What is an Aim?

A general statement on what the researcher intends to investigate

What is a Hypothesis?

A clear, precise, testable statement that states the Relationship between the Variables to be investigated

What is a Directional Hypothesis?

A hypothesis that states the direction of the outcome of the experiment

What is a Non-Directional Hypothesis?

A hypothesis that doesn't state the direction of the outcome of the experiment

What is Operationalisation?

turning vague concepts or ideas into observable and measurable variables

What is the Independent Variable?

The variable which the researcher controls

What is the Dependent Variable?

The variable that will be affected by the Independent Variable. It is not controlled and is measured by the Researcher.

What is a Confounding Variable?

A variable which varies systematically with the Independent Variable meaning we don't know what caused the change in the Dependent Variable

What is an Extraneous Variable?

A nuisance variable which does not vary systematically with the Dependent Variable

What are Demand Characteristics?

When participants are influenced by cues indicating the purpose of the experiment and change their behaviour

What is the Please-U Effect?

When a participant over-performs in an effort to please the experimenter

What is the Screw-U Effect?

When a participant under-performs in an effort to sabotage the study

What is Social Desirability Bias?

Where participants want to portray themselves in a positive light due to social pressure

What are Investigator Effects?

When the expectations of outcome by the researchers influence the participants' behaviour or participant selection

What are Order Effects?

the order of the conditions having an effect on the participants' behavior

e.g: The Practice Effect, The Fatigue Effect

What are Participant Variables?

The differing individual characteristics of participants in an experiment. They can be considered extraneous variables because they are variables that can influence the results of an experiment but that the experimenter is not studying. These can challenge the validity of a study by influencing the results.

E.g: age, gender, mood, socioeconomic background

What is Randomisation?

The use of chance when designing materials and deciding the order of conditions. It involves randomising stimuli so the researcher is not in control of the order of stimuli or conditions

What does Randomisation control for?

Order Effects and Investigator Effects

What is Standardisation?

Putting participants subject to the same as possible environment, information and experience

What does Standardisation control for?

Investigator Effects and Demand Characteristics

What is Random Allocation?

The use of random selection in an Independent Groups design ensuring that each participant has the same chance of being in one condition than any other.

Usually using a random number generator, assigning each participant a number and then using the generator to put them in a group.

What does Random Allocation control for?

Investigator Effects and Participant Variables

What is Counterbalancing?

Ensuring that half the participants complete Condition A followed by Condition B, whereas the other half complete B followed by A. It doesn't remove order effects, it only balances them out between conditions.

What does Counterbalancing control for?

Order Effects

What is an Independent Groups design?

Participants are divided into 2 groups. One group does one condition and the other group does the other condition.

What are the Strengths of an Independent Groups design?

- Not affected by Order Effects

- Not affected by Demand Characteristics

What are the Weaknesses of an Independent Groups design?

- Differences between the participants could act as an extraneous variable

- Need twice as many participants

What is a Repeated Measures design?

All participants complete the first condition and then the same participants complete the second condition

What are the Strengths of a Repeated Measures design?

- Need fewer participants

- No participant variables

What are the Weaknesses of a Repeated Measures design?

- Affected by Order Effects

- More likely to be affected by Demand Characteristics

What is a Matched Pairs design?

Participants are divided into 2 groups, one group does one condition and the second group does the other condition.

However, each individual in group 1 is matched to a similar individual in group 2

What are the Strengths of a Matched Pairs design?

- Not affected by Order Effects

- Less likely to be affected by Demand Characteristics

- Reduces Participant Variables

What are the Weaknesses of a Matched Pairs design?

- Need twice as many participants

- Time Consuming and Expensive to organise

What is a Population?

Every person the researcher wants to be able to make statements about

What is a Sample?

A smaller number of people drawn from the population using a particular technique and in representative of that population

What is Random Sampling?

Every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

How is Random Sampling conducted?

1) Compile a list of all members of the target population

2) Assign each one a number

3) Use a random number generator to select participants and assign them conditions

What are the Strengths of Random Sampling?

- No Researcher Bias as they have no influence over selection of participants, therefore they can't choose people who may support their hypothesis

- Usually fairly Representative as long as a big enough sample are selected

What are the Weaknesses of Random Sampling?

- It is Difficult and Time Consuming as a complete list of the target population is often difficult to obtain

- Just because someone is selected, doesn't mean they are obliged to take part, therefore it usually ends up being a volunteer sample

What is Systemic Sampling

Every nth member of the target population is chosen

How is Systemic Sampling conducted?

1) Compile a list of all members of the target population

2) Nominate a sampling system

e.g: every 3rd person or every 5 houses

What are the Strengths of Systemic Sampling?

