RESEARCH METHODS

CONTROLLING VARIABLES

Participant variable- individual differences which may affect how they respond (dependent variable).

Situational variable- factors in the environment that may affect the dependent variable.

  • demand characteristics: participants unconsciously change their natural behavior to meet expectations of the research.

  • Participant reactivity: individuals alter their behavior due to awareness that they are being observed.

  • Investigator effects: investigator unconsciously conveys to participant how they should behave.

Extraneous variable: all variables (apart from independent) that could affect the results of the experiment.

→ may influence results = poor internal validity

→ if you control to many variables, it is low in mandate realism = not generalizable

Confounding variables: variables that have affected the results (apart from the independent variable)

→ could be an extraneous variable that has not been controlled

HYPOTHESIS’

Hypothesis- clear statement of what is actually being tested- not just the aim.

→ Null- always predicts no difference will be found

→ Alterate- predicts a difference will be found between conditions of the independent variable

→ Directional- participants who perform significantly better without environmental distractions compared to others who do

→ Non directional- there will be a significant difference for performance depending on heather performer is distracted by surroundings.

SAMPLING TYPES

Opportunity- selecting those who are more easily available at the time of study.

Volunteer- asking for volunteers. Researcher may then select those most suitable.

Random- every member of target population has an equal chance of being selected.

Systematic- selecting every nth person from a sampling frame.

Stratified- subgroups within a population. Participants are selected in proportion to their occurrence.

EXPERIMENTAL TYPES

Laboratory- controlled setting. Researcher manipulates the independent variable and measure the effect on the dependent variable.

Strengths:

  • Can be replicated

  • Controlled variables = high internal validity

Weaknesses:

  • Low in ecological validity

  • Low in mundane realism

Field- natural environment. Researcher manipulates the independent variable and measures the effect on the dependent variable.

→ Pilivans subway samaritan aim was to investigate which factors led to people helping someone.

Procedure- passenger fell over on NYC subway.

Findings- people helped the person with the walking stick rather than the person carrying alcohol.

Strengths:

  • High ecological validity Low

  • Fewer problems with participant reactivity

Weaknesses:

  • Takes time to set up

  • Less control over extraneous variables

Natural- naturally occurring. Independent variable is utilized and can take place in a lab or natural environment. Researcher could manipulate the independent variable, but doesn’t because of ethical/ practical reasons.

Strengths:

  • High ecological validity

  • Allows researcher to study something new

Weaknesses:

  • Difficult to replicate

  • High extraneous variables

Quasi- independent variable is a difference in people. Researcher doesn’t assign participants to conditions

Strengths:

  • Allows comparison

  • Ethical

Weaknesses:

  • Can only be used when conditions occur naturally

  • Participants may be aware they are being studied

ETHICL ISSUES

Informed consent- participants are asked to indicate agreement to take part in the study (usually by signing a document that summarizes the nature of the study)

  • Researches POV: may not always want to revel the true aims because it will become an invalid study

  • Participants POV: should be told about the study so thy can make a decision to participate or not.

Deception- should be approved by an ethics committee, weighing up the benefits against the costs. Participants should be fully debriefed after the study has taken place.

  • Researchers POV: may be necessary to deceive the participants about the aims otherwise the participants may change their behavior.

  • Participants POV: prevents the, giving informed consent.

Right to withdraw- participants should be informed at the beginning that they can leave at any moment.

  • Researcher POV: if participants leave during the study, it will bias the results.

  • Participants POV: may feel they can’t leave because it will spoil the study. In some studies, the participants are paid.

Protection for physical/ psychological harm- avoid any risks greater then experienced in everyday life.

  • Researchers POV: studying some of the more important questions may distress the participants

  • Participants POV: unless they have given consent to be treated otherwise, noting should happen to them

Confidentiality- researchers should not record the names of participants and should use numbers or fake names instead.

  • Researcher POV: garuntees anonymity

  • Participants POV: only acceptable for personal data to be recorded if it is not available in a form that identify the participant.

Privacy- do not study anyone without informed consent, unless it is in a public place.

  • Researchers POV: difficult to avoid invasion of privacy when studying participants who are unaware they are part of the study.

  • Participants POV: people do not expect to be observed by others in certain situations.

OBSERVATION TYPES

Naturalistic- observations that take place in a natural situation

Strengths:

  • Creates realistic picture of what spontaneous behavior looks like

  • High ecological validity

Weaknesses:

  • Little control of other things happening

  • Something unknown may account for behavioral changes

Controlled- observations that take place where some variables are controlled/ manipulated by the experimenter

Strengths;

  • Focuses on a particular aspect of behavior

Weaknesses:

  • Environment feeling unnatural may lead to a change in behavior

Covert- observations undercover

Strengths:

  • Behaviour is more natural

Weaknesses:

  • Ethical issues as participants cannot give consent

Overt- participants are aware they are being observed

Strengths:

  • No ethical issues

Weaknesses:

  • Behavior may be altered (response to demand characteristics)

Participant- observer are taking part in activity

Strengths:

  • Gives insight into specific behaviors

Weaknesses:

  • More likely to be overt = issues with participant awareness

Non-participant- individual is standing back from the activity

Strengths:

  • Likely to be objective

Weaknesses:

  • More likely to be covert = ethical issues

OBSERVATIONAL DESIGN

Structured observation- Use of systems to organs in observation. Objective (no bias) and vigorous.

  • Behavioral categories: researcher breaks up behavior into categories (operationalisation)

    • Objective- observers shouldn’t make inferences, but should record explicit behavior.

    • Cover all components

    • Mutually exclusive- shouldn’t make 2 categories at the same time

  • Sampling procedures: researchers should record every behavior in detail.

    • Event sampling- count the number of times a certain behavior occurs in a specific individual/ group

    • Time sampling- recording behaviour in a given time frame. Observer may make a checklist.

Unstructured observation- researcher records all relevant behavior. Used when research on the topic hasn’t been carried out before.

Strength: identify behaviors which can then be observed in a more structured way = reduces researcher bias

Weakness: subjective- may miss unexpected behaviors

Inter-observer reliability- at least 2 observers agree on categories, then observe independently, then compare findings and correlation → strong positive correlation = high reliability