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