IB Psychology Quantitative Research

IB Psychology

Quantitative Research Methods​

Multiple Choice

__________ refers to the one study that can be applied to people, places or situations beyond the context of the original study.

• credibility

• generalizability

• triangulation

• sampling

Multiple Choice

Why are there no IVs and DVs in qualitative research?

• Researchers aren't interested in cause and effect
• It takes too much time
• It's too expensive
• There aren't enough participants

Multiple Choice

the extent to which from the study are trustworthy or believable.

• credibility

• generalizability

• triangulation

• sampling

Multiple Choice

One reason qualitative research methods developed is because...

• They can be used as practice for experiments
• They're cheaper
• They're faster
• Psychologists believe that human behaviour can't be understood by numbers alone.

Multiple Choice

This is where the researcher reflects on how his or her own biases or personal experiences may have influenced their findings. This is important because it will help to reduce researcher bias. The second type is called "epistemological." This is when the researcher reflects on how they carried out the study and whether their choice of research method or procedure could have influenced the findings. This is important in order to establish the credibility of the findings.

• researcher triangulation

• reflexivity

• methodology triangulation

• data triangulation

Multiple Choice

_____________ ____________ are variables that can potentially distort the relationship between the IV and the DV.

• Target population

• Confounding variables

• Matching variables

• Target variables

Multiple Choice

Getting or analyzing data from more that one point is called..

• Triangulation
• Generalizability
• Reflexivity
• Credibility

Multiple Choice

In_____________ _______________you recruit participants that are more easily available.

• Self-selected sampling

• Opportunity sampling

• Random sampling

• Stratified sampling

Multiple Choice

_____________ refers to the extent to which findings can be generalized from the experiment to other settings or situations.

• Internal validity

• Ecological validity

• Population validity

Multiple Choice

What is...a focus group interview?

• An interview conducted on a small group at the same time. 
• An interview method that involves asking questions in a way so the participant has to construct a narrative-type response. 
• An interview that has a guide and some structure, but there is freedom to deviate.
• An interview that has no structure.

Multiple Choice

What is...a semi-structured interview?

• An interview conducted on a small group at the same time. 
• An interview method that involves asking questions in a way so the participant has to construct a narrative-type response. 
• An interview that has a guide and some structure, but there is freedom to deviate.
• An interview that has no structure.

Multiple Choice

What is...a participant observation?

• An observation that involves not telling the subjects that they are being observed.
• An observation that involves the researcher becoming a member of the group they’re observing.
• An observation that takes place in a natural environment. 
• An observation that takes place in a laboratory.

Multiple Choice

A researcher might choose to use qualitative methods if...

• They wanted to know participants' subjective experiences of phenomena
• They were studying a unique phenomena without much prior research
• They thought the experience of participants could not be understood by reducing it to numbers
• Any or all of these reasons

Multiple Choice

What is...an unstructured interview?

• An interview conducted on a small group at the same time.

• An interview method that involves asking questions in a way so the participant has to construct a narrative-type response.

• An interview that covers a general topic but there is even more freedom to ask a range of questions.

• An interview that has no structure.

Multiple Choice

Snowball sampling is...

• Can be a type of purposive sampling
• When a "seed" finds other participants
• A valuable method to study "hidden populations"
• All of these options

Multiple Choice

A ___________ is the group of individuals taking part in the research study.

• Population

• Sample

• Variable

• Control

Multiple Choice

When the beliefs, opinions or views of the researcher influence the research process, this is called...

• Confirmation bias

• Researcher bias

• Reflexivity

• Hindsight bias

Multiple Choice

How can you "operationalize" verbal aggression?

• Yelling at someone

• Kicking someone

• The number of insulting comments per hour.

• Giving someone the silent treatment.

Multiple Choice

Gathering a sample of participants by asking people who have the desirable characteristics

• Snowball sampling

• Opportunity Sampling

• Purposive sampling

• Seedling sampling

Multiple Choice

What is...qualitative data?

• Unreliable data
• Data that involves numbers and quantities.
• Data that involves descriptions and summaries. 
• Data gathered from experimentation.

Multiple Choice

____________refers to the extent to which the !findings can move from one context to another. This is a similar concept to generalizability as the “context” may refer to a setting or participants outside the original study.

• credibility

• generalizability

• triangulation

• transferability

A key characteristic of an experiment is the use of controls.  The idea of "control" is that when the researcher manipulates the independent variable, all other possible variables stay the same.  In other words, the procedure must be exactly the same in both groups; the only difference should be the manipulation of the independent variable.​

​For example, if we are testing the role of noise in one's ability to recall a list of words, one group would read the list while listening to music. Another group would read the list in silence. Otherwise, there should be no other difference between the groups. Some examples of controls for this study would include:

• The list of words would be the same - the same words, the same font, the same size font, the same order of the words.

