Research methods

• What is the null hypothesis?


  There will be no difference between conditions and any difference will be due to chance.
• What does a directional hypothesis indicate?


  It shows the direction in which the results will go.
• What is a non-directional hypothesis?


  It states that there will be a difference but no direction.
• What characterizes a lab experiment?


  It involves manipulation of the independent variable (IV) under highly controlled conditions.
• How does a field experiment differ from a lab experiment?


  A field experiment is conducted in a real-world situation where participants often don't know they are being studied.
• What is a natural experiment?


  It takes advantage of a pre-existing difference between people or situations.
• What are extraneous variables?


  Variables that are not controlled for and may generate bias.
• What are situational variables?


  Aspects of the environment that affect behavior.
• What are participant variables?


  Variables which each participant varies from the others and how it affects results.
• What is a confounding variable?


  A variable that is not controlled for in the experiment and has an effect on the results.
• What is a case study?


  Studying one person in detail, which can be conducted in the field or lab.
• What is a quasi-experiment?


  It manipulates the IV but is based on an existing difference between groups, such as age or gender.
• What is random sampling?


  Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
• What is volunteer sampling?


  Participants become part of a study because they volunteer when asked, often used if research is socially sensitive.
• What is opportunity sampling?


  Taking participants who are available at the time the study is carried out based on the criteria they are looking for.
• What is snowball sampling?


  It involves recruiting a small number of participants and asking them to recommend others who fit the research criteria.
• What is stratified sampling?


  It involves classifying the population into categories and choosing a sample consisting of participants from each category in the same proportions as they are in the population.
• What are the key ethical considerations in research?

  • Informed consent
  • Deception
  • Right to withdraw
  • Protection from harm
  • Confidentiality
  • Working with animals
• What is ethnocentrism?


  Seeing the world from only one's cultural perspective, believing this perspective is normal.
• What is cultural relativism?


  Behavior can only be understood within its cultural context.
• What is alpha bias?


  It exaggerates or overestimates differences between the sexes.
• What is beta bias?


  It ignores, minimizes, or underestimates differences between men or women.
• What are the main types of hypotheses?

  • Null hypothesis
  • Directional hypothesis
  • Non-directional hypothesis
• What are the main types of experiments?

  • Lab experiment
  • Field experiment
  • Natural experiment
  • Quasi-experiment
• What are the main types of variables?

  • Extraneous variables
  • Situational variables
  • Participant variables
  • Confounding variables
• What are the main sampling techniques?

  • Random sampling
  • Volunteer sampling
  • Opportunity sampling
  • Snowball sampling
  • Stratified sampling
• What are the main ethical considerations in research?

  • Informed consent
  • Deception
  • Right to withdraw
  • Protection from harm
  • Confidentiality
  • Working with animals
• counter balancing

  • preventing order effects from disrupting the findings of an experiment
• meta analysis

  • combines and synthesises findings from multiple independent studies to estimate the average effect for a particular research
• peer review

  • where two experts who are in similar reviews to peer review the same article.
  • this helps to identify weaknesses and improve validity
• Test retest

  • when you give the same person the same experiment on two different occasions
  • if the results are similar or the same, it increases the validity of the test
• inter-observer reliability

  • comparing results from different observers observing the same study, and understanding results
• content analysis

  • determines the presence of certain patterns or words in qualatative data