- No Researcher Bias as they have no influence over selection of participants, therefore they can't choose people who may support their hypothesis

- Usually fairly Representative as long as a big enough sample are selected

What are the Weaknesses of Systemic Sampling?

- It is Difficult and Time Consuming as a complete list of the target population is often difficult to obtain

- Just because someone is selected, doesn't mean they are obliged to take part, therefore it usually ends up being a volunteer sample

What is Stratified Sampling?

The composition of the sample reflects the proportion of subgroups within the target population

How is Stratified Sampling conducted?

1) The researcher identifies the strata that makes up the population

2) Proportions are calculated to allow the sample to represent the population

3) Random Sampling is then used for participants

What are the Strengths of Stratified Sampling?

- No Researcher Bias as they have no influence over selection of participants, therefore they can't choose people who may support their hypothesis

- Highly Representative as it is designed to accurately reflect the composition of the population

What are the Weaknesses of Stratified Sampling?

- Just because someone is selected, doesn't mean they are obliged to take part, therefore it usually ends up being a volunteer sample

- It does not reflect all of the ways that people are different, as stratification only occurs on one level (e.g: age)

What is Opportunity Sampling?

The researcher selects anyone who happens to be willing and able

How is Opportunity Sampling conducted?

1) The researcher will simply as anyone who is around at the time of the study

What are the Strengths of Opportunity Sampling?

- Involves minimal Effort, Time and Cost on the part of the researcher

What are the Weaknesses of Opportunity Sampling?

- Usually leads to a very Unrepresentative sample as it tends to be drawn from a small area

- At risk of researcher bias as they have complete control over who is selected

What is Volunteer Sampling?

A Self Selection method where participants select themselves

How is Volunteer Sampling conducted?

1) The researcher could put an ad in the local newspaper, or put up a poster in an appropriate place (e.g: a students union bar)

What are the Strengths of Volunteer Sampling?

- Involves minimal Effort, Time and Cost on the part of the researcher, as they simply wait for the participants to come to them

What are the Weaknesses of Volunteer Sampling?

- Is only going to attract a Certain Type of person (i.e: kind, helpful, curious) so the findings will have limited generalisability

What is an Unstructured Observation?

Involves the researcher writing down everything they see

(e.g: a therapist observing interactions between a married couple during relationship therapy)

When is an Unstructured Observation appropriate?

When observations are Small in Scale and involve Few Participants

What are the Strengths of an Unstructured Observation?

- They produce Quantitive information which is rich in Detail

What are the Weaknesses of an Unstructured Observation?

- There is a risk of Observer Bias as observers record behaviours that 'catch their eye' rather than focusing on specific, predetermined behaviours

What is a Structured Observation?

Target behaviours (Behavioural Categories) are decided upon and only these are observed

(e.g: only aggressive acts being recorded in a playground setting)

When is a Structured Observation appropriate?

In a Large-Scale observation where there is too much going on for the observer to be able to record

What are the Strengths of a Structured Observation?

- They make data Collection easier and more Systematic

- The data produced is Quantitative so it is easy to analyse

What are the Weaknesses of a Structured Observation?

- They may lack Detail, as only behaviours that are predetermined are recorded, potentially missing out other important behaviours

What are Behavioural Categories?

Examples of specific behaviours you would expect to see within the area you are researching

(e.g: hitting, shouting, kicking)

What is Event Sampling?

Counting the Number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group

What are the Strengths of Event Sampling?

- Useful for Infrequent behaviours that could be missed in Time Sampling

What are the Weaknesses of Event Sampling?

- Could lead to Overlooked details of behaviour

What is Time Sampling?

Recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame

(e.g: observing for 20 mins, then having a 10 min break)

What are the Weaknesses of Time Sampling?

- Might be Unrepresentative of the observation

What are the Strengths of Time Sampling?

- Reduces the number of observations that need to be made

What are Questionnaires?

A pre-set list of written items (usually questions) to which a participant responds. Questions may be Open or Closed

What are the Strengths of Questionnaires?

- Low Cost

- Does not require the Researcher to be present

- Can be Distributed to large numbers of people

What are the Weaknesses of Questionnaires?

- Often elicits Untruthful Responses

- Subject to Response Bias

- Subject to Social Desirability Bias

What is a Likert Scale

The respondent indicates their Agreement (or otherwise) with a statement using a scale of usually 5 points

e.g: Zombie films can have educational value

1 = strongly disagree

2 = disagree

3 = neutral

4 = agree

5 = strongly agree

What is a Rating Scale?

