Year 1 Research methods

Define aim

General expression of what the researcher wants and plans to investigate

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Define hypothesis

Statement of what the researcher believes to be true

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What should you do to the hypothesis, why and define this terms

Operationalise the hypothesis so that it's clearly defined and measurable

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Define a directional hypothesis and when you would state it

States the direction clearly so, it is greater/less, positive/negative etc. You would use this when you have done lots of background research prior to doing the study, so that you can predict what likely outcome is

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Define a non-directional hypothesis and when you would use this

Does not state a direction clearly, just that there is a difference, correlation, association so, you would use this when you don't have any background research prior to doing the study so, you don't know the likely outcome

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Explain what it is meant by experimental method

Researcher changes (manipulates) the independent variable (IV) and records the effect of the IV on the dependent variable (DV)

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Define and explain the independent variable (IV), dependent variable (DV) and control variable (CV)

IV= variable you change DV= variable you measure CV= variable you control so that you know only the IV has caused the effect on DV

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What is directional and non-directional hypothesis also known as

Directional hypothesis is also known as one-tailed. Non-directional hypothesis is also called 2-tailed

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List the 4 research process issues

1. Extraneous variables (EV) 2. Confounding variables (ConV) 3. Demand characteristics 4. Investigator effects

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Define extraneous variables (EVs)

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Define confounding variables (ConV)

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Define demand characteristics

Cues researcher or the research situation given to participant that would reveal the study's aim to them and therefore, get inaccurate and not valid results

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Define investigator effects

Effect of investigator's behaviour on the DV/ results

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Explain what order effects are why they are bad for research procedure

Participants know what the procedures are because the group before them told them or they did it once and do it again so, they can practice but become bored or tired

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How can you remember what order effects mean?

Effect of order of which groups take part in which condition (Group 1 =condition A then B. Group 2= condition B then A; during the break/ switch individuals in Group 1 tell Group 2 what to expect= practice or same ppts. do condition A twice= practice

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List research techniques/ set of procedures can be used to help minimize or prevent the research issues

1. Randomisation 2. Standardisation 3. Control groups 4. Single and double blind tests

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Define randomisation

Using chance when investigations are designed, to control the effects of bias

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Define standardisation

Use same formalised procedures for all participants

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Why are control groups used to minimise/ prevent research issues?

Act as baseline so that experimental group results can be compared to, to ensure that effect on DV was due to IV

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Define and explain the use of single blind test

Participant doesn't know the aims of the study so that demand characteristics are reduced

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Define and explain the use of double blind test

Participant and researcher doesn't know the aim of the study to reduce demand characteristics and investigator effects

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List the 3 experimental designs

1. Independent groups 2. Repeated measures 3. Matched pairs

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Define and explain independent groups

Participants are randomly allocated to groups by picking name or number out of hat or random number generator after number given then, Group 1 does condition A and group 2 does condition B

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Define and explain repeated measures

Same participants in all conditions

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What problem may occur in repeated measures and how can you overcome this?

Same participants in all conditions= order effects occur so, order of conditions should be counterbalanced to avoid order effects

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Define and explain matched pairs

2 groups but they are related to each other by being paired on ppts. variable(s) such as IQ, that is important for the experiment

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Which experimental design(s) need lots of participants and which experimental design needs only a few?

Independent groups and matched pairs need lots of participants= time consuming and expensive. Repeated measured need only few numbers of participants

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List the 4 types of experiments

1. Laboratory 2. Field 3. Quasi 4. Natural

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Where does laboratory, field, natural and quasi experiments take place in and how could you remember them?

1.Laboratory occurs in controlled environment (lab) 2.Field occurs in natural environment [FIELD=NATURE] 3.Natural occurs in lab/natural environment [Lab=controlled=natural behaviour/ natural in name] 4.Quasi also lab/natural environment [=Partial

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Describe and explain laboratory experiment

Controlled environment where EV and ConV are controlled, participants go to researcher and the IV is changed to record its effect on the DV

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What is done to IV and DV in lab, field, natural + quasi experiments?

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Define population

Large group of people that researcher is interested in studying

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Define sample and state why samples are taken

Small group of people that represents the large overall population researcher wants to study because it is not possible and time consuming to study each individual in the whole population

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What happens to the findings from studying a sample and define the term?

Findings from the sample is generalised as the sample represents the whole population. Generalisation= assuming that findings from study can apply to other groups of people in the real world

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What problem occurs in a small sample size and why?

