Research methods

• What is a laboratory experiment?


  An experiment where the researcher has a high level of control over all the variables in the study through the use of standardised procedures
• Positives of lab studies?

  -Researchers can confidently establish a cause and effect relationship between the IV and DV by holding all variables outside the IV and DV consistent

  -Lab studies are easily replicated due to use of standardised procedures

  -High internal validity
• Negatives of lab studies?


  -Lack ecological validity making them difficult to apply to real world scenarios

  -Participants might show demand characteristics since they are aware of being in a study
• What is a field experiment?


  An experiment conducted in a natural setting in attempt to avoid the artificial nature of lab studies
• Positives of field experiments?


  -Higher ecological validity making them easy to apply to real world scenarios

  -Participants will not show demand characteristics as they are unaware of being in an experiment
• Negatives of field experiments?


  -Lack control over possible extraneous variables that could influence the dependent variable

  -Lower internal validity
• What are natural experiments?


  Experiments where the two levels of independent variables occur naturally without the researchers influence and the researcher only records the change in the dependent variable
• Positives of natural experiments?


  -Allows research in areas where controlled experimentation cannot take place

  -High in external validity due to experiments being examples of real world behaviour free of demand characteristics
• Negatives of natural experiments?


  -Extraneous variables cannot be controlled therefore the researcher cannot claim they have found a cause and effect relationship

  -Cannot be easily replicated therefore testing for reliability is very difficult
• What is a quasi experiment?


  Experiments where participants cannot be randomly assigned between levels of IV because the level of IV is an innate characteristic of the participants that cannot be manipulated
• Positive and negative of quasi experiments?


  -Quasi experiments are the only way to experimentally study factors that are pre-existing characteristics of participants

  -Confounding variables
• Informed consent: consent is not valid if participants are not informed of what they are agreeing to
• Full informed consent can lead to demand characteristics which reduces the internal validity of the research
• What are the 3 alternatives to informed consent?


  -Prior general consent

  -Retroactive consent

  -Presumptive consent
• What is prior general consent?


  Consent where participants agree to a long list of potential features of a study, not knowing which aspects will be part of the study
• What is retroactive consent?


  the researcher asks for consent after the participant has taken part in the study, if they do not agree to take part then their data is destroyed
• what is presumptive consent?


  Where the researcher asks a group similar to the sample if they would agree to take part in the research, if the group agrees then the researcher assumes that the participants would also agree
• Right to withdraw: Participants should be told, as part of being given informed consent, that they can withdraw from the study at any stage
• Protection from harm: The researcher is responsible for designing research that does not risk the psychological well being, physical health or dignity of the participants
• Confidentiality: When the research is published it should not include the identity of participants or info that could reveal their identity
• Debriefing: After the study is completed the researcher should offer a debriefing which would reveal any information withheld
• What is internal validity?


  The extent to which a study or experiment accurately measures the relationship between the variables being studied
• What is external validity?


  The extent to which the results of a study can be generalised beyond the specific conditions and settings of a study
• What is ecological validity?


  The extent to which the findings of a study can be generalised to real-world settings and situations
• What is an independent groups design?

  • different sets of people in each condition
  • PPs randomly allocated to each condition to avoid researcher bias
  • produces unrelated data
• Independent groups AO3

  • No order effects as PPs only take part in one condition
  • needs double the amount of PPs compared to repeated measures
• What is repeated measures design?

  • Each PP repeats the experiment under each condition
  • Produces related data
• Repeated measures AO3

  • Participant variables is not a problem as PPs take part in both conditions
  • Increased demand characteristics as PPs are more likely to figure out the aim due to taking part in both conditions
• Questionnaires

  What are open questions?

  • questions phrased in a way that allows the participant to answer in any way they choose
  • Produces qualitative data
• Questionnaires

  What are closed questions?

  • Questions phrased in a way that limits participants responses to only a few fixed options
  • Produces quantitative data
• Questionnaires AO3

  • cost effective
  • quick gathering of data
  • social desirability bias
  • response bias on likert scales
• What is a structured interview?

  Interview where a predetermined set of questions in a fixed order are used
• What is an unstructured interview?

  Interview that takes the form of a conversation where there is only a general aim no set of questions
• What is a semi-structured interview?

  uses a list of predetermined questions but interviewer uses follow up questions when appropriate
• Interviews AO3

  • structured are easy to replicate
  • unstructured are difficult to analyse