Research methods Flashcards
What is a Variable
Any factor that can vary or change within an investigation. (They are generally used in experiments to determine if changes in one factor result to changes to another)
What is an Independent Variable (IV)
Some aspect of the experimental situation that is manipulated (changed) by the researcher (or changes naturally) so the effect on the dependent variable can be measured
What is a Dependent Variable (DV)
The variable that is measured by the researcher. Any effect on the dependent variable should be caused by the change in independent variable
What is an Operationalising Variables
Ensuring variables are in a form that can be easily tested, and making a variable ‘concrete’ so that it is described explicitly
What is an Aim
The purpose for carrying out a study (must be written in present tense)
What is an Extraneous Variable
Any factors that intrude upon and adversely affect the DV (all groups)
What is a Confounding Variable
Variables that can affect the DV and impact the outcome of the research (some groups)
What is a Hypothesis
A testable statement written as a prediction of what the researcher expects to find as a result of their experiment
What is an Alternative Hypothesis
A clear, precise and testable statement that states the relationship between the variables to be investigated.
What is a Null Hypothesis
The opposite of an Alternative Hypothesis. It is when you predict that there will be no difference or association between the variables that you are studying. (research is conducted to try prove this hypothesis wrong)
What is a Null Hypothesis
States that there will be no difference or association between the variables you are researching
What is a Directional Hypothesis
States the kind (direction) of difference or relationship expected between 2 conditions or groups of participants
What is a Non-Directional Hypothesis
Predicts that there will be a difference or relationship between 2 conditions or groups of participants
Experimental Hypothesis
The hypothesis which directly predicts the effect of the IV on the DV, it can be written as a directional hypothesis or as a non-directional hypothesis
What is the Repeated Measures design?
When participants take part in all conditions of the experiment. (e.g. all participants drink an energy drink then run a race, followed by drinking water and running a race)
What are the strengths of the Repeated Measures design?
1) No participant variables
2) Needs less participants than independent groups
What are the weaknesses of the Repeated Measures design?
1) The order of the conditions may affect performance. This is called an order effect
2) Demand characteristics may be more likely to affect the results, because when they take part in the 2nd condition they may guess the aim of the experiment = affecting their behavior
How do you deal with the limitations of the Repeated Measures design?
1) Counterbalancing
2) Use 2 different (equivalent tests) to reduce the practice effect
3) Use a cover story to avoid participants guessing the aim
4) Have a time gap between conditions
What is the Independent Groups design?
Participants take part in one condition of the experiment (e.g. each participant either drinks an energy drink and runs the race OR drink the water and runs the race)
What are the Strengths of the Independent Groups design?
1) Avoid order effects
2) Fewer demand characteristics as participants only take part in one condition so less likely to guess the aim
3) In some cases, you can use the same materials which means they will be the same level of difficulty
What are the Weaknesses of the Independent Groups design?
1) The researcher cannot control the effects of participant variables (the different abilities and characteristics of the participants)
2) The researcher cannot control the effects of participant variables (the different abilities and characteristics of the participants)
How do you deal with the limitations of the Independent Groups design?
1) Randomly allocate participants to conditions. The same techniques are used to achieve this as for random sampling
What is the Matched Pairs design?
Participants are put into pairs based on a potential extraneous variable (e.g. IQ. Then one of them takes part in condition A and the other takes part in condition B.)
What are the Strengths of the Matched Pairs design?
1) Avoids order effects
2) Fewer demand characteristics as participants only take part in one condition so less likely to guess the aim
3) Participant variables minimized
What are the Weaknesses of the Matched Pairs design?
1) It is very time consuming and difficult to match the participants on key variables. The researcher would also need to start with a large group or participants to ensure they can obtain matched pairs on key variables
2) Although participant variables are minimized, it is not possible to control for all participant variables because you can only match on variables known to be relevant. It could be that others are important
How do you deal with the limitations of the Matched Pairs designs?
1) Restrict the number of variables to match on to make it easier
2) Conduct a pilot study to consider key variables for matching
What are Demand Characteristics?
When P’s want to be helpful and therefore they pay attention to the clues in the experiment that may guide their behavior. These might indicate the research objectives to participants and can lead participants to change their behaviors or responses based on what they think the research is about.
What are ways too deal with Demand Characteristics?
1) single blind design
2) double blind design
3) experimental realism
4) counterbalancing
5) pilot studies
What are Investigator Effects?
