| Control group, Pre and Post testing, Random Allocation, Hypothesis Testing | Experimental Investigation design features |
| IV can be controlled, control over extraneous variables, cause and effect relationship is determined, replication is possible due to strict conditions, can assess through qualitative or quantitative | Experimental Investigation Advantages |
| May not relate to real world, possible unethical or impossible to randomly assign and elimination of extraneous variables is not always possible | Experimental Investigation Disadvantages |
| A group separated from the experiment so the Iv cannot influence the results, used to compare groups | Control group |
| research participants are randomly assigned and is used to obtain a sample that reflects the population | Random assignment |
| The variable that is manipulated or changed | Independent Variable |
| The variable that is used to observe and measure the effects of the IV | Dependent Variable |
| The variable other than the IV that can change the DV (outside factors that change the result) | Extraneous variable |
| Individual characteristics that impacts the experiment (avoided with random allocation and large sample size) | Participant variable |
| Response influenced by expectations (single blind procedure used to eliminate this) | Placebo effect |
| Extraneous variables involving personal characteristics of the experimenter (avoided with double blind procedure) | Experimenter effects |
| Biological, Basic, Person, Socio cultural | Four levels of explanation |
| Genetics, chemical processes, brain structure and function (flight or fight) | Biological level |
| Thoughts, memory, learning | Basic processes |
| Personality, individual differences in behaviour ( age, class, education) | Person |
| Influences from people around you on your behaviour (stereotypes, culture, peer groups) | Socio-cultural level |
| Numerical information about the quantity or amount of what is being studied | Quantitative data |
| Information about the qualities or characteristics of what is being studied | Qualitative data |
| No researcher bias and easier to compare and generalise | Quantitative Advantages |
| Often not possible (understanding why the responded as they did) | Quantitative Disadvantages |
| Explanations - unrestricted responses | Qualitative Advantages |
| Open for interpretation | Qualitative Disadvantages |
| Based on measurements of a participants response | Objective Data |
| Based on self reports | Subjective Data |
| Often not possible to verify, Assumes responses are honest and accurate, often biased and difficult to interpret accurately | Subjective Data Disadvantages |
| Eliminates personal factors , no bias | Objective Data Advantages |
| Collect quantitative data by observing pre existing variables ( gender, age) | Quantitative Observational Design |
| IV and DV, Can have control group, investigates differences between groups | Quantitative observational features |
| Can investigate unethical or impossible variables under an experimental design, some kinds of behaviour can only be observed in a natural setting | Quantitative observational Advantages |
| No cause and effect relationship, No replication, observer bias may influence results, no generalisation | Quantitative observational Disadvanatges |
| Only collects qualitative data - Info gathered usually from interviews or surveys - Focus group and delphi technique | Qualitative Investigation design |
| Gives people the chance to respond naturally, deeper explanations - focus group + Delphi technique | Qualitative Investigation Features |
| 6-12 participants, discussion lead by trained facilitator, focused and open ended questions are asked and participants are encourage to speak freely | Focus Group |
| Group does not need to be together, Responses do not need to be in written format, Participants are considered experts in the field | Delphi Technique |
| Convenient, in depth data, People who cannot read or write can still give data, encourages people to share | Focus group advantages |
| People may not feel comfortable, Some may dominate discussion, Results cant be generalised, presence of observer may influenece behaviour | Focus group Disadvantages |
| Easy to organise, inexpensive, convenient, no peer pressure, avoids heated conversations | Delphi Technique advantages |
| can force a consensus, researcher bias, cant generalise to wider population, doesnt allow participants to discuss issues | Delphi technique Disadvantages |
| Whether a test meausres what is claims to measure | Validity |
| Lack external validity because can predict what would happen in the 'real' world | External validity |
| Consistency and stability of results | Reliability |
| A small group of participants selected from a larger group (population) | Sample |
| entire group of research interest | Population |
| sample which doesn't reflect the population due to size, bias and lack internal validity | Unrepresentative sample |
| Procedure researchers use to make sense of the underlying meaning of qualitative data - data is subjective | Content analysis |
| 1. organise the data, 2. identify groups of comments that are similar, 3. keep track of similarities, present data | Content analysis of focus group |
| used to analyse and describe data | Descriptive statistics |
| distribution of scores, dispersion, central tendency | 3 characteristics of descriptive statistics |
| mean,median,mode | Central tendency |
| normal positively skewed negatively skewed | Distribution of scores |
| variability in distribution | Dispersion |
| how far on average a score differs from the mean | Standard deviation |
| frequency distribution,tables,graphs | Graphic representation data |
| conclude or judge from evidence | Inferential statistics |
| Confidentiality, voluntary participation, right to withdraw, informed consent, debriefing, accurate reporting, professional conduct | Ethics in psychology |
