Research methods - longer points

• Unstructured Observations involved the researcher recording all the behaviour they see.There is no system.
• Structured observations use various systems to organise the observations. This makes the research more rigorous and objective.
• Psychologists structure their observations by using behaviour characteristics to be able to create a system.

• a variable, other than the independent variable, that may have affected the DV,so we cannot be sure of the true source.
• It may be that it changes the dependent variable, not the independent variable and therefore has confounded the results
• This can be a consequence of the manipulation of the independent variable

• Participants are aware of the aims of the experiment/study.There are two behaviours:
  • Please - you effect ( they want to help )
  • Screw - you effect ( they want to ruin it )

• Anything an investigator does that has an effect on the participants performance in a study
• Clues from an investigator encourage certain behaviors e.g leading questions
• High levels of control → cause + effect

• ALTERNATE = predicting a difference between two factors
• NULL = predicting the difference between factors

Hypothesis → Null

                    ↓

              Alternate

        ↓                      ↘

Directional        Non - directional

• The experimental method: involves the manipulation of the independent variable

• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: the thing you change/manipulate

• DEPENDENT VARIABLE: the thing the researcher is measuring

• The independent variable has two or more conditions

  • Experimental condition

  • Control condition

    • A good hypothesis will contain two or more conditions

• OPERATIONALISATION = ensure that variables are in a form that can be easily tested. Define variables so you can measure them:

  • E.g. want to investigate the effect of media violence ( IV ) on aggression ( DV ), ’media violence’= exposure to a 15 minute video showing scenes of physical assault. ‘Aggression’ =   levels of electric shock given to a ‘ 2nd participant’ in another room.

• EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE:  Any variable that may (Other than IV) have an effect on the DV if it is not controlled ( ev = nuisance variables)

  • Situational

  • Participant

  • Researcher

• Extraneous and confounding variables are heavily controlled in a lab compared to field setting

• In lab experiments participants are aware they are being studied compared to field where they are not

• Lab setting is artificial and field setting is not

• A lab experiment independent variable is controlled whereas a quasi experiments independent variable is naturally occurring 

• A researcher observes the aggressive behaviour of children in a playground who have either regularly attended day care or who have been raised at home. Field experiment
• A researcher asks 50 children to watch a video of an adult punching a teddy bear. He then asks 50 children to watch a video of an adult cuddling a teddy bear. The children are then shown into a room with a teddy bear and told they can play with it.  Lab experiment
• A researcher wanted to investigate whether males or females differed in their ability to remember a list of 50 words. He gave them 2 minutes to study the list of 50 words then asked them to recall them in any order. Quasi experiment
• A researcher wanted to investigate whether people are more likely to obey an authority figure than another member of the public. A confederate dressed as a Security Guard approached people in a high street and told them to pick up litter. Another confederate dressed as a civilian did the same. The researchers then compared the amount of litter that was picked up by the members of the public. Field experiment

• Can establish cause and effect due to criteria of a true experiment being met

• High internal validity due to good control of extraneous variables (you can be confident you are measuring what you think you are)

• Lack mundane realism lowering ecological validity

• Demand characteristics can lower internal validity (Ps work out what experiment about and either ‘try to please experimenter’ or ‘screw you effect’)

• Participant reactivity due to knowing being watched can lower internal validity

• Greater ecological validity than a lab experiment therefore can generalise results beyond the experiment

• Can establish cause and effect as criteria of true experiment met (but sometimes extraneous variables difficult to control and random assignment not possible)

• Less control over extraneous variables than a lab experiment (this can lower internal validity – may not be measuring what you think you are)

• Can be more expensive and time consuming than a lab experiment (researchers have to travel to the location etc)

• High ecological validity therefore can generalise results beyond the experiment

• Allows quasi-scientific research when it may be impractical or unethical to directly manipulate IV

• IV not directly manipulated by experimenter and no random allocation therefore cannot establish cause and effect

• Although in natural environment, ecological validity may be lowered because participants may know they are being watched (participant reactivity)

• Repeated measures

• Independent group

• Matched pairs

• This involves using two seperate groups of participants

• This should be done by random allocation, which ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to one group or another

• Cannot be assigned to a natural or quasi experiment

• The same participants take part in each condition (of the IV)

• Each participants in group A is matched with one in group B on key variables (e.g sex, IQ) 

Peer review is the assessment of scientific work by others who are experts in the same field (‘peers’). This is about judging the quality of a piece of research. Research is subjected to independent scrutiny in terms of its validity, significance and originality

• Author sunmits manscript 
• Journal editor screens manuscript 
• Manuscript is peer reviewed - some manuscrips are rejected before peer review 
• Journal editor/editorial board decides whether to publish 
• Author is informed of decision 

• Allocation of funding

  • Research paid for by government charitable bodies

  • Need reviews to see if research is worthwhile

• Publication in journals

  • Opportunity to share results

  • Preventing faulty data entering public domain

• Assessing the research rating of universities

  • Psychology departments expected to conduct research which is assumed in terms of quality and impact

Research papers get published in scholarly journals. They contain in-depth reports of research.The articles are written by academics and then reviewed by experts in the field..