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Topic 1- Experiments

What is the experimental method?

Refers to the method used to carry out an experiment Four main types of experiment.

Laboratory experiment	Field experiment	Natural experiment	Quasi experiment
An experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV, whilst still maintaining strict control over extraneous variables	An experiment that takes place in a natural setting within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV.	An experiment where the change in the IV is not brought about by the researcher but would have happened even if the researcher was not present. The researcher records the effect of the IV on the DV.	A study that is almost an experiment but lacks key ingredients. The IV has not been determined by anyone (the researcher or any other person) - the variables simply exist, such as age, gender etc. Strictly speaking, this is not an experiment.

ADVANTAGES of LAB experiments	DISADVANTAGES of LAB experiments
•Environment is controlled + has strict control over extraneous/confounding variables meaning that they can not confound the result (cause confusion in the results) and a cause and effect relationship between the IV and DV can be assumed•Have high reliability and replicability	•The data collected may lack external validity because the environment has high control over extraneous variables and so it is artificial and may not be applicable to every day life.•In an unfamiliar context, participants may behave in unusual ways so their behaviour cannot always be generalised beyond the research setting.•Participants are also usually aware that they are being observed when in a lab and so will still behave unusually

ADVANTAGES of LAB experiments

DISADVANTAGES of LAB experiments

•Environment is controlled + has strict control over extraneous/confounding variables meaning that they can not confound the result (cause confusion in the results) and a cause and effect relationship between the IV and DV can be assumed•Have high reliability and replicability

•The data collected may lack external validity because the environment has high control over extraneous variables and so it is artificial and may not be applicable to every day life.•In an unfamiliar context, participants may behave in unusual ways so their behaviour cannot always be generalised beyond the research setting.•Participants are also usually aware that they are being observed when in a lab and so will still behave unusually

ADVANTAGES of FIELD experiments	DISADVANTAGES of FIELD experiments
•Have higher external validity than lab experiments as the environment is more natural to the participant and so field experiments are likely to produce behaviour that is more valid and authentic. This is the case especially when participants are unaware that they are being observed,	•Because there is an increase in external validity, there is going to be less control over external variables, in which lab experiments would have tight control over. This means that a cause and effect relationship between IV and DV is going to be more difficult to establish.•Ethical issues - if the participant does not know they are being observed then this means that they were not able to give consent and could constitute an invasion of privacy.

ADVANTAGES of FIELD experiments

DISADVANTAGES of FIELD experiments

•Have higher external validity than lab experiments as the environment is more natural to the participant and so field experiments are likely to produce behaviour that is more valid and authentic. This is the case especially when participants are unaware that they are being observed,

•Because there is an increase in external validity, there is going to be less control over external variables, in which lab experiments would have tight control over. This means that a cause and effect relationship between IV and DV is going to be more difficult to establish.•Ethical issues - if the participant does not know they are being observed then this means that they were not able to give consent and could constitute an invasion of privacy.

ADVANTAGES of NATURAL experiments	DISADVANTAGES of NATURAL experiments
•Often have high external validity because they involve the natural study of real-life issues as they happen and so can be applied to real life	•Naturally occurring events may only occur rarely and so this limits the opportunities for research. This also may limit the scope for generalising findings to other similar situations.•Participants may no be randomly allocated to experimental conditions (this only applies if there is an independent group design). This means the researcher may be less sure whether the IV affected the DV.

