psychology research methods

• Experimenter bias refers to the influence that an experimenter's expectations or beliefs may have on their behavior during an experiment.
• The Hawthorne effect is when participants change their behavior due to being aware they are part of a study, leading to artificial results.
• Random allocation ensures all possible combinations of experimental conditions occur equally often.
• Random sampling involves selecting individuals from a population at random so that every member has an equal chance of selection.
• Stratified sampling ensures that different groups within a population are represented proportionally.
• Control groups allow researchers to compare differences between different treatments.
• Placebo control group receives no treatment but believes they do.
• Double-blind procedure means neither the participant nor the researcher knows which condition the participant is in.
• Systematic sampling selects every nth person/item from a list until the required sample size is reached.
• Convenience sampling uses people who happen to be available rather than randomly selected.
• Ethical issues include informed consent, debriefing, confidentiality, deception, and protection of vulnerable populations.
• Informed consent requires participants to be fully informed about what will happen during the study and give voluntary agreement.
• Debriefing occurs when participants receive information about the true nature of the experiment after it's over.
• Quota sampling involves selecting participants based on certain characteristics, such as age or gender.
• Deception can occur when researchers hide information or lie to participants to maintain the integrity of the study.
• Confidentiality ensures that personal data collected during the study are kept private and not shared with others without permission.
• Protection of vulnerable populations includes ensuring that individuals who may be at risk due to age, disability, or other factors are treated fairly and protected from harm.
• Random sampling ensures that all members of a population have an equal chance of being included in the sample.
• Participants have the right to withdraw from a study at any time without penalty.