Any cues (other than the IV) from the investigator that encourage certain behaviors in a participant, and which might lead to a fulfilment of the investigator’s expectations. These may include everything from the design of the study, to the instructions given and selection of / interaction with the participants.
What is an way to deal with Investigator Effects?
Standardized instructions (verbatim format)
What is a Single Blind Design?
In this design, the participant is not aware of the research aims and / or of which condition of the experiment they are receiving
What is a Double Blind Design?
In this design, the participant and the person conducting the experiment are blind to the aim / hypothesis
What is Experimental Realism?
When the researcher makes the task sufficiently engaging, the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact that they are being observed
What is Counterbalancing?
When half the participant’s in a Repeated Measures Design do some A then B and so do B then A. This means order effects such as boredom and practice effects can be controlled for
What are Standardised Instructions?
Written instructions that are read or read by each participant’s in exactly the same way. They must be written in a way that can be read out (verbatim). They also must include a check at the end that the participants have understood what to do
What is a Standardized Procedure?
A set of procedures that is written and followed so that each participant experiences the same procedure as much as possible
What are Pilot Studies?
A small-scale study that is conducted before the larger study to iron out any problems with the design
What is a Laboratory Experiment?
An experiment (IV manipulated by the researched, DV measured) conducted in a highly controlled environment. Participants are aware they are taking part in an experiment (although they may not know the full aims)
What is a Field Experiment?
An experiment conducted in a more natural or ‘ordinary’ environment. As with laboratory experiments, the IV is manipulated by the researcher and the DV is measured. A key feature is that participants are not usually aware that they are participating in the experiment
What is a Natural Experiment?
An experiment when the researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing independent variable. It is usually conducted when it is not possible to deliberately manipulate the IV due to the ethical or practical reasons. (remember that it is the IV that occurs ‘naturally’. The DV can still be tested in a controlled setting e.g. a lab))
What is a Quasi Experiment?
The key feature is an IV that is not only natural, but has not been made to vary by anyone. It is simply a difference between people that already exists. (e.g. gender, age) The DV can still be tested in a controlled setting
What is a Strength of a Laboratory Experiment?
High control of Extraneous Variables, thus high internal validity. We are able t see cause and effect as we can be sure that any effect on the DV is the result of manipulation of the IV
What is a Weakness of a Laboratory Experiment?
They may lack generalizability. They are often artificial and not like everyday life so cannot always be generalized beyond the research setting (low external validity)
What is a Strength of a Natural Experiment?
Allows research where the IV cannot be manipulated for practical or ethical reasons
What is a Weakness of a Natural Experiment?
Cannot demonstrate cause and effect as the IV is not directly manipulated
What is a Strength of a Field Experiment?
Higher mundane realism than lab experiments as the environment is more natural (+ no demand characteristics)
What is a Weakness of a Field Experiment?
There are ethical issues. If participants are unaware they are being studied, then they cannot give informed consent and therefore the research may constitute as invasion of privacy
What is a Strength of a Quasi Experiment?
They are often carried out under controlled conditions and therefore share the strengths of lab experiments
What is a Weakness of a Quasi Experiment?
Cannot randomly allocate participants to groups (random allocation) so therefore there may be cofounding variables which cannot be controlled, a threat to internal validity
What are the Experimental Methods?
Laboratory Experiment, Field Experiment, Natural Experiment, and Quasi Experiment
What are the 3 Experimental Designs?
Repeated Measures. Independent Groups, and Matched Pairs
What are Ethical Guidelines?
“Rules” that psychologists should follow in order to make their investigations as ethical as possible. (these are created by the BPS in their Code of Conduct and Ethical Guidelines)
What are Ethical Issues?
When Ethical Guidelines are broken, and they are problems that cause investigations to be unethical
What are the 8 Ethical Guidelines?
Informed Consent, Deception, Protection from Harm, Confidentiality, Privacy, Right to withdraw, and Debriefing
What is Informed Consent?
When participants must be given comprehensive info about the nature and purpose of the research in order to make an educated decision about whether to participate
What is Deception?
When a participant is not told the true aims of the study
What is Protection from Harm?
During a study the participant should not experience any negative physical or psychological effects
What is Confidentiality?
The communication of personal information from one person to another
What is Privacy?
A person’s right to control the flow of information about themselves
What is Right to Withdraw?
Participants can stop participating in the study at any point. They also have the right to refuse permission for the data to be used
What is Debriefing?
