Research Methods

• What is the Independent Variable

  • The aspect of the experiment which has been manipulated by the researcher to have an effect on the DV
• What is the Dependent Variable?

  • Aspect of the study which is measured by the researcher and has been caused by a change to the IV
• What is a hypothesis and what are the 2 differences?

  • Clearly states the relationship between the variables being tested
  • Directional hypothesis = states the direction of the difference or relationship
  • Non-Directional = Does not predict the difference or relationship
• What is operationalisation?

  • Where the researcher clearly defines the variables in terms of how they are being measured
• What is an extraneous variable?

  • Any other variable which is not the IV that affects the DV
  • Does not vary systematically with the IV
• What is confounding variables?

  • Also variables which aren't the IV that affect the DV
  • They do change systematically with the IV
• What are demand characteristics?

  • Any cue the researcher or the research situation may give the participant which allows them to guess the aim of the study
• What are investigator effects?

  • Any unwanted influence from the investigator on the DV measured
• What is randomisation?

  • The use of chance to limit the effects of bias from investigator effects
• What is standardisation?

  • Using the exact same formalised procedure for every single participant in the study
• What is a Lab experiment and its strengths and limitations?

  • Design = Experiment that takes place in a special environment where different variables can be controlled
  • S = High degree of control over variables allowing IV to be replicated; Researches can repeat experiments and compare results
  • L = Experimenter Bias can affect the results and PP's may be influenced by investigator; Low ecological validity
• What is a field experiment and its strengths and limitations?

  • Design = Experiment conducted in a more natural environment, with variables still being controlled
  • S = High ecological validity; Controlled IV
  • W = Ethical issues as it is a invasion of privacy and no informed consent; Replication is not possible due to extraneous variables
• What is a quasi experiment and its strengths and limitations?

  • Design = Experiment where the IV has not been determined but instead naturally exists
  • S = High internal validity and can be replicated;
  • W = Confounding variables as there is no random allocation
• What is a Natural experiment and its strengths and limitations?

  • Design = The IV is not brought about by the researcher
  • S = Provides opportunities for unique results which wouldn't have happened through ethical issues; High external validity
  • W = Natural occurring events which are rare and not replicable; Very difficult to randomise
• What is an Independent groups design: Strengths, limitations and Solutions?

  • Design = Participants only participate in one condition of the IV
  • S = No order effects; Demand characteristics are limited
  • W = No control over participant variables; Need a lot more participants than others
  • Solutions = Random allocation can solve control over participant variables
• What is random sampling, its strengths and limitations?

  • Explanation = All the members of population have equal chance of being the one that is selected
  • S = No researcher bias
  • W = Time consuming; Volunteer bias as participants can refuse to take part
• What is Systematic sampling, its strengths and limitations?

  • Explanation = A system where every Nth term is selected from the sampling frame
  • S = Avoids researcher bias and gives fair representative
  • W = Not truly unbiased unless you use a random number generator
• What is stratified sampling, its strengths and limitations?

  • Explanation = Researchers divide subjects into subgroups called strata based on characteristics they share
  • S = No researcher bias and produces representative data due to proportional strata
  • W = Time consuming; Identified strata cannot generalise all the differences between people of the wider population
• What is opportunity sampling, its strengths and limitations?

  • Explanation = Participants happen to be available, so are recruited conveniently
  • S = Time saving and cost effective
  • W = Lacks generalisation; Researcher bias
• What is Volunteer sampling, its strengths and limitations?

  • Explanation = Involves self selection from Participant in response to advert or being asked to
  • S = Time effective; Participants more likely to take part in the study
  • W = Volunteer bias; Participants may only take part due to rewards from taking part, meaning they don't give accurate results
• What is repeated measures design, its strengths and weaknesses?

  • Explanation = The same participants take part in all conditions of the IV
  • S = Eliminates PP bias; time effective as you dont need many participants
  • W = Order effects (when done the second time, pp might be bored so might not do as well)
  • Solution = Counter balancing is when one half of the PP do one condition and other half do a different
• What is matched pairs design, its strengths and weaknesses?

  • Explanation = Participants are matched in terms of key variables such as age or IQ
  • S = No order effects; Limited Demand characteristics
  • W = Time consuming; Need lots of PPs; Difficult to understand which variables are appropriate when comparing
• Ethical Issues

  • Informed Consent = Participants must be told the outline, procedure and purpose of the study, although psychologists may want to disclose this due to demand characteristics
  • Protection from harm = Participants must be protected of physical and psychological harm while reminded of their right to withdraw
  • Deception = Where the investigator deliberately hides information or misleads participants
  • Privacy & Confidentiality = The right participants have to not allow their results out to the general public
• Ways of dealing with ethical issues

  • Informed consent
  • Deception
  • Protection from harm
  • Privacy & Confidentiality
• Ways of dealing with: Informed consent

  Prior general consent, participants are aware of a possible deception<|>Presumptive consent, a general group are asked about their opinions on the study<|>Retrospective consent, when PPS are asked for consent after study
• Ways of dealing with: Deception

  PPs are given are full debrief and asked whether they would want to withdraw their information from the results
• Ways of dealing with: Protection from harm

  Researcher should offer counselling if PPS distressed and cost benefit analysis committee called
• Ways of dealing with: Privacy & Confidentiality

  PPS know that their data is hidden and anonymity is maintained in results
• What is a correlation?

  • Mathematical technique used to determine the association between two variables - known as co-variables
  • Variables are only measured, not manipulated like in experiments
  • Does not highlight any cause-and-effect relationship
• What are negative correlations, positive correlations and zero correlation

  • Negative = Where one variable increases and the other decreases, illustrated by a correlation coefficient of less than 0
  • Positive = Where one variable increases, so does the other, illustrated by a correlation coefficient of more than 0
  • Zero = No relationship is found between co-variables, illustrated by a correlation coefficient of equal to 0
• What are the strengths of correlations

  Positive

  • Used as starting points to carry out general experimental study
  • Quick and economical
  • Not time consuming due to it being used as secondary data
• What are the limitations of correlations?

  • Difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship
  • A third variable which the researcher is not aware of may be responsible for the relationship between co-variables
  • Correlations tend to be misused - they are often seen as causation
• What are the 4 different types of data

  • Primary = Data obtained first hand by the researcher
  • Secondary = Data is collected by someone else other than the researcher
  • Quantitative = Data that is presented numerically
  • Qualitative = Data that is presented in words
• Strength and limitations of Primary data

  Strength: Targets the information the research exactly wants

  Limitation: Requires time and effort and could be expensive
• Strengths and limitations of Secondary Data

  Strength: Time effective

  Weakness: Data may be outdated or incomplete; Validity of the data used may not be reliable
• Strengths and limitations of Quantitative data

  Strengths = Can be converted into graphs; Allows easy comparisons between data

  Weakness = Lack of depth and detail; Results have low external validity as PPS can express low external validity
• Strengths and limitations of Qualitative data?

  Strengths = More depth and detail; Higher greater external validity;

  Weakness = Difficult to analyse; cannot compare with other data
• What is the mean and evaluation

  Mean = All values added up and divided by number of values

  • Strength = Good interval data; Use of all values
  • Weakness = Influenced by Outliers
• What is the median and evaluation

  Median = Arrange data from lowest to highest then find central value

  Strength = Not affected by outliers; Good for ordinal data

  Weakness = Not as sensitive mean as it does use precise data
• What is the mode and evaluation?

  Mode = Most frequently occurring value in the set

  Strengths = Useful for nominal data

  Weakness = Not useful when there are several modes