ADVANTAGES of QUASI experiments	DISADVANTAGES of QUASI experiments
•They are often carried out in controlled conditions meaning that they share the same strengths of lab experiments	•This experiment cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions and therefore there may be confounding variables that will confound the results and so the cause and effect relationship between the iv and the DV will be more difficult to establish. (This only applies when there is an independent group design)

Topic 2 - Correlations

Correlation - statistical technique used to measure relationship between two variables
Correlation coefficient: always between (-1) and 1. Plus or minus sign indicates direction (positive or negative) of relationship.
The further away the coefficient is from zero, the stronger the relationship is.
Positive correlation - as one variable increases, so does the other
Negative correlation - as one variable increases, the other decreases.
Perfect positive coefficient - 1.0
Perfect negative coefficient: -1.0

Topic 3 - Aims and hypothesis

Aims - straightforward, states what you want to find out
Hypothesis - makes the aim testable. Should include both the IV and DV
Alternative hypothesis - this is what you expect to happen. The prediction states what the effect of the IV will be on the DV
Null hypothesis - statement that predicts there will be no effect of the IV and the DV. Null hypothesis should end with the phrase, “ any difference found is due to chance or random variables”
Directional (one tailed) hypothesis - predicts the direction in which change is expected to occur. They are precise and use words such as: bigger smaller, faster, slower.
Non-directional (two tailed) hypothesis - predicts change but doesn't specify any direction. Not precise and uses words such as: change, difference
Operationalising variables - a variable is an object , entity or behaviour whose values can change. Definitions of variables need to be clear and specify how we are going to measure the variable.

Topic 4 - IV’s, DV’s, EV’s

Independent variable - the variable that is being manipulated by the experimenter
Dependent variable - the variable that is measured by the experimenter.
Levels of IV - usually 2 levels: experimental condition and the control condition.
Operationalisation - the variables being measured should be clearly defined and measurable.
Extraneous variables - only thing that should be effecting the DV is the IV. Anything else that changes the DV or the IV are extraneous variables. They should be removed by identifying what they are before the experiment, and should be accounted for by minimising their influence.
Confounding variables - they change systematically with the IV which means that it is difficult to establish the cause and effect relationship between the IV and the DV as you don’t know whether the change in DV was caused by the IV or by the confounding variables
Demand characteristics - participants aren’t going to be passive in experiments and are going to be trying to understand the situation. As they do this, they may notice clues / cues that may help them to rethink the aims of the study and to rethink the researchers intentions. The clues / cues are called the demand characteristics.
Investigator effects - Occur when a researcher unintentionally/unconsciously influences the outcome of research that they are conducting.
Participant variables - any individual differences between participants that may affect the DV.
Situational Variables - any features of the experimental situation that may affect the DV.

Topic 5 - Experimental designs

Independent group design - one group of participants do condition A, and another group of participants do condition B
Repeated measures - One group of participants go through all of the conditions in the experiment.
Matched pairs - Two groups of participant but they are related to each other by participant variables relevant to the study.

Advantages of independent groups	Advantages of repeated measures	Advantages of matched pairs
Order (order in which the tasks are done) effects are not much of an issue. Participants are less likely to guess the aims of the study/experiment.	•Participant variables are controlled which means that there it is more likely that changes in the DV have been caused do to the manipulation of the IV.•The same participants are going to be used twice, recruiting more participants will not be needed meaning it is economical.	Participants only take part in a single condition so order effects and demand characteristics are less of an issue.

Disadvantages independent groups	Disadvantages of repeated measures	Disadvantages of matched pairs
The participants who occupy the different groups are not the same. If the researcher finds a mean difference in the DV, it may be more to do with participant variables than the effects of the IV. Random allocation can deal with this.Less economical than repeated measures	When participants are tested more than once, and experience all conditions of the experiment, there is an increased chance that they will become wise to the aims of the study – this is a disadvantage as the participant may start to change their behaviour because of this.	Matching may be time consuming and expensive and so is less economical than other designs.

Topic - 6: Observations

Observations: Way of seeing what people do
Controlled observation: some aspects of the observation are controlled by the researcher.
Naturalistic observation: All variables of the observation are left free to vary
Covert observation: When the participant does not know that they are being observed and so the researcher does not have the participants consent.
Overt research: When the participant is aware of the fact that the researcher is observing them and has given the researcher their consent.
Participant observations: When the researcher will join a group and join in its activities.
Non-participant observation - the researcher observes a group from a distance.
Causation: it is not possible to establish a cause and effect relationship in an observation.
Unstructured observations: when the researcher simply writes down what they see. This produces accounts that are rich in detail. Appropriate for smaller scale observations where there are fewer participants.
Structured observations - This is when the researcher has target behaviours and notes down when or how these target behaviours where met.

