Issues+Debates

• What is alpha bias?

  Research that focuses on and exaggerates the differences between men and women.
• What is beta bias?

  Research that downplays or ignores the differences between men and women. It focuses on the similarities between men and women.
• What is universality?

  The concept that a characteristic can apply to all people despite differences in upbringing or experiences.
• What is cultural relativism?

  A behaviour of value can only make sense and be properly understood in the context of the norms and values in the culture it occurs in. Appreciating that behaviour varies between cultures and it is inappropriate to study one culture and make generalisations.
• What is ethnocentrism?

  Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of your own cultural or ethnic group, often leading to the evaluation of other cultures based on your own standards and the inability to understand or appreciate other cultures. Emphasising the importance of the behaviour of your own culture.
• What is holism?

  The belief that a system should be viewed as a whole, rather than as a collection of individual parts.

  Considering all aspects of experience, including culture.
• What is universality?

  • Believing that some behaviours are the same for all cultures.
  • Some characteristics can be applied to all people despite differences in experience or upbringing.
• What is the nomothetic approach?

  Studying a large group in order to formulate general laws or principles of behaviour.
• Suggest one limitation of the nomoethic approach?

  • Can’t find in depth information about single cases
  • It is less meaningful because it uses quantitative measures.
• Suggest two ways in which researchers might reduce cultural bias in their research?

  • do not attempt to extrapolate findings to cultures that are not represented in the research.
  • use researchers who are native to/immersed in the culture being investigated.
  • carry out cross-cultural research rather than research with a sole culture.
  • do not assume universal norms across different cultures.
  • be sensitive to cultural norms when designing research or reporting findings.
  • study a single culture to understand that culture.
• What is the opposite approach to the nomothetic approach?

  The Idiographic approach
• What is culture bias?


  The tendency to judge and interpret behaviour in terms of the values and beliefs of your own culture.
• What is gender bias?


  Differential treatment of men or women based in stereotypes. Research that doesn’t represent the behaviour and experience of men or women
• What is hard determinism?


  Belief that behaviour is caused by external factors outside of personal control.
• What is soft determinism?


  Soft determinism is the belief that behaviour is determined by both external factors and internal choices, allowing for a limited sense of free will.

  Behaviour is free from coercion but not causation.
• What is biological determinism?


  Biological determinism is the belief that human behavior is determined by biological factors, such as genetics or hormones that we can’t control.
• What is psychic determinism?


  The belief that all traits and behaviours are determined by unconscious instincts and forces that we can’t control. The cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences.
• What is environmental determinism?


  Environmental determinism is the belief that human behaviour is caused by the physical environment- Skinner, reinforcers and punishments.