After the study, if the participant has been deceived, they have the right to know the true aim of the study
What is Presumptive Consent?
If you can’t ask your participants if they are happy to take part in the study, you ask similar people if they would be (having told them all about the study). If they agree that they would be, you presume your real participants would agree too
What is Retrospective Consent?
If you can’t get informed consent at the beginning of the study, you ask them at the end and ask them whether they agree to participate then
What is Prior General Consent?
When you tell people that you may be studying them at different times and ask if they generally agree to be a participant
What is Cost-Benefit Analysis?
When you judge the costs of doing the study/research against the benefits (cost could also mean potential harm to participants)
What is a Population?
A Population is an entire group with specified characteristics
What is Representative?
Representative is a sample closely matched to the target population as a whole.
What are the 5 Sampling Techniques?
Random Sampling, Opportunity Sampling, Volunteer Sampling, Systematic Sampling, and Stratified Sampling
What is Random Sampling?
A sample in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. This involves identifying everyone in the target population and then selecting the number of participants you need in a way that gives everyone in the population an equal chance of being picked
What is Opportunity Sampling?
The sampling technique most used by psychology students. It consists of taking the sample from people who are available and convenient at the time the study is carried out and fit the criteria you are looking for
What is Volunteer Sampling?
This sampling technique consists of participants becoming part of a study because they volunteer when asked or in response to an advert
What is Systematic Sampling?
This is when every “nth” member of the target population is selected. A sampling frame is produced, which is a list of people in the target population organised into alphabetical order. A sampling system is nominated (every 3rd or 6th person for example) or at a random interval to prevent bias
What is Stratified Sampling?
A sample in which every member pf the population has an equal chance of being chosen. This involved identifying everyone in the target population and then selecting the number of participants you need in a way that gives everyone in the population an equal chance of being picked
What is a Pilot Study?
A small-scale trial run of a research design before doing the real thing. It is done to find out if certain aspects of the design do or don’t work
What are things you test in a Pilot Study?
1) Check that participants understand the instructions
2) Whether the materials are clear (e.g. photos, videos are of good enough quality)
3) Whether the questions are clear and interpreted in the same way by all participants
4) Behavioural categories/checklist, timing of observations, where the observers are (how far away to check that they can see and hear what is going on)
5) Ethical Issues - be specific about which ones and what is being tested
Do you test and look for results in a Pilot Study?
No, the results of a pilot stud are irrelevant, the research isn’t interested in what results are produces, they want to see to what extent the procedures need fine tuning
What is Quantitative Data?
Results that can be counted, usually given as numbers
What is Qualitative Data?
Results that are expressed in words and non-numerical. They may take the form of a written description of thoughts, feelings, and opinions of participants, or a written account of what the researcher saw in an observation.
What are Strengths of Quantitative Data?
1) It is easy to analyse using descriptive statistics and statistical tests as it is numerical. This means the data is easy to draw accurate conclusions from
2) The data is objective meaning that it is accurate as it cannot be misinterpreted or affected by bias. This is useful as it means it is less affected by social desirability bias
What is a Weakness of Quantitative Data?
It may oversimplify reality (e.g. a questionnaire with closed questions may force a participant to choose an answer that doesn’t reflect how they feel and therefore the data may be less accurate)
What are strengths of Qualitative Data?
1) It gives rich detailed data about people’s experiences meaning that we can better understand nuances in behaviour. This is useful as the data is more likely to provide conclusions that better reflect the persons behaviour
2) It can provide unexpected insights meaning we can better understand individual differences in people’s behaviour and provided individual therapies/treatments or insights
What is a Weakness of Qualitative Data?
It’s complexity makes it difficult to analyse and draw conclusions. as it is difficult to analyse the data in an unbiased way and could easily be misinterpreted. This reduced the validity of the study
What are the 3 Levels of Measurement?
Nominal, Ordinal, and Interval Data
What is Nominal Data?
Data that are in separated categories such as grouping people according to their favourite football team or food
What is Ordinal Data?
Data that are ordered in some way (e.g. asking people to put a list of foods in order of preference) The ‘difference’ between each item is not the same, i.e. the individual may like the first item a lot more than the second, but there is only a little difference between the third and fourth item on the list
What is Interval Data?
Data that are measured using units of equal intervals, such as when counting correct answers or s=using any public unit of measurement (e.g. cm, km, g)
What are Measures of Central Tendency?