Advantages of covert observation	Disadvantages of covert observation	Advantages of overt observation	Disadvantages of overt observation
•The fact that the participants don’t know they’re being watched removes the problem of participant reactivity.•High in external validity as participant is unaware and so behaviour is more authentic	•Ethics are questioned as because the participants are unaware that they are being observed, they are not able to give consent.•Participants may not want their behaviour to be noted down.	•More ethically acceptable as the participant is aware they are being observed and has given their consent.	•Participants are aware that they are being observed and so may behave unnaturally and therefore this decreases validity.

Advantages of participant observation	Disadvantages of participant observation	Advantages of non-participant observation	Disadvantages of non-participant observation	Advantages of controlled observation	Disadvantages of controlled observation
•The researcher is given an insight into the lives of the participants and so is likely to increase validity.	•The researcher may identify with the participants and therefore will risk losing objectivity.	•Allows the researcher to maintain objectivity and not identifying with the participants	•Because they are not directly with the participants, they are missing out on possibly valuable insight on the participants lives	•EV’s are less of a problem as the observation is controlled.	•Likely to produce findings that are less applicable to real life settings and limits how far the findings can be applied outside of the research setting

Advantages of naturalistic observations: high external validity as findings can be generalised to everyday life as participant behaviour has been studied in an environment in which it would usually occur.

Disadvantages of naturalistic observations: Lack of control over research situation makes replicability hard as there could be uncontrolled EV’s that make it difficult to judge a pattern of behaviour.

Behavioural categories - when a target behaviour is broken down into something that is observable and measurable. Should be precisely defined
Sampling methods - event sampling involves counting a number of times a specific behaviour occurs in a target individual or group
Time sampling - involves recording behaviour with a pre-established time frame.

Advantage of event sampling: Useful for evens that happen quite frequently	Disadvantage of even sampling: Observer may overlook important details if the event is too complex
Advantages of time sampling: Reduces the number of observations that need to be made	Disadvantages of time sampling: May be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole.

Topic - 7: Questionnaires and interviews

questionnaire - set of written questions used to assess ones own thoughts and experiences
Interview - live encounter where one person asks a set of questions to assess and interviewees own thoughts and experiences.
Self report techniques: any method in which a person is asked to state or explain their own feelings, opinions, behaviours and/or experiences related to a given topic.

Strengths of questionnaires	Weaknesses of questionnaires
Cost effective and quick: can gather large amounts of information and data quickly / can be mass printed cheaply	Responses are not always truthful – demand characteristic called social desirability bias may cause people to answer untruthfully
Requires minimal effort: postal questionnaires don’t require for the researcher to be present.	Response bias – participants always tend to reply in a similar way. Called acquiescence bias
Easy to analyse, especially if it is quantitative data	If any questions are misunderstood, participants will not be able to asl for clarification. Therefore results will not be as valid as they should be as the participant may have answered the question incorrectly.

Self report - questionnaires

Open questions: don’t have a fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish. Open questions provide qualitative data.
Closed questions: Offers a fixed ranged of responses. Can provide quantitative or qualitative data. If a closed question were to provided qualitative data, it would ask a closed question first, and then ask you to explain your answer.

Self report - interviews

There are three different types of interview:

Structured interview	Unstructured interview	Semi-structured interview
This is where the interviewer has a set of questions to lead the conversation, a framework which will be stuck to rigidly. Questions are pre-determined and are in a fixed order.	This is where the interviewer may have a list of topics or questions, but has flexibility to lead the conversation further if the participants responses leads to a more detailed discussion. There is a general aim that certain topics will be discussed but this is not stuck to rigidly. The interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate on their views and experiences.	Most interviews fall into this category. A list of questions are asked that have been made in advance but the interviewers are also free to ask follow up questions to go deeper into specific points.

