research methods

research methods

1. Ethical issues

   • 1) Informed consent: Limitation – if the participants are told everything that is going to happen in the experiment – it may ruin the experiment as participant effects and demand characteristics may take place.
   • 2) Deception- How to deal with it – i. Have a full debrief with the participants after telling them that they have been lied to for the need of an experiment. b. Limitation – even though a debrief may occur – the participants may still feel emotionally distressed for being lied to.
   • 3) Psychological harm- How to deal with it: Avoid any risks that are greater than real life b. Limitation – It is difficult for researchers to identify every possible risk associated with the study
   • 4) Right to withdraw- Inform the participants that they can withdraw at any moment in the experiment b. Limitation – the participants may feel that they cannot withdraw because it will ruin the study.
   • 5) Privacy-How to deal with it: Do not observe anybody without their informed consent unless it is in a public place. b. Limitation: There is no global agreement on what constitutes a public place.
   • 6) Confidentiality- How to deal with it – make all the participants’ names in the results confidential by making them anonymous b. Limitation – people can still find out who took part in the experiment based on geographical location.

2. Experiment

   • Pilot study: a small-scale trial run to test whether the experiment would work and if there could be any improvements to the study
   • A directional hypothesis would state what the researcher would expect to happen, not just state that there will be a difference.... non-directional hypothesis simply states that there will be a difference or that the results would be the same. A hypothesis must ALWAYS be operationalized
   • Confederate: a person who has been assigned by the experimenter that is not a participant to behave in a certain way to affect the experiment. A confederate may be used as an IV.

3. Experimental design

   • Independent groups design – when the participants take part in one condition only. STRENGTHS: Less practice, order and boredom effects, less demand characteristics. WEAKNESS: Participant variables are not controlled – the group of participants taking part in one condition may be completely different to the other group in terms of participant variables such as IQ, gender, motivation, experience – to deal with it: randomly allocate participants so the variables can be distributed evenly. Also situational variables may take place
   • Repeated measures: when the participants take part in all the conditions. STRENGTHS: Participant and situational variables are controlled and we only need one set of participants. WEAKNESS: Order, boredom and practise effects are more likely, demand characteristics are more likely because the participants would know what the experiment is about the second time round and this may affect how they participate in the second condition. To deal with it – give a cover story to the participants to reduce demand characteristics.
   • Matched pairs design: the participants are matched in terms of participant variables and there are two sets of participants with similar participant variables. STRENGTHS Order, boredom and practice effects and demand characteristics are less likely because each set of participants are taking part in one condition only. Also participant variables are controlled- P'S matched in terms of participant variables. WEAKNESS: i. Difficult and time-consuming to match participants – what do we match them in terms of – deal with it: restrict matching variables to make it easier. ii. And there may be other extraneous variables which are not controlled – there may be variables other.

4. Types of experiments

   • Laboratory experiments: experiments that are carried out in an artificial and controlled environment.
     • Strengths: i. High internal validity: can control variables to a high standard. ii. High internal reliability: standardised procedures, consistent within itself, good use of measuring the data. iii. Can be easily replicated – assess external reliability.
     • Weaknesses: i. Low ecological validity because it would be difficult to generalise the results if the tasks given to the participants are not like in real life. ii. Demand characteristics, participant, investigator effects and ethical issues.
   • Field experiment: an experiment when the participants are unaware of being observed.