Issues And Debates Flashcards
Define gender bias
When one gender is treated less favourably than the other
Define universality (in terms of gender)
Universality refers to all research is assumed to apply equally to both genders.
What are the three main ways that gender bias can occur? Give an example for each.
One gender samples e.g - Zimbardo used a male only sample
Using male behaviour as standard - Milgram studied males, but applied to both males and females
Emphasis of Biological differences - ?
Define androcentrism
‘Male bias’ in which men’s behaviour is the standard against which women’s behaviour is compared.
What are the two types of gender bias?
Alpha bias - the attempt to exaggerate the differences between the genders
Beta bias - the attempt to minimise the differences between the genders
Define culture bias
When one culture is treated less favourably than the other
Define ethnocentrism
The assumption that one ethnic group is superior to another or all others and that the behaviour of the ‘superior’ group is the norm.
Define cultural relativism
The belief that it is essential to consider the cultural context when examining behaviour in that culture. There is no global right or wrong, it varies across cultures.
What are emics and etics?
Emics are constructs that occur in one culture only.
Etics are constructs that occur in all cultures.
How does culture bias occur?
When the researcher confuses their own emics as being an etic, this is called ‘imposed etics’.
What is meant by the idiographic vs nomothetic debate?
A debate considering whether individuals should be considered unique or regarded as part of groups.
What is an idiographic approach?
An explanation that considers the individual and argues that generalising from person to person is difficult because of their own uniqueness.
What is a nomothetic approach?
An explanation that regards people as groups and establishes general laws and principles that can therefore be generalised.
What are the research methods preferred by idiographic approaches?
Case studies
Qualitative
What research methods are preferred by nomothetic approaches?
Quantitative
Experiments
What are the 3 types of general laws created by nomothetic approaches?
Classification (grouping people by characteristics) Establishing principles (creating laws that are applicable to all human behaviour) Establishing dimensions (creating scales/continuum’s allowing the comparison of others)
What approach is idiographic ?
Humanistic - it actively rejects any attempts to generalise across all humans.
What approaches are nomothetic?
Biological Behaviourist Social learning Psychodynamic Cognitive
What are the weaknesses of idiographic approaches?
Idiographic intervention into mental health is time consuming and therefore, it is difficult for it to be widespread.
What are the strengths of a idiographic approach?
Case studies often prompt ideas for further research as it studies the behaviour of an individual in detail.