They tell us about the central (middle) values for a set of data. They are ‘averages’ i.e. ways of calculating typical values of a set of data
What are the 3 Measures of Central Tendency?
Mean (Arithmetic Mean), Median, and Mode
What is the Mean (Arithmetic Mean)?
It is calculated by adding up all of the numbers and diving them by the number of numbers you have. It can only be used with interval level quantitative data
What is the Median?
The middle value in an ordered list. If there are 2 central values, the median is calculated by adding those 2 items and dividing by 2. The median can be used with INTERVAL and ORDINAL quantitative data
What is the Mode?
The most common data item. With NOMINAL quantitative data, this is the category that has the highest frequency count. With INTERVAL and ORDINAL data, it’s the data item that occurs the most frequently. If 2 categories or data items have the same frequency, the data have 2 modes (bi-modal)
What are Measures of Dispersion?
They tell us how dispersed or spread out the data items are
What are the 2 Measures of Dispersion?
Range and Standard Deviation
What is Range?
The arithmetic distance between the top and bottom values in a data set. It’s customary to then add one because the bottom value could be up to 0.5 less and the top value could be up to 0.5 less than reported
What is Standard Deviation?
A more precise way of measuring the spread of data. It is a measure of the average distance between each data item above and below the mean. Ideally, you want the standard deviation to be as low as possible (which shows you that the numbers are close the the mean i.e. low spread of data)
What is a Strength of the Mean (Arithmetic Mean)?
It’s the most sensitive measure of central tendency as to takes into account he exact distance between all of the values of the data. This means it is more representative of the data as a whole
What is a Weakness of the Mean (Arithmetic Mean)?
The sensitivity of this measure of central tendency can be distorted by one (or a few) extreme values and thus end up being misrepresentative of the data as a whole
What is a Strength of the Median?
This measure of central tendency is appropriate for ORDINAL data and is easier to calculate than the mean
What is a Weakness of the Median?
This is not as sensitive a measure of central tendency because the exact values are not reflected in the middle value
What is a Strength of the Mode?
This measure of central tendency is not affected by the extreme scores so can be useful under such circumstances
What is a Weakness of the Mode?
This measure of central tendency is the easiest to calculate but is a very crude measure. It can end up being very different from the median and mean and so not really representative of the data as a whole
What is a Strength of the Range?
This measure of dispersion is easy to calculate
What is a Weakness of the Range?
This measure of dispersion is affected by extreme values because it only takes into account 2 values. Therefore it may be misrepresentative of the data as a whole
What is a Strength of the Standard Deviation?
This is a precise measure of dispersion because it takes all of the exact values into account, and so is more likely to be representative of the data as a whole.
What is a Weakness of the Standard Deviation?
This measure of dispersion may be distorted by a single extreme value as all of the data are taken into account. Therefore it may end up being unrepresentative of the data set as a whole
What are the 4 Graphical Displays?
Bar Chart, Histogram, Line Graph, and Scattergram
What is the purpose of a Bar Chart?
Like a Histogram, there has to be continuous data on the x-axis for this to be used. The y-axis should be frequency and a cross is places to the middle of where the top of the bar would be. The points are then joined up
What is the purpose of a Histogram?
In this graph, the bars touch each other which shows that data is continuous rather than discrete like in a bar chart. The x-axis is made up of equal sized intervals of a single category (e.g. percentage scores in a math test broken down into intervals such as 0-9%, 10-19%, 20-29% etc.) The y-axis represents the frequency within each interval. If there was a zero frequency for one of the intervals, the interval remains but without a bar
What is the purpose of a Line Graph?
These Charts are used for discrete data (data in separate categories) The Independent variable goes on the x-axis, and the dependent variable on the y-axis.
These Charts are also used where your dependent variable is nominal (on x-axis) and frequency would go on the y-axis
What is the purpose of a Scattergram?
These are used for correlations (relationships). As it is a correlation, there is no independent or dependent variable, only co-variables. Therefore, it doesn’t matter which variable goes on each axis. *(do NOT join up the dots)
What is a Data Distribution?
When we plot the frequency on a histogram for large sets of data, and we can see an overall pattern of data
What are the 3 types of distributions?
Normal distributions, Positively Skewed distributions, and Negatively Skewed distributions
What does a Normal distribution look like?
If you measure certain variables (e.g. height), the frequency of these variables should form what is known as a bell curse, this means the data is normally distributed.
