research methods Flashcards

Question

correlations

Answer 1

* detailed, in-depth + longitudinal analysis of an individual/group/institution/event * often involves analysis of unusual individuals or events * eg person w rare disorder * usually involves qualitative data ✔ **rich, detailed insight** - increases validity of data ✔ **enables study of unusual behaviour** - some conditions are very rare + cannot we studied using other methods - some cases can help understanding of normal functioning ✘ **low ecological validity** - studying a single person/event - unique cases - difficult to generalise to wider population ✘ **prone to researcher bias** - based on the subjective interpretation of the researcher - may reduce validity ✘ **ppts accounts may be biased** - personal accounts prone to inaccuracy/memory decay - evidence may be low in validity.

Answer 2

ppts should be aware of aims of research, procedures, their rights (incl to withdraw) + what their data will be used for in order no make an informed decision about whether to take part **dealing w it:** * should be issued w a consent letter, detailing all relevant info that may affect their decision to participate + a signature must be obtained

Answer 3

ppts should leave research in the same psychological + physical state as they entered; should be at no more risk than they would in everyday life **dealing w it:** * should be reminded of their right to withdraw at each stage of the research process * should be debriefed at the end + reassured that their behaviour was normal * may be referred to counselling in some cases

Answer 4

**deliberately misleading or witholding info** from ppts meaning **consent is not informed** **dealing w it:** * at the end of the study, ppts should be given a full **debrief**, including the true aims + nature of the research what their data will be used for * should be given the right to withold data if they wish * should also be reassured that their behaviour was normal * in extreme cases, they may be offered counselling * contact details of experimenter should be given if they have any further questions of queries

Answer 5

a ppt's personal info is protected by law under the Data Protection Act both during + after the experiment **dealing w it:** * any personal info should remain undisclosed to protect their identity + assure anonymity

Answer 6

the right of individuals to decide how info about them will be communicated to others **dealing w it:** * should be provided w informed consent + right to withdraw at any stage * should be explained the ways in which their info will be protected + kept confidential

Answer 7

* before publication, all aspects of the investigation are scrutinised by experts (peers) in the field * these peers should be objective + unknown to the researcher aims to: * funding - allocate research funding * validation of the quality + relevance of research * improvements + ammendments are suggested *

Answer 8

**quantitative:** numerical data ✔ **easier to analyse + draw conclusions** - more objective + less open to bias ✘ **oversimplifies behaviour** - doesn’t provide meaningful insight **qualitative:** non-numerical data expressed in words ✔ **more detailed** - thoughts + feelings can be explained ✘ **difficult to analyse + draw conclusions**

Answer 9

**primary:** firsthand data collected for purpose of investigation ✔ **info is directly relevant to research aims** ✘ **requires time + effort** **secondary:** taken from journal articles, books, websites or gov records ✔ **already exists** - inexpensive + minimal effort ✘ **quality may be poor** - may be outdated/incomplete - challenges validity

Answer 10

- type of secondary data that involves combining data from a large no. of studies ✔ **increases validity of conclusions** - much larger sample size - more generalisable ✘ **publication bias** - may not select all relevant studies

Answer 11

**mean:** arithmetic average ✔ sensitive - includes all values from data set in calculation ✘ may be unrepresentative - easily distorted by any extreme values **median:** middle value ✔ unaffected by extreme values - only focussed on middle value ✘ less sensitive than mean - not all values included in calculation - extreme values may be important **mode:** most frequently occurring value ✔ relevant ro discrete/categorical data - sometimes the only appropriate measure ✘ overly simple - may be many modes in a data set - not useful in this case

Answer 12

**range:** difference between the highest + lowest values ✔ easy to calculate ✘ only takes into account 2 most extreme values - unrepresentative of data set as a whole - doesn't account for distribution of values **standard deviation:** measure of average spread around the mean ✔ more precise than range - includes all values in calculation ✘ may be misleading - extreme values may not be revealed