• The conditions of the room should be the same.

• If one room has a lot of posters on the wall with information, while the other room has bare walls, this could theoretically influence the results.

• The temperature of the rooms should be the same.

• The time of day when the test is taken should be the same.

​Both the independent and dependent variables must be operationalized. In other words, they need to be written in such a way that it is clear what is being measured. In the example used above, noise is the independent variable.

This could be operationalized as dissonant rock music played at a volume of 100 decibels. An operationalized dependent variable could be the number of words remembered from a list of 30 words.

Now we know exactly what the IV is and what you are going to measure in order to support your research question. Simply stating that your dependent variable is "the results of the study" is not enough as it does not say anything about what is actually being measured.

​Another characteristic of experiments is that they are highly standardized.  This means that they have procedures that are written in enough detail that they can be easily replicated by another researcher. Like ACT tests.

​ A true experiment randomly allocates participants to conditions.  With random allocation, participants have the same chance of being assigned to the experimental or the control condition. This lessens the potential for characteristics of the individuals influencing the results.

Open Ended

Was this experiment - gold or rubbish? Explain your answer (use some of the vocabulary you learned in the past couple of units)

Open Ended

How is this study experiment different from the cute aggression study?

​Lab experiment: an experiment done under highly controlled conditions.

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Field experiment: an experiment done in a natural setting. There is less control over variables.

Open Ended

How are field experiments different than natural observations?

​A true experiment:  An IV is manipulated and a DV measured under controlled conditions.  Participants are randomly allocated to conditions.

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A natural experiment: An experiment that is the result of a "naturally occurring event." 

​A quasi experiment: Like the "experiment" by Derren Brown - no IV is manipulated and participants are not randomly allocated to conditions. Instead, it is their traits that set them apart - a fish seller, a hot dog vendor and a jeweler.

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This occurs when the researcher does not have control of assigning participants into experimental groups because of the research question. In this type of research, the population of interest is identified, and a sample of that population randomly gathered. The difference begins at this step. Some attribute of the groups sets them apart.

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Color blindness would be an example. If the research question is to test differences on a driving task between color blind participants and participants without colorblindness, the attribute of being colorblind cannot be randomly assigned. One group has color blind participants, the other does not. This initial group difference produces a quasi-experiment, even when all other rigors of the scientific method being followed.​

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​A natural experiment: An experiment that is the result of a "naturally occurring event."  Natural experiments examine a natural situation that occurs in the real world. They are often used when it is not possible to change an independent variable (IV) intentionally for ethical or practical reasons.

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In a natural experiment, researchers take advantage of events that occur or have already occurred naturally. Therefore, the researchers cannot change or control the IV of the natural experiment. The IV varies naturally even without intervention in the experiment, e.g., by a natural disaster.

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​Internal validity refers to the degree of confidence that the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and not influenced by other factors or variables. The ability of the research design to adequately test the hypothesis.Ask yourself if the study design provides strong evidence that the variables are associated with one another. DID MANIPULATION OF THE IV CAUSE CHANGES IN THE DV?

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External validity refers to the extent to which results from a study can be applied (generalized) to other situations, groups or events.

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• Natural experiments are often used when it is not possible to alter an IV for ethical or practical reasons intentionally.

• The advantages of natural experiments are that they provide opportunities for research that researchers cannot do for ethical or practical reasons. They also have high ecological validity.

• The disadvantages of natural experiments are infrequent opportunities for researchers, pre-existing sample bias, and ethical issues, such as conducting a study after traumatic events that may be harmful to participants.

• A quasi-experiment is an experiment that examines pre-existing differences between people, so the IV already exists.

• The advantages are that quasi-experiments are conducted in the laboratory in a well-controlled environment, which implies good internal validity and reliability. Also, quasi-experiments allow comparisons between people based on their pre-existing differences, so they have higher external validity.

• The disadvantage is that there is a bias in the sample in natural quasi-experiments, and researchers can only draw causal conclusions tentatively.

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Multiple Choice

What are observations made using our five senses called?

• Qualitative data

• Quantitative data

Multiple Select

A Quasi Experiment has a... (tick all that apply)

• Artifical Independent Variable

• Naturally Occuring Independent Variable

• Control of the Independent Variable

• Dependent Variable

Multiple Select

Which two types of experiments are conducted in a natural setting (eg. a mall, BTS station, school, cinema)?

