Research Methods
- Created by: Sophie Mcd
- Created on: 10-05-14 11:54
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- Research methods- Psychology
- Validity
- Ecological validity- Whether the setting of research can be generalized to over settings
- Mundane realism-The extent in which the research mirrors the 'real world'
- Experiment realism- The extent to which ppts believe in the experiment set up
- External Validity- The extent to which research can be generalized beyond the research situation
- Population validity- Whether research can be generalized to other people
- Internal Validity- Whether the study has measure what it has indented to measure
- Reliability
- External reliability- The extent to which a measure varies over time.
- Internal reliability- The extent to which something is consistent with itself.
- Type of experiments
- Field experiment- Conducted in ppts own environment.Ppts are unaware that they are in an experiment
- Advantages- Can draw casual conclusion, high ecological validity and avoids participant effects
- Disadvantages- Less control than lab and demand characterisitcs
- Lab experiment- Experiment conducted in specially designed enviroment
- Advantages- Can draw casual conclusion, extraneous variables minimised and easily replicated
- Disadvantages- Lack of mundane realism and experiment and participant effects
- Natural experiment- Observing the effects of the IV on a DV
- Advantages- IV can't be manipulated and enables research for 'real' issues
- Disadvantages- Can't show casual relationships, extraneous variables and experimenter and particpiant effects
- Field experiment- Conducted in ppts own environment.Ppts are unaware that they are in an experiment
- Experimental design
- Repeated measure design- Participants take part in every condition
- Good control of participant variables and few participants needed
- Can be order effects (boredom, practice) and may guess aim of the study
- Independent groups design- Participants only take part in one condition
- Reduces order effects and participants are less likely to gues the aim of the study
- No control over participant variables
- Matched pair design- Two groups of ppts are members of one group are paired with members of the other group due to similarities
- Avoids order effects and partially controls participant variables
- Matching is difficult and time consuming
- Repeated measure design- Participants take part in every condition
- Observations
- Naturalistic- Observations made in the natural setting
- Controlled- Same aspects of the enviroment are controlled by researcher
- Advantages- Can manipulate variables to observe effects and there is reduced ecological validity
- Disadvantages- Possible investigator effects and problems with observer bias and reliability of observations
- Behavioural Categories
- Behavioural checklist- A list of component behaviors that are operationalised
- Coding System- A code given to individual behaviours for ease of recording
- Structured and unstructured observation
- Structured- observer uses behvioural categories or sampling procedures to control of structure observation
- Sampling Procedures
- Event Sampling- Counting the number of times a certain behaviour occurs
- Time Sampling- Recording behaviours at regular intervals- e.g. every 30 secs
- Sampling Procedures
- Unstructured-The observer records all relevant behaviour but with no system
- Used when behviour to be studied is unpredictable
- Structured- observer uses behvioural categories or sampling procedures to control of structure observation
- Questionnaires
- Strengths- Easily repeated so lots of people can be questioned and respondents many be more truthful
- Weaknesses-Answers may not be truthful because of leading questions or social desirability bias and sample bias because only certain people fill out questionnaires
- Interviews
- Structured Interview
- Strengths- Easily repeated, easier to analyse than unstructured interview
- Weaknesses- Social desirability bias and answers may be influenced interviewer (interviewer bias)
- Unstructured Interview
- Strengths- More detailed information can be collected and can access extra information because questions are developed due to respondents answers
- Weaknesses- More likely to be affected by interviewer bias and requires trained interviewers
- Structured Interview
- Case Studies
- Advantages
- Useful for studying unusual circimstances
- Rich, in depth data
- Drisadvantages
- Lacks generalisability because they are unique
- Researcher may lack objectivity because of involvement with case
- Advantages
- Ethical Issues
- Informed consent
- Right to withdraw
- Protection from harm
- Deception
- Confidentiality
- Quantitative and qualitative data
- Quantitative- numbers
- Strengths- easy to analyse, can be summarised using measures such as mean and range
- Weaknesses- Oversimplifies human experience
- Qualative- words
- Strengths weaknesses- Represents true complexity of human behaviour, provide detail
- Weaknesses- more difficult to detect patterns and draw conclusions, could be bias
- Quantitative- numbers
- Sampling
- Opportunity sampling- selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study
- Strengths- Easiest method because using participants you can find, which means it's quicker
- Weaknesses- Inevitability bias because the sample is drawn from a target population
- Random Sampling- every memember of tager population has equal chance of being selected
- Strengths-Unbiased because all members of the target population have an equal chance of selection
- Weaknesses- May end up with a unrepresentative and therefore biases sample
- Volunteer Sampling- produced by asking for volunteers
- Strengths- Access to a variety of participants
- Weaknesses- Biased- certain people volunteer
- Opportunity sampling- selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study
- Validity
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