AQA 'A' Psychology Research Methods Key terms Questions and Answers 100% Pass

AQA 'A' Psychology Research Methods Key terms Questions and Answers 100% Pass Aim - Answer-General statement of why the study is being carried out. Null Hypothesis - Answer-An assumption that there is no relationship between the variables. E.g. There is no relationship between age and intelligence. Directional hypothesis (one-tailed) - Answer-States the kind of relationship between two conditions. E.g. People who do homework without the TV on produce better results than those who do homework with the TV on. Non-directional hypothesis (two-tailed) - Answer-Simply predicts that there will be a difference or relationship between two conditions. E.g. There is a difference between work produced in noisy or silent conditions. Independent groups design - Answer-Participants are allocated to two or more groups representing different experimental conditions. Matched pairs design - Answer-Participants are matched in terms of key variables such as age and IQ. Repeated measures design - Answer-Each participant takes part in every condition under test. Random sampling - Answer-Every member of the target population being tested has an equal chance of being selected. . Opportunity sampling - Answer-Sample of participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study. Volunteer sampling - Answer-Sample of participants produced by a sampling technique that relies solely on volunteers to make up the sample. Behaviour categories - Answer-Dividing a target behaviour into a subset of behaviours. Qualitative data - Answer-Data that express a complete account of what people think or feel. Quantitative data - Answer-Numerical data that represent how much, how long or how many. Open questions - Answer-Questions that allow respondents to provide their own answers rather than select one of those provided; tend to produce qualitative data. Closed questions - Answer-Questions that have a range of answers from which respondents select one; tend to produce quantitative data and are easier to analyse. Operationalisation - Answer-Specifying a set of variables that can be measured or manipulated. Independent variable - Answer-Variable made to change by the experimenter. Dependent variable - Answer-Effects of the IV on another variable are observed or measured.