1
Q
What is naturalistic observation?
A
- Observation that takes place in a natural setting
- No manipulation from researcher
- S: higher level of external validity , more generalisable
- L: lack of control over variables
2
Q
What is controlled observation?
A
- Conducted under controlled conditions
- Extraneous variables controlled
- S: can be replicated to check for reliability
- L: lacks external validity, does not apply to everyday life
3
Q
What is overt observation?
A
- Observation is open and participants are aware they are being observed
- S: is more ethical
- L: is risk of demand characteristics
4
Q
What is covert observation?
A
- Researcher observes people without their knowledge
- May be informed after investigation
- S: lower risk of investigator effects and demand characteristics
- L: ethical issues
5
Q
What is participant observation?
A
- The person observing also takes part in the activity being observed
- S: higher level of external validity, con obtain more in depth data
- L: observer may lack objectivity
6
Q
What is non participant observation?
A
- The person observing does not take part in the activity being observed?
- S: observer can be more objective
- L: lower external validity, researchers may miss behaviours due to lack of proximity
7
Q
What is structured observation?
A
- Researcher identifies target behaviours that will be main focus of investigation
- Researchers can quantify their observations using categories
- S: can compare behaviour more easily
- L: issues with internal validity, observer may be missing relevant behaviours
8
Q
What is unstructured observation?
A
- Researcher may record all types of behaviour that they see
- Produces a lot of rich, qualitative data
- S: richer data can be obtained
- L: risk of observer bias due to lack of behavioural categories, can take longer
9
Q
What is a questionare?
A
- Made up of pre set list of written questions which a participant responds
10
Q
Advantage of questionare?
A
- Can be distributed to a lot of people
- Easily replicable
- Closed fixed choice questions are straight forward to analyse
11
Q
Disadvantages of questionare?
A
- Social desirability bias
- Anonymity can cause difficulty in knowing if participants have told the truth
12
Q
What are open questions?
A
- Respondent provides own answers express in words e.g. how are you finding this?
- S: responses not restricted
- L: difficult to analyse
13
Q
What are closed questions?
A
- Respondent has limited choices e.g. how many hours?
- S: easier to analyse
- L: responses restricted
14
Q
What is a Likert scale?
A
- Type of scale where the respondent indicates their level of agreement
15
Q
What is an interview?
A
- Face to Face interactions between interviewer and interviewee
16
Q
Advantages to an interview?
A
- Better awareness of truthfulness of interviewee (body language)
17
Q
Disadvantages to an interview?
A
- Risk of interviewer bias
18
Q
What are structured interviews?
A
- List of pre determined questions asked in a fixed order
19
Q
What are unstructured interviews?
A
- No set questions, general topic to be discussed but interaction is free flowing and interviewee encouraged to elaborate
20
Q
What are semi structured interviews?
A
- List of questions in advance but further questions asked
21
Q
What to consider in an interview?
A
- Quiet room - avoid distractions
- Rapport - more detail when comfortable
- Ethics - do not deceived or stress and stay confidential
22
Q
What is social desirability bias?
A
- Giving socially favourable answers due to presence of interviewer
23
Q
What is the interviewer effects?
A
- Effect interviewers presence has on answers and causing bias
24
Q
What is a case study?
A
- A detailed, in depth analysis of an individual/small group
- Tend to be longitudinal studies, gathering large amounts of (usually qualitative) data from many sources
- Idiographic method
25
What are examples of case studies?
- Phineas Gage ( metal rod in his head due to an accident, change in personality)
- Clive Wearing ( suffered virus which effected memory)
- Little Hans
26
Strengths of case studies?
- Rich, detailed insight enabling the study of unusual behaviour
- Often used to support/challenge other larger scale research
27
Limitations of case studies?
- Prone to researcher bias
- Not reliable, has little population validity
28
What is content analysis?
- Research method that turns qualitative data into quantitative data by coding
- Categories set before research
29
Strengths of content analysis?
- Reliable way to analyse qualitative data as coding units are not open to interpretation and so are applied in the same way over time with different researcher
- Allows a statistical analysis to be conducted if required as there is quantitative data as a result
30
Limitations of content analysis?
- Only describes the data so cannot extract any deeper meanings or explanations of the data patterns
- Findings may lack validity if initial coding is inaccurate
- Researcher can ignore the context that the words/pictures are used in
31
How can psychologists assess the reliability of an experiment?
- Test retest
32
What is a correlation coefficient?
- Number between +1/-1 which informs us of the strengths and direction of the relationship between the two co variables
33
What is the difference between a correlation and an experiment?
- Correlation is only assessing the relationship between 2 co variables, not like an experiment which is looking for cause and effect between an IV and DV
- Cause and effect cannot be established in correlation analysis
34
Strengths of correlation analysis?
- Useful starting point for research
- Relatively economical (usually secondary data)
35
Limitations of correlation analysis?
- No cause and effect can be established
- Intervening variables may explain the relationship seen and lead to false conclusions
36
What is an alternative hypothesis?
- Hypotheses written for correlation analysis
- No DV and IV
37
Describe a directional alternative hypothesis?
- ' There will be a positive/negative correlation/relationship between ...'
38
Describe a non directional alternative hypothesis?
- ' There will be a correlation/relationship between ...'
39
What is meta analysis?
- Combining results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view of that topic
40
Strengths of meta analysis?
- Allows us to create a larger more varied sample, and results can then be generalised across a much larger population, increasing validity
- Using secondary data means less ethical issues
41
Limitations of meta analysis?
- May be prone to publication bias, the researcher may not select all relevant studies, choosing to leave out studies with negative/ non significant results Therefore conclusions from the meta analysis would be biased because they only represent some of the relevant data
- Using secondary data means there is no knowledge of the accuracy of the data
42
Examples of meta analysis?
- Fisher and Greenberg (1996) :
- Critics often claim there is no evidence for psychoanalysis and the claims aren't testable, however, many of the claims have been tested and confirmed with the scientific method
- Fisher and Greenburg summarised 2500 of these studies concluding that experimental studies of psychoanalysis compare well with studies relevant to other areas of psychology
43
Revision Cards
flashcards
Decks in class (17)
# Cards
-
Approaches82
-
Research Methods52
-
Bio core concept enzymes7
-
bio core concept molecules49
-
cells core concepts15
-
Nucleic acids9
-
Research Methods 243
-
Bio Component 324
-
Bio The Heart41
-
Memory82
-
English Key Phrases7
-
Social influence38
-
Bio component 3 transport in blood5
-
Nervous system32
-
Kidneys13
-
Bio core concepts water11
-
Crit app12