Within this, the majority of the people are in the middle section of the curve, and the mean, median and mode are all at the same mid-point
What does a Negatively Skewed distribution look like?
This is when most of the scores are bunched towards the right.
The mode is to the right of the mean because the mean is affected by the extreme scores tailing off to the left.
This might occur if marks were plotted fir an exam which was very easy so that most people got a very high score
What does a Positively Skewed distribution look like?
This is when most of the scores are bunched towards the left.
For example, the test of depression where 0 represents “normal” behaviour and 50 represents clinical depression.
The fact that there are a few high score ahs a strong effect on the mean, which is always higher than the median and mode
What is a Self-Report Technique?
A Self-Report Technique is a non-experimental way of collecting data by asking participants to report on their own thoughts/feelings. This method includes both questionnaires and interviews
What are the 4 types of questions that can be asked in a Self-Report Technique?
Closed questions, Open Questions, Likert-style questions, and Rank Questions
What are Closed Questions?
Questions which have a range of answers from which respondents select one. They produce quantitative data
What are Open Questions?
Questions that invite the respondents to provide their own answers. They tend to produce qualitative data
What are Likert-style Questions?
Questions using statements with 5 choices from strongly agree to strongly disagree
What are Rank Questions?
Questions with points either in order or that could be put in order
How should good questions be written?
1) So that they are easy to analyse (closed questions are the easiest)
2) So that they are free from bias - as this may lead to demand characteristics (avoid emotive language)
3) So they are clear and unambiguous (avoid double negatives and two part answers)
(questionnaires should also have filler questions to distract participants from the aim of the study)
What are Strengths of Open Questions?
1) Respondents can expand on their answers which increases the amount of detail of information collected
2) It allows unexpected answers, which give researches new insights into people’s thoughts, feelings and attitudes
What are Weaknesses of Open Questions?
1) Most respondents will avoid giving long answers, potentially due to fatigue or boredom effects. Therefore often the researchers do not get detailed data
2) They produce qualitative data which is difficult to analyse without bias and subjectivity, meaning its difficult to draw conclusions
What is a Strength of Closed Questions?
Closed questions have a limited range of answers and produce quantitative data, which means the answers are easier to analyse using graphs and measures such as the mean
What are Weaknesses of Closed Questions?
1) Respondents may be forced to select answers that don’t represent their real thoughts or behaviours. This means the data may lack validity
2) Participants may select “I don’t know” and therefore the data collected is not informative
What are the 3 types of Interviews?
Structured, Semi-Structured, and Unstructured
What is a Structured Interview?
This technique has pre-determined question, in other words it is essentially a questionnaire that is delivered verbally, with no deviation from the original questions
What is a Semi-Structured Interview?
This technique has some pre-determined questions but they may ask extra extension questions to get detail where they feel there is not enough, or to ask something which they had no predicted would come up
What is an Unstructured Interview?
This technique has one main question or couple of smaller questions that need answering, but the responses of the individual lead to the researcher coming up with new questions to ask. These questions could be different for every participant
What are some things to consider when designing an interview?
1) Location of the interview
2) Oder in which questions are asked
3) Maintaining Confidentiality
4) Recording the interview (taking notes, audio, or video recording)
5) The effect of the interviewer (non-verbal communication, listening and questioning skills)
What is a Strength of a Structured Interview?
A structured interview is easy to repeat as the questions are standardised. This means the answers are easy to compare and draw conclusions from. It also means that we can therefore repeat the study again to see if the results are reliable
What is a Weakness of a Structured Interview?
It often leads to a lack of detail, the information is limited because the questions tend to be more likely closed. If someone gives an unusual answer, the researcher is not able to ask more questions about this. This means it may be less valid data, as the restrictive questions mean the answers may not reflect the participant’s true behaviour
What is a Strengths of Semi-Structured Interviews?
They are comparable, have reliable data, and also have the flexibility to ask follow-up questions.
What is a Weakness of Semi-Structured Interviews?
The flexibility of semi-structured interviews can also lessen their validity. It can be challenging to compare responses between participants, depending how far the interviewer departed from the predetermined list of questions.
What are Strengths of Unstructured Interviews?
They are less formal, more open-ended, flexible and free flowing than structured interviews.
What are Weaknesses of the Unstructured Interviews?
1) The problem of ‘interview bias’s - the tone, facial expression, gender, age and posture of the interviews may significantly influence responses.
