Psychology

• components of a psychological study

  aim - describes what the researcher intends to investigate

  method- describes the design of the entire study (participants and procedure)

  results - an objective outline of what the outcome is

  conclusion - the researcher makes an explanation of how the results tell us about human behaviour and the mind
• what is a directional and non directional hypothesis

  directional - the researcher makes a clear anticipation of experimental outcome

  non directional - simply states that there is a difference between conditions
• why do variables need to be operationalised

  To establish a clear cause and effect. Minimising extraneous variables and it can be easily replicated.
• Types of experiments


  Laboratory- conducted in a lab where variables are controlled

  field - the iv is manipulated in a a natural setting

  natural - researcher does not have control over the iv and cannot change it (event)

  quasi - having an IV that is based on an existing difference between people
• evaluating lab experiments

  +high control over extraneous variables

  +high internal validity

  +standardised procedures

  -lacks ecological validity

  - demand characteristics
• Evaluating Field Experiments


  +mundane realism (ecological validity)

  +less likely to have demand characteristics

  -loss of control of CVS AND EVs

  - potential ethical issues
• evaluating natural experiments

  +manipulation of IV cannot be done for practical and ethical reasons

  +high external validity

  - rare naturally occurring events (replicable?):

  - cant be generalised

  -hard to identify the cause between variables when the Iv cant be manipulated
• evaluating quasi experiments


  +controlled conditions

  +standardised procedures

  -difficult to infer causation
• types of experimental designs

  Independent groups

  Repeated measures

  Matched pairs
• Evaluating the repeated measures design

  +Participant variables are controlled and fewer participants are needed

  +cheap to carry out

  -Order effects arise

  -Demand characteristics
• Evaluating independent groups

  -time consuming

  - participant variables

  -expensive

  +random allocation

  +no order effects

  + fewer demand characteristics
• evaluating matched pairs design

  + order effects and demand characteristics are less of a problem

  - people can't me matched perfectly so participant variables are still relevant

  - matching may take a long time and cost more money
• extraneous variable


  any other variables that might potentially interfere with the IV
• confounding variable

  a type of extraneous variable that is related to the IV and can also have an impact on the DV
• demand characteristics


  participants change their behavior based on what they perceive the experiment to be about
• social desirability


  A tendency to give socially approved answers to present themselves in a generally favourable light.
• investigator effect

  Any effect of the investigator's behaviour on the outcome of the research (the DV) e.g. expectancy effect, unconscious bias, leading questions
• what is a self report

  a method in which people provide subjective information about their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviours, typically via questionnaire or interview
• open questions

  when there is not a fixed range of answers and they can answer however they want
• closed questions


  questions answered with a yes or no
• Evaluating questionnaires


  +cost effective

  +gathers large amounts of data quickly

  +easy to analyse

  -response bias

  -social desirability bias

  -demand characteristics
• Types of scales

  - likert scale - a scale where the respondent says the extent to which they agree or disagree

  - rating scale - a scale where the respondent chooses how strongly they feel based on a question asked
• Sampling methods

  stratified - sub groups of the target population

  random

  systematic - nth term

  opportunity

  volunteer
• evaluating stratified sampling

  +representative

  -still individual differences within a sub group

  - time consuming

  -expensive
• evaluating random sampling

  + no bias

  + minimise EV and CVs

  + increases internal validity

  - time consuming

  - not representative
• evaluating systematic sampling

  +objective

  + minimises researcher bias

  - time consuming
• evaluating opportunity sampling

  + convenient

  +saves time and money

  - unrepresentative

  - researcher bias
• evaluating volunteer sampling

  + convenient

  +saved time and money

  +more engaged participants

  - demand characteristics

  - less representative
• what is an interview

  a form of self report research that involves communication between the interviewer and interviewee where a series of questions will be asked in order to collect information from participants
• evaluating an interview

  + can assess body language

  + more detailed qualitative data

  + allows a rapport so they feel more trusted and willing to honestly share opinions which increases internal validity

  - leading questions

  - time consuming

  - unrepresentative

  - researcher bias (answers could be interpreted differently
• structured interview

  interviews are made up of a pre determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order. Interviewer cannot make changes to the questions and the order of them
• evaluating a structured interview

  + replicable

  - less detail
• unstructured interview

  There are no set questions but more of a general aim or topic that the interviewer will be discussing
• evaluating an ustructured interview

  + can follow up on points as they arise

  - interviewer bias
• evaluating primary data

  +authentic and accurately measures what you want to find

  + valid

  - time and effort + money
• evaluating secondary data

  + inexpensive and easily accessibly

  - variation in quality and reliability

  - may not be valuable- might not be completed

  - might not fit the job
• meta-analysis

  a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies investigating the same hypothesis
• measure of central tendency

  a measure of the average value in a set of data

  mean , median , mode
• measure of dispersion

  a measure of the spread in a set of data

  range, standard deviation
• evaluating the measure of central tendency

  mean +all data considered -include outliers

  median + not affected by outliers - might not be in the data set - unrepresentative

  mode + quick and easy -unrepresentative