research methods (paper 1)

• IV 


  experimenter deliberately changes
• DV


  experimenter measures
• alternative hypothesis 


  relationship between IV and DV (one variable does affect the other)
• null hypothesis


  no relationship between IV and DV (one variable does not affect the other)
• extraneous variable 


  any other variable that may affect the DV (not including the IV)
• quantitative data 


  data in the form of numbers
• qualitative data 


  data in the form of words/a description
• laboratory experiment

  • taken place in a laboratory
  • high control
  • EV can be controlled
  • not like everyday life
  • may have low validity
  • pp know they're taking part
• field experiment

  • natural setting
  • changes the IV to see effect on DV
  • more realistic compared to laboratory
  • good validity
  • may lose control over EV
  • pp have not consented
• natural experiment

  • IV is not manipulated
  • takes place in real-life settings
  • high validity
  • high control over EV
  • few opportunities for specific kinds of research
• independent groups 


  2 different groups under different experimental conditions
• repeated measures


  same participants take part in each condition of the experiment
• matched pairs 


  participants are matched in terms of key variables (e.g. IQ, age etc.)
• ecological validity 


  how generalisable experimental findings are to the real world
• demand characteristics 


  when the participant tries to work out the purpose of the experiment (this affects their behaviour)
• counterbalancing


  used to control order effects - half pp complete conditions in one order, and the other half in the opposite order
• random allocation 


  assigning pp to different conditions randomly
• randomisation 


  using chance in an experiment to control bias
• sample 


  which participants are selected to be included in a study
• target population 


  the group of people psychologists want to be able to generalise their findings to
• representative 


  a group that closely represents characteristics of their population as whole
• generalised 


  the application of the results from a study to the wider target population
• random sampling 


  sampling technique where every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected
• opportunity sampling 


  sampling technique uses participants who happen to be there for recruitment
• systematic sampling 


  gathering participants by using a predetermined system to select pp from the target population (usually a numerical formula)
• stratified sampling 


  researchers divide participants into subgroups based on characteristics they share
• ethical issues 


  ensuring experiments do not cause harm to participants
• questionnaire 


  a set of written questions used to find out a person's thoughts/attitudes on a particular topic (these are anonymous, quick and easy)
• closed questions 


  a question that has a fixed range of possible answers - produce quantitive data
• open questions 


  a question that invites respondents to provide their own answer (rather than select one provided) - produce qualitative data
• structured interviews 


  interviewer reads out a list of prepared questions (there may be follow up questions like "why?")
• unstructured interviews 


  an interview that is more like a conversation, interviewer has a general aim but develops questions based on the previous answer
• semi-structured interviews


  a combination of structured and unstructured interviews
• observation 


  watching participants behaviour or actions
• overt observation 


  participants know they are being observed
• covert observation 


  participants do not know they are being observed
• non-participant observation 


  observer not actively taking part in the experiment
• participant observation 


  observer actively taking part in the experiment
• correlation 


  a measure of how 2 or more variables are related to each other
• case studies 


  an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, institution or event