AQA A-level Psychology research methods Set 4

advantages of matched pairs design

controls some pts variables

no repetition effects

less chance of demand characteristics

disadvantages of matched pairs design

difficult to find similar pts (time consuming)

impossible to control ALL variables

needs more pts as each person only participates once

advantages of repeated measures design

controls EV’s

fewer pts needed

high statistical power

disadvantages of repeated measures design

repetition effects

demand characteristics

cannot always be used

name some examples of qualitative data

case study’s

unstructured observation

name some examples of quantitative data

correlations

structured observation

experiment

what is primary data

collected at a different time than the current study

what is secondary data

collected from first hand experience by the researcher for the study being undertaken

what is a meta-analysis

combination of the results of multiple studies on the same topic to produce an overall statistical conclusion

advantages of primary data

likely to measure what it is intended to

obtained from pts for sole purpose or current investigation

disadvantages of primary data

requires time and effort

can be very expensive

advantages of secondary data

relatively easy to collect / minimal effort

desired information may already exist

disadvantages of secondary data

data available may not be high enough quality or accurate

may be incomplete outdated or irrelevant

low internal validity

what is the problem with repeated measures

order effects

what is the solution to order effects

counter balancing

what is counter balancing

when equal number of pts undertake the tasks required of them in a different order

what is counter balancing sometimes referred to as

the ABBA technique e.g. A-B then B-A

how does counter balancing improve order effects

doesn’t remove or prevents the problem but it attempts to minimise the effects

what is the issue with independent groups

participant differences

what the solution for participant differences in an independent group design

random allocation