Intro to Research Design Flashcards
Types of purpose statements and respective approaches.
Qualitative (constructivist approach): understanding, describing, exploring.
Quantitative (purposive approach): test existence of relationships between variables.
Types of research questions
Generative vs problem-oriented
Description of states vs processes
Definition of Theory
Set of interrelated hypotheses or propositions concerning a phenomenon or a set of phenomena.
Definition of Construct or Concept
abstract, unobservable property or attribute.
Definition of Variable
particular type of construct: a classification into two or more mutually exclusive and totally inclusive categories which explicitly vary by degree.
It can be directly tied to empirical measures.
Definition of Measure
property or relation whose presence or absence can be observed
Definition of Proposition
relationship between constructs. Cannot be tested.
Definition of Hypothesis
relationship between variables. Can be tested.
Ways of building a nomological net
Direct Effects:
Main Effect: ex. H1. control variable (Reflection) influences outcome variable (performance outcomes).
Indirect Effects:
Moderation: One variable that augments or diminishes the main effect. (valence of past experience)
Mediation: Intermediary variable between control and outcome variable (perceived self-efficacy).
Definition of operalisation
Association between a variable and a measure.
e.g. how to measure performance outcomes in the article
Types of variable
non-numeric (nominal scales)
numeric variables (ordinal, interval, ratio scales variables)
Types of validity
Conclusion validity. Replication.
Internal Validity. Alternative explanations. Different methods, different results?
Construct Validity. Are the variables and method really measuring the construct.
External validity. Generalisation.