research methods

• reliability is the consistency of the study's results, the more reliable the study is, the more likely it is to be accurate
• validity is the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure
• there are 4 types of validity

  1. face
  2. population
  3. ecological
  4. temporal
• for a researcher to keep reliability high they must use standardised and controlled testing which is replicable
• there are 6 research methods: case study, experiment, correlation, observation, self-report, and content analysis
• demand characteristics are when a ppt knows they are in a study so there behaviour changes
• social desirability bias is when people doing a self-report study want to try and look better
• 6 ethical considerations

  1. informed consent
  2. deception
  3. confidentiality
  4. debrief
  5. right to withdraw
  6. protection from harm
• a lab experiment is a scientific study where the psychologist manipulates the IV to find the DV
• the dependent variable (DV) is what the psychologist measures to see how much effect the IV has had on it
• a confounding variable is an extraneous variable that could affect the results of the study
• an independent variable (IV) is what the psychologist manipulates to see if it affects the dependent variable (DV)
• internal validity means we can be sure that any observed effects were caused by the IV, not some other factor
• external validity means we can generalise our findings to real life situations
• a correlational design is when two variables are measured at the same time but no cause-effect relationship is established between them
• a field experiment is one done in public, so high validity but low reliability
• a quasi experiment tests difference between people
• a natural experiment is when the IV is not manipulated by the researcher, but is caused by a naturally occurring event
• to operationalise a variable is to put it into practice and make it measurable
• confounding variables are variables that are not controlled for in the study but may affect the results
• extraneous variables lower validity of a study
• there are 3 experimental designs

  1. repeated measures
  2. independent measures
  3. matched pairs
• repeated measures design 


  same ppts in all studies
• independent measures design


  different participant in all variations
• matched pairs


  ppts paired with another ppt based on certain characteristic then split apart for different variations
• advantage of IMD's is they avoid order effects and demand characteristics
• disadvantage of IMD's is that participant variables could occur
• advantage of RMD's is that it avoids ppt variables
• disadvantage of RMD's is that order effects could occur and DC
• advantage of matched pairs is that it avoids RMD and IMD's disadvantages e.g. order effects
• disadvantage of MP is that it is time consuming
• counterbalancing is a way to lessen order effects by making the ppts do the different conditions in a different order
• there are 5 sampling methods

  1. stratified
  2. opportunity
  3. systematic
  4. volunteer
  5. random
• directional hypothesis is when you have an idea what the outcome will be and it is used to build on other peoples work
• non-directional hypothesis is when the psychologist is unsure of the outcome this is done when no previous research exists
• a null hypothesis is what the psychologist thinks will not happen or is trying to disprove
• categories of behaviour are the specific behaviour that are being tested during an observation
• 6 types of observation

  1. participant
  2. non-participant
  3. overt
  4. covert
  5. controlled
  6. naturalistic
• 2 types of observational sampling: time and event
• time sampling is when the researcher records the behaviour of participants in a specific period of time