2) Unstructured Interviews require training in order to be completed effectively. This is because the interview needs to tailor the answers to the response, whilst ensuring clarity and precision of the question. This means the questions may be poor and therefore lack objectivity. equally, there is an economic cost to this
What are Strengths of Self Report Techniques?
They provide valuable insights into people’s experiences, attitudes, and perceptions. Questionnaires allow efficient data collection but may lack depth, while structured interviews offer consistency and reliability with limited flexibility
What are Weaknesses of Self Report Techniques?
Self Report techniques often lead to social desirability bias. Participants may say they behave in a particular way but without observations, we cannot be sure that they will definitely react like this. Equally, participants may feel they’re being judged on the answers they give, as they are giving responses directly to the researcher. This means they may not give truthful answers
What are the 6 Observational Techniques?
Naturalistic, Controlled, Overt, Covert, Participant, and Non-Participant
What is Naturalistic Observation?
An observation carried out in an everyday setting, in which the investigator does not interfere in anyway, but just observes
What is a Strength of the Naturalistic Observation?
It gives the realistic idea of how people behave in real life situations, therefore increasing the ecological validity
What is a Weakness of the Naturalistic Observation?
There is less control over behaviour, because other people or things can happen which cannot be controlled for, lowering the internal validity of the study
What is Controlled Observation?
An observation where behaviour is observed by under conditions where certain variables have been organised by the researcher
What is a Strength of the Controlled Observation?
The study allows for a high level of control, because it can focus on a particular aspect of behaviour in a more precise way
What is a Weakness of the Controlled Observation?
The high level of control in the study can lead to the observation feeling unnatural, meaning participants are more likely to show demand characteristics
What is Overt Observation?
An observation where the participant knows they are being studied
What is a Strength of the Overt Observation?
They allow researchers to gain informed consent from participants, meaning the study is ethical
What is a Weakness of the Overt Observation?
The participants may often act differently to how they would if they weren’t being observed, as they might try to show themselves in the best light (social desirability bias)
What is Covert Observation?
An Observation where people are unaware that they are being studied
What is a Strength of Covert Observation?
It produces more natural behaviours as participants do not feel a pressure from the observer to act in a certain way, reducing the chance of investigator effects playing a role
What is a Weakness of Covert Observation
They are unethical as participants aren’t informed that they’re being studied and can often be difficult to collect consent afterwards, especially if they’re in a natural environment
What is Participant Observation?
An observation made by someone who is participating in the activity being observed
What is a Strength of Participant Observation?
It can allow you to get more in depth information on your participants’ behaviour, if it is covert, it means that the data collected is more likely to be valid
What is a Weakness of Participant Observation?
They can have ethical issues, because they are covert as well, or the participants know you are taking part and therefore are more likely to show demand characteristics
What is a Non-Participant Observation?
An observer who is separate from the people being observed
What is a Strength of Non-Participant Observation?
This type of observation is more likely to be objective as the researcher is not involved with the group, so is able to see the behaviour from an outsider’s perspective
What is a Weakness of a Non-Participant Observation?
Being able to see from an outsider’s perspective also means that you do not get the participant’s insight as you are not involved with the participant’s activities/ part of the group
What are the 2 Sampling Methods in Structured Observations?
Time Sampling and Event Sampling
What is Time Sampling?
Recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame (e.g. in a football match we may be interested in one particular player so make a note (using the behavioural checklist) of what the target individual is doing every 30 seconds)
What is Event Sampling?
Concentrating on specific types of behaviour “the event” (fight, smile etc) is recorded each time it occurs within a certain time period. (e.g. measuring dissent at football match would involve counting the number of times a player argues with the referee)
How do we sample data in Unstructured Observations?
Researcher record all relevant behaviour but has no system (they use continuous recording of behaviour)
What is a Strength of Event Sampling?
Behaviour won’t be missed outside of time frames because you are always watching for behaviours
What is a Weakness of Event Sampling?
If too many observations happen at once, it may be difficult to record everything
What is a Strength of Time Sampling?
Observer has time to record what they have seen
What is a Weakness of Time Sampling?
Some behaviours will be missed outside the intervals-observations may not be representative
What is Content Analysis?
A technique for systematically analysing various kinds of qualitative data (e.g. texts, emails, films, and other media) The data can be placed into categories and counted (quantitative) or can be analysed in themes (qualitative). It is an indirect form of observation
How do you conduct a Content Analysis?
