psychology paper 3

what is quantitative research?

it generates numerical data which can be statistically tested for significance in order to rule out the role of chance in the results.

what is operationalising a variable?

the independent and dependent variables need to be written in such a way that it is clear what is being measured.

what is standardized?

This means that they have procedures that are written in enough detail that they can be easily replicated by another researcher.

what is a true experiment?

randomly allocates participants to conditions so participants can be in the experimental or the control condition which reduces individual differences.

what is a field experiment?

a study that is done in the real world.

what are 3 limitations of a field experiment?

-it cannot control for extraneous variables

-they cannot be easily replicated

-its not easy to get informed consent or to debrief.

what is a quasi experiment?

participants are grouped based on a trait or behavior but they do not show direct causation, but they can give a causal relationship between an IV and a DV.

what is a correlational study?

A positive correlation is when both variables are affected in the same way. As x increases, y increases. For example, the more hours you spend studying, the better you do on exams; or the fewer hours you spend studying, the less well you do on exams. A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases

what is bidirectional ambiguity?

Since no independent variable is manipulated, it is impossible to know if x causes y, y causes x, if they interact to cause behavior

what is qualitative data?

produce descriptive data that is used to gain an understanding opinions and motivations for an individual or group's behaviour.

what are interviews?

they can be tight interview schedules with structured questions or take the form of an informal conversational interview with open-ended questions

what is a focus group?

group interviews are naturalistic experiments where several people are interviewed at the same time and the participants communicate among themselves.

what is observational study?

data collection method that aims to describe behaviour without trying to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

it is important to try to avoid researcher bias

what are surveys?

a way of collecting a data from a large amount of people and they usually use questionnaires with closed ends questions.

what is a case study?

where a researcher observed how somebody behaves and they gather holistic data.

what are five ways to avoid bias

double blind trial

random allocation to get rid of individual differences

standardized testing conditions

peer review

triangulation