Psychology: SIS skills

Investigation designs

Experimental, observational, qualitative

Experimental investigation

The investigator examines behavior by manipulating the independent variable

Control group

The group which is not exposed to the independent variable, and creates baseline data to compare the impact of the IV on the experimental group

Experimental group

Participants who are exposed to the IV. The data will indicate what effect the IV had on the DV

Random selection

The process of randomly assigning participants to different groups in an experiment, ensuring that each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group. This helps to eliminate bias and increases the validity of the results.

Random allocation

The process of assigning participants to experimental or control groups through random methods, ensuring that each group is statistically equivalent for comparison.

Advantages of experimental design

Can establish cause-and-effect relationships. The controlled environment reduces confounding variables making the data more accurate

Disadvantages of experimental design

lack external validity due to the controlled environment. Behaviour may not reflect real life behaviour

Blind study

A research method where participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or control group to prevent bias.

Double blind study

A research method where neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the treatment or the placebo, helping to eliminate bias in the results.

Qualitative design

A research design which involves conducting full focused discussions or using the delphi technique to gather non-numerical subjective qualitative data. Where discussions are held and people are asked open ended questions to prompt in depth answers

Advantages of qualitative design

Allows researchers to uncover the reasoning behind feelings

Disadvantage of qualitative design

Includes potential researcher bias, difficult to generalize findings, and time-consuming data analysis. Results cannot be verified

Observational design

When a pre-existing variable is used to separate participants and see their effect.Commonly used when the participants cannot be randomly assigned due to it being unethical or impossible

Advantages of observational design

More ethical due to no manipulation, A wide variety of IV can be done due to no random allocations, Behavior reflects real life behavior

Disadvantages of observational design

No control over variables, the data collected could be influenced by uncontrolled variables due to lack of controlled environment

different types of data

Quantitative, Qualitative, Subjective, Objective

Quantitative data

Data in the form of numbers. Data is graphed on a bar graph if it has pre-existing categories. Data is graphed on a line graph if the categories have a naturally occurring order

Qualitative data

Data in the form of words and descriptions. It is usually organised into a frequency table

Objective data

Data which is observable, factual, and can be verified

Subjective data

Data that is self-reported or only based on opinions. Experiments include Interviews, Surveys, Scale ranking

Quantitative data ~ Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages are easy and quick to analyse and is unbiased. Disadvantages are it doesn’t provide answers to the why and how factors

Qualitative data ~ Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages are allows to gather people's in-depth opinions and any lived experiences. Disadvantages are time consuming to analyze due to having to divide answers into themes

Objective data ~ Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages are data is factual, unbiased, and can be verified. Disadvantages are that data is hard to collect in the field of psychology

Subjective data ~ Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages:Allows research into areas where objective data cannot be collected. Disadvantages: No way of ensuring that the participants are being truthful

Reliability

The consistency of your procedures and results. Was the procedure consistent?

Internal validity

The accuracy of the investigation design

Target population & sample

Target population: The whole group of people you are trying to observe. Sample: The subset of the population that is being studied

External validity

How well the results collected can be applied in real world scenarios

Confounding variables

Any extraneous variable which has influenced the results in any way which causes the validity of the results to decrease

Extraneous variables

Any variable that could not be controlled (other than the IV) that could potentially affect the results and lower the accuracy

Participant variables

Individual differences that participants bring to the study. Examples; Gender, Intelligence, Personality, Motivation, Emotional state

Situational variables

Associated with the experiment itself and may influence the results in an unwanted way, Examples: Background noise, Time of day, Temperature

Placebo effect

Refers to whenever a participants response is influenced by their expectation to of what to do or how to think or feel, rather than actually being influenced by the IV

Ethical principles

A set of rules which describes how researchers to treat their participants IVCARDD

Do Not harm

Participants must not be exposed to situations where physical or psychological harm is likely, The participants should be entering and exiting the study with the same or better mental health, *Well being must be monitored throughout the study*

Informed consent

The researcher must inform the participant of all aspects that are likely to influence their decision of participation, Written consent, If the participant is younger than 16 then a parent must consent

Voluntary consent

Participants must have the freedom to say they don’t want to participate,The participant cannot be pressured or coerced in any way

Confidentiality & Anonymity

Information given by participants and individual results must be kept confidential,Results should be anonymous,Only relevant information to the study must be collected

Accurate reporting

Researchers must share the accurate results even if their hypothesis was not supported

Raw data cannot be used without the participants consent, only the mean data scores can be used for external purposes

Right to Withdraw

The participant should be allowed to withdraw from the study at anytime,If any obvious harm is being done to the participant then they should be removed immediately

Debriefing

At the end of the study the participants should be fully informed of all aspects of the study, In case the participants experience distress following the experiment, they should advised services available to them

Biopsychosocial model

A model or framework which is used to examine and understand human behavior in any given context

3 components ~ Biopsychosocial model

It consists of the biological component which looks at how their physical body is contributing to the behaviour, the psychological component which looks at how their cognition/personality is contributing to the behavior, and the sociocultural component which looks at how their external surroundings contribute to the behavior?

Biological factors

Biological factors include; brain activity, brain injury, hormones, genetics, overall health, age, stress levels, sleep quality, and drugs/alcohol effect

Psychological factors

Psychological factors include; attention, self esteem, mental health, coping skills, emotions, personality, personal beliefs, memory, learning, and attitudes

Sociocultural factors

Sociocultural factors include’ socioeconomic status, level of education, social norms, global events, cultural differences, relationship with others, and household roles