Paper 3

• What is one characteristic of a true experiment?

  An independent variable is manipulated
• What is another characteristic of a true experiment?

  Participants are randomly assigned to conditions
• What is a characteristic of a quasi-experiment?

  Participants are grouped based on existing characteristics
• What is a characteristic of a natural experiment?

  It uses naturally occurring independent variables
• What is a characteristic of field experiments?

  Conducted in participants' real-life settings
• What is another characteristic of field experiments?

  Extraneous variables are more difficult to control
• What is the definition of correlation in research methods?

  A statistical measure of relationship
• What is a limitation of correlations?

  Cannot determine cause and effect
• What type of data is typically used in correlations?

  Quantitative data
• What is a characteristic of case studies?

  They use method triangulation
• What is a limitation of case studies?

  Difficult to generalize findings
• What is a characteristic of naturalistic observations?

  They have high ecological validity
• What is a limitation of lab observations?

  Low ecological validity
• What is a characteristic of participant observations?

  The researcher interacts with participants
• What is a limitation of non-participant observations?

  Limited insight into participants' perspectives
• What is a characteristic of overt observations?

  Participants are aware of being observed
• What is a limitation of covert observations?

  Less ethical due to deception
• What are the types of interviews mentioned?

  Structured, unstructured, focus group
• What is a characteristic of structured interviews?

  Use a predetermined list of questions
• What is a limitation of structured interviews?

  Less natural and lower ecological validity
• What is a characteristic of unstructured interviews?

  More open-ended questions are used
• What is a limitation of unstructured interviews?

  More difficult to replicate
• What is a characteristic of focus group interviews?

  Involves several participants at once
• What is a benefit of focus group interviews?

  Provides rich data from group interaction
• What is a characteristic of opportunity sampling?

  Participants are selected based on accessibility
• What is a limitation of self-selected sampling?

  Participants may not represent the target population
• What is a characteristic of random sampling?

  Every individual has an equal chance of selection
• What is a benefit of stratified sampling?

  Ensures important subgroups are represented
• What is a characteristic of snowball sampling?

  Participants help find other participants
• What is a limitation of purposive sampling?

  May suffer from sampling bias
• What is an important consideration when suggesting an alternative research method?

  Investigate the same phenomenon
• What is a benefit of using questionnaires as a research method?

  Easy and cheap to distribute
• What is a benefit of unstructured interviews?

  Gain deeper understanding of topics
• What is a benefit of focus group interviews?

  More natural conversation among participants
• What does purposive sampling mean?

  Finding evidence of specific criteria
• What are the three types of sampling mentioned?

  Opportunity, self-selected, snowball
• What should researchers remember when suggesting alternative research methods?

  • Investigate the same phenomenon
  • Avoid case studies or experiments
  • Consider interviews, focus groups, or questionnaires
• Why should researchers explain at least two reasons for their method choice?

  To justify the method's effectiveness
• What is the maximum number of marks for suggesting an alternative research method?

  3 marks

  
• What should not be evaluated in ethics questions?

  Ethics in studies