psych component 2

whats a confounding variable

• variables that arent being measured or manipulated by researcher

• affect some participants behaviours but not others

• has negative consequences for validity

whats an extraneous variable

• variables that arent being measured or manipulated

• affect results of all participants behaviour equally

what are co variables

• two or more quantities being measured in a correlation

• may or may not vary with eacother

whats an alternative hypothesis

• a testable statement that a piece of research attempts to support or reject

whats the aim of research

• a broad statement of the purpose of the research

whats a quasi experiment

• experimenter hasnt deliberately manipulated the IV

• participants arent randomly allocated

• methods within category include natural experiments + difference studies

whats a natural experiment

• research method where the IV occurs naturally

• DV can still be measured

when would a natural experiment be used

• when its unethical to directly manipulate the IV

whats a participant observation

• research method where the researcher takes on the role of a participant while observing other participants behaviour around them

whats a non participant observation

• research method where researcher watches and records participant behaviour from a distance without interfering

whats content analysis

• research method

• exploration of behaviour to see what categories, codes or themes emerge

• tallying each time a material fits them

• converts qual data into quant to compare easier

whats a structured interview

• research method

• includes standardised questions aka interview schedule

• usually asked face to face

whats a questionnaire

• includes a list of written questions

• generate closed and/or open answers

• can be used in person, online or through other methods eg post

whats a semi structured interview

• involves asking participants questions, usually face to face

• can be in form of interview schedule but also include follow up questions

whats a correlational study

• comparing 2 co variables to see if theres a relationship between them

whats a case study

• in depth investigation of a phenomenon

• uses descriptive analysis of person, group or event

• holistic study through one or more methodologies thats usually longitudinal

whats a self report

• participant reporting on their own thoughts and feelings

• through methods such as interviews or questionnaires

whats a cross sectional study

• comparing one group of participants representing a cross section of society against another at the same point in time

whats a brain scan

• taking images of living brain to investigate brain function

• eg. PET, fMRI and CAT scans

whats a longitudinal study

• conducting research over a long period of time

• observes long term effects of X on a specific behavious

• may utilise a range of other methodologies like case studies, interviews.

whats the target population

• group of individuals that a researcher is interested in studying

whats a sampling frame

• group/population that is identified when its unrealistic to study whole target population eg london

whats random sampling

• sampling technique

• participants selected from sampling frame have an equal chance of being selected

• eg names pulled out of hat

whats opportunity sampling

• participants selected at researchers convenience without knowing any details about the sample in advance

• eg picking people there at the time

whats systematic sampling

• every nth person on a list is selected by researcher

• eg every 3rd house on street

whats stratified sampling

• target group is divided into subgroups

• eg by sex then participants are selected randomly from each subgroup

whats quota sampling

• target population is divided into subgroups

• eg by sex and participants are chosen from each subgroup at convenience of the researcher

whats self selected sampling

• participants volunteer for research

whats snowball sampling

• participants are initially recruited by psychologist

• them participants then recruit further participants from people they know

whats event sampling

• when participants are observed by psychologist who records a specific behaviour each time it occurs

whats time sampling

• psychologist observes and records behaviour at specific time intervals

what is independent groups

• an experimental design where participants take part in only one experimental condition

whats repeated measures

• experimental design where participants take part in both the control and experimental condition

whats matched pairs

• form of independent groups

• experimental and control participants are deliberately similar eg a balance between gender and IQ levels in each condition

whats nominal data

• level of measurement that shows categories of data represented by frequencies

• data sets have no relative numerical value eg boys and girls

whats ordinal data

• data can be placed into ascending or descending order

• intervals between data arent necessarily equal eg the times for 1st 2nd and 3rd in a race

whats interval data

• equal numerical intervals between scores eg temperature

whats ratio data

• equal intervals between scores and has a true zero eg speed

whats internal reliability

• extent to which a test is consistent within itself eg the use of standardised instructions and procedure for all participants

what is external reliability

• the extent to which a test produces consistent results over several occasions

ways of dealing with reliability

• a measure which improves consistency and accuracy within the results eg the use of standardised procedure

assessing reliability

• measures used to check the consistency of a set of results

inter rater reliability

• where 2 or more psychologists produce consistent results by using a standardised procedure, agreed coding system or correlation of their data

test retest reliability

• involves testing and retesting the same participants over time, with the same test, and comparing their scores.

• if scores are the same the test has external reliability

whats split half reliability

• involves splitting a participants test answers in half and seeing wether they got the same or similar scores on the two halves

• if so, internal reliability is high

• if not, its low and individual questions would need to be redesigned

whats internal validity

• when the study measures what it intends to measure

• findings are accurate and effects on DV are caused by IV

whats external validity

• wether study paints a true picture of real life behaviours ( if tasks have mundane realism)

• wether findings would apply to different places, times or people (population validity)

whats researcher bias

• where researcher either directly or indirectly influences the results of a study

• through process of designing study or through the way research is conducted/ analysed

what are demand characteristics

• type of confounding variable

• participants unconsciously work out the aim and act differently

whats social desirability

• participants give response they think will show them in the best possible light

• means they arent a true reflection of their real thoughts/feelings

ways of dealing with issues of validity

• through methods such as double or single blind procedures

• through changing location/ nature of research tasks to make them more reflective of real life

whats concurrent validity

• validating a measurement by comparing it with an established measurement that has known validity

• if similar results occur on both tests, then this new test is valid

• if not, then the new test would have to be redesigned and tested

whats construct validity

• most sophisticated test of validity

• looks at whether the overall results reflect the phenomena as a whole

• checking the existing definitions of the behaviour being studied and redesigning the test if it measures a different construct

whats content validity

• checks method of measuring behaviour is accurate and decides whether its a fair test that achieves the aims of the study

• ask an expert in that specific area of behaviour to check the test is valid

whats predictive validity

• degree to which a test accurately forecasts a future outcome on a more broadly related topic

• do the findings apply in different and more varied situations? eg do those with high IQ scores gain higher grades in exams?

whats face validity

• least sophisticated measure of validity

• whether the test appears to measure what it claims to, and hence is subjective