research methods
what type of graph/chart is on a correlational study presented on
scattergram
what are the three types of correlation
postive, negtive and no correlation
strengths of correlation
1. can see the strength of a relationship between variables.
2. may suggest further research.
3. provide quantitative which is easy to anylse
weaknesses of a correlation
1. doesn't show a cause and effect relaytionship.
2. no details to the data.
how many different types of variables are there
1. independent variable.
2. dependent variable.
3. extraneous variables.
4. confounding variables.
what is an extraneous variable
a factor which may infulence your results, so you control it to minimise it's effect. then it doesn't impact the DV
what is a confoudning variable
a variable which you cannot control (usually individual differences). becuase it is not controlled it will interfere with your results.
define operationalisation
turing ideas into measures experiments
for example how do you measure problem solving ability. you can time taken to complete a puzzle.
what is a directional hypothesis
states the direction of the difference or relationship, makes a prediction as to which will be bigger/more effective
what is a non-directional hypothesis
does not state the direction, only that there will be a difference/affect.
this can also be know as a 2-tailed hypothesis
what are indivdual differences
characteristics that make us unique
what are order effects
when one condition/task affects the perfomance on the next condition/task.
what i counaterbalancing
remember this with 'ABBA'. a techniqure to balance/reduce order effects in a repeated mesures design. E.g. half the p's do condition A with B then the other half do condition B then A.
what is a indepent measures design
one gropu does one condition and another group does a diffferent condition
what is a repeated mesause design
where all the groups do all the conditions
what is matched pairs design
recruit another set of participants who match the original group. so everyone in hte original group has a 'twin' in the other group
strengths of independetn measures design
1. no chance of order efffects.
2. less chance of p's working out the aim and chanign their behaviour (demand characteristics).
weaknesses of independent measures design.
1. individual differences - difficult to compare different people.
2. researcher may need more p's as the same ones can't be used again.
strengths of repeated measures design
1. no indvidual differences.
2. fewer p's may be needed.
weaknesses of repeated measures design
1. risk of order effects.
2. more chance of order effects.
strengths of matched-pairs design
1. no order effects.
2. individual differences are reduced.
3. less chance of demand characteristics.
weaknesses of matched-pairs design
1. still have indivdual differences.
2. researcher may need more p's.
what are the three types of experiments
lab, field and quasi
what is a laboratory experiment
when the independent variable has been manipulated and the experiment is conducted in a controled/artifical enviroment.
what are the strengths of lab experiments
1. high control and high replicability.
2. can establish cause and effect as the IV is manipulated.
3. most scientific type of experiment and often uses scientific equipment.
weaknesses of lab experiments
1. high chance of demand characteristics.
2. often low in ecolgical balidity as expiments and very controlled.
what is a field experment
when the independent variable has manipulated but the experiment has been conducted where you would expct see that behaviour occur/in a natural environment.
what are the strengths of a field experment
1. cause and effect can be identified as the IV is manipualted can be higher in ecological validity than lab experiments as field experiments conducted in real life condents
weaknesses of field experiments
1. harder to control variables.
2. more change of confounding variables so more difficult to establish cause and effect than a lab experiment.
3. difficult to replicate.
4. less scientific than lab experiments as there's less control.
what is a quasi experiment
when the independent variable is naturally occurring and has not been manipulated by the researcher.
what are the strengths of quasi experiments
1. allows us to look at variables it would be impossible or unethical to investigate otherwise.
2. can be carried out in a lab or natural environment so could have the same strengths of lab and field experiments.
3. scientific.
4. reliable.
weaknesses of quasi experiments
1. difficult to establish cause and effect becuase the researcher has not manipulated (controlled) the IV.
2. sampling bias could occur as the research does not have control over who can participate in which condition.
overall strengths and weaknesses of experiments
1. experiments have an independent and dependent bariable so cause and effect can be identified.
2. replicable.
3. scientific.
