Field Methods Flashcards
Midterms
a process of systematic inquiry that entails collection of data; documentation of critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data information in accordance with suitable methodologies
research
engage in reflective thinking and investigate things, situations and problems around them
intellectual curiosity
begins once the intellectual curiosity ends
prudence
new, unique, and original
creativity
must be inventive and innovative
inventiveness
have a return of investment by applying the invest-harvest principle
productivity
conducted to explore a group of questions; answers and analytics may not offer a conclusion to the perceived problem
exploratory
or causal research is conducted to understand the impact of certain changes in existing standard procedures
explanatory
focuses on expanding knowledge on current issues through a process of data collection. It is used to describe the behavior of a sample population
descriptive
also called fundamental research or pure research; aims to discover basic truths or principles
basic research
seeking new application of scientific knowledge of developing a new system or procedure
applied research
a decision-oriented research involving the application of scientific-methods in response to an immediate need to improve existing practices
developmental research
unique form of applied research and a reflective process of progressive problem solving; also called practitioner research
action research
uses scientific sampling and questionnaire design to measure characteristics of the populations with statistical precision
survey research
also known as program evaluation; refers to research purpose instead of a specific method
evaluation research
numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect
quantitative research
a study that strictly adheres to a scientific research design; includes a hypothesis, a variable that can be manipulated and can be measured, calculated, and compared
experimental research
attempts to determine how related two or more variables are; degree of relation is expresses as a correlation coefficient
correlational research
attempts to identify a cause-effect relationship between two or more groups
causal-comparative research
type of scientific research that seeks answer to a question and systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the questions
qualitative research
systematically methodology that has been largely, but not exclusively applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientist
grounded theory
applied in social sciences; seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research which are linked together by critical reflection
action research
helps us to understand the meaning of people’s lived experiences. it explores what people experienced and focuses on their experience of a phenomena
phenomenological research
term that subsumes a group of approaches that in turn rely on the written or spoken words or visual representation of individuals
narrative research
detailed study of specific subject
case study
collecting existing data in the form of text, images, audio or video recording, etc.
secondary research
recording what have seen heard or encountered in detailed field notes
observation
personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations
interviews
asking questions and generating discussion among people or group
focus groups
distributing questionnaire with open-ended questions
surveys
can take the form of texts, photos, videos, and audio
qualitative data analysis
defined as a sampling technique in which the researchers chooses samples from a larger population using a method based on the theory of probability
probability sampling method
each individual is chosen entirely by chance and each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
simple random sampling
individuals are selected at regular intervals from the sampling frame
systematic sampling
selected based on availability and willingness to take part
convenience sampling
the population is first divided into subgroups (or strata) who all share a similar characteristics; it is used when we might reasonably expect the measurement of interest to vary between the different subgroups and we want to ensure representation from all the subgroups
stratified sampling
subgroups of the population are used as the sampling unit, rather than individuals, randomly selected
clustered sampling
method of sampling is often used by market researchers
quota sampling
known as selected or subjective sampling; this technique relies on the judgement of the researchers when choosing who to ask to participate
judgement (or purposive) sampling
commonly used in social sciences when investigating hard-to-reach groups
snowball sampling
non-probability sampling method that is very similar to convenience sampling with a slight variation
consecutive sampling
a program that is run on a computer and that uses step by step methods to explore the approximate behavior of a mathematical model
research design
provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of research; it educates and monitors scientist conducting research to ensure a high ethical standard
research ethics
most common in the social and behavioral sciences though we also find them in such disciplines as artificial life, epidemiology, ecology and any disciplines in which the networked interactions of many individuals is being studied
agent-based simulations
used for heuristic purposes for the purposes of predicting data that we do not have
simulation
most commonly used in the physical sciences and other sciences where there is governing theory that can guide the construction of mathematical models based on differential equations
equation-based simulations
discusses the equation-based models that are based on particle methods and those that are based on field methods
multiscale simulations
computer algorithms that use randomness to calculate the properties of a mathematical model and where the randomness of the algorithms is not a feature of the target model
monte carlo simulations
opposing theories and disparate finding populate the field of psychology
meta-analysis research design
a type of psychological test often used in personality assessment; often presented in a paper-and-pencil format
self-report inventories
most famous self-report inventory; personality test that first published in the 1940s, later revised in the 1980
minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI-2)
developed by raymond cattell to assess individuals based on his trait theory of personality; used to generate personality profile of the individual and often used to evaluate employees
16 personality factor questionnaire
based on MMPS which nearly half question are drawn; designed to measure such characteristics as self-control, empathy, and independence
california personality inventory
the degree to which an assessment tool produces stable and consistent results
reliability
measure of reliability obtained by administering same test twice over a period of time
test-retest reliability
obtained by administering different versions of an assessment tool (both versions must contain items that probe the same construct)
parallel forms reliability
used to assess the degree to which different judges or rates agree in their assessment decision
inter-rater reliability
used to evaluate the degree to which different test items that probe the same construct produce similar results
internal consistency reliability
a subtype of internal consistency reliability; obtained by taking all the items on a test that probe the same construct
average inter-item correlation
subtype of internal consistency reliability; process of obtaining split-half reliability is begun by splitting in half all items of a test
split-half reliability
refers to how well a test measures; what it is
validity
ascertains that the measure appears to be assessing the intended construct under study
face validity
used to ensure that the measure is actually measure what it is intended to measure
construct validity
used to predict future or current performance—it correlates test results with another criterion of interest
criterion-related validity
used to assess how well a measure is able to provide information to help improve the program under study
formative validity
ensures that the measure covers the broad range of areas within the concept under study
content validity
collection of information from a sample of individuals though their responses to questions; allows for a variety of methods to recruit participants
survey
study in which the researchers manipulated the level of some independent variables
experiment
all the important factors that might affect the phenomena of interest are completely controlled
true experiments
all the participants have the same chance of being in a given condition
random assignment
group that receives treatment
treatment group
group which does not receive the treatment
control group
used convenience sampling to select study participants
experimental researchers
only exposed to a single user interface
between-subjects (or between-groups) study design
tests all the conditions all the user interface
within-subject (or repeated-measures) study design
independent variable caused the outcome of the study
internal validity
difficult to generalize experimental results to groups that were not included in the study; also of particular concern in social science experiments
external validity
makes it easier to generalize the results of the studies to other groups
random sampling techniques
a tentative explanation of an event or behavior; explains the effects of specified antecedent conditions on a measured behavior
experimental hypothesis
can be either true of false
synthetic statements
means for manipulating antecedent conditions and measuring the resulting behavior must exist
testable statements
preferred over one that requires many supporting assumptions
parsimonious statements
leads to a new studies
fruitful statements
disprovable by research findings
falsifiable statements
process of reasoning from specific cases to more general principles
inductive model
the process of reasoning from general principles to make predictions about specific instances
deduction
the reverse of the inductive model
deductive model
