Psychology Key Words Research Methods

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Psychology research methods keyword flashcards
Alfie Moorhead
Flashcards by Alfie Moorhead, updated more than 1 year ago
Alfie Moorhead
Created by Alfie Moorhead over 8 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
Aim General statement of why the study is being carried out.
Null Hypothesis An assumption that there is no relationship between the variables eg. no relationship between age and intelligence
Directional hypothesis (One-Tailed) States the kind of relationship between two conditions. E.g. People who do homework without the TV on produce better results than those who do homework with the TV on.
Non-Directional hypothesis (Two-Tailed) Simply predicts that there will be a difference or relationship between two conditions. E.g. There is a difference between work produced in noisy or silent conditions.
Independent Groups Design Participants are allocated to two or more groups representing different experimental conditions.
Matched Pairs Design Participants are matched in terms of key variables such as age and IQ.
Repeated Measures Design Each participant takes part in every condition under test.
Random Sampling Every member of the target population being tested has an equal chance of being selected. .
Opportunity Sampling Sample of participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study.
Volunteer Sampling Sample of participants produced by a sampling technique that relies solely on volunteers to make up the sample.
Behaviour Categories Dividing a target behaviour into a subset of behaviours.
Qualitative Data Data that express a complete account of what people think or feel.
Quantitative Data Numerical data that represent how much, how long or how many.
Open Questions Questions that allow respondents to provide their own answers rather than select one of those provided; tend to produce qualitative data.
Closed Questions Questions that have a range of answers from which respondents select one; tend to produce quantitative data and are easier to analyse.
Operationalisation Specifying a set of variables that can be measured or manipulated.
Independent Variable Variable made to change by the experimenter.
Dependent Variable Effects of the IV on another variable are observed or measured.
Extraneous Variable Anything other than the IV that could have an effect on the DV and should thus be controlled.
Confounding Variable Variable other than the IV that affected the DV and thus confounded the findings of the study.
Pilot Study Small-scale trial of a study run to test any aspects of the design, with a view to making improvements.
Reliability Measure of consistency both within a set of scores or items and also over time such that it is possible to obtain the same results on subsequent occasions when the measure is used.
Internal Validity Degree to which an observed effect is due to the experimental manipulation rather than other factors such as extraneous variables.
External Validity Degree to which an experimental effect can be generalised to other settings (ecological validity), other people (population validity) and over time (historical validity).
Ecological validity Ability to generalise a research effect in a real life setting.
Demand Characteristics Features of an experiment that makes participants aware of what the researcher expects to find or how participants are expected to behave.
Investigator Effects Anything that the investigator/experimenter does which has an effect on a participant's performance in a study than what was intended.
Positive Correlation A relationship between two co-variables such that as the value of one co-variable increases, the value of the other co-variable increases.
Negative Correlation As one variable increases, the other decreases.
Correlation Co-Efficient A number between -1 and +1 that tells us how closely the co-variables in a correlational analysis are related.
Mundane Realism Study mirrors the real world.
Experimental Realism Extent to which participants take an experiment seriously.
Single Blind Type of research design in which the participant is not aware of the research aims.
Double Blind Research design in which neither the participant nor the experimenter is aware of the condition that an individual participant is receiving.
Random Allocation Random allocating participants to different groups.
Lab Experiment Experiment carried out in a controlled setting and enables the experimenter to draw conclusions about causal relationship between the IV and DV.
Field Experiment Controlled experiment conducted in a natural setting. IV is still manipulated and therefore causal relationships can be demonstrated.
Natural Experiment Research method in which the experimenter cannot manipulate the IV directly, but where it varies naturally and the effect can be observed on a DV.
Correlation Determining the extent of a relationship between two variables.
Naturalistic Observation Research method carried out in a naturalistic setting and investigator observes the behaviours.
Controlled Observation Form of investigation in which behaviour is observed but under controlled conditions.
Questionnaire Research method in which data is collected through the use of written questions.
Interview Research method that involves a face-to-face interaction with another individual.
Surveys Type of research method that could be in the form of a questionnaire but it is not anonymous.
Case study Research method involving detailed study of a single individual, institution or event.
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