Answer 13

type of observational research where people are studied indirectly via qualitative data (their communications, eg texts, emails, TV, film and other media) **coding:** 1st stage of content analysis - data sets may be extremely large so info needs to be categorised into units eg counting up no of times a word/phrase appears in a text - produces quantitative data **thematic analysis:** produces qualitative data + refers to any idea that is recurrent - more descriptive than coding units ✔ **many ethical issues may not apply** eg obtaining consent - as material already in public domain ✔ **flexible method** - can be adapted to suit aims of the research ✘ **communication is studied out of context** - likely to reduce validity

Answer 14

* measure of consistency * whether a measurement is repeated + same result is obtained

Answer 15

TEST-RETEST: same test/questionnaire given to the same person on 2 / more different occasions - result should be similar INTER-OBSERVER: compare observations from different observers in a pilot study of the same event **measuring reliability:** 2 sets of data are correlated - correlation coefficient should exceed + .80 for reliability

Answer 16

**rewriting questions in questionnaines:** - replacing some open qs (can be misinterpreted) w closed qs - improve training / use same person for interviews - standardised procedures in experiments - strict control over instructions + conditions - operationalisation of behevioural categories in observation - behavioural categories should be measurable + not overlap

Answer 17

***is result legitimate?*** - whether ECOLOGICAL validity: do findings generali re no other rething (eneryday life? TEMPORAl validity: do findings remain true oner vime ?

Answer 18

FACE VALIDITY - achieved by 'eyeballing' measuring instrument OR passing it on to an expert to check CONCURRENT VALIDITY - test is administered to group of ppts + scores are compared w findings of a well-established test - correlarion should exceed + .80 for validity

Answer 19

* in experiment - [control group, - increases confidence that chayes in DV anedue weffec of IV + srandardisarion. * questionnaines - vie scales control Grether of social desirabilin bior + confidenialing is alsoned for all data submitted. pox ambigusol/ofes * observarions - behavioural caregories ane operarionalised + mell defined * qualitarine nesearch - interpretive validin + tiangularion

Answer 20

* ABSTRACT: short summary of the study including all major elements: - aim, hypotheses, method, results + conclusion. * INTRODUCTION: literature review - a look at relevant theories, concepts + studies related to study * METHOD: should include sufficient detail for replication incl: - design, sample, apparatus, procedure, ethics * RESULTS: summary of key findings from investigation, including: - descriptive stats: eg tables, graphs + charts, measures of central tendency + dispersion - inferential stats: reference is choice of stats test, calculate + critical values, significance level + final outcome * DISCUSSION: * REFERENCING:

Answer 21

* shared set of assumptions + methods * KUHN suggested this was what separated scientific + non-scientific principles * argued that psychology lacks a universally accepted paradigm + is best seen as a pre-science, unlike natural sciences eg biology * paradigm shifts occur when there is a scientific revolution * where a handful of scientists begin to question the accepted paradigm when there is too much contradictory evidence to ignore

Answer 22

* theory = set of general laws/principles that have the ability to explain particular events or behaviours * testing a theory depends on being able to make clear + precise predictions on the basis of the theory (ie to stae a no of possible hypotheses) * a hypothesis can then be tested using scientific methods to determine whether it will be supported or refused * the process of deriving a new hypothesis from an existing theory is known as deduction * bottom up + top down

Answer 23

* popper argued that the key criterion of a scientific theory is its falsifiability * genuine scientific theories could hold themselves up for hypothesis testing + the possibility of being proved false * popper distinguished between theories which can be challenged + what he called 'pseudosciences' which couldn't be falsified * he believed that even when a scientific principle had been successfully + repeatedly tested, it was not necessarily true * instead, it had simply not been proved false (yet) **eg psychodynnamic approach**

Answer 24

* testing the validity of research results * if a scientific theory is to be trusted, the findings from it must be shown to be repeatable across a no of different contexts * by repeating a study, we can see the extent to which the findings can be generalised

Answer 25

to reduce bias in research * scientific researchers must keep a 'critical distance' during research * musn't allow personal opinions/biases to 'discolour' the data or influence the behaviour of ppts * methods associated w greatest level of control, eg lab studies, tend to be th most objective

Answer 26

* emphasise the importance of data collection based on direct, sensory experience * experimental + observational method are good examples of empirical method in psychology * early empiricists, eg John Locke saw knowledge as determined only by experience + sense perception * a theory cannot be claimed to be scientific unless it has been empirically tested + verified