Research methods

Lab experiment:

• Strenth - high control over extraneous variables. This means the researcher can ensure that any effect on the DV is caused by the IV therefore it has high internal validity
• Weakness - May lack generalisablity. The lab environment may be artificial and not like everyday life. In an unfamilar context participants may behave differently so their behaviour might not be able to be generalised therefore has low internal validity

Field experiment:

• Strength - higher mundane realism than lab experiments because the environment is natural. Thus they may produce behaviour which is more valid and accurate especially if participants are unaware they are being studied therefore it has high external validity
• Weakness - there is loss of control over extraneous variables. This means cause and effect between the DV and IV may be more difficult to establish

Natural experiment:

• Strength - provide opportunities for research that may not have otherwise be undertaken for practical or ethical issues. They often have high external validity because they invove real life issues
• Weakness - naturally occuring event may only happen very rarely reducing the opportunities for research. This also may limit being able to generalise findings

Quasi experiments:

• Strength - often carried out under controlled conditions so therefore have high control over extraneous variables. This means the researcher can ensure the effect of the DV is caused by the IV
• Weakness - cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions and therefore there may be confounding variables

Random sample: all members of the target population have an equal chance of being selected

• Strength - the researcher has no influence over who is selected therefore its free from researcher bias
• Weakness - difficult and time consuming to conduct

Systematic sample:when every nth member of the population is selected

• Strength -  the researcher has no influence over who is selected therefore its free from researcher bias
• Weakness -  If the population has a type of standardized pattern, the risk of accidentally choosing very common cases is more likely

Stratified sample: the sample reflects the proportions of people in certain sub groups within the target population

• Strength - the researcher has no influence over who is selected therefore its free from researcher bias
• Weakness -  it can be difficult to identify appropriate strata for a study and time consuming

Opportunity sample:anyone who happens to be willing and available at the time of the study

• Strength - Less time consuming
• Weakness - Unrepresentative of the target population as its drawn from a very specific area so finds can't be generalised and the researcher has complete control over the selection of participants and may aviod people they don't like the look of

Volunteer sample:participants selecting themselves to be part of the sample

• Strength - Less time consuming
• Weakness - may attract a certain group of people, someone who is helpful and confident which then may affect generalisablity

Informed consent: making participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights and what their data will be used for

• Participants should be issued with a consent letter of form detailing all relevant information. This is then signed. For investigations involving children under 16 a signature of parental consent is required

Privacy: particpants have the right to control information about themselves

If personal details are held these must be protected. Researchers usually refer to patients using their initials when writing up the investigation to maintain anonymity

Deception: deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants

• At the end of the study participants should be given a full debrief. Within this they should be amde aware of the true aims of the study and any other details they weren't supplied with such as the existence of other groups

Protection from harm: participants shouldn't be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives and should be protected from physical and psychological harm

• If participants have been subject to stress of embarrassment they may require counselling which the researcher should provide

Naturalistic observation: watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would normally occur

• Strength - high mundane realism because the environment is natural. Thus they may produce behaviour which is more valid and accurate especially if participants are unaware they are being studied therefore it has high external validity
• Weakness - there is loss of control over extraneous variables. This means cause and effect of behaviour may be more difficult to establish

Controlled observation: watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment

• Strenth - high control over extraneous variables. This means the researcher can ensure that any effect on the DV is caused by the IV therefore it has high internal validity
• Weakness - May lack generalisablity. The environment may be artificial and not like everyday life. In an unfamilar context participants may behave differently so their behaviour might not be able to be generalised therefore has low internal validity

Covert observation: Participants behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent

• Strength - removes the problem of demand characteristics and ensures any behaviour observed is natural. This means it has high external validity
• Weakness - the ethics of these studies may be questioned as people in public may not want to have their behaviours noted

Overt observation:  Participants behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent

• Strength - more ethically acceptable and participants know they are being studied
• Weakness - may display demand characteristics which means the findings may not be able to be generalised therefore has low external validity

Participant observation: The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording

• Strength - the researcher can experience the situation as the participants do giving them increased insight into the lives of the people being studided. This may increase validity
• Weakness - the researcher may become attached to the people they are studying and lose objectivity

Non-participant observation: The researcher remains outside the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording

• Strength - allow the researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance from their participants
• Weakness - they may lose valuable insight into the people they are studying

Unstructured observation: the researcher writes down everything they see

Structured observation: narrowing down the behaviour observed to something more specific

Behavioural categories: when a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable

Event sampling: a target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs

Time sampling: a target individual is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame

Questionnaire: a set of written questions

• Open questions - respondents are free to answer in any way they wish. They produce qualitative data
• Closed questions - offers a fixed number of responses. They produce quanititave data

Interviews: a live encounter where the interviewer asks the interviewee a set of questions

• Structured interviews - made up of pre-determined questions that asked in a fixed order
• Unstructured interviews - there are no set questions and interaction tends to be free flowing
• Semi-structured interviews - there are pre-determined questions but interviewers are also free to ask follow up questions when they feel appropriate

Writing good questions:

• Don't overuse jargon
• Don't use emotive language
• Don't use leading questions
• Don't use double barelled questions

Strength - help assess the strength and direction of a relationship, they provide a precise and quantifiable measure of how two variables are related

Weakness - correlations can't demonstrate cause and effect between variables and therefore we don't know which co-variable is causing the other to change. There may also be a third variable that is causing the relationship between the two co-variables

Qualitative data: data that is expressed in words

• Strength - offers the researcher more richness of detail and therefore has greater external validity
• Weakness - difficult to analyse so patterns and comparisons may be hard to identify. Conclusions often rely on the subjective interpretations of the researcher and these may be subject to bias

Quantitative data: data that is expressed numerically

• Strength - simple to analyse therefore patterns and comparisons can be easily drawn. It is also less open to bias
• Weakness - much more narrower in scope and lacks detail

Primary data: information that has been obtained first hand by the researcher

• Strength: its authetic data which can be designed so that they specifically target the information that the researcher requires
• Weakness: time consuming to conduct

Secondary data: information that has already been collected by someone else

• Strength: inexpensive and easily accessed requiring minimal effort
• Weakness: information may be out dated and the content might not quite meet the researchers needs

Pilot study - a small scale version of an investigation that takes place before the real investigation is conducted. The aim is to check that procedures and materials etc work and allow the reseacrher to make changes if neccessary

Single blind procedures - the participants are unaware of the aim of the study

Double blind procedure - neither the participants or the researcher is aware of the aim of the study