Advantages and disadvantages of types of interviews

Advantages of structured interviews	Disadvantages of structured interviews	Advantages of unstructured interviews	Disadvantages of unstructured interviews
Easy to replicate because they are standardised	Cannot collect detailed data due to having fixed questions.	Provides potential to gather rich and detailed data from each participant	Interviewer bias and social desirability bias are more likely to have an affect on how the interviewee answers. They are also hard to analyse due to the rich and detailed data.

Questionnaire types

Likert scale - respondents indicate their agreement with a statement using a scale with usually 5 points
Rating scale - works in a similar way to likert scale.
Fixed option choice - includes a list of possible options and respondents select the one that applies to them.

Writing good questions

Clarity is needed when designing questionnaires and interviews. If respondents do nit understand what they are being asked, this will negatively affect the data collected. Some things to avoid when writing good questions:
1. Overuse of jargon - jargon refers to technical terms that are only familiar to those within a specialised field or area.
Emotive language and leading questions - the authors attitude towards a particular topic is clear from the way in which the question is phrased. E.g. ‘Boxing is a barbaric sport and any sane person would want it banned.’ This may influence the participant to answer in a way that they wouldn’t have if the phrasing of the question was not leading and neutral.
Double barrelled questions and double negatives - a double barrelled question contains two questions in one; the issue is that the respondent may agree with half of the question and not the other half. Questions with double negatives can be difficult for participants to decipher.

Designing interviews

Interviews are not the best method to be used for research on sensitive topics as people would feel more at ease when completing the questionnaire in private away from others.
They should be done in a private room and neutral questions should be used to begin with so that the interviewee is more comfortable.

Topic 8 - Sampling methods

Population - a group of people who are the focus of the researchers interest, from which a smaller sample is drawn.
Sample - a group of people who take part in a research investigation. The sample is drawn from a target population and is presumed to be representative of that population.
Bias - when certain groups are over or under represented with the sample selected. E.g. there may be too many older people. This limits the extent to which generalisations can be made to the target population.

Sampling methods definitions

Random sample - a form of sampling in which all members of the target population have an equal chance of being selected.
Systematic sample - this is when the nth number of the population is selected to be a part of the sample
Stratified sample - a form of sampling in which the sample reflects the proportion of people in a certain subgroup (strata) within the target or wider population.
Opportunity sample - This is when researchers selected anyone who is willing and able to participate in the research investigation.
Volunteer sample - This is when participants select themselves to be a part of the sample. Also referred to as ‘self-selection’. This would involve the researcher putting up some form of advertisement in which they are requesting for volunteers to take part ion the research investigation.

Advantages and disadvantages of sampling methods.

Advantage of random sampling - Free from bias as samples are randomly selected and so researcher has no influence over who is selected and this prevents them from choosing people who they think may support their hypothesis.
Disadvantage of random sampling - Time consuming, may end up with a sample that is unrepresentative
Advantages of systematic sampling - Avoids researcher bias as researcher has no influence over who is selected once the system is established
Disadvantage of systematic sampling - time consuming.
Advantage of stratified sampling - avoids researcher bias, produces a representative sample
Disadvantage of stratified sampling - The identified strata cannot reflect all ways that people are different / complete representation of the target population is not possible.
Advantages of opportunity sample - Convenient/ time saving
Disadvantages of opportunity sample - Suffers from two forms of bias: 1. sample is unrepresentative of target population as the sample has only been made from one specific area and so cannot be generalised further than the area the sample was taken from / 2. Researcher bias as the researcher has selection over the people that take part in the research investigation.
Advantages of volunteer sampling - Easy, participants come to you / less time consuming
Disadvantages of volunteer sampling - is biased as asking for a volunteer attracts a certain ‘profile’ of person and so may be unrepresentative / may be expensive as the researcher will need to advertise the research investigation to attract volunteers.

