RESEARCH METHODS PSYCHOLOGY

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  • Created by: elliesp
  • Created on: 10-04-17 19:54
Explain what a Quasi experiment is.
The I.V is based on an existing difference between people (age etc.) so no random group allocation, D.V may be tested in a lab.
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Explain what a natural experiment is.
I.V is naturally occurring (weather etc.) so researcher doesn't control it, often used when lab/field experiment can't be used as unethical or unpractical
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Explain what a field experiment is.
Carried out in a natural enviro, I.V manipulated to see affect on D.V, pps often unaware of experiment, little control of extraneous variables
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Explain what a lab experiment is.
Carried out in controlled environments, IV manipulated to affect DV, researcher has control over extraneous variables.
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What are the advs of natural experiments?
1)Provides opportunity for research that may not have been done bc ethics (Institutionalisation), 2) high eco valid as studies of real life situations.
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What are the disadvs of natural experiments?
1)less control of extraneous variables (does I.V really affect D.V?), 2)sample bias, pps not randomly allocated to groups so groups not comparable & can't see if IV actually affects DV
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Advs of field experiments?
1)High eco valid as in natural environment (reflective of real life), 2) no den characteristics as unaware of experiment
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Disadvs of field experiments?
1)less control of extran variables (does IV really affect DV?), 2)unethical, no consent
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Advs of Quasi experiments?
1)control over extraneous variables (high validity), 2) easy to replicate
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Disadvs of Quasi experiments?
lacks ecological validity (not real life situation), 2)demand characteristics, 3)sample bias (no random groups, may not be comparible)
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Advs of Lab experiments?
1)high control of extraneous variables (likely Dv affects IV/ results have high internal validity), 2)easy to replicate
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Disadvs of Lab experiments?
1)Lacks ecological validity (not real life situation), 2)Dem characteristics (reduces validity of results)
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What is a matched pairs design?
a sample divided into groups and each group does different condition but they're matched on one key variable/characteristic
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what is repeated measures design?
Participants do all the conditions
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what is independent measures design?
the sample is divided into groups and each group does one condition
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Advs of matched pairs design?
no demand characteristics/ order effects
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Disadvs of matched pairs design?
1) time consuming and expensive (pre-test required), 2) more pps needed as 1 only = 1 result, 3) pps variables may still be an issue
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Advs of Independent measures design?
1) no demand characteristics
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Disadvs of independent measures design?
1) pps variables (pps in different groups aren't the same), 2) more pps needed as one only makes one result
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advs of repeated measures design?
1) no pps variables and fewer pps needed
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disadvs of repeated measures design?
1) order effects (pps become tired/bored = worse performance or better bc of practise - so less valid), 2) dem characteristics (likely to find out aim)
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what are the three main types of correlation? and number?
positive (+1), negative (-1) and no correlation (0)
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what is the correlation coefficient for? example?
To tell us the strength and direction of the correlation...the higher the number the stronger the correlation e.g positive correlation (+1) is very strong
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what is the difference between a correlation and an experiment?
an experiment manipulates 1 variable (IV) and measures its effect on the other (DV), whereas in a correlation theres no manipulation of 1 variable so the cause & effect can't be seen
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what are the 3 types of hypothesis?
Null, directional and non directional
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what is a null hypothesis?
a null hypothesis suggests that there will be no difference between the two variables
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what is a directional hypothesis? example?
a directional hypothesis shows direction and a definite prediction, e.g "X is more intelligent than Y"
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what is a non directional hypothesis? example?
states a difference, e.g there will be a difference between X and Y in intelligence
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state the different types of variables?
confounding variable, extraneous variable, independent variable, dependent variable.
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what is a confounding variable?
variables that have been found to affect the DV other than the IV
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what is an extraneous variable?
the variables that may affect the DV other than the IV
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what is an independent variable?
the variable you change
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what is the dependent variable?
a variable whose value depends on another
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what is a self selected sample?
pps volunteer themselves
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advs and disadvs of self selected sample?
adv: less time consuming // disadv: biased as selects certain type of person e.g has a lot of spare time
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what is a systematic sample?
picking every nth person from a list/ using a pre-determined system to select pps
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what are the advs and disadvs of a systematic sample?
advs: no researcher bias and is representative // disadv: not truly random as numerical interval is selected
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what is a stratified sample?
ensures the sample has the same ratio as the population
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advs and disadvs of stratified sample?
advs: representative & no researcher bias as pps randomly selected after population sub-divided // disadvs: time consuming to identify subgroups, randomly select pps and contact them
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what is an opportunity sample?
uses whoever is available and fits the criteria
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advs and disadvs of opportunity sample?
advs: convenient and less time consuming, disadvs: unrepresentative and researcher bias
