research methods Flashcards
what are case studies ?
an in depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event.
what is a content analysis ?
a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce for example in texts, emails, TV, film and other media.
what is coding?
the stage of content analysis in which the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories
what is thematic analysis ?
an inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. themes will often emerge once the data has been coded.
what is reliability ?
refers to how consistent a measuring device is- and this includes psychological tests or observations which assess behaviour.
what is tests retest reliability ?
a method of assessing the reliability of a questionnaire or psychological test by assessing the same person on two separate occasions. this shows to what extent the test produces the same answers i.e is consistent or reliable.
what is inter observer reliability?
the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved involved in observations of a behaviour. this is measured by correlating the observations of two or more observers. a general rule is that if (total number of agreements) / (total number of observations) > +80 the data has a high inter observer reliability.
what is validity?
the extent to which an observed effect is genuine - does it measure what it was supposed to measure, and can it be generalised beyond the research setting within which it was found?
what is face validity?
a basic form of validity in which a measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears to measure what it is supposed to measure. for instance does a test for anxiety look as though it is measuring anxiety.
what is concurrent validity ?
the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure.
what is ecological validity ?
the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other settings and situations a form of external validity
what is temporal validity ?
the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other historical times and eras. a form of external validity.
what are statistical test
also called inferential tests are used in psychology to determine whether a significant difference or correlation exists
what is the sign test?
a statistical test for a difference in scores between related items data should be at nominal level or better.
what are levels of measurement?
quantitative data can be classified into types or levels of measurements. such as nominal ordinal and interval data
what’s the spearman’s rho test?
a tests for a correlation when data is at least ordinal level.
what’s the pearson’s r tests?
a parametric test for a correlation when data is at interval level.
what is the wilcoxon test ?
a test for a difference between two sets of scores data should be at least ordinal level using a related design
what is the man whitney test?
a test for difference between two sets of scores. data should be at least ordinal level using a related design.
what is the related t test?
a parametric test for a difference between two sets of scores. data must be an interval level with an unrelated design ie repeated measures or matched pairs
what is an unrelated t test?
a parametric test for a difference between two sets of scores. data must be interval level with an unrelated design ie independent groups
what is the chi squared test?
a test for an association between two variables or conditions data should be nominal level level using a unrelated design
what is nominal data ?
Nominal data is “labeled” or “named” data which can be divided into various groups that do not overlap. Data is not measured or evaluated in this case, it is just assigned to multiple groups.
what is interval data ?
Interval data is measured along a numerical scale that has equal distances between adjacent values. These distances are called “intervals.” There is no true zero on an interval scale, which is what distinguishes it from a ratio scale.
what is ordinal data?
Ordinal data is a categorical, statistical data type where the variables have natural, ordered categories and the distances between the categories are not known.
what is probability ?
a measure of the likelihood that a particular event will occur where 0 indicates statistical impossibility and 1 statistical certainty.
what is significance?
In research, statistical significance is a measure of the probability of the null hypothesis being true compared to the acceptable level of uncertainty regarding the true answer.
what is the critical value
In hypothesis testing, a critical value is a point on the test distribution that is compared to the test statistic to determine whether to reject the null hypothesis. If the absolute value of your test statistic is greater than the critical value, you can declare statistical significance and reject the null hypothesis.
what is a type I error ?
The significance level (also called Type I error rate or the level of statistical significance) refers to the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis that is in fact true. This quantity ranges from zero (0.0) to one (1.0) and is typically denoted by the Greek letter alpha (a).
what is a type II error ?
Type II error refers to one of two errors that could be made during hypothesis testing. … A Type II error is often referred to as a false negative because the hypothesis test led to the erroneous conclusion that no effect or association exists, when in fact an effect or association does exist.
what is objectivity ?
all sources of personal bias are minimised so as not to distort or influence the research process
what is the empirical method?
scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observations and experience
what is replicability?
the extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers
what is falsifiability?
the principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue
what is the theory construction?
the process of developing an explanation for the causes of behaviour by systematically gathering evidence and then organising this into a coherent account
what is hypothesis testing?
a key feature of a theory is that it should produce statements which can then be tested only in this way can a theory be falsified
what is a paradigm ?
a set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
what is a paradigm shift?
the result of a scientific revolution when there is a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline
revise 75 - 80
ALL THE DIFFERENT TESTS
