Research and Assessment Methods Flashcards
An approach for understanding the meaning individuals and groups ascribe to a human or social problem
Emerging questions
Flexible written report
Qualitative research
An approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationships among variables (deductive)
Numbered data which can be analyzed using statistical procedures
Structured written report
Quantitative research
Collection of both qualitative and quantitative data
Integrating the two forms of data
May involve both philosophical assumptions and theoretical frameworks
Mixed methods research
A research method focusing on the study of a single episode. Usually it is not designed to compare one individual or group to another, although sometimes it may be included in comparative analysis as a key or illustrative example.
Case Study Method
Analysis where data from different settings or groups at the same point in time or from the same settings or groups over a period of time are analyzed to identify similarities and differences.
Comparative Analysis
A study of the way versions or the world, society, events, and psyche are produced in the use of language. It is often concerned with the construction of subjects within various forms of knowledge/power. Semiotics, deconstruction, and narrative analysis are forms.
Discourse Analysis
Also known as e-Science or e-Social Science, the harnessing of any digital technology to undertake and promote social research. This includes treating the digital sphere as a site of research by examining social interaction in the e-infrastructure.
e-Research
A multi-method qualitative (participant observation, interviews, discourse analyses of natural language and personal documents) approach that studies people in their “…naturally occuring settings or ‘fields’ by means of methods which capture their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the researcher participating directly in the setting…”
Ethnography
a researcher goes to observe an everyday event in the environment where it occurs.
Field Research
An inductive form of qualitative research where data collection and analysis are conducted together. Theories remain rooted in the observations rather than generated in the abstract. An approach that develops the theory from the data collected, rather than applying a theory to the data.
Grounded Theory
a form of discourse analysis that seeks to study the textual devices at work in the constructions of process or sequence within a text.
The respondent gives a detailed account of themselves and is encouraged to tell their story rather than answer a predetermined list of questions.
This method is more successful when people are discussing a life changing event. Analysis of the narrative tells the researcher about the person’s understanding of the meaning of events in their lives.
Narrative Analysis
steps in the statistical process
(1) collect data (e.g., surveys); (2) describe and summarize the distribution of the values in the data set; and (3) interpret by means of inferential statistics and statistical modeling (i.e., draw general conclusions for the population on the basis of the sample).
classified into mutually exclusive groups or categories and lack intrinsic order. A zoning classification, social security number, and sex are examples of nominal data. The label of the categories does not matter and should not imply any order. So, even if one category might be labeled as 1 and the other as 2, those labels can be switched.
Nominal data
ordered categories implying a ranking of the observations. Even though ordinal data may be given numerical values, such as 1, 2, 3, and 4, the values themselves are meaningless. Only the rank counts. It would be incorrect to infer, for example, that 4 is twice 2, despite the temptation. Examples of ordinal data include letter grades, suitability for development, and response scales on a survey (e.g., 1 through 5).
Ordinal data
has an ordered relationship where the difference between the scales has a meaningful interpretation. The typical example of interval data is temperature, where the difference between 40 and 30 degrees is the same as between 30 and 20 degrees, but 20 degrees is not twice as cold as 40 degrees.
Interval data
the gold standard of measurement, where both absolute and relative differences have a meaning. The classic example of ratio data is a distance measure, where the difference between 40 and 30 miles is the same as the difference between 30 and 20 miles, and in addition, 40 miles is twice as far as 20 miles.
Ratio data
Type of variable that represents interval or ratio measurements
Quantitative variable
Type of variable that represents nominal or ordinal measurement
Qualitative variable
take an infinite number of values, both positive and negative, and with as fine a degree of precision as desired
Continuous variables
can only take on a finite number of distinct values
Discrete variables
can only take on two values, typically coded as 0 and 1
binary or dichotomous variables
the totality of some entity
population
subset of the population
sample
the characteristics of the distribution of values in a population or in a sample
Descriptive Statistics. The context will make clear whether the statistic pertains to the population (all values known), or to a sample (only partial observations).
