Correlations, Case Studies And Conent Analysis Flashcards
What is a correlation?
The relationship between two co-variables.
What are correlations plotted on?
A scattergram
How many stats test are there for correlations?
2
What is the value between for correlation coefficients?
Between -1 and +1
What does the value of correlation coefficients tell us?
The strength between two variables
What does 1 mean?
And what does -1 mean?
1 = a strong positive
-1 =. A strong negative
What does a case study analyse?
Unusual individuals/ groups or events or focus on typical cases
What type of data do case studied usually produce?
Qualitative data
What is constructed during case studies?
Case history - interviews, questionnaires, observations
What might case studies use and what might these produce?
Experiments which produce quantitative data
What type of study is a case study usually?
A longitudinal study - happens over a long period of time.
Case study strengths:
- Rich and detailed.
- Greater insight into unusual behaviour.
- Can give us greater insight into normal behaviour.
- Can help generate hypotheses for future study.
Weaknesses of case studies:
- Small sample
- Difficult to generalise
- Subjective
- Personal accounts might be inaccurate
- Evidence is low in validity
What type of research is a content analysis?
Observational research
How does a content analysis take place?
It studies people indirectly through communications they’ve produced e.g. spoken interaction, written communication or media
What does a content analysis aim to do?
Summarise and describe communication in a systematic way which allows conclusions to be darwn
Why do we use coding?
Data sets can be very big and so the information needs to be categorised into meaningful units which produces quantitive data.
What can a thematic analysis involve producing?
Qualitative data
What is a theme?
Any idea that reoccurs during the communication
What is a thematic analysis likely to be?
More descriptive than coding units which means they can be developed into broader categories.
Once themes have been identified what can be produced?
A new set of data which can test the validity of the themes and categories which the researcher can then write a report on unsung quotes from data to illustrate themes.
What are the strengths of thematic analysis?
- Can avoid ethical issues associated with many types of research.
- Much of what will be studied might be in the public domain.
- Usually high in external validity especially private communication.
- Can produce quantitative and qualitative data.
Weaknesses of Thematic analysis:
- People tend to be indirectly studied - usually out of context.
- Researcher may attribute opinions and attitudes the speaker/ writer which were not originally intended - subjective.
- Suffer from problems with objectivity.