4. reliable.
what are the overall weaknesses of experiments
1. high chance of demand characteristics affecting the validity.
2. low in ecological validity as often very controlled.
what are the strengths of an observations
1. observational studies therefore tend to be high in ecological validity if the observer remains undetected.
2. avoids demand characteristics.
what are the weaknesses of observations
1. a number of ethical issues can arise including problems with a lack of consent and invasion of privacy.
2. difficult to replicate.
3. there is little or no control of extraneous varibles in observational studies.
4. there is also the problem of observer bias with observational studies. they may misinterpret what they see.
what is time sampling
you observe at certain times within a time frame e.g. every minute for 10 seconds.
what is event sampling
observe a specific event every time it occurs within a whole time period.
what are the advantages of event sampling
1. observer is less likely to miss behaviours becuase they're recording every time it happens.
what are the disadvantages of event sampling
1. may miss some behaviours if several happen at once and it's difficult to keep track.
what are the advantages of time sampling
1. less likly to miss behviours. obersver doesn't have to stay focussed for the whole observation.
what are the disadvantages of time sampling
1. may miss some behaviours if they occur when the observer isn't recording behaviour.
what is a structured observations
the researcher has a behaviour chechlist to tally
what are the advantages of structured observations
1. there's clear direction. the observer may be less likely to miss behaviours becuase they have them listed in front of them.
what are the disadvantages of structured observations
behvaiours may occur that aren't on the checklist and then don't get recorded.
what is unstructured observation
the researcher donesn't have a pre-determined behaciour checklist. records any behaviour they see.
what are the advantages of unstructured observation
1. allows the observer to record any behaviours they see. not restricted to a checklist.
what are the disadvantages of unstructured observation
1. may lost sight of the actual observation and have too many behaviours recorded.
what is a naturalistic observation
an observation carried out in a natural environment/where you'd expect to see that behaviour occur.
what are the advantages of naturalistic observation
1. more real to life. more natural behaviour from the participants.
what are the disadvantages of naturalistic observation
1. less control by the researcher. sometimes difficult to control the participants (especially if covert).
what is a controlled observation
this is usually conducted in a controlled setting. researcher controls who they'll observe and often the participants know they're being observed.
what are the advantages of controlled observation
1. researcher has more control over the observation. E.g. may be able to control how many participants.
what are the disadvantages of controlled observation
1. less real to life. participants may change their natural behaviour if the observation is controlled.
participant observation
where the observers are part of, or are pretending to be part of, the participants that are being observed.
what are the advantages of participant observation
1. observers can gain first hand data. lesss likely to miss behaviours/things that are said.
what are the disadvantages of participant observation
1. may show observer bias - observer may get 'caught up' in the observation and interpret the behaviour how they want.
what is a non-participant observation
the researcher is not part of the behaviour being observed.
what are the advantages of non-participant observation
1. less chance of observer bias if not involved in the behaviour being observed.
what are the advantages of non-participant observation
1. less chance of observer bias if not involved in the behaviour being observed.
what are the disadvantages of non-participant observation
may miss certain behaviours if it's difficult to observe every behaviour occurring.
what is a overt observations
particpants know they're being observed.
what are the advantages of overt observations
1. ethical. paticpants have given their consent.
what are the disadvantages of overt observations
1. participants may change their behaviour if they know they're being observed.
what is a covert observations
the participants don't know they're being observed.
what are the advantages of a covery observations
1. jparticpatns won't change their behaviour as they don't know they're being observed.
what are the disadvantages of a covert observations
1. less ethical. must only be done in a public place also.
what is observer bias
when the observer interprets the data how they want to. this is bad because the observer is less likely measurin what they intend to.
what are behaviour al categories
when there are categories of behaviour/checklist to observe during an observation.
what are the advantages of behavioural categories
1. gives the rsearcher direction. more likely to record every behaviour they need to.