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what is a random sample?
every member of the population has equal chance of selection
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advs and disadvs of random sample?
advs: unbiased and representative of population, disadvs: time consuming to get a list of whole population
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what is a pilot study?
a small scale trial run of the actual investigation which may involve a handful of pps rather than the total number, in order to test the procedure
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what is the aim of pilot studies?
allow the researcher to identify potential issues and modify the research where necessary
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what are the features of pilot studies?
carried out before main study, not used in final data set and changes often made to design as a result
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advs of pilot studies?
saves time and money by identifying issues and making sure the main study goes as smoothly as possible
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what are self report techniques?
interviews and questionnaires
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what are interviews?
a formal meeting in which one or more person questions, consults or evaluates another person.
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what are the three types of interviews?
unstructured, structured and semi structured
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what is an unstructured interview?
there is no set questions, only a general aim that a certain topic will be discussed
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what is a structured interview?
there is a pre-determined set of questions asked in a certain order
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what is a semi structured interview?
the questions asked are worked out in advance but the interviewers can follow up questions if they feel the need.
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what is a questionnaire?
a pre-set list of questions to which the pps responds used to assess thoughts and feelings
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what two styles of questions are used in questionnaires?
open and closed questions
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what is an open question?
it doesn't have a fixed range of answers, so pps can answer in any way
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what is a closed question?
it has a fixed number of responses and produces numerical (quantative) data by limiting the answers pps can give
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what are the different types of closed questions?
likert scale (1 =strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree) , rating scale (starts with a question), fixed choice options (e.g tick box)
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advs of questionnaires?
1) cost effective and quicker (no training and gather lot of info quickly as distributed to lot of people), 2) easy to analyse (data is quantative and can compare scores within groups)
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disadvs of questionnaires?
1)social desirability so reduces validity 2) response bias so reduces validity (wish to complete quickly and fail to read questions or just tick random boxes)
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advs of interviews?
1) easy to replicate as is standardised procedure and therefore reduces differences between interviews
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disadvs of interviews?
1) restrictive so reduces validity (can't deviate from topic and may miss valuable info) 2) hard to analyse (qualitative data hard to compare) 3) social desirability reduces validity
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what are measures of dispersion?
the range and standard deviation
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what is the range?
a calculation of the spread of scores and is worked out by taking the lowest value from the highest value
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Advs of using the range?
easy to calculate and shows the spread of the data
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Disadvs of using the range?
it is unrepresentative as it only takes into account extreme values
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what is the standard deviation? what is the significance of a high/low S.D?
a value that tells us how far scores deviate from the mean. The higher the S.D the greater the spread between a spread of data and the lower the S.D the more clustered the results are around the mean
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advs of using standard deviation?
it is a more precise measure of dispersion than the range as all values are included
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disadvs of using standard deviation?
S.D can be distorted by extreme values
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what are measures of central tendency?
mean, mode, median
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what is the mode?
most frequently occurring value in a data set
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advs and disadvs of using mode?
adv: easy to calculate // disadv: may not accurately represent data
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what is the median?
the middle value in a data set when scores are arranged from lowest to highest
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advs and disadvs of using median?
adv: extreme values don't affect it // disadv: less representative as not all scores included in final calculation
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what is the mean?
calculated by adding up all values and dividing by total number of values in the data set
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advs and disadvs of mean?
adv: representative of data as a hole // disadv: easily distorted by extreme values
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what are the different types of data?
secondary data, qualitive data, quantative data and primary data
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what is secondary data? examples?
data collected by a secondary source e.g websites, articles
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advs and disadvs of secondary data?
advs: cheap, minimal effort, less time consuming // disadvs: not reliable, not specific to experiment, may be out of date
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what is primary data?
data you collect yourself
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advs and disadvs of primary data?
adv: specific to exactly what you want to study // disadv: time consuming, expensive
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what is quantative data?
data expressed in numbers
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advs and disadvs of quantative data?
adv: easy to analyse and compare, data is objective and less open to bias // disadv: less detail
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what is qualitative data?
data expressed in words, concerned with the interpretation of language from interviews etc
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advs and disadvs of qualitative data?
advs: rich in detail and gives people opportunity to express feeling and opinion son topic // disadv: difficult to analyse, conclusions rely on interpretation of researcher (bias)
