Unit 1- Methodological Issues

Question 1

What are the 3 types of validity and a definition

Answer 1

Ecological validity = refers to whether to measure of behaviour resembles real life, this tends to be lower when lab experiments are used as it means behaviour is not naturalistic
Population validity = refers to whether the sample used in the research is diverse and representative (of different ages, genders, occupations, backgrounds)
Construct validity = refers to whether the study is really measuring what it is supposed and whether extraneous variables are controlled for

Question 2

What is the benefit of research being ecologically valid

Answer 2

-help avoid demand characteristics
-can be applied to real life scenarios

Question 3

What are demand characteristics

Answer 3

-they happen when cues are given in an experiment which means that participants are able to work out the purpose of the study
-if this happens participants are likely to change their behaviour and act in a way they think the researcher would expect them to
-this would lower the validity of results

Question 4

What is reliability

Answer 4

-when the research has been kept the same (standardised) for all participants such that it is replicable and could be repeated by another researcher to see if they get the same results
- the research has been carried out on multiple participants (large sample size)

Question 5

What is inter-rater reliability

Answer 5

-relevant when there are multiple observers who watch the same participants
-if they independently record the same findings then we would say that the research has high inter-rater reliability

Question 6

What is ethnocentrism

Answer 6

-whether findings of the study represents a range of different cultures
-a piece of research will be ethnocentric if it is only carried out in one country/ culture and the sample is not culturally diverse

Question 7

what is validity

Answer 7

-the extent to which a study’s findings are accurate and measure what they are intended to measure
-to improve validity, researchers use methods like operationalizing hypotheses clearly, controlling extraneous variables, using control groups, and employing techniques like single- or double-blind procedures