Small sample= bias because you have chosen those who you're interested in but outside the experiment, in the real world there are other variables that exist so, a large population is more representative but can be time consuming +expensive to recruit

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List the 5 types of sampling

1. Opportunity 2. Volunteer 3. Random 4. Stratified 5. Systematic

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Define opportunity sampling

Available people who are nearest to you to obtain (e.g. in school or local streets)

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Define volunteer sampling

Participants choose to take part

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Define random sampling

Everyone in target population have equal chance of being selected

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Define systematic sampling

Participants are selected using a fixed system/ pattern

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Define stratifed sampling

Participants selected according to their frequency in population

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Describe how you'd select a sample by Random sampling

Give numbers to each person in population then place in hat or, use number generator or, write their names in hat then pick at random.

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Describe how you'd select a sample by Systematic sampling

Pick every nth person from the list of target population

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Describe how you'd select a sample by Opportunity sampling

Ask people nearby if they want to participate

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Describe how you'd select a sample by Stratified sampling

Starta (subgroups) identified (e.g. gender) within population then each strata percentage reflected in sample

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Describe how you'd select a sample by Volunteer sampling

Advertise in a newspaper

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Define ethical issues

Conflict between rights of participants and aims of research

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Describe and explain the role of BPS code of ethics, what are the 4 principles BPS stands for and how can you remember them?

Legal document that protects participants based on 4 principles: Respect Competence Integrity Responsibility (Respecting Computers Is Responsibility)

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What are the 4 ways of dealing with ethical issues?

1. Informed consent 2. Debrief 3. Protection from harm 4. Private/confidentiality

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Define deception and how can you deal with this ethical issue?

Deception is misleading/not sharing any information before ppts. consent so, you should debrief them at the end of: True aims, details not give during study (existing conditions), what data is used for, their right to withhold data

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Why should participants be protected from harm?

Ppts. should not be at more risk than they would in everyday life

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Which 3 ways can you ensure participants are protected from harm?

1. Right to withdraw from study at any point 2. Debriefed that behaviour in study was normal 3. Be provided with counselling if ppts. were distressed

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Describe privacy and confidentiality

We have the right to control our own information but if it's invaded then, confidentiality should be respected

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How can you ensure privacy and confidentiality?

1. Protect held personal details as it's legal 2. Refer to ppts. as numbers, initials/ fake names 3. DON'T SHARE PERSONAL DETAILS!

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What does association show?

Shows the strength and direction of an association between 2 co-variables

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What do you plot on a scattergram and how?

Plot correlations on a scattergram with one variable on the x-axis and other variable on the y-axis

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What are the types of correlations?

1. Positive= co-variables fall/rise together 2. Negative= one co-variable rise but other falls 3. Zero= there's no relationship between the 2 variables

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Draw and label scattergrams showing positive, negative and zero correlation

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What are the differences between an experiment and correlation?

1. Experiment the IV changed and its effect on DV measured; in correlation IV not changed= no cause and effect. 2. In experiment, EVs are controlled; in correlation EVs not controlled= 3rd untested (intervening) variable cause relation btw variables

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List the 6 observational techniques

1. Naturalistic 2. Controlled 3. Covert 4. Overt 5. Participant 6. Non-participant

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Define observational techniques and why they are used

=way of seeing/ listening to what people do without asking them. It is used within an experiment to

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Define naturalistic observation

Occurs where target behaviour would occur

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Define controlled observation

Some control, change of variables and control of EVs

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Define covert observation and how can you remember what covert observation means?

Participants unaware they're being studies hence the name covert that means secret

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Define overt observation and how can you remember what overt observation means?

Participants are aware of being studies [if you remember that covert means secret, then overt means not secret]

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Define participant observation

Researcher becomes part of the group they are studying [REMEMBER: name suggests researcher becomes a participant]

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Define non-participant observation

Researcher remains separate from the group they're studying [HENCE name non-participant= researcher stays as researcher]

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List the types of observational designs

1. Behavioural categories 2. Time sampling 3. Event sampling

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Describe what behavioural categories observationaldesign is

Target behaviour should be broken up into observable categories= similar concept to operationalisation

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Describe what time sampling observational design is

Observations made at regular intervals

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Describe what Event sampling observational design is

Target behaviour is recorded every time it occurs [HENCE the name event]

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List 2 self report techniques

1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews

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Describe what a questionnaire is and what a good questionnaire should have

= pre set questions ppts. have to respond, to assess DV. They should avoid jargon(slang/idiom), double barrelled Qs (2 in 1) and no leading questions because these 3 factors can confuse the respondent

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What are the 2 types of questions to use in a questionnaire and explain them and how can you remember them?

