Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Research Methods
All key terms from Research Methods
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Levels of the independent variable | The different conditions in the experiment |
| Objectivity | Remaining impartial and not biased |
| Replicability | When an experiment or investigation can be repeated multiple times (and by others) with the same findings |
| Empiricism | Gathering actual evidence for the theory |
| Falsifiability | Being able to give a scenario in which the theory could be proved wrong |
| Hypothesis testing | Creating a clear testable statement and then comparing it to experiment |
| Theory construction | Creating a general explanation or model for a specific phenomenon which can be tested |
| Paradigm | A set of assumptions shared by the majority of people in a scientific field |
| Paradigm shift | A significant change to the agreed upon set of assumptions, such as the finding that the Earth orbits the sun rather than the other way around |
| Quantitative Data | Information in the form of numbers |
| Qualitative Data | Information which is not in the form of numbers; e.g. in text |
| Quasi experiment | A study involving an independent variable which has already occurred, where the IV is a characteristic |
| Laboratory Experiment | A controlled study carried out in an artificial setting |
| Field Experiment | A controlled study carried out in a natural setting |
| Natural Experiment | A study involving an independent variable which has already occurred, where the IV is an experience |
| Correlational Analysis | A test of the relationship between two continuous variables, usually plotted on a scattergram |
| Observation | Research which involves directly recording the behaviour of participants (can be natural/controlled, participant/non-participant, and overt/covert) |
| Self-Report Techniques | Research methods whereby the participants provide the information about themselves |
| Questionnaire | Self-report method where participants are given a written set of questions to answer |
| Open question | Where the person responding has freedom over what to say - their choices are not restricted |
| Closed question | Forced-choice questions with limited number of options |
| Interview | Self-report method where participants are usually asked questions face:face |
| Structured interview | Interviews which follow a set list of questions, with no follow-up questions |
| Unstructured interview | Interviews with a theme and topic, but no set questions that allow for elaboration and discussion |
| Case Study | An in-depth analysis of one person or a small group of people |
| Aims | What the research intends to discover |
| Hypothesis | A testable statement - you must operationalise the variables within it |
| Directional Hypothesis | AKA 'one-tailed': A testable statement which predicts that there will be a difference/correlation and can state the direction |
| Non Directional Hypothesis | AKA 'two-tailed': A testable statement which predicts that there will be a difference/correlation but does not state the direction |
| Null hypothesis | A testable statement which predicts that there will be no difference/correlation |
| Independent Groups | Experimental design where participants take part in only one level of the IV |
| Repeated Measures | Experimental design where participants take part in all levels of the IV |
| Matched Pairs | Experimental design where participants take part in only one level of the IV, but are paired with another participant with similar characteristics before being separated into their conditions |
| Behavioural Categories | Coding units used in an observation or content analysis - what the researchers are going to tally |
| Operationalisation | Making variables specific and measurable |
| Independent Variable (IV) | The difference between conditions (what you change) |
| Dependant Variable (DV) | What the researcher measures |
| Pilot Study | A small-scale test carried out before the main study to identify and solve any issues or to make specific decisions |
| Extraneous Variables (EV) | Something has an impact on the DV, which is not the IV |
| Confounding Variables | A third variable which explains a correlation - it changes proportionally with the two other variables |
| Control Variable | A factor that researchers ensure is the same in all conditions to make the study replicable and to avoid extraneous variables |
| Participant Variables | Differences between the people taking part in the study which act as Extraneous variables |
| Situational Variables | Differences between the environments of each condition in the study which act as Extraneous variables |
| Social Desirability Bias | Where participants change their behaviour or answer to make themselves look better |
| Reliability | How consistent the study is |
| Inter-rater reliability | The extent to which different assessors would score the participants in the same way |
| Test-retest reliability | The extent to which the study could be repeated in the same way with the same results |
| Internal Validity | The extent to which the study measures what it claims to measure |
| External Validity | The extent to which the findings can be generalised beyond the study |
| Population Validity | The extent to which the sample can be generalised to the target population |
| Ecological Validity | The extent to which the study can be generalised to realistic settings |
| Temporal/Historical Validity | The extent to which the study can be generalised to modern times |
| Concurrent validity | Whether or not the measure of the IV agrees with a more established measure - e.g. does a person's score correlate with their score on a widely-accepted valid test? |
| Face validity | Whether the measure of the IV seems accurate - usually volunteers are asked to rate its internal validity |
| BPS Code of Ethics | The official guide to ethical issues in Psychology |
| Deception | Ethical issue - Lying to participants |
| Informed Consent | Ethical issue - getting permission from your participants to take part |
