Research methods 1

• Dual coding


  Making use of both visual (pictures) and auditory (words) encoding to strengthen memory trace
• Encoding information both visually and auditorily helps process information synchronously, which aids memory
• Aim


  The purpose of a study
• Hypothesis


  A prediction about the relationship between variables
• Independent Variable (IV)


  The variable that is manipulated by the researcher
• Dependent Variable (DV)


  The variable that is measured by the researcher
• Operationalize


  To define the IV and DV in specific, measurable terms
• Extraneous variable


  Any variable other than the IV that could affect the DV
• Confounding variable


  A variable that systematically varies with the IV and affects the DV
• Experimental designs


  • Independent measures
  • Repeated measures
  • Matched pairs
• Independent measures design


  • Separate groups of participants for each condition of the IV
  • No order effects
• Repeated measures design


  • Same participants complete all conditions of the IV
  • Fewer participants needed
  • Potential order effects
• Matched pairs design


  • Participants in each group are matched on a key characteristic
  • Tries to balance individual differences and order effects
• Sampling methods


  • Random
  • Opportunity
  • Volunteer
  • Systematic
  • Stratified
• Representativeness


  The extent to which the sample reflects the target population
• Types of experiments


  • Lab
  • Field
  • Natural
  • Quasi-experimental
• Lab experiment


  IV is manipulated by the researcher in a highly controlled environment
• Field experiment


  IV is manipulated by the researcher in a natural environment
• Natural experiment


  IV occurs naturally and the researcher observes the effects
• Quasi-experiment


  IV is not manipulated by the researcher, but groups are compared
• get a stratified sample try and represent it but you you're not going to be able to really truly represent how complex the different people are and your sample never truly represent the time population lets you test everyone in later on which again isn't going to happen so again it's all about thing out nothing's perfect every study will choose one of these types and they'll just be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of doing of doing so
• Types of experiment


  • Lab
  • Field
  • Natural
  • Quasi
• Lab experiment


  • IV is manipulated by the experimenter
  • Good control over the environment
• Field experiment


  • IV is still manipulated by the experimenter
  • Happens in a more natural environment
• Natural experiment


  • IV is naturally occurring
  • Experimenter has no control over IV
• Quasi experiment


  • IV is fixed and naturally occurring
  • Environment is not as important
• Internal validity


  How confident you can be that the effect on the DV is only caused by the IV
• External validity


  How well the results can be generalised to the real world
• High control in lab experiments


  Leads to high internal validity but low external validity
• Low control in field experiments


  Leads to higher external validity but lower internal validity
• Natural experiments


  Allow study of topics hard to control, but have more confounding variables and lower reliability
• Quasi experiments


  Can take place in controlled conditions, but lack random allocation so other factors can affect results
• Primary data


  First-hand data collected by the researcher
• Secondary data


  Pre-existing data
• Qualitative data


  Non-numerical, rich and detailed data (e.g. interviews, diaries, photos)
• Quantitative data


  Numerical data
• Measures of central tendency


  Mean, median, mode - types of averages
• Mean


  • Affected by extreme scores
• Median and mode


  • Less affected by extreme scores, but don't take all scores into account
• Measures of dispersion


  Range, standard deviation - show how spread out the scores are