Methods are what psychologists use to conduct their research. There are two areas of methods, what are these?
Experimental Methods and Non-Experimental
... [Show More] Methods
Outline what experimental methods consist of
Lab, natural, field and quasi experiments
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Outline what non-experimental methods consist of
Correlational analysis, observations, case studies and self report (interviews and questionnaires)
Outline a lab experiment and evaluate it
Conducted within a lab which has high control over the environment.
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:) - High reliability of results due to the tight control over variables meaning that it can be repeated and findings can be checked for consistency
:( - It lacks ecological validity as it takes place in a very fake setting, with possibly a fake task, therefore making it hard to generalise the results to other environments or settings
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Outline a field experiment and evaluate it
Takes place in a real environment such as a school, and there is then an IV that is manipulated to effect the DV.
:) - Less prone to demand characteristics as people may not know they are taking part is an experiment and thus will display natural behaviour
:) - High ecological validity as the setting is real life meaning the findings can then be generalised to other settings beyond the study
:( - It lacks reliability in the findings as it is done in a setting where there is little control over confounding variables meaning it is difficult to replicate it and get consistency in results
:( - Ethical issues can arise when conducting a field experiment as people are not aware they are taking part and thus there is no informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them, therefore there is risk that the participants will not want their results used and thus must be removed
Outline a natural experiment and evaluate it
In a real setting with a naturally occurring IV, for example looking at the effect of stress after an earthquake hits a city.
:) - Participants show no demand characteristics at all as at the time of the IV occurring they did not know about the study as this will show natural behaviour
:) - Very high ecological validity as it is set in a real environment and nothing is controlled, so therefore you are able to generalise the findings beyond the setting of the study
:( - It lacks reliability as there is zero control over variables meaning that it is difficult to replicate the experiment and get consistent results
:( - Due to the lack of control over extraneous variables it is very difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship and thus this reduces the internal validity
Outline a quasi experiment and evaluate it
Quasi experiments have an IV that is based on an existing difference between people such as age, no one has manipulated this variable and it exists on its own, for example comparing achievement level of first-born children with that of later-born children.
:) - They are often carried out in controlled conditions and therefore they share similar strengths to that of a lab experiment
:( - Like natural experiments participants cant be randomly allocated to experimental conditions so there may be confounding variables such as individual differences
Outline the 7 types of observations and for each evaluate them
Controlled observation - this is where the conditions are manipulated by the researcher and may be carried out in a laboratory
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Naturalistic observation - Simply watching a natural behaviour in a natural environment, no intervention occurs at all
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus wont change their behaviour
:( - They are almost impossible to replicate and this makes it lack reliability as ow level of control over extraneous variables therefore it is hard to check for consistency
Covert observation - This is where the participants are not aware they are being observed (one way mirror/CCTV)
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus wont change their behaviour
:( - Ethical issues can arise as people are not aware they are taking part and thus there is no informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them, therefore there is risk that the participants will not want their results used and thus must be removed
Overt observation - Participants are aware they are being observed
:) - This avoids ethical issues arising
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Participant observation - The observer becomes involved in the activities of the participants and researchers take a more hands on approach to investigate the behaviour. This can be disclosed or undisclosed to the participants
:) - Allows the researchers to gain more qualitative in depth data into the behaviour
:( - The researchers are at risk of researcher bias and thus objectivity within the results gained, this lowers the validity of the results
Non-Participant observation - The observer watches from a distance and does not become actively involved in the activity
:) - Less risk of researcher bias
:( - Less in depth information gained into the behaviour and thus less understanding into the psychological behaviour of humans
Outline what an interview is and what types of interviews there are and evaluate each
An interview is a method for asking people questions in a face to face nature which sometimes may be over the phone/computer and is good for collecting qualitative information
:) - Detailed quality information can be obtained which is better than quantitative data which lacks human meaning, and thus we get a better insight into human behaviour
:) - Participants freely express themselves allowing them to be honest in their answers
:( - Social desirability can occur where participants lie to present themselves in the best possible light, this is more likely if the topic is of high sensitivity
:( - Extremely time consuming to conduct hundreds of interviews unlike a questionnaire that can just be sent to thousands of people
Structured interview - This is where questions are designed in advance with the aim of structuring participants responses, the interviewer would follow a script.
:) - Less likely to deviate from the topic and thus easier to analyse the results
:( - No follow up questions if a new line of enquiry appears
Unstructured interview - May contain a topic area for discussion but no set questions. Provides highly detailed data but is hard to analyse
:) - Effective for when the interview can adapt the questions based on the answers
:( - More affected by interviewer bias as the interviewer will be coming up with questions on the spot which may be less objective/leading
Outline what a questionnaire is and evaluate it
Questionnaires form part of surveys which involve asking a large sample of people a series of questions to collect information on a particular topic
:) - Participants can remain anonymous and this therefore means they are less likely to lie thus allowing psychologists to gain an insight into more sensitive topics
:) - Can easily be repeated and distributed this can gain a large sample of people quickly and cheaply allowing for results to be more accurately generalised
:( - Social desirability
:( - Misinterpretation from both sides where the participants may answer the question wrong or the researcher may understand what the participants answer is
Outline what a case study is and evaluate it
It is an in depth study conducted into one small group or person. They can be over a long period of time and are often used alongside other techniques
:) - Has high ecological validity as the environment is real therefore you can generalise the findings beyond the setting
:) - As case studies use a large variety of techniques to collect data the data they collect is in depth qualitative data that provides rich information into the insight of the behaviour
:( - Lacks population validity as it is usually only done on one person or a small group of people with unique characteristics and thus is difficult to generalise to the rest of the population
:( - Often the data collected is retrospective about past events meaning that evidence required to make full conclusions may be missing or incorrect
Outline and evaluate correlational analysis
It is a research method which aims to study the relationship between two or more variables.
:) - There is no necessary need for the manipulation of the variables and therefore it can investigate issues that are not practical to setup in a lab
:) - It can provide valuable insight into the strength of a relationship between variables that can aid further research
:( - It is impossible to establish a cause and effect as it is simply just a link between two variables, there is a lack of control as you cant account for extraneous variables, this lowers the internal validity
:( - Also, whilst a relationship may exist it is unknown which variable is the cause and which is the effect
Outline what extraneous and confounding variables are with the different types
If extraneous variables are not controlled in an experiment they interfere with the cause and effect between IV and DV and potentially ruin the results, an extraneous variable that is left uncontrolled is then known as a confounding variable
Participant Variables
These are any characteristics of individual participants that could affect the DV such as age/gender/IQ
Situational Variables
These are features of a research situation that may influence participants behaviour such as order effects/time of day/noise levels/demand characteristics
Participant Effects
This is when participants actively seek clues about how to behave as they may want to be helpful such as social desirability
Outline what investigator effects are and the three main types
This results from the effects of the researchers behaviour on an investigation causing participants to act differently
Experimenter Bias
Every researcher has an expectation of what they expect to find and thus they may unconsciously influence the situation via body language/facial expressions
Observer Bias
Just the presence of an observer being there can cause participants to behave in a different manner to normal
Interviewer Bias
When carrying out an interview the presence of the interviewer may influence the participants response [Show Less]