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What was the role of the British Psychological Society (BPS) in ethics?
they introduced ethical guidelines in 1985
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how do ethical issues come about?
ethical issues are formed when theres a conflict/ dilemma between participants' rights and the researcher's need to gain valuable findings
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List types of ethical issues?
Informed consent, deception, protection from harm, privacy and confidentiality.
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what is informed consent and how was the issue resolved?
it makes pps aware of aims of the study, the procedure and their rights. This issue was solved by sending pps a consent letter to be signed, under 16s need parental consent
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what is deception and how was the issue resolved?
Deception is deliberately misleading pps or withholding info. Solved by giving pps full debrief at the end of the study, made aware of the aims and the information they weren't told in the study
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what is protection from harm and how was the issue solved?
Protection form harm is when pps shouldn't be put in anymore danger than daily lives & should be protected from psychological & physical harm. Resolved by telling pps after that their behaviour is normal, councelling often provided
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what is privacy and confidentiality and how was the issue solved?
Privacy and confidentiality is that pps have the right to control info about themselves. issue solved by ensuring personal details held are protected, but often easier to maintain anonymity or use numbers.
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What is a peer review?
the assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field to ensure that any research intended for publication is of high quality
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what are the main aims of peer reviews?
1) to allocate research funding (decides whether or not it should be funded) 2) to validate quality and relevance 3) to suggest amendments or improvements
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what are the advs of peer review?
it validates research and ensures that any research published is of high quality
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what are the disadvs of peer review?
1) anonymous (allows rivals to criticise especially if competing for funding), 2) publication bias (editors want to publish headline grabbing research, ignored if not), 3) burying opposing research (may suppress opposition to mainstream research)
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what are the implications of attachment psychological research for the economy?
Bowlby suggested babies need constant care from primary care-giver for healthy psychological development, so mothers likely to be less economically active and leave work.
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what are the implications of social psychological research for the economy?
research showing positive effects of healthy eating for example, may help save the NHS money by people's improved diets
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what are the implications of memory psychological research for the economy?
research on EWT and how it could be improved i.e the cognitive interview will save police time and money eventually despite initial high costs for training
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what are the implications of psychopathology research for the economy?
if treatment for mental illnesses are developed through research then people who suffer such problems will require less time off work and will save economy money in long run, even if treatment initially expensive
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what are the different types of observations?
overt, naturalistic, controlled, participant, non-participant and covert
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what is an overt observation?
where the researcher tells the group they're conducting research so they know they're being observed
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advs and disadvs of overt observation?
advs: ethical // disadvs: demand characteristics
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what is a covert observation?
when a researcher pretends to be an ordinary member of the group and observes in secret
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advs and disadvs of covert observation?
advs: no demand characteristics // disadvs: unethical
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what is a non participant observation?
researcher doesn't have direct contact with the people being observed
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advs and disadvs of non participant observation?
advs: no researcher bias // disadvs: demand characteristics
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what is a participant observation?
where the observer has direct contact with the group of people they're observing
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advs and disadvs of participant observation?
advs: greater insight and so high validity // disadvs: researcher bias
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what is a controlled experiment?
behaviour is observed under controlled laboratory conditions
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advs and disadvs of controlled experiment?
advs: high control = high reliability, and easy to replicate // disadvs: demand characteristics
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what is a naturalistic observation?
when spontaneous behaviour is observed in a natural setting
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advs and disadvs of a naturalistic observation?
advs: ecological validity, no demand characteristics // disadvs: not reliable and breach to privacy
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how do you convert a percentage to a decimal?
remove the percentage sign and move decimal point 2 places to the left
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what are the two types of ratio?
part to part ratio and part to whole ratio
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what is a part to part ratio?
provides the relationship between two distinct groups
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what is a part to whole ratio?
provides the ratio between a particular group and the whole population
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how do you convert decimals to fractions?
look at sheet.
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Explain what a natural experiment is.

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I.V is naturally occurring (weather etc.) so researcher doesn't control it, often used when lab/field experiment can't be used as unethical or unpractical

Card 3

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Explain what a field experiment is.

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Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

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Explain what a lab experiment is.

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Card 5

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What are the advs of natural experiments?

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