what are the disadvantages of behavioural categories
1. may restrict the researcher and only focus on the listed behaviours.
what is a coding frame
when behavioural categories are coded and can be rated for severity. E.g. observing kicking and punching in a playground.
kicking (1 = light kick, 5 = hard kick)
punching (1 = light punch, 5 = hard punch)
what are the advantages of coding frames
1. allows the behaviour checklist to contain more detail.
what are the disadvantages of coding frames
1. observers may interpret the behaviour how they want and not be consistent with another observer.
what is inter-rater reliablity
2 or more observers observe the same behaviour, at the same time, using the same behaviour checklist. compare their data at the end.
what are the advantages of inter-rater reliablity
1. can see if they're recorded data in a similar way.
what are the disadvantages of inter-rater reliablity
1. time consuming. another observer is needed.
what are observer effects.
when the presence of an observer in a overt observation changes the behaviour of the participants. this is bad because the observer is not measuring what they intedn to as participants change their behaviour.
what are the two types of self-reports
questionnaries and interviews.
what are the 3 types of interviews
1. structured.
2. semi-structured.
3. unstructured.
what are the advantages of structured interview
1. clear direction.
2. all respondents have an equal chance - reliable and consistent for comparison.
what are the disadvantages of structured interview
1. may be so foucssed on the planned quesitons and miss other relevant info.
what are the advantages of unstructured interview
1. flexibility to ask other questions in response to the participnat's answers.
2. may feel more natural - participant may feel more comforatable.
what are the disadvantages of unstructured interview
1. no direction - less reliable and harder to analyse as all questions are different for each participant.
what is a sjructured interview
when the researcher has pre-planned/pre-determined questions.
what is a unstructured interview
an interview with no pre-determined questions.
what is a semi-structured interview
an interview with pre-determined questions and new questions are created in response to participant's answers
what are the disadvantages of semi-structured interview
1. some reliablity/structure but also allows flexiblity within the interview.
2. slightly replicable.
what are the disadvantages of semi-structured interview.
1. may go off topic and not ask all relevant questions.
2. more difficult to analyse.
what are open questions
questions with no rstricted response for example 'descirbe the last dream you remembered.'
what are the advantages of open questions
1. reasoning behind answers (rich qualitative data).
what are the disadvantages of open questions
1. difficult to analyse as it's qualitative data.
2. may be researcher bias when analysing the data.
what are closed questions
questions with a restricted response (must have options to choose from). for example do you dream yes/no.
what are the advantages of closed questions
1. gives us quantiative data which is easy to analyse.
what are the disadvantages of closed questions.
1. no reasoning behind answers.
what are the 3 tyeps of rating scales
1. rating scales.
2. semantic differential rating scales.
3. likert scales.
what are rating scales
where you can rate your response. for example 1-10 where 1 = not stressed and 10 = stressed.
what are the advantages of rating scales
1. easy to analyse. quantitative data.
what are the disadvantages of rating scales
1. no reasons behind answer.
2. response bias.
what are semantic differential rating scale
a rating scale that uses opposite adjectivs. for example helpful and unhelpful.
what are the advantages of semantic differential rating scale
1. easy to analyse. quantiative data.
what are the disadvantages of semantic differential rating scale
1. no reasons behind answers.
2. response bias.
what are likert scales
a question that uses agree/disagree. neutral point is 'neither agree or disagree'.
what are the advantages of likert scales
1. easy to analyse. quantitative data.
2. can show the extent to which participants agree or disagree with something.
what are the disadvantages of likert scales
1. no reasons behind answers.
2. response bias.
what is response bias
when participants opt for the middle number on a scale to not show extreme values. this is a bad thing beacuse the validity will decrease.
what is soical-desirablity bias
when particpants chage their behaviour to fit in with soical norms in order to be seen as favourable by others. this is bad becuase the validity decreases.
what are demand charactertics
when participants change their behaviour to suit the needs of the study. this is bad because the validity decreases.