Community Psychology, 2: Research Methods

Question 1

Scientific Methods in Community Psychology

Answer 1

Community psychology values the scientific method; it helps to identify the kinds of intervention that promote positive change in communities.

Question 2

Reliability

Answer 2

An attribute of data indicating that the same outcomes are obtained when repeated measurements are taken.

Question 3

Convenience Sample

Answer 3

A group selected for study because of their easy accessibility to the researcher.

Question 4

What is ‘showing up’ in the context of community psychology research?

Answer 4

Being an active participant in the community, rather than a disinterested outside observer.

Question 5

External validity

Answer 5

The generalizability of research findings to other settings, groups, time, etc.

Question 6

Currently prioritized research value in community psychology

Answer 6

Relevance to real communities

Question 7

Falsifiability

Answer 7

The concept that scientific ideas must be falsifiable, i.e., capable of being disproven and not so general as to be able to explain any and every possible finding.

Question 8

Stratified sample

Answer 8

A sample that is selected deliberately to match certain attributes of the population.

Question 9

Negative correlation

Answer 9

Does represent a meaningful relationship between variables, such that as one variable rises, the other decreases. (ie, precipitation and number of people outdoors)

Question 10

True experiment

Answer 10

Utilizes random assignment (to create equivalent groups) and experimental control (to minimize the influence of background variables).

Question 11

Quasi experiment

Answer 11

Seeks to present data similar to an experiment, but lack a critical part of true experiments (usually random assignment). Groups thus may be nonrandom, nonequivalent, and/or convenience samples.

Question 12

Ethnography

Answer 12

An alternate social science research strategy that involves more disclosure and interaction between researcher and participant. The researcher may listen to and present the participants own words rather than structuring the observation tightly.

Question 13

Participant Observation

Answer 13

A subtype of ethnography in which the researcher becomes an active participant in the community, often living with the people being studied, and writing their personal reflections.

Question 14

Geographic Information Systems

Answer 14

A variety of technologies that tie community data from various sources in to geographic visualizations.

Question 15

Epidemiology

Answer 15

A set of research methods favored by those in public health, it observes the incidence of illness and other health variables in a population.

Question 16

Participatory (action) research

Answer 16

An approach to research that: includes community participants’ ideas in the research questions and design, improving the relevance of the questions and the effectiveness of data collection.