Chapter 2 - Personality Research Methods Flashcards
What is psychology’s emphasis placed on?
Seeking new knowledge
- learn how to explore the unknown (through research)
What is Funder’s second law?
There are no perfect indicators of personality (the psychological triad can give us clues)
What is Funder’s third law?
Something beats nothing
What is S-Data?
self report or self-judgements
Describe S-Data
- questionnaires or surveys
- most frequent data source (quick and easy)
- high face validity (it measures what it says it will measure)
What are the advantages to S-Data?
- based on a large amount of information
- you have access to all your thoughts, feelings and intentions
- definitional truth (i.e. self-esteem…by definition you are getting what you ask for)
- causal force (self-verification - what you report is what you show…ex. getting a high self esteem score will cause you to have a high self esteem
- simple to collect
What are the disadvantages of S-Data?
- maybe people won’t be honest
- maybe people can’t tell you (sometimes we miss the most obvious things about themselves)
- active distortion of memory
- lack of self-insight - overused
What is I-Data?
informant reports
Describe what I-Data is?
- acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists (anyone who knows you to a certain extent)
- no training or experience needed to provide I-Data
- based on observing people in whatever context they know them in
- used frequently in daily life (ex. letter of recommendation)
What are the advantages of using I-Data?
- based on a large amount of information
- many behaviours in many situations
- judgements from multiple informants is possible - real world behaviour
- more likely to be relevant to important outcomes - takes context into account
- definitional truth (ex. likability - how much do you like ____?)
- causal force: expectancy effects AKA behavioural confirmation - wanting to confirm their reports by changing their behaviour to match the report…like a self-fulfilling prophecy)
What are the disadvantages of using I-Data?
- limited contexts
- lack of access to private experience
- errors: extreme/unusual behaviour most reported
- bias: due to prejudices
What is L-Data?
Life outcomes
Describe what L-Data is
- obtained from archival records
- the results or residue of personality
What are the advantages of using L-Data?
- objective and verifiable
- intrinsic importance (relevant)
- affected by personality (relevant)h
What are the disadvantages of using L-Data?
multidetermination - could have more than one determining variable (confounding variable)
What is B-Data?
Behavioural data
Describe what B-Data is? What are the two types of B-Data?
- what a person actually does is the most visible indication of personality
a. natural B Data: - based on real life
- diary and experience sampling methods
- ambulatory assessment: using tech to assess behaviour, thoughts and feelings
b. lab B Data - experiments (make a situation happen and record the results)
- physiological measures - biological behaviour
What are the advantages of using natural B-Data?
realistic
What are the disadvantages of using natural B-Data?
- difficult
2. desired contexts may seldom occur
What are the advantages of using lab B-Data?
- large range of contexts
2. appearance of objectivity (because of control)…but subjective judgements must be made
What are the disadvantages of using lab B-Data?
- difficult and expensive
2. uncertain interpretation
What is reliability?
consistency of measurement
What is measurement error?
error variance (cumulative effect of extraneous influences)
What are some factors that undermine reliability?
- low precision of measurement (ex. invalid questionnaire)
- state of the participant (ex. mood)
- state of the experimenter (ex. lab coat - detail of experimenter)
- the environment (ex. light, temperature)
How can we enhance reliability?
- double-check
- use a script/protocol
- measure things that are important
- aggregation
- allow random influences to cancel each other out
- Spearman-Brown formula: mathematical formula that predicts the degree to which the reliability of a test can be improved by changing the number of items
What is validity?
Does it measure what it is supposed to be measuring?
What is construct validation?
compare to already reputable methods
What is generalizability?
The extent to which a measurement or result applies to other tests, situations or people
- combine reliability and validity
- ex. using only university students in your research (not generalizable)
Describe the case method of research design?
- study one person or a few people
- advantages: describes whole phenomenon, source of ideas
- disadvantages: unknown generalizability
Describe the experimental method of research design?
- establishes a causal relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable
- test differences between groups with statistical tests - is difference larger than what would be expected by chance?
Describe the correlational method of research design?
- no manipulation of variables
- scatterplot
- correlation coefficient
- correlation not equal to causation (because we are not manipulating any variables)
What are some complications with experiments?
- uncertainty about what is being manipulated
- can be unrealistic
- often requires deception
- ethical reasons
- experiments are not always better
