Research Methods

• What is the purpose of peer review in research?

  To ensure research is factually accurate, unbiased, and ethically correct
• Who reviews the work submitted for peer review?

  A panel of psychologists
• What could happen if peer review is not conducted?


  Incorrect and harmful work could be published, negatively impacting Psychology
• What is the main practice of peer review?

  Using independent experts to assess the quality and validity of research
• How does peer review contribute to research quality?

  It ensures that published research is of high quality
• What are the three main purposes of peer review?

  • Decide which studies receive research funding
  • Allow correct publication of research in academic journals and books
  • Assess the research rating of university departments
• What type of data does the Sign Test analyze?

  Paired or related data
• In what type of designs can the Sign Test be used?

  Repeated measures designs and matched pairs designs
• How do you begin the calculation for the Sign Test?

  State the hypothesis
• What does a directional hypothesis require in the Sign Test?

  A one-tailed test
• What symbol is used for the test statistic in the Sign Test?

  S
• How is the calculated value for the Sign Test determined?

  By adding the number of + values and – values and finding the lesser one
• What does N represent in the Sign Test?

  The total number of scores, ignoring zero values
• What is the significance of the critical value of S?

  It is used to determine if the result is in the expected direction
• What must the calculated S value be for a directional hypothesis?

  It must be equal to or less than the critical S value
• How is data categorized in data analysis?

  Into qualitative and quantitative data
• What advantage does qualitative data provide in research?

  It gives more meaningful conclusions and detailed evaluations
• What is a strength of qualitative data?


  It provides rich and detailed information about people's experiences
• What is a limitation of qualitative data?


  Its complexity makes it more difficult to analyze and draw conclusions
• What can quantitative data be analyzed for?

  Patterns and averages
• What is a strength of quantitative data?


  It is easy to analyze using descriptive statistics and statistical tests
• What is a limitation of quantitative data?

  It may oversimplify reality
• How is data further categorized in data analysis?

  Into primary and secondary data
• What is primary data?


  Data obtained specifically for the purpose of the research study
• What is secondary data?


  Data that has been previously obtained for different research
• What are the strengths of primary data?

  • Researcher has complete control over data
  • Data collection can be designed to fit the aims and hypothesis of the study
• Confounding variable - A variable under study that changes with the IV but is not the IV.