Methods Flashcards
Outline 6 points about interviews
- An interview is a one-to-one conversational questionnaire in which questions are asked by the interviewer and answered by the interviewee
- Can be asked closed questions = fixed response
- Can be asked open questions = no set response
- Structured interview = closed and predetermined so respondent has no options and doesn’t lead to direction of the interview
- unstructured interview = open for the respondent to lead the question and the course of the interview
- Semi-structured interview = some fixed questions and some structure regarding questions asked
Outline 6 points about questionnaires
- A questionnaire is a series of questions designed to gather information about a certain topic that provides both quantitative and qualitative data
- Can be asked closed questions = fixed response
- Closed questions can include yes/no questions or likert scale questions
- Can be asked open questions = no set response
- A pilot questionnaire can be conducted to assess potential issues with the main questionnaire
- Can be given in different forms, e.g. postal questionnaires
Give a strength and weakness of questionnaires
P - High generalisability
E - Due to the set questions and methods of distribution (e.g. postal) it allows them to be sent on a mass scale
E - Therefore a large, geographically dispersed sample can be obtained
P - Low validity
E - Lack of detail in respondents answers due to predetermined answers from closed questions and unknown social desirability of acquiescence bias or if the respondent misunderstood the questions
E - Therefore reduces credibility of trustworthiness of responses
Give a strength and weakness of quantitative data
P - High reliability
E - Quantitative data is presented in an objective, numerical form
E - Therefore can be replicated and compared easily due to no interpretation of detail
P - Low validity
E - Data in the form of numbers lacks detail
E - Therefore is narrow in focus and unrepresentative of the complexity of human behaviour
Give a strength and weakness of qualitative data
P- High validity
E- Ppts can say what they really think about an issue
E- Answers will be truthful
P- Analysis could be subjective
E- Hard to analyse in order to compare responses
E- Answers might be so different that they are difficult to catabolise and results can be long and hard to summarise
What is sampling?
A method used to gather participants for research
Define an ‘opportunity sample’
Members of the target population that fit the desired criteria that happen to be available at the time of research
Give a strength and weakness of opportunity sampling
Quick, easy, and cheap to gain a sample due to using whatever is available at the time and so wouldn’t spend money on other methods
Low validity - experimenter bias may lead researcher to choose a sample that is similar to them in regards to culture
Define a ‘volunteer sample’
A group of people who put themselves forward to take part in research in response to advertisements
Give a strength and weakness of volunteer sampling
High ethics - those who decide to put themselves forward for research have given informed consent
Low generalisability - biased towards a certain type of person as ppts select themselves so may be similar in some way, not representative of target population
Define a ‘random sample’
Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen
Give a strength and weakness of random sampling
High generalisability- no bias in the way ppts are chosen, everyone has an equal opportunity to be chosen and no one is excluded so sample is likely to be representative of target population
Difficult to achieve - time, effort, money, have to get a full list of specific population and may cost a lot to receive a full list of population
Define a ‘stratified sample’
Ppts selected according to frequency in population
Give a strength and weakness of stratified sampling
High generalisability- ensures each subgroup within the population receives proper representation within the sample so can generalise from results
Time consuming - Ppts split into strata
Give a strength and weakness of interviews
P - High reliability
E - Follows a standardised set of questions that gain quantitative data
E - Easy to replicate and compare results
P - Low validity
E - Lack of detail with mainly closed questions and predetermined answers
E - May not be a true representation of the respondents views
