research methods key term

• Qualitative Data 

  Qualitative data is non-numerical language-based data collected through interviews, open questions, and content analysis. It allows researchers to develop insights into the nature of subjective experiences, opinions, and feelings. 
• Quantitative Data 

  Quantitative data is numerical data that is used in research to summarise, describe, evaluate, and Analyse datasets. There are many reasons psychologists use quantitative data in research. Some of these reasons are Researchers can easily identify patterns and trends in data. 
• External Validity 

  External validity is the extent to which you can generalise the findings of a study to other situations, people, settings, and measures. In other words, can you apply the findings of your study to a broader context? 
• Internal Validity 

  Internal validity refers to the degree of confidence that the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and not influenced by other factors or variables. 
• Independent Variable (IV) 

  The characteristics of an experiment manipulated or changed by researchers, not by other variables. (For example, in an experiment looking at the effects of studying on test scores, studying would be the independent variable.) 
• Dependent Variable (DV) 

  In an experiment, the dependent variable (DV) is the variable the researcher measures. The variable is affected by the manipulation of the independent variable (IV). 
• Reliability   

  a measure of whether something stays the same (whether it is consistent.) 
• Hypothesis  

  a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. It is a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in a study. 
• Extraneous Variables 

  Any variable you are not investigating that can affect the research study's outcomes. If left uncontrolled, extraneous variables can lead to inaccurate conclusions 
• Demand Characteristics 

  It occurs when the participants try to make sense of the research and act accordingly to support its aim. Demand characteristics are an issue, as the participants may behave in a way to support the hypothesis, making the results less valid. 
• Aim = general statement on what researcher intends to investigate
• Extraneous variables

  Variables other than the independent variable that could affect the participant's performance in a study (eg. the dependent variable).

  If a researcher is testing the memory of participants, they will be aware that distractions and caffeine levels could affect memory. The researcher will find ways to eliminate these extraneous variables.

   
• Confounding variables

  This refers to (extraneous) variables that were not controlled by the researcher.

  Despite controlling for noise and caffeine, the researcher did not control the temperature in the room and was not able to control individual differences (eg. IQ) that could affect memory abilities.
• Operationalisation: is the process of defining and measuring a variable in a way that allows researchers to collect and analyse quantifiable data
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  Randomisation = When trials/questions/tasks are presented in a random order to avoid any bias that the order of the trials/questions/tasks might present. The researcher uses chance to control for the effects of bias when designing research. This could be achieved with random generating methods (e.g.: random number generator, names in a hat). ​

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• Standardisation = This is the process in which all situational variables of a procedure used in research are kept identical. Everything is the same for all participants so that the research is fair. Under these circumstances changes in data can be attributed to the IV and not to extraneous variables.​