• Laboratory experiment

• Field experiment

• Natural experiment

Multiple Choice

The chimp identified 12 pictures correctly.

• Qualitative

• Quantitative

Multiple Choice

What is a unique weakness of opportunity sampling?

• Results may not generalise as participants have been recruited from the same place

• Participants may not give their consent to take part

• Only participatns that are confident will take part

• It is a time consuming sampling method

Multiple Choice

The flower is 8 cm tall.

• Qualitative data

• Quantitative data

​The experimental method is based on hypothesis testing. Inferential testing asks the researcher to choose between a null and an alternative (research) hypothesis. You are actually calculating the probability of the result occurring if the null hypothesis is true. The first step is to state the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis assumes that there will be no significant difference for a given population under two different conditions. For example: H0: Individuals show no significant difference in the mean number of words that students recall from a list of 40 unrelated words when in a quiet room than when listening to music. The IV and the DV are clearly stated. The IV is whether the individual is in a quiet room or listening to music. The DV is recalling words from a list of 40 unrelated words.

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First, notice that the variables are operationalized - that is, they are very clearly defined for us so we know exactly what is being manipulated and what is being measured. Also notice that the null hypothesis states that there will be no significant difference. This is important because we are not saying that the mean recall must be exactly the same in order to retain the null hypothesis - it is only important that there not be a "significant difference" - that is, a large enough difference to say that the results were not due to chance.

The alternative hypothesis is your guess about what will happen. For the above experiment, the researcher hypothesis could be:

H1: Participants will memorize more words from a list of 40 unrelated words when they are in a quiet room than when listening to the radio.

Notice that there is a clear guess as to the outcome of the experiment.

What if we find that they remember fewer words? If that is true, then the alternative hypothesis is not supported, but neither is the null hypothesis is also not supported because there is a difference in the number of words memorized. If the null is rejected by there is no correct alternative hypothesis, the experiment is technically invalid.

The way to solve this is to state a two-tailed hypothesis instead of a one-tailed hypothesis. A two-tailed hypothesis does not state the direction:

H1: There will be a difference in the number of words that participants will memorize from a list of 40 unrelated words when they are in a quiet room than when listening to the radio.

The two-tailed test gets you away from the trap of getting results that do not accept your alternative hypothesis but clearly are significant.  It is not acceptable practice to change your hypothesis after you get your results to match your findings.  A two-tailed hypothesis is usually done in psychology to investigate a question.  A one-tailed is often used to test the reliability of a study's findings.

Time to apply what you just learned!

Multiple Choice

The ethical guideline for research in which participants must agree to be a part of the study is known as

• Informed consent

• Confidentiality

• Free from harm

• Debriefing

Multiple Choice

Choose the type of experiment that has the highest reliability.

• Laboratory experiment

• Field experiment

• Natural experiment

Multiple Choice

Feelings, attitudes, opinions and thoughts of human being

• QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Multiple Choice

The names of the participants in a research experiment must be kept secret is an ethical guideline known as

• Debriefing

• Free from harm

• Informed Consent

• Confidentiality

Multiple Choice

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research experiment is known as

• replication

• operational definition

• hypothesis

• standardization

Multiple Choice

The level of difficulty of psychology is significantly different to the level of difficulty of biology. This is an example of a....

• 2 Tailed Hypothesis

• 1 Tailed Hypothesis

• Null Hypothesis

Multiple Choice

Squidward found new reeds to tryout for his clarinet.  He used an APPLAUSOMETER to measure applause after playing  Under the Sea with each reed.  The results were put in the table.
What was the dependent variable?

• The Song
• The Reed
• The Applause

Multiple Choice

Which type of experiment is most likely to have proper informed consent and be more ethical?

• Laboratory experiment

• Field experiment

• Natural experiment

Multiple Choice

Choose the type of experiment that has the highest ecological validity.

• Laboratory experiment

• Field experiment

• Natural experiment

Multiple Choice

The researchers got two students to be confederates (actors) and act out a fight in the middle of the school canteen. They quietly watched form a corner to see count how many people went to help.

• Laboratory experiment

• Field experiment

• Natural experiment

Multiple Choice

Which type of experiment lacks ecological validity?

• field

• lab

• quasi

Multiple Choice

An experiment is performed on plants to see how different liquids affect plant growth. Each plant in the experiment is given a different liquid; water, apple juice, or milk. Each plant has the same amount of soil, sunlight, and listens to the same music. In this investigation, what are the controlled variables?

• Type of plant, amount of music, and sunlight
• Water, apple juice, milk
• Plant growth