in the report

naughty words

difference, cause and effect, IV, DV, effect, conditions, groups, between

what is a positive correlation

a relationship between variables where, as one increases, the other also increases

what is a negative correlation

a relationship between variables where, as one decreases, the other increases

association does not

mean causation

what is no correlation

when variables are considered uncorrelated

what does correlations refer to

a measure of how strongly two or more variables are related to each other

what level of data does correlational analysis need

at least ordinal data

structure of a null hypothesis

there will be no significant correlation between [variable one] (measured by) and [variable two] (measured by). any relationship found will be due to chance.

structure of a one-tailed hypothesis

there will be a significant (pos/neg) correlation between [variable 1] (measured by) and [variable 2] (measured by).

structure of a two-tailed hypothesis

there will be a significant correlation between [variable 1] (measured by) and [variable 2] (measured by).

what level of data must there be for a correlational analysis

at least ordinal data

between what numbers is there a strong positive correlation

0.5 and 1

between what numbers is there a strong negative correlation

-0.5 and -1

between what numbers is there a weak positive correlation

0 and 0.5

between what numbers is there a weak negative correlation

0 and -0.5

what does 1 mean as a correlation coefficient

perfect positive correlation

what does -1 mean as a correlation coeffecient

perfect negative correlation

what does 0 mean as a correlation coefficient

there is no correlation

strengths of a correlational study

- identify relationships between variables that would be impractical or unethical to manipulate in an experiment
- correlations are a good starting point to suggest ideas for future research

weaknesses of a correlational study

- cause and effect cannot be established as correlations can only suggest a relationship between two variables, so further research would be needed
- an unknown third variable may have caused the link, therefore correlations may lack validity

what kind of distribution curve is this

normal distribution curve

what kind of skewed distribution is this

left skew/negative distribution

what kind of skewed distribution is this

right skew/positive distribution

what is the mode

the most frequent score

what is the median

the middle point in the data

what is the mean

adding all the data and dividing by how many scores there are

what does probability mean in psychology

the likelihood that the pattern in the data could be due to chance

by assessing the probability…

…we can determine the significance of the results

high significance

low probability

high probability

low significance

type 1 error

false positive

what hypothesis is rejected but correct in a type 1 error

null hypothesis

what hypothesis is rejected but correct in a type 2 error

directional hypothesis

type 1 error

false positive

type 2 error

false negative

what error happens when the probability is too strict

type 2 error

what error happens when the probability is too lenient

type 1 error

68% of participants

percentage of participants that are within 1 standard deviation of the mean

95% of participants

percentage of participants within 2 standard deviations of the mean

99.7% of participants

percentage of participants within 3 standard deviations of the mean

two requirements of parametric tests

normal distribution, interval data

what stats test is for unrelated data at a nominal level

chi squared

what stats test is for related data at a nominal level

binominal sign

what stats test is for unrelated data at an at least ordinal level

mann whitney u

what stats test is for related data at an at least ordinal level

wilcoxon signed

what stats test is for correlations

spearman’s rho

if the tests name has an R in it then the observed value must be…

greater than or equal to the critical level in order to be significant

if the tests name doesn’t have an R in it then the observered value must be...

less than or equal to the critical level in order to be significant

what is a lab experiment

an experiment conducted in a highly controlled and artificial environment. the researcher manipulates the IV.

what is a field experiment

an experiment conducted in a natural environment. the researcher manipulates the IV.

what is a quasi experiment

an experiment with a naturally occurring IV. the research cannot manipulate the IV.

strengths of a laboratory experiment

high levels of control, no possible EVs, cause and effect can be established
high levels of control, replicable, reliable

weaknesses of a laboratory experiment

artificial setting, low ecological validity, cannot be generalised
may not act naturally, demand characteristics, low internal validity

strengths of field experiments

high ecological validity, low chance of demand characteristics

weaknesses of field experiments

low levels of control, ev’s, cause and effect can’t be established
difficult to replicate, decreases reliability

strengths of quasi experiments

can use an IV that would be unethical/impossible to replicate, practical application
often done in a labratory setting, high control

weaknesses of a quasi experiment

participants can only belong to one condition, individual differences and less valid
some IVs are not frequently occurring

examples of experimental methods

lab, field, quasi

examples of experimental designs

independent, repeated, matched pairs

what is independant measures

participants are randomly allocated one condition

what is repeated measures

participants take part in all conditions

what is matched pairs

researchers make sure each participant has a match in terms of key characteristics in each condition

strengths of independent measures

no risk of order effects

weaknesses of independant measures

high risk of individual differences
ineffective as each participant is only used once

strengths of repeated measures

no risk of individual differences
efficient use of participants as they are used more than once

weaknesses of repeated measures

high risk of order effects
more prone to demand characteristics

strengths of matched pairs

no risk of order effects
reduces the effect of individual differences

weaknesses of matched pairs

very difficult to successfully put in place

how to deal with order effects

counter-balancing

what is a situational variable

anything in the environment that can affect participants behaviour

examples of situational variables

time of day, sound level, temperature

how to control situational variables

keep the environment as similar as possible for all participants

what is a participant variable

differences between participants that aren’t accounted for in the IV

examples of participant variables

gender, age, cultural background, mood, intellect, anxiety, amount of siblings etcetcetc

how to control participant variables

a large sample size limits participant variables, random allocation to groups, matched pairs design

what are experimenter variables

the experimenter may unconsciously convey to participants how they should behave (experimenter/researcher bias)

examples of experimenter variables

demand characteristics → please you/screw you effect, social desirability, expectation effects

how to deal with experimenter variables

single-blind procedure, double-blind procedure, placebo conditions, standardised instructions

what is a single-blind trial

where the participants do not know the aim of the study/what condition they are in to reduce the effect of demand characteristics

what is a double-blind trial

where neither the participants or researchers know the true aims/conditions of the study, to reduce the effect of researcher bias and demand characteristics

what are placebo conditions

where participants believe they are recieving something but they are not, to lessen the effect of social desireability

what are standardised instructions

every participant is given the same amount of information so there is a lesser chance the investigator can convey experectations

who does controls apply to

all conditions

who does standardisation apply to

just one condition