Research design Flashcards
What is research design?
a strategic framework for action - a system for (systematic) observation
what does research design aim to do?
overall blueprint or roadmap for conducting your research study - outlines key ingredients and steps involved
what does research design define?
defines the strategy you’ll use to answer research question and gather meaningful data
what is the first step in research design?
review the field and identify which questions still need to be answered
what is meant by question/aim?
we needed a design that would allow us to answer that question in such a way that we could draw valid conclusions from the study.
what is meant when referring to the typology of the research?
typologies (categorizations) of different kinds of research, that describe the broad terms
what are the research types that fall into the first typology?
exploratory, descriptive, explanatory
what is exploratory research and what typology is it part of?
preliminary investigations into unknown areas - typology 1
what is descriptive research and what typology is it part of?
describes phenomena - typology 1
what is explanatory research and what typology is it part of?
looks for causal explanations - typology 1
what are the research types that fall into the second typology?
basic research, applied research
what is basic research and what typology is it part of?
basic research advances our knowledge of the world - typology 2
what is applied research and what typology is it part of?
applied research has a practical application - typology 2
what are the research types that fall into the third typology?
quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods
what is quantitative research and what typology is it part of?
broad generalizable comparisons, numbers, stats - typology 3
what is qualitative research and which typology is it part of?
words, themes, depth and detail - typology 3
what are the four major categories to consider when doing research design?
purpose, paradigm, techniques and context
what does purpose refer to?
what the study aims to do/achieve with the research being done
what does context refer to?
where the research will be done and who/what the sample is made up of to get accurate results for the research purpose
what does the paradigm refer to?
which research paradigm (positivist, ….) is going to be used to gather the research/data of the study
what do techniques refer to?
how the data will be collected, what testing methods will be used etc.
how is coherence in a research design achieved?
when purpose, context, paradigms and techniques work together, coherence is achieved
what are the conditions for causality?
covariation, temporal precedence, eliminate third variables
what does covariation as a condition for causality refer to?
as the independent variable changes, the dependent variable must be observed to change
what does temporal precedence as a condition for causality refer to?
the ‘cause’ must come before the ‘effect’
what does eliminating third variables as a condition for causality refer to?
any other alternative explanation must be eliminated - goes into validity
how do you eliminate third variables in a research design?
have a control group, random assignment to control and experimental groups, chose valid and reliable measurements, keep interviewers blind to conditions, keep statisticians blind to conditions, keep track of who dropped out and why
why is having a control group important for eliminating third variables?
allows you to estimate what people would have been like if they hadn’t got the program - Otherwise you might get to the end and discovered that they’d all improved anyway, and you wouldn’t be able to tell what the program did that was different from the normal passage of time.
why is randomized control important for eliminating third variables?
This ensures that the two groups are equal in every respect so it’s not that one group started out bad and the other started out good, that gives you your results. You also report the baseline (measures before the program started) to check that the two groups were in fact equal.
what factors go into randomized control?
sample size - big enough sample, do randomization off site, report baseline conditions of each group
why is choosing valid and reliable measures for eliminating third variables important?
Choose measures that work, and that measure what they’re supposed to measure – otherwise you don’t know what you’re measuring, and it’ll mean that your results can’t be interpreted.
why is keeping interviewers blind when eliminating third variables important?
don’t want “experimenter bias” where they might subtly hint to the experimental group
why is keeping statisticians blind when eliminating third variables important?
giving numbers to groups, and not saying which was which, in case that influenced interpretation of statistics.
why is keeping track of who dropped out and why when eliminating for third variables important?
participants might drop out because of specific factors of the research design that could influence the results
What are the types of variables?
independent variable, dependent variable, mediating variables, extraneous variables
what is the independent variable?
what changes in the study - eg; control group vs experimental group
what is the dependent variable?
what you are measuring - eg; attention span
what are extraneous variables?
variables that could effect the results of the study that need to be controlled for
what are mediating variables?
how the independent variable effects the dependent variable, the mechanisms of how this happens
