Research Methods
The benefit of using an experiment over any other research method.
Experiments can show cause and effect relationships, are more valid and reliable as you can control and standardize variables
Rachel wants to examine whether levels of dopamine affect hunger. Name the type of research method he would use and the variables.
Rachel would conduct an experiment. His IV is levels of Dopamine, and his DV is hunger.
What is an aim?
An aim is the intent of a study. It is the reason research is being conducted.
Numerical data used in the results of a study.
What are statistics?
Using an example from Milgram, describe how qualitative data can be collected.
Qualitative data can be collected by observation. In Milgram, participant's reaction to administering shocks was recorded.
The difference between a semi-structured and structured interview.
In a semi-structured interview the interviewer follows a set of questions but the interviewer can ask follow up questions or for further clarity. In a structured interview, the interviewer asks every participant the same set of questions without follow-up.
Anthony is conducting a longitudinal study on how young adults, with a job, attitudes toward their boss change over time. Suggest how she can define 2 qualifications for her sample. Do not suggest a sampling method, define characteristics of Anthony's sample.
She must clearly define the age needed to be a 'young adult' (21-35, 20-40, etc.). She will need a specific industry or job title to ensure the nature of their job is not the reason for differing attitudes (Only selecting receptionists, journalists, etc.).
The name of the variables in a correlational study.
What are co-variables?
The difference between Quantitative and Qualitative Data.
Quantitative is numerical/ statistical, it is quantifiable and measurable. Qualitative is interpretation based, it is exploratory and may be opinion.
Using the study by Perry, describe how an IV can be operationalised.
IV can be operationalised by creating different levels of the treatment. In Perry, IV 1 was seperated into 2 levels: high empathy or low empathy. IV 3 was separated into 4 levels: friend, stranger, authority, and ball.
IV can be operationalised by absence or presence of a treatment. In Perry, IV 2 was operationalised as either Oxytocin administered or a placebo administered.
One reason a correlation may be more suitable than an experiment.
If it is unethical to manipulate one or both of the variables: e.g. levels of starvation.
If manipulation of variables would inevitably cause demand characteristics: e.g.
Devin is investigating how much time babies spend in REM sleep. They think that bigger babies will spend more time in REM sleep than smaller babies. What is their aim?
To investigate how much time different size babies spend in dream sleep; To test whether big babies spend more time in REM sleep than small babies; (ORA) To investigate whether there is a correlation between baby weight/size and time in REM.
A study has the hypothesis "Older people will forget more often than younger people". What type of hypothesis is this and why?
This is a directional hypothesis. This is because it is stating one group will forget more than the other as it states older people will forget more. OR This is because if it was non-directional, it would simply state one age group will forget more than the other.
The 4 measures of central tendency.
What are mean, median, mode, and range?
Using the study by D&K, describe how an apparatus can be used in a study.
An apparatus can be used to measure the DV,. In D&K, the EEG was used to measure REM sleep.
The IV in a quasi-experiment.
What is a characteristic/ condition of a group that is not and can not be assigned?
Misty wants to conduct a study on the hierarchy of cows. Suggest the research method he could use and 2 advantages and disadvantages of conducting this study.
Misty could conduct an observation on a group of cows that were socialised together. This would be the best choice for him because cows cannot be given questionnaires or interviews as they cannot speak. Another disadvantage of using cows is the lack of generalizability. Cows have differing behaviors and relationships from humans and other animals, so results could not be generalized to other contexts. An advantage of using cows is very low demand characteristics and high internal validity. Cows will not alter their behavior as they are often observed by humans and will not suspect anything relating to his study. Also, cows are easy to find, so sampling will not be difficult. Misty could use any sampling method virtually anywhere in his vicinity and have a decent-sized sample of cows raised together.
A correlational study was done on sunshine and mood, state the relationship between the variables for positive, negative, and no correlation.
Positive: If there is more sunshine, moods are more positive. OR If there is less sunshine, moods are more negative.
Negative: If there is more sunshine, moods are more nagative. If there is less sunshine, moods are more positive.
No: There is no relationship between the amount of sunshine and moods.
Standard Deviation.
What is the spread of data around the mean?
Using the study by Andrade, explain what extraneous/ confounding/ uncontrolled variables are.
Extraneous variables are factors outside of the IV that may affect the DV. In Andrade, one extraneous variable was daydreaming. Daydreaming could affect a person's concentration thus experimenters could not be certain DV was affected by the IV only. OR Doodling could decrease daydreaming forcing people to pay attention more, so results would not reflect recall, only attention.
Define case study, longitudinal study, and cross-sectional study and suggest a specific scenario where each would be best to use.
A case study is a detailed investigation of a single instance, usually just one person, although it could be a single famila or institution. A longitudinal study is a research method that follows a group of participants over time, studying one or more variables at intervals. A cross-sectional study compares people at different ages or stages by comparing different groups of participants at one point in time. Examples will vary
Paul wants to examine the relationship between time of day and resting heart rate. Name the type of study she should conduct and outline a procedure.
She should conduct a correlational study. Procedure answers may vary, one example:
Paul can sit outside at a park in 4 30 minute intervals with a blood pressure machine.
9AM, 12PM, 3PM, and 6PM
She will stop people who walk by, explain her study, and ask if they would check their blood pressure using the machine.
She can record their data and compare results in the different time ranges.
What is an apparatus? Give an example from a study and an advantage and disadvantage of using it in that study.
An apparatus is a tool or piece of equipment used to conduct research.
In D&K, an EEG was used. In Holzel, an MRI was used. Allowed researchers to collect factual data, reduced demand characteristics and raised internal validity as participants could not intentionally alter results of the machinery. A disadvantage is low ecological validity as people do not normally sleep with an EEG or use and MRI.
Calculate the mean of this set of data: 5, 13, 22, 11, 17
13.6
Using the study by Piliavin, name a weakness of using listening to record observations.
Observers may misremember what they heard. In Piliavin, they did not record comments so any reported comments may have been misremembered.
People may not speak when not spoken to. In Piliavin, the women observers did not say anything which could have made people not express what was on their minds.
In order to listen to comments they have to be in close proximity to people which could reveal the observation. In Piliavin, the observers tried to conceal their observations so they may not have heard all or even many comments made by people on the subway.