Topic 9 ethical issues

Informed consent - involves making the participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights and what the data will be used for so the participant can make a judgement on whether to participate or not without feeling obliged to.
Privacy and confidentiality - Participants have the right to control information about themselves. This is the right of privacy. If participants privacy is involved then this information should be kept confidential. The ‘Right of Privacy’ also extends to location.
Deception - deliberately misleading or withholding information from the participants at any stage of the investigation.
Protection from harm - As a result of their involvement, participants should not be placed at any more risk/harm than they would be in their daily lives. they should be protected from physical and psychological harm.

Ways of dealing with ethical issues

Dealing with informed consent - Participants should be issued with a consent letter detailing all the relevant information that might affect their decision to participate. For research involving children under the age of 16, consent from their parents/guardian(s) is also required. The researcher may also use presumptive consent which is asking people of a similar demographic to the person and asking the other people if they would be okay with it. Prior general consent may also be used as well as retrospective consent.
Dealing with privacy and confidentiality - It is easier to not record any personal details and therefore maintain anonymity. A way to do this is that participants may be given numbers to be referred by rather than using their names.
Dealing with deception - at the end of the study, participant should be given a full debrief. Within this, participants must be made aware of the true aims of the study.
Dealing with protection from harm - Participants should be told what their data will be used for and must be given the right to withdraw their data if they wish. If the study has caused the participant stress, they may require counselling in which the researcher should provide.

Other ethical issues

Working with animals - if animals are to be used in an investigation, researchers can only use species that are considered scientifically suitable according to ethical guidelines. Procedures that could cause physical or mental harm should be avoided where possible. It is encouraged that investigations take place in their natural environment. Animals must be properly cared for if the study requires them to be kept captive.

Topic 10A - Peer Review

Main purposes of peer review:

Allocation of research funding - independent peer evaluation takes place to decide whether or not to award finding to a proposed research project. This may be co-ordinated by government run funding organisations such as the Medical Research Council.
Validate the quality and relevance of research - All elements of research are assessed for quality and accuracy. The formulation of hypothesis, the methodology chosen, the statistical tests used and the conclusions drawn.
Suggest amendments or improvements - Reviews may suggest minor improvements of the work and thereby improve the report, or in extreme cases, they may conclude that the work is inappropriate for publication and should be withdrawn.

I__mportance of Cyril Burt case

Was an educational psychologist, had researched human intelligence, suggested in his research that human IQ is genetically determined. This highlights the importance of peer review as if there were checks on Burt’s work then the discrepancies could have been corrected before publication. His research had influenced the Hadow Report which was then used to create the 11+ exam. Even though his work was found out to be fake later, the effects on society had already happened.Criticism to peer review

Anonymity - the ‘peer’ doing the reviewing is often kept anonymous during the process. However, some reviewers may use the anonymity to criticise and discredit rival researchers who they believed to have wronged them in the past. This is likely to happen as researchers are all competing for limited funding.Publication bias - there is a tendency with journals to publish significant ‘headline grabbing’ findings to increase credibility and circulation of their publication. They also prefer to publish more positive findings. This may mean that research which doesn’t meet this criteria is ignored or disregarded. Thos creates a false impression of the current state of psychology if editors are selective of what they publish.Burying ground breaking research - Peer review process may suppress opposition to mainstream theories, in which to maintain the status quo within the particular scientific fields. Reviewers tend to be especially critical of research that contradicts their own view and more favourable to those who match it. Established scientists are the ones which are more likely to be chosen as reviewers, particularly by prestigious journals and publishers. As a result, findings that are match or agree with current views are more likely to be passed than new innovative research.Topic 10B -Psychological research and the economy.

