Alternatives to Experimentation: Non-Experimental Designs Flashcards
Non-experimental approaches may have greater _: the generalizability or applicability to people and situations outside the research setting.
external validity
_ are used when an experiment is not practical or desirable, teasing a hypothesis in an existing real-life situation is necessary or important, you want to explore unique or rare occurrences, or to sample personal information in natural settings.
Non-experimental Approaches
There are two major dimensions in research:
- Degree of manipulation of antecedent conditions
- Degree of imposition of units
_ is a description of an individual’s immediate experience where our source of data are personal experiences.
Phenomenology
Phenomenology has _ degrees, where antecedents are _ and _ are imposed.
Low-low degrees; not manipulated and data may consist of any immediate experiences, no constraints
_ was interested in the physiology of vision, and noticed that colors seemed to change as twilight deepened.
Johannes Purkinje
_ is the understanding of spectral sensitivity to colors of different wavelengths.
Purkinje Effect
_ dealt with basic psychological issues like habits, emotions, consciousness, and stream of thoughts from the phenomenological perspective of his own experiences.
William James
In _, researchers cannot be sure if the process in observing experiences is not altered by attention to it. Researchers may not be able to achieve the degree of accuracy and objectivity if they observe their own behaviors. It will be difficult for others to replicate our experiences and apply scientific criteria to the findings.
Phenomenology
_ cannot be used to understand the causes of behavior. It describes, but it does not explain a behavior. It may lead researchers into areas of discovery that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Phenomenology
_ may lead to the formulation of new hypothesis and have elements that are mostly combined with other research methods. It is a frequent component of qualitative research.
Phenomenology
Case Studies _ and _ degrees, where it involves _ of antecedent conditions and a _ descriptive record of a single individual’s experiences or behaviors, or both, kept by an _ observer.
low-low and low-high;
no manipulation;
outside
Some case studies will _ the kind of info collected, placing it on the low-high category.
severely restrict
According to Kazdin (2003), there are 5 major purposes of case study:
- They are a source of inferences, hypotheses and theories.
- They are a source for developing therapy techniques.
- They allow a study of rare phenomena.
- They provide exceptions, or counter instances to accept ideas, theories or
practices. - They have persuasive and motivational value
In case studies, _ are where cases of deviant and normal individuals are compared for significant differences.
Deviant Case Analysis
Case studies pose the following limitations:
- One or few subjects may not be a representative of the general population.
- We may not be aware of all the relevant aspects of a person’s life if we are not able to directly observe him/her all the time.
- Subjects or other sources of information may neglect to mention important information because it is irrelevant or embarrassing.
- It relies on retrospective data - data collected in the present based on recollections of past events.
- Researchers cannot make cause-and-effect statements about behaviors observed.
In case studies, record made at the _ are always preferred.
time of an event
_ are non-experimental approaches that are used in the field or in real-life settings.
Field Studies
In _, the use of combined types of data gathering to capitalize on the richness and range of behavior found outside the laboratory.
Field Studies
Field studies have _, _, and _ degrees, where there is _, but the degree of constraint on responses _ from study to study.
low-low, low-high, medium-medium;
no manipulation;
varies considerably
In field studies, _ is a technique of observing behaviors as they occur spontaneously in natural settings.
Naturalistic Observation Studies
In field studies, naturalistic observation is in low-low degree, for it is a descriptive method where subjects’ responses are _.
free to vary
In field studies, _ has been used extensively in animal behavior research or _.
Naturalistic Observation Studies;
ethology
In _, researchers attempt to remain inconspicuous (staying out o sight) so that behaviors being observed are not altered by the presence of the observer.
Naturalistic Observation Studies
In _, setting is kept as natural as possible so that naturally occurring events will not be altered in any way.
Naturalistic Observation Studies
In _, when and who to observe and what to record and analyse lies on the researcher’s judgement and observational skills.
Naturalistic Observation Studies
_ are used because some behaviors may be distorted by bringing them in the laboratory setting, so such behaviors are best observed where they naturally occur.
Naturalistic Observation Studies
The naturalistic observation studies have the following limitations: _ and _.
- It provides wealth of descriptive information, BUT it DOES NOT lend itself to testing causal antecedents of behavior or determining cause and effect.
- Reactivity: the tendency of subjects to alter their behavior or responses when they are aware of the observer’s presence.
In _, observers should remain as unobtrusive (inconspicuous) as possible when conducting naturalistic observations.
Naturalistic Observaiton Studies
In naturalistic observation studies, _ are behavioral indicators that are observable without the subject’s knowledge.
Unobtrusive Measure
In fields studies, _ is where the researcher actually becomes a part of the group being studied.
Participant-observer studies
In fields studies, _ is the only method possible if the group would not reasonably be expected to cooperate voluntarily with the research investigation.
Participant-observer studies
In field studies, _ is where group members are not informed that they are part of the study.
Participant-observer studies
In field studies, participant-observer studies have _ degrees because it does not include _ or _, where qualitative data is being gathered.
low-low;
systematic observation;
measurement techniques
In field studies, _ allows observers to find it difficult to remain objective and unbiased because friendships form.
Participant-observer studies
In field studies, the participant-observer studies present the following ethical concerns:
- Is the observation going to make an important contribution to the psychological knowledge?
- Are you invading the privacy of others?
- Is it ethical not to tell people they are being studied?
- Is it ethical to pretend to be a real group member?
In field studies, _ is still ethical IF behaviors being observed are performed in a
public place where individuals would not expect privacy.
Participant-observer studies
_ is a descriptive research method in which already existing records are being reexamined for a new purpose.
Archival Studies
The data in _ are used to analyze societal trends or to gather information about population subgroups.
Archival Studies
In _, causal inferences cannot be supported, but it serves as a valuable information for further study on these issues.
Archival Studies
_ relies on words rather than numbers for the data being collected: self-reports, personal narratives, expression of ideas, memories, feelings and thoughts.
Qualitative research
Some argue that _, or the “big-Q” is a candidate for a paradigm shift within psychology.
Qualitative Research
_ is the set of attitudes, values, beliefs, methods and procedures that are generally accepted within a particular discipline.
Paradigm
_ is the process of hypothesis testing, experimentation, and quantitative data analysis.
Acceped paradigm
Contemporary/empirical phenomenology relies on the following sources of data:
- The researcher’s SELF-REFLECTION on experiences relevant to the phenomenon of interest.
- Participants’ ORAL and WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS of their experiences of the phenomenon.
- ACCOUNTS OF THE PHENOMENON obtained from literature, poetry, visual art, television, theatre, and previous phenomenological and other research
_ relies on the participants’ actual words where researches also provide a number of verbatim narratives to support their conclusions.
Contemporary/empirical phenomenology
In contemporary/empirical phenomenology, researchers validate their conclusions by _.
asking the participants to verify them and to offer corrections
The validity of contemporary/empirical studies has the following nature:
- Influence of researcher’s own viewpoint in the interpretation of data.
- Influence of presence of researcher in the way participants would respond.
- Accuracy of self-reports and use of retrospective data.
In contemporary/empirical phenomenology, potential for mistakes and erroneous conclusions may be _ and where _ is a very important measure of its goodness.
greater;
replicability