1) Choose the sample (e.g. media)
2) Choose sampling method (time/event)
3) Watch/read the sample that you have, and identify potential categories which have emerged from the data
4) The 2 psychologists should then compare the categories and use the ones they have both agreed on
5) Give examples of what the categories that they would be looking for
6) They both should carry out the content analysis separately
7) The psychologists should then compare results to look for agreement and use an appropriate statistical test to analyse the reliability of their results
What are 2 ways we can Assess the reliability of Content Analyses?
Inter-rater reliability and Test-retest reliability
What is Inter-rater Reliability?
When the two psychologists could carry out the content analysis of the films separately (they watch the clips and create the categories separately, agree on them and then do the analysis separately) and compare their answers looking for agreement (correlation of +0.8=reliable)
What is Test-retest Reliability?
The psychologist could conduct the content analysis (including watching the clips and creating the categories) and then recode them (create the categories again etc.) at a later date and compare the two sets of data looking for agreement (correlation of +0.8 = reliable)
What is Thematic Analysis?
Another way of analysing qualitative data, by analysing theme which appear in the material
How do you conduct Thematic Analysis?
1) Watch/read the sample
2) Identify potential implicit or explicit themes/ideas (emergent themes)
3) Collect a new set of data to test the validity of the themes
4) Write a final report of the data (qualitative data)
What is a Strength of Content Analysis
Offers a method to analyse a variety of forms of data including media and self-report methods so that insights into cultural trends and experiences can be understood.
What is a Weakness of Content Analysis?
The identification of suitable themes and codes is subjective and decided by the researcher alone, meaning that conclusions lack any scrutiny or objectivity
What are Strengths of Thematic Analysis?
1) Unlike content analysis, the level of detail is maintained.
2) Objectivity is possible. (This is done through triangulation, which involves comparing other sources of data (like previous interviews) to verify the conclusions drawn.)
What are Weaknesses of Thematic Analysis?
1) It can be difficult at first to establish the themes and categories.
2) Subjectivity can come into play when deciding how certain statements fit into these categories.
3) It can be time-consuming to comb through a vast amount of text.
What is Triangulation?
The combination of different techniques and methods (both quantitative and qualitative) to gather data). It ensures the validity of the research.
What is a Case Study?
An in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, small group, institution or an event. (they tend to take place over a long period of time (longitudinal)). They are studied using Triangulation too.
What are Strengths of a Case Study?
1) Case studies create opportunities for a rich yield of data, and the depth of analysis can in turn bring high levels of validity (i.e. providing an accurate and exhaustive measure of what the study is hoping to measure).
2) The detail collected on a single case may lead to interesting findings that conflict with current theories, and stimulate new paths for research.
What are Weaknesses of a Case Study?
1) There is little control over a number of variables involved in a case study, so it is difficult to confidently establish any causal relationships between variables.
2) Case studies are unusual by nature, so will have poor reliability as replicating them exactly will be unlikely.
3) Due to the small sample size, it is unlikely that findings from a case study alone can be generalised to a whole population
What is a Correlational Analysis?
A non-experimental type of research method
What is a Positive Correlation Graph?
When there’s an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other
What is a Negative Correlation Graph?
When there’s an increase in one correlation tends to be associated with a decrease in the other
What is a Zero (or no) Correlation Graph?
It occurs when there is no relationship between the variables
What is a Correlation Co-efficient?
Coefficients are a more accurate measure of the extent of correlation that exists between variables. They’re always a number between -1 and +1
What is a Directional Correlation Hypothesis?
It predicts one particular outcome, used when there is previous research suggesting this result
(e.g. there is a positive correlation between height (feet) and weight (kg))
What is a Non-Directional Correlation Hypothesis?
It predicts something will happen but no particular outcome, used when there is no previous research or the previous research conflicts
(e.g. there is a correlation between height (feet) and weight (kg))
What is a Null Correlation Hypothesis?
It predicts nothing will happen
(e.g. there is no correlation between height (feet) and weight (kg))
What are Strengths of Correlations?
1) Correlations are very useful as a preliminary research technique, allowing researchers to identify a link that can be further investigated through more controlled research.
2) Can be used to research topics that are sensitive/ otherwise would be unethical, as no deliberate manipulation of variables is required.
What is a Weakness of Correlations?
1) Correlations only identify a link; they do not identify the cause and effect. There might be a third variable present which is influencing one of the co-variables, which is not considered.