Attachment research into the role of the father - in the past, it was believed that caring for the children was a job for the mother only. This notion has been questioned recently and increased importance of a child forming multiple attachments including an attachment to its father. Studies show that although the father may play a different role, it is still important. Because research shows that either parent can care for a child, this allows for more flexible working arrangements. This would then allow for families to share childcare and so both parents being able to work and so pay taxes from their income, thus benefiting the economy.The development of treatment for mental disorders - Absence from work costs the economy £15 billion each year. A third of all absences are a result of mild to moderate mental health issues and so treatment will aid to reduce the amount of absences. Diagnosis is quick and so treatment is received quick. Treatment can include things such as, psychotherapeutic drugs being prescribed. Conditions can also be managed at home. All of this would lead to people taking less time off of work and resulting in economic benefits.Accuracy within eyewitness testimony - Accuracy of eyewitness statements are highly important gif convictions are to be secured. The process begins with effective methods of interviewing by the police. The psychological interview was developed which allows for facts to be gathered more easily from eyewitnesses. This allows for prosecution cases to be stronger when brought to court. This saves the legal system time and money which is seen as an economical benefit.The process of social change in minority influence - Research into the process of social change shows how minority influence, conformity and obedience can have an influence of attitudes, thinking and behaviour on a social level.Examples pf this are: the move towards a more environmentally friendly approach to disposal and introduction of smoking bans. Both contribute greatly to the economy: recycling leads to reduced manufacturing and production costs, a reduction in the number of people smoking will help the NHS save millions of pounds.Topic 11 - descriptive statistics

Qualitative - expressed in words / not numbers or dataQuantitative - expressed in numbers not wordsPrimary data - first hand data collected from participants, collected specifically for the purposes of the research.Secondary data - collected by someone else other than the person doing the research/ already existed investigation began.Meta analysis - A number of research studies that have investigated the same area are reviewed.Effect size - overall statistical measure of relationship across variables in a meta-analysis.Measures of central tendency:Mean - this is the average. Calculated by added all of the scores and then dividing this number by the total number of scores. This is the most sensitive measure of central tendency as it includes all of the values in the data set.Median - this is the middle value when the values are arranged from largest to smallest. In an even number of values, the median is halfway between the two middle numbers.Mode - this is the most frequent numberMeasures of dispersion:Range - take the lowest value from the highest and then add 1. Adding 1 is a mathematical correction.Standard deviation - refers to the extent to which the individual scores deviate from the mean / if high, there are many individual differences and so participant variables likely impacted the score. If low, this indicates consistency among the participants.How to find the standard deviation:Find the meanFind the difference between the mean and the scoresFind the squared difference between the mean and the scoresAdd up all the squared differences for each conditionDivide this figure by the number of scores in each conditionThis gives the variance, square root this to find the standard deviation.Topic 13 - Levels of data

Nominal data - a level of measurement where data are in operate categoriesOrdinal data - a level of measurement where data are ordered in some wayInterval data 0 where data is measured in an established, scientifically precise way e.eg. time, weight, distanceTopic 14 - Skewed data

Normal distribution - bell shaped curve is the predicted distribution when using equally likely sets of results.Characteristics of normal distribution - the three measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode) are all in the exact mid-point (middle part) of the graph / peak of the curve.Skewed distribution - one where the scores are not evenly distributed around the mean - the data is clustered at one end.Positive skew - data that is positively skewed has a long tail that extends to the right. Most of the data is clustered to the left. The mean will be greater than the mode and median.Negative skew - Data that is negatively skewed has a long tail that extends to the left. The mean will be lower than the mode and median.Topic 15 - Inferential statistics

Null hypothesis - Any change (difference) between two conditions is due to chance.Type 1 error - you are too lenient when setting the probability level. Allows too much margin for error. Incorrectly reject the null hypothesis and have assumed that the results are statistically significant.Type 2 error you are too strict when setting the probability level. allow yourself too little margin for error. End up incorrectly accepting the null hypothesis and incorrectly assuming that the results are not statistically significant.Calculating sign test

Year 1 - Research Methods