Research Methods Flashcards
what is a hypothesis?
an educated prediction on what you think you’ll discover in your study
what is reliability?
the ability to replicate a study in the same way multiple times
what is validity?
how accurate and truthful the data collected is
what is triangulation?
the use of multiple research methods to increase validity
what is a correlation?
relationship between variables (positive or negative)
what is a case study?
a small scale study that focuses of a single person or a small group
what’s a pilot study?
a “test run” or a smaller copy of the study that happens before the study to make sure everything works
what is a sampling frame?
a method by which you select the participants of your study
what is the hawthorne effect?
when a person changes their behaviour because they know they’re being watched
what is social desirability?
when a person changes their behaviour to appear more socially acceptable
what are demand characteristics?
when a participant changes their behaviour to what they think the researcher wants
what is the “screw-you affect”?
when a participant behaves the opposite to what they think the researcher wants (opposite to demand characteristics)
what is generalisability?
the extend to which the study findings can be applied to a larger population
what are the factors that can influence the choice of research topic?
personal interest, access, funding, theoretical position/ political view, in vogue topics, ethics/sensitivity.
what are all the practical factors affecting method choice? (what do they all mean)
access, type of data, personal characteristics, time availability and funding
what are the ethical factors that affect method choice? (what are do they mean)
informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, harm, the right to withdraw and debriefing
what are theoretical factors that affect method choice?
reliability, validity, representative means and generalisability
who are gate keepers?
people that you need to gain permission from to have access to participants
what are all the types of interviews?
structured, unstructured and group (+ semi-structured)
what are structured interviews?
a conversation where between ppt and researcher where the questions are set in advance
what are unstructured interviews?
a conversation between ppt and researcher where the questions are based on the response given, improvised
what are group interviews?
structured or unstructured interviews that involve more than one person
PET strengths of interviews
p- flexibility of questions, clarity of question
e- good for sensitive topics
t- highly reliable
PET limitations of interviews
p- time consuming/ cost of training interviewers
e- questions can cause harm if sensitive
t- small sample(cant generalise)/ demand characteristics
what are the different types of observations?
overt, covert, participant, non participant, structured and unstructured
what’s an overt observation?
where the researcher tells the ppt that they are being observed and what for
what’s a covert observation?
where the researcher doesn’t tell the ppt that they’re being watched and tell them after the study is complete
what is a participant observation?
where the researcher becomes a member of the group they’re studying
what is a non participant observation?
where the researcher watched the group from the outside without taking part
what is a structured observation?
where the researcher has a list of behaviours they are looking to find
what is an unstructured observation?
where the researcher observes the group and noted the behaviours to later be analysed
PET strengths of observations
p- flexible, reliable (s), researcher can ask questions (o)
e-
t- in depth data
PET limitations of observations
p- time/cost/relies on memory/researcher effects
e- lacks informed consent/privancy can be breached
t- hawthorne affect/small sample
what are the types of experiments?
laboratory and field
what is a laboratory experiment?
a experiment that takes place in an artificial setting where all the variables are controlled
what is a field experiment?
an experiment that takes place in a real-life setting eg work place or street
PET strengths of experiments
p- controlled variables
e-informed consent
t- reliable(f), in depth data
what are the types of questionnaires?
open, closed, web based, hand and postal
what’s an open questionnaire?
a self complete form with questions that allow as much detail as the ppt wants
what’s a closed questionnaire?
a set of questions which are pre set and they chose answers
what are web based questionnaires?
a self completed form done through the internet
what are postal questionnaires?
a self completed form send out through the post with a pre paid envelope
what are hand questionnaires?
self completed forms given out by hand
what are PET strengths of questionnaires?
p- easy/cheap/quick to analyse
e-informed consent given/anonymous
t- detailed date(open)/reliable/large sample
PET limitations of questionnaires?
p- low response rate/can misunderstand question
e- questions may be sensitive
t- may lie/ right answerism
what is right answerism?
when people give answers that they think are socially acceptable
what are official statistics?
numerical data produced by the government (eg gcse results or orated reports)
what are unofficial statistics?
numerical data collected by charities and other organisations
what is prior research?
research that has been carried out in the same area or on the same/similar topic eg a pilot study in that area
who are funding bodies?
groups or organisations that provide the financial resources for research
what is a longitudinal study?
a study that takes place over a long period of time
what is the right to withdraw?
can decide to stop taking part in the research, after giving consent to be in it.
what is debriefing?
telling the ppt what the intent of the actual study is and if they agree with the terms, their results/data is used
PET limitations of experiments
p-time and cost
e-deception(in order to deal with researcher effects), harm to ppts-stress
t-validity(L), small sample, researcher effects
what are semi-structured interviews?
conversation between researcher and ppt where they have some questions prepared but also add questions if they think they’re relevant
evaluate using offical statistics when conducting research
+ cheap, accessible, large sample/representative, valid, reliable
- may not ask questions specific to research/er, manipulation by the government
evaluate the use of using unofficial statistics when conducting research
+ cheap, accessible, large sample/representative, valid, reliable
- may not ask specific questions to the research/er, could be biased from the organisations view
evaluate using prior research when conducting research.
+ cheap, easy to access, time efficient
- may not have the exact same aims as the research you want to conduct
name types of secondary research methods
un/official stats, prior research, personal documents, public documents, historical documents
what are personal documents?
documents such as diaries, letters, medical records
what are public documents?
government documents that have been released, eg OFSTED reports
what are historical documents?
original documents that contain important historical information about a person, place or event. eg anne franks diary, policies
evaluate personal documents
+ cheap, in depth and detailed data
- can be hard to access, invasion of privacy, confidentiality and possibly consent, open to interpretation, personal view and unreliable
evaluate public documents
+some can be easy to access, in depth and detailed data
- can take time to gain access due to Freedom of Information Act, -unreliable, open to interpretation and biased
evaluate historical documents
+ cheap, doesnt take alot of time, can be easy to access, in depth and detailed
- may not be specific to research conducted, unreliable, person view, open to interpretation
what is a sample
those who are taking part in your study
what is a research population
the group of people that you wish to study
what does representativeness mean
the extend to which a sample mirrors a researchers target population and reflects its characteristics
what is random sampling?
a sample where everyone has an equal chance of being chosen, eg names out of a hat
evaluate random sampling
+easy and fast to create and can be made by a computer
-can lead to an unrepresentative sample
what is stratifed sampling
where the sample reflects the proportions of different groups in the research population eg if 33% if RP are female, 33% of sample should also be female
evaluate stratified sampling
+ provides representative sample
- can be complicated to create the sample
what is snowball sampling
researcher finds ppts ans asks them to find more ppts
evaluate snowball sampling
+ useful when struggling to access groups
- sample can be unrepresentative
what is systematic sampling
picking every nth term from all ppts, n being the number of people in the RP or number needed for sample
evaluate systematic sampling
+ easy to recreate
- can be unrepresentative
what is quota sampling?
sample needs to fit into certain quotas, eg need 30/90 to be female and 5/30 have to be unemployed
evaluate quote sampling
+ representative sample
- can be difficult to find enough people to fill the quota
what is opportunity/convenience sampling
people from target population who are available at the time and are willing to take part (convince)
evaluate opportunity sampling
+ quick and easy
- can be unrepresentative