Similar to a Likert Scale but the respondent identifies a value that represents their Strength of Feeling about a topic

e.g: How entertaining do you find Zombie Films?

(very entertaining) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (not at all entertaining)

What is Fixed Choice Option?

Includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them

e.g: For what reasons do you enjoy watching zombie films?

- education

- fear

- enjoyment

- comedy

- I don't watch them

What is an Open Question?

There is no fixed range of answers and participants are free to respond in any way they wish

e.g: how would you describe your mood on an average day?

What are the Strengths of Open Questions?

- Rich in Detail and Depth

What are the Weaknesses of Open Questions?

- Difficult to Answer

- Difficult to Analyse

What is a Closed Question?

Offers a Fixed number of responses and participants are not free to respond in any way they wish

e.g: On a scale from 1-10, how would you rate your mood on an average day?

What are the Strengths of Closed Questions?

- Easy to Answer

- Easy to Analyse

What are the Weaknesses of Closed Questions?

- Lack in Detail and Depth

What is an Interview?

Usually involves a face-to-face (but could be conducted by phone) interaction between an interviewer and an interviewee

What is a Structured Interview?

Involves a predetermined set of questions. The interviewer asks the questions in real time and waits for a response

What are the Strengths of a Structured Interview?

- High Replicability between Participants and between Interviewers

What are the Weaknesses of a Structured Interview?

- No deviation may mean important details that arise are not examined

What is an Unstructured Interview?

It is more conversational as there are no set questions. The interviewee is encouraged to Elaborate on their answers where appropriate

What are the Strengths of an Unstructured Interview?

- Allows the interviewer to collect more information as important details emerge

What are the Weaknesses of an Unstructured Interview?

- Difficult to analyse

What is a Semi-Structured Interview?

A mixture of structured and unstructured interviews. There are a set of Predetermined questions but Elaboration and Follow up questions are likely

What should be considered when Designing a good interview?

- The Interview Schedule (list of questions) should be Standardised so there is less risk of interviewer bias

- Information should be recorded in note form by the interviewer or an audio recording can be made and listened to later

- One-to-one interviews should be conducted in a Quiet Setting away from other people to encourage openness and honesty

- The interviewee should be reminded that information they divulge is confidential, especially important in the case of sensitive material

What 5 things should be avoided in order to write good questions?

1) Overuse of Jargon

2) Emotive Language

3) Leading Questions

4) Double-Barreled Questions

5) Double Negatives

What are Case Studies?

In-depth Investigation, Description and Analysis of an Individual, Event, Organisation or Group.

They may involve the analysis of Unusual individuals or events or concentrate on more 'typical' cases

e.g: Genie the "Feral Child"

They will usually produce Qualitative data. Researchers will construct a Case History of the individual concerned, perhaps using interviews, observations, questionnaires or a combination of all of these. The person may be subject to experimental testing which may produce Quantitative data

Case Studies tend to take place over a long period of time (called Longitudinal) and may involve gathering additional information from family and friends as well as the person themselves

What are the Strengths of Case Studies?

- Detailed Insight into Unusual forms of behaviour

- Less Superficial than an experiment or questionnaire

- Help us to understand 'Normal Functioning'

- Help generate hypotheses for future studies

- Solitary contradictory instance may lead to the Revision of an entire theory

What are the Weaknesses of Case Studies?

- Small Sample Sizes so issue with Generalising

- Information making it into the final report may be based on the subjective opinion of the researcher

- Personal accounts from the family, participant etc are prone to inaccuracy and mental decay

What is Correlation?

A correlation is plotted on a scattergram and tells us the Strength and Direction of a relationship between two or more co-variables (There is no IV or DV because we are just looking for patterns, and cause and effect relationships cannot be established

What are the Strengths of using Correlations from past studies to decide whether to conduct a study?

- A useful Preliminary tool

- It identifies possible patterns between variables before committing time and money to an experimental study

- Quick and Economical

- No need for a controlled environment or the manipulation of the IV

- Use of Secondary Data saves Time

What are the Weaknesses of using Correlations from past studies to decide whether to conduct a study?

- Not a Causal Relationship

- Can tell us how variables are related but not why

- We don't know which co-variable caused the change

- Potential 3rd Variable not accounted for which causes a change in both of the co-variables

What is Content Analysis?

The process of studying the communications that a participant has produced by interpreting and coding textual and oral material. The aim is to summarise and describe the communication in a systemic way so overall conclusions can be drawn

How do you conduct Content Analysis?

1) Scan through the Material

2) Decide Key Words for Behaviour Categories (Coding)

3) Tally up the words

4) Pick out Reoccurring Themes