Research Methods in Psychology, Exams of Nursing

Download Research Methods in Psychology and more Exams Nursing in PDF only on Docsity! All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Experiment - Correct answers ✅An experiment involves the manipulation of an independent variable in order to see its effect on the dependent variable. Laboratory experiment - Correct answers ✅This type of experiment typically has high levels of control and due to this takes place in an artificial setting where the independent variable can be tested in relative isolation. Field experiment - Correct answers ✅This type of experiment takes place in a more natural setting where the experimenter manipulates the independent variable. Quasi experiment - Correct answers ✅This type of experiment occurs naturally when other forces create a manipulation of the independent variable and the researcher is then able to document the results. Often this allows research to take place that would be unethical to directly manipulate. Observation - Correct answers ✅The observational method is used when watching participants (human or animal) directly in order to obtain data and gather information about their behaviour. Structured observation - Correct answers ✅A structured observation is one which uses an explicitly, pre-defined coding framework for recording data that clearly outlines the behavioural categories to be used. Unstructured observation - Correct answers ✅An unstructured observation is where the researcher recording the behaviour they can see. In this type of observation they do not have a prescribed list of behaviour they need to look for. Instead researchers collect qualitative data about relevant behaviours of interest. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Naturalistic observation - Correct answers ✅Observing behaviour in its natural setting such as observing children in the local nursery. Controlled observation - Correct answers ✅This type of observation takes place in an environment that is set up by the experimenter to enable some control whilst observing behaviour. Participant observation - Correct answers ✅Participant observation is where the researcher(s) are in some way part of the activity/ group of people whose behaviour is being observed. Non-participant observation - Correct answers ✅Non-participant observation is a type of observational technique where the researcher observes the behaviour of an individual or group without intruding into the situation being studied. Overt - Correct answers ✅This is an observation here the participant is aware they are being observed. Covert - Correct answers ✅Any observation where the participant is unaware that they are being observed. Behavioural categories - Correct answers ✅Behavioural categories are the operationally defined units of events used in a structured observation to break a continuous stream of activity into discrete recordable events. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Semantic differential rating scale - Correct answers ✅This is another type of rating scale that elicits the respondent's attitudes using positive and negative descriptors such as 'happy-sad' or 'funny-boring'. Responses can then be analysed using the point scale between the two extremes. Correlation - Correct answers ✅Correlational analysis is a technique used to investigate a relationship between two measured variables. Positive correlation - Correct answers ✅A positive correlation is where as the values of one variable increase, related values of the second variable also tend to increase (although not necessarily at the same rate). Negative correlation - Correct answers ✅A negative correlation is where as the values of one variable increase the values of the other tend to decrease, although not necessarily at the same rate. No correlation - Correct answers ✅There is no relationship between the variables. Scattergraph - Correct answers ✅A scattergraph is a visual display of two variables expressed numerically, one on each axis and indicated at the intersection of the two values. Correlation coefficient - Correct answers ✅The correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength of a correlation, usually expressed as an 'r' value between 0 and 1. A high value, e.g. r=0.8, means that there is a strong correlation, and r=0 means there is no correlation. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Research aim - Correct answers ✅This is a statement of what the researcher wants to find out and should be clearly worded so that the variables are clear. Research question - Correct answers ✅This is what the researcher wants to find out overall such as 'Do people have an excessive fear of crime?' and should include the key aspects interested in. Null hypothesis - Correct answers ✅This is a prediction that states there will be no significant difference (experiment)/ relationship (correlation). The results are down to chance. Alternate hypothesis - Correct answers ✅This is a prediction that states what you believe to be true. In other words, you state what you expect the difference (experiment)/ relationship (correlation) to be. A hypothesis needs to be testable so it can be supported or rejected. One-tailed (directional) hypothesis - Correct answers ✅This type of alternate hypothesis is used when the results are expected to go a particular way, for example students performing better when studying in silence. Two-tailed (non-directional) hypothesis - Correct answers ✅Type of alternate hypothesis is used when a researcher is unsure what the difference in results will be but they expect a difference between conditions of some kind. Target population - Correct answers ✅This is a specific group of people that the researcher is interested in studying and from which the sample is drawn from. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Sample - Correct answers ✅This is the selection of participants from the wider target population that are actually used in the research. Sampling method - Correct answers ✅You rarely get the opportunity to study all of the people in your target population (it just isn't practical) so this is how you go about gathering a selection of people from the target population. Random sampling - Correct answers ✅This type of sampling involves having access to all members of the target population. Random sampling can be done by manual selection (such as names in a hat) or using random number tables or computer based selection; as long as there is an equal chance of each individual in the T.P being chosen. Snowball sampling - Correct answers ✅This is a method of gaining participants for the sample by asking current participants to refer others they know who are suitable. This is often used for specific samples that may be hard to find such as gamblers. Opportunity sampling - Correct answers ✅This type of sampling is also referred to as a convenience sample as it involves gathering participants who are in the right place at the right time. Self-selected sampling - Correct answers ✅Individuals volunteer themselves to take part. This is usually due to a response to newspaper advertisements, posters or call outs on a radio station. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Standard form - Correct answers ✅Standard form is used to represent very big numbers more concisely. As an example 15,000,000 can be written as 11.5 x 107 in standard form. Decimal form - Correct answers ✅Decimal form is used to represent the whole units and their parts. Significant figure - Correct answers ✅Significant figures are used to give a rounded answer rather than including a long and precise number. This can be used if you calculate an average that has many decimal point and you only use the first two decimal places. Estimations - Correct answers ✅This is a rough calculation and can be used to work out approximate fractions for example. Level of data - Correct answers ✅Depending on how you operationalise variables you will produce different types of data which can be described as the level of data. The level of the data dictates how you can analyse your results. Nominal level data - Correct answers ✅This refers to the level of data that is categorical and merely places a behaviour or person into a category with no further distinction. Examples of categorical data are male/ female or even subjects chosen at A Level. Ordinal level data - Correct answers ✅This refers to data that can be ordered into rank such as place in a race or favourite song out of five. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Interval level data - Correct answers ✅This refers to data that has fixed units of measurement such as cm or IQ scores. Unlike ratio data this level of data has no true zero (you can't have an IQ of 0) and therefore we cannot say that one score is proportionate to another. Quantitative data - Correct answers ✅This type of data is data that can be expressed numerically in some way (measurement of the DV in numbers). Qualitative data - Correct answers ✅Qualitative data is descriptive, in-depth and rich data that can give you insight into the participants' thoughts and beliefs. Primary data - Correct answers ✅This is data collected directly from the participants by the researcher. Secondary data - Correct answers ✅This is data that the researcher utilises that has previously been collected by people beyond the research. Descriptive statistics - Correct answers ✅These are a method of summarising data from research to provide an overview of the findings. Measures of central tendency - Correct answers ✅These measures calculate the typical scores for a set of data. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Mode - Correct answers ✅This measure of central tendency is calculated by finding the most common value in a set of data. This is worked out by using nominal data. Median - Correct answers ✅This calculates the mid-point in an ordered set of data. This requires using ordinal data so that the individual pieces of data. Mean - Correct answers ✅This is the arithmetic average that indicates the typical score in a data set. The mean is calculated by summing all the scores in a data set and dividing by the number of entries constituting the data set. Measures of dispersion - Correct answers ✅These calculate the spread or variation in a data set. Variance - Correct answers ✅This records how spread out data is from the mean. Range - Correct answers ✅This is a measure of dispersion that is calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score and then adding one. Standard deviation - Correct answers ✅This is a measure of dispersion that calculates the square root of the variance. Ratio - Correct answers ✅This is used to show the quantitative relationship between two results. As an example the ratio of females taking A Level Psychology to males is 2:1 would mean that twice as many females take the subject than males. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Critical values - Correct answers ✅This is the corresponding value to the researchers chosen significance level. The researcher can only reject the null hypothesis if the test statistic found a value higher than the critical value. Type 1 error - Correct answers ✅This error occurs when you incorrectly reject the null hypothesis and suggest there is an effect. This is also known as the false positive. Type 2 error - Correct answers ✅This error occurs when you incorrectly accept the null hypothesis when there is actually a significant effect. This is also known as the false negative. Methodological issues - Correct answers ✅These are issues that arise due to the way the research was carried out that may impact on the reliability or validity of the results. Representativeness - Correct answers ✅This refers to the extent to which the sample in research can reflect the characteristics and behaviour of the target population or of the behaviour in everyday life. Generalisability - Correct answers ✅This is the ability to generalise the results beyond the research sample or circumstance. Reliability - Correct answers ✅This is the consistency of a measure, e.g. whether results from the participants would be similar each time. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Internal reliability - Correct answers ✅This refers to the consistency of a test or measure in research. To be internally reliable tests need to be set at the same difficulty throughout and a participants behaviour should not contradict itself. Internal reliability can be assessed using the split-half method. External reliability - Correct answers ✅This refers to the consistency of results over time to ensure that behaviour is recorded in the same way and that results can be used to explain behaviour reliably. This can be assessed using the test- retest method. Inter-rater reliability - Correct answers ✅This is the degree to which different raters or observers agree in the recordings of behaviour they have made. If inter- rater reliability is high it means that raters have consistently agreed on what the behaviour seen is coded as. Test-retest - Correct answers ✅This is a measure of reliability that uses the same test twice, if the participants' two sets of scores correlate well, the measure has good reliability. Split-half - Correct answers ✅This is a measure of reliability that compares two halves of a test, e.g. odd and even-numbered questions. If the participants' scores correlate well, the measure has good reliability. Validity - Correct answers ✅This is the extent to which a test or tool measures what it claims to measure. In other words, how accurate is it? Internal validity - Correct answers ✅This refers to the extent to which results are really caused by the variables the researcher is studying. This can be lowered by All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) factors such as demand characteristics, poor operationalisation of variables or experimenter bias. Face validity - Correct answers ✅This type of validity refers to how appropriate the measure of behaviour is. Face validity is high if it is clear what a test or study is measuring and if this is clearly what the researchers intended to study. Construct validity - Correct answers ✅This type of validity is used more broadly to support the existence of a particular hypothetical measure by using the data available in various tests and evidence. This is important as we cannot every physically 'see' many psychological concepts such as happiness or extroversion so we have to 'paint a picture' of the concept with as much evidence as possible. Criterion validity - Correct answers ✅Broadly this type of validity is the ability of a measure to relate to other known data about a particular behaviour. There are two types of criterion validity; predictive validity and concurrent validity. Concurrent validity is high if the new measure of behaviour, such as a new test, is in agreement with a previously established test. Predictive validity is when a test can be used to predict future behaviour and this is commonly used with intelligence tests to suggest future outcomes of those who score highly, for example, in such tests. If these predictions are found to be accurate then predictive validity is seen to be high. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Informed consent - Correct answers ✅This is an ethical guideline that requires researchers to ensure that all participants or clients agree to the procedures that are to take place and are aware of their rights. Right to withdraw - Correct answers ✅This is an ethical guideline that refers to a participants entitlement to be able to leave a piece of research at any time if they wish to do so. Confidentiality - Correct answers ✅This is an ethical requirement when carrying out research or therapy. This means keeping the information participants or clients tell you private and stored safely. Competence - Correct answers ✅This refers to the BPS ethical principles and ensures that research is only carried out by those who are trained in specific research areas. This helps to prevent any harm to those involved. Protection of participant - Correct answers ✅Researchers must protect participants from both physical and psychological harm during the investigation. Debrief - Correct answers ✅This is a process carried out post-research with participants to ensure the participant is leaving in the same psychological state as they started the research in to ensure they are not harmed. This is often an opportunity to inform the participant of the true aim. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Deception - Correct answers ✅This is where participants are deliberately misled during research by researchers either lying to them or omitting to tell them some important detail of the study. Report writing - Correct answers ✅This is an important part of the research process where investigators present their research, findings and conclusions to be submitted to a journal. Abstract - Correct answers ✅This is presented at the beginning of a report and summarises the research. It outlines the aim, method, participants, results and discussion and is very useful when deciding if you want to read the entire article. Introduction - Correct answers ✅This part of the report is used to give some context about the area of research the study is in and any key developments in explaining the behaviour of interest. Usually this part will also explain the rationale for this specific piece of research and why it will further research in this area. Method - Correct answers ✅This is a step-by-step set of instructions about how you will carry out your research and should be clear enough that another person could replicate your procedure in exactly the same way. This means having precise timings and measurements that include the design, sample, materials/ apparatus and the procedure itself. Results - Correct answers ✅This section of the report will firstly present the raw data and give a written summary of this along with descriptive statistics. All OCR A Level Psychology Research Methods Terms ( Graded A+) Further to graphical representations inferential statistics will be presented and the outcome of rejecting or accepting the null hypothesis will be outlined. Discussion - Correct answers ✅This section refers back to the rationale of the study and explains what progress the research has made in its field, if any. Further to this any criticisms of the study will be presented here along with suggestions for future research. References - Correct answers ✅This is a record of all the sources of information the researcher/s have used such as books or journal articles. Appendices - Correct answers ✅This section is used to include any further information or analyses that may be of use to the reader and will be referred to in the article. Peer review - Correct answers ✅Before scientific research can be published it is reviewed by others who are experts in the same field as the research completed. They review work to ensure it has been carried out appropriately and is of a high quality; if it is not then they can reject it and journals will not publish the work in order to maintain scientific credibility. Cause and effect - Correct answers ✅This is the process of manipulating variables to show that one factor has an effect on another. Cause and effect is clearer if control of extraneous variables is high. Falsification - Correct answers ✅This is the ability to disprove a theory as well as prove it. This enables researchers to eliminate factors that are not contributing and to strengthen explanations with evidence.