Research Methods Flashcards
Why do we describe questionnaires as