Sampling
Describe the sample:
A researcher wants to investigate whether smelling stinky socks increases cortisol levels. A total of 275 males (N = 150) and females (N = 125) ages 18-65 across Australia participated.
275 males (N = 150) and females (N = 125) ages 18-65 across Australia.
What is the purpose of a control group?
A control group forms a baseline level to compare the experimental group with.
When would it be useful to use a case study?
When a limited number of participants are available.
When you're investigating a rare phenomenon/disorder.
When it is unethical to try and cause a person to develop a disorder in order to study its effects.
When can a participant withdraw from a controlled experiment?
At any time.
What does internal validity mean?
Whether a study investigates what it sets out to investigate.
What is a limitation of a small sample size?
- May not be representative of the population
- An outlier may have a large effect on the results
TRUE
Provide an example of a simulation.
A virtual reality therapeutic procedure.
Define the ethical concept non-maleficence in psychological research?
Avoiding harm to participants.
A researcher discovers a systematic error in their study. What does this mean?
A systematic error causes readings to differ from the true value by a consistent amount each time a measurement is made.
e.g. a thermometer measuring temp one degree higher than the true temp each time.
What is the most important requirement when using a random sampling technique?
Ensuring that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study
Describe the characteristics of a between subjects design.
Participants are randomly allocated to either their control or experimental condition. Participants only complete one condition in the experiment.
An educator wants to find out the relationship between starting salary and IQ. Which research methodology would be most suitable?
Correlational study
Identify and explain an ethical guideline that must be followed when conducting psychological research.
Confidentiality
Voluntary participants
Informed consent
Withdrawal rights
Use of deception
Debriefing
What can threaten internal validity?
Confounding/extraneous variables
Errors
Poor measurements
Explain the steps you would take when using a stratified sampling technique.
First, divide the population into subgroups, then randomly select participants from each subgroup in the proportion that they appear in the population.
Describe the characteristics of a mixed methods design.
Which research methodology would be most suitable for collating and analysing secondary data.
Literature review.
Why might deception be used in research?
You might use deception in an experiment if participants knowledge of the true purpose of the investigation could potentially affect their behaviour.
A student completes a reaction time test five times. The results vary widely each time.
What type of error is most likely occurring?
Random error.
Explain how a large enough random sample could improve external validity.
A large sample is more likely to be representative of the population, meaning the results of the research can be applied to similar individuals in a different setting (external validity).
Identify a limitation of a within subjects design.
Prior participation in the first condition may influence their behaviour in the second condition (practice effects)
More time consuming
Higher rate of participants withdrawal
Observed behaviour is subjective.
Prone to social desirability bias.
May get inaccurate responses due to memory issues, dishonesty, language abilities, misunderstanding the question etc.
Identify one of the six core values from the Ethical Conduct in Research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders.
Responsibility
Reciprocity
Respect
Equity
Cultural community
Spirit and integrity
A researcher measures participants’ reaction times. The results are very close to each other but all are 0.2 seconds slower than the true value.
Are the measurements accurate, precise, both, or neither?
Precise but not accurate.