Closed Qs limit the choices for respondent but data is quantitative. Open Qs= respondents give own answers in words=qualitative data as respondent express in own words not numbers also, being open means there is more quality

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Define an interview and explain the 3 types of interviews

=face to face interaction. Structured interview= Pre-determined Qs in fixed order, Unstructured= no set questions; there's a general topic+ free flowing interaction= encourage elaboration, Semi-structured= Pre-determined Qs; ask follow up questions

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How do you design an interview and their effects

1. Standardised Q list= reduce interviewer bias 2. Quiet room increase chance of interviewee being open 3. Rapport (bond) by beginning with neutral Qs to make interviewee relaxed 4. Ethics= remind interviewees that answers treated in confidence

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Define a pilot study and what its aim is

=Small scale trial run of research design prior to real thing, to find out if certain things don't work, to correct them before spending lots of money and time on real thing

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What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data?

Quantitative= numerical data and Qualitative is non-numerical data expressed in words (e.g. diary extracts)

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What is the difference between primary and secondary data?

Primary [first hand research] is collected by you for the purpose of the investigation but Secondary data is already collected by someone else (e.g. from journals and government records) [Second hand research]

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Define meta-analysis

Secondary data that combined data from a large number of studies then calculating effect size

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Define mean, median, mode and state what type of measure they are

=Central tendency measures. Mean= average of whole data by adding & dividing. Median= middle value by placing scores in ascending order; if two values the mean of these values calculated= median. Mode= common value+ used for categorical/nominal data

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Define range and standard deviation and state what type of measure they are

=Dispersion measure. Range= difference between highest and lowest value. Standard deviation= measure of data's average spread around the mean.

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What does a large standard deviation convey?

Large S.D.= more spread out the data is around the mean

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What data do you display in tables and how do you display the information?

Raw scores are displayed in columns and rows then, a summary of results are beneath

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What type of data do you display in bar charts, how do you display it on bar charts and what represents the frequency of each item?

CatEgorIEs [dIscrEtE data] on the X-axis and frequency on the Y-axis or revers. The height of each bar represents the frequency of each item

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What type of data is displayed on histograms, how do you display it and what represents the frequency?

Continuous data and bars touch [REMEMBER: bars touch=continuous data]; instead of plotting the frequency, you plot the frequency density on the y-axis. The area of the bars= frequency

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How do you calculate frequency density?

FD= Frequency / Group (interval) width (Group or interval width e.g. 20< X 30 = 10)

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Calculate the frequency from this graph:

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What type of data is displayed on a line graph, how is it displayed and what does the line show?

Continuous data is on one axis and the frequency on the other axis [REMEMBER: Continuous line= continuous data]. The line shows something changing over time

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What type of data is displayed on scattergram, how is it displayed, what is scattergram used for and what does each dot represent?

Continuous [BECAUSE think of continuous scattering] and each dot represents one pair of related data of 2 co-variables. The scattergram is used for correlation analysis

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How do you calculate standard deviation?

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Describe a normal distribution curve on a graph, Annotate where you'd find the most people (most data) and the few people (least data) and state where you'd find the mean, mode and median on the graph.

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Define and explain the skewed distribution curve

Distribution leans on one side because most people are either at the lower or upper end

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Describe the difference between the curves of a positive and negative skewed graph

Negative Most distribution is on the right= long tail on the left but Positive= most distribution is on the left so, has a long tail on the right [REMEMBER: stick feet out, Big toe is most distribution= right big toe=negative with little toes on left

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Draw the toe rule to remember negative and positive correlations

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Draw and annotate where you would find the mean, mode and median on negative skewed distribution graph

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Draw and annotate where you'd find the mean, mode and median on positive skewed distribution graph

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Convert from decimal to percentage to fraction

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How are ratios expressed?

1. Part: Part 2. Part: Whole

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Round this number to 2 significant figures: 0.002473

0.0025 (2s.f.)

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What is standard form between so, convert 320,000 to standard form and convert 0.000032 to standard form

Between (1 and 10) x 10 power of.. [0.00something is to the power of negative] 320,000= 3.2x10^5 and 0.000032= 3.2 x 10^-5

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Define peer review

Before publication, the investigation is reviewed by peers in the field who should be objective (unbiased) and unknown to the researcher.

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What are the aims of peer review?

1. Funding: allocate research funding 2. Validation of quality and relevance of research 3. Suggest improvements and amendments

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How can findings of role of the father in attachment benefit the economy?

Multiple attachment and role of the father= healthy psychological development= promote more flexible working arrangements for both parents= modern parents are better equipped to contribute to economy than those who believe mother stay home

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How can findings that developed mental illness treatments benefit the economy?

Mental illness= days off and the research into causes and treatment= quick diagnosis and access to therapies and drugs such as SSRIs= sufferers manage illness and go to work= contribute to economy

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Get Revising

Year 1 Research methods

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