| Protection of Participants | Ethical issue - must ensure participants suffer no damage from the study |
| Right to Withdraw | Ethical issue - participants are allowed to leave at any point |
| Debrief | Ethical issue - participants must be told the aim and details of the study at the end |
| Sampling Techniques | Ways in which researchers gather participants |
| Target Population | The group of people who need to be represented by a good sample |
| Random Sample | Sampling method - each person has an equal chance of taking part |
| Opportunity Sample | Sampling method - the people who are in the right place at the right time |
| Stratified Sample | Sampling method - the demographics of the population are reflected in the sample |
| Systematic Sample | Sampling method - list the group and pick every nth person |
| Volunteer Sample | Sampling method - place an advertisement and use the people who select themselves |
| Demand Characteristics | Changes in the participant behaviour due to taking part in the study |
| Investigator Effects | When the researcher has an impact on the outcome |
| Counterbalancing | A method for reducing order effects by ensuring different groups participate in conditions in different orders |
| Order effects | Taking part in one condition affects performance in another condition |
| Practice effects | When you get better in the second condition due to taking part in the first |
| Fatigue effects | When you get worse in the second condition due to taking part in the first |
| Random Allocation | Reducing bias by placing participants in conditions indiscriminately - e.g. by picking names out of a hat |
| Standardisation | Ensuring that the controlled variables are the same in each condition of an experiment - e.g. giving recorded or typed instructions to participants |
| Scattergram | A method of representing correlational data in a visual form |
| Histogram | A method of representing a test of difference where the IV is on a continuous scale (e.g. height) |
| Bar chart | A method of representing a test of difference where the IV is NOT on a continuous scale (e.g. With music/Without music) |
| Measures of Central Tendency | Averages |
| Mean | Adding up all scores and dividing by how many scores there are |
| Median | The middle value |
| Mode | The most common value |
| Measures of Dispersion | Ways of seeing how spread out the data is |
| Range | The highest value - the lowest value |
| Standard Deviation | A measure of how spread out the data are, by finding the average difference from the mean |
| Positive Correlation | As one variable increases, so does the other |
| Negative Correlation | As one variable increases, the other decreases |
| Correlation Coefficients | A measure of the relationship between variables, ranging from -1 to 1. It is the calculated value of a Spearman's rho or Pearson's r test |
| Content Analysis | A method of turning qualitative data into quantitative data by establishing coding units and tallying their occurrence |
| Thematic analysis | When a researcher reviews qualitative data and records recurring patterns or motifs - they do not tally their occurrences however |
| Peer review | A scientific process whereby other scientists check work before it is published |
| Normal distribution | When the mean, median and mode are the same |
| Positively skewed distribution | When the mean is higher than the median and the mode |
| Negatively skewed distribution | When the mean is lower than the median and the mode |
| Abstract | Appears at the beginning of a scientific journal. Summarises the entire study, including aim, method, results and conclusions |
| Introduction | Scientific report section which explains key terms and previous research to justify the current study |
| Method | Scientific report section which outlines the participants, materials and procedure |
| Results | Scientific report section which outlines the raw data from the study, with some descriptive and inferential statistical analysis |
| Discussion | Scientific report section which includes the conclusions and some evaluation of the research, with recommendations for future research |
| References | List of sources used in a scientific report |
| Descriptive statistics | Ways of analysing data that give more information about patterns in the data, e.g. averages, percentages, ratios etc. |
| Level of measurement | Whether the DV is nominal, ordinal or interval |
| Nominal data | Category data without a numeric value (e.g. hair colour) |
| Ordinal data | Level of measurement where there is a scale containing unequal gaps (data may be ranked, subjective or otherwise not equal in gap size) |
| Interval data | Level of measurement where there is a scale containing equal gaps (e.g. height in cm) |
| Inferential statistics | A way of analysing data to determine the likelihood that any difference/correlation is statistically significant |
| Statistical significance | Suggests that results are not due to chance - or it is extremely unlikely they are |
| p Value | The probability that results were due to a chance result. In psychology we accept 5% (or 0.05) |
| Type I error | A false positive - When the alternate hypothesis is accepted incorrectly and the null hypothesis rejected incorrectly |
| Type II error | A false negative - When the alternate hypothesis is rejected incorrectly and the null hypothesis is accepted incorrectly |
| Calculated value | The result of an inferential statistical test |
| Critical value | The number in a data table that you must compare with your calculated value |
| Related design | An experimental design where the participants in one condition are similar to those in another - either repeated measures or matched pairs |
| Unrelated design | Independent groups design - the participants in one condition are not similar or related to those in the other condition |
| Test of difference | A comparison between conditions |
| Test of association | An investigation into a correlation or relationship between co-variables |
Created by:
SBlakeley
Popular Psychology sets