02 Research Methods Flashcards
history of research ethics
nazi experimenting -> nonconsensual, toture, no context for patients
Nuremberg code principles
beneficence -> minimize suffering and harm to research subjects
scientific validity -> potential scientific benefits of research has to be made clear
voluntary consent -> subjects consent, leave at any time
premature closure -> study end if discover high risks to subjects
IRB
institutional review board that approves and supervises studies
protect privacy and confidentiality
quantitative methods
numbers, counts, amounts
precise and generalizable
how much & how many questions
patterns, hypothesis
stats
examples of quantitative methods
experiments, surveys
qualitative methods
words, experiences, visual, feelings
deep and detailed
answers “why” and “how”
social context
interpretive
examples of qualitative method
interviews, participant observation, ethnography
experiments
control environment to isolate effects of one item
experiment strengths
pretty confident in effect of one element we’ve isolated
experiment cons
not all topics able to study this way
not sure if subjects would act this way in real world
surveys
set of questions subjects respond to
survey strengths
quick and cheap
can be done online, phone, person, mail
lots of data from many people
survey weakness
hard to get responses
wording issues
interviews
semi structured or open ended
interview strengths
allows researcher to dig deeper, individual or group
interview cons
dependent on interviewer
wording issues
participant observation/ethnography
research observes and studies subjects directly in social world they exist in
participant observation/ethnography strengths
detailed info about how people act in certain context
personal understanding of what it feels like to take part in that social world
participant observation/ethnography weaknesses
can be time consuming & expensive
study small amount at time
historical and content analysis
existing sources (tv show, newspaper etc)
historical and content analysis strengths
show how topic is presented in media
study issues in past through historical records
historical and content analysis weaknesses
cant control quality of data
independent variable
causes a change
dependent variable
affected by the independent variable
item we are trying to explain
hypothesis
statement about how you believe variables are related
operationalization
how we convert variables into items that can be measured
sample
representative group of larger population, chosen from sampling frame
sampling frame
list of people or things that could be selected for sample
random sample
knows amount in population, randomly picks people from pop, allows generalization
non random sample
doesnt ensure that all members in pop have chance of being chosen
spurious relationship
relationship appears casual but isn’t
-> some outside variable is the cause
validity vs reliability
validity -> study measured what it was supposed
reliability -> measures are consistent
external validity
extent to where you can apply findings of one group to others
social desirability bias
response bias that happens when people answer surveys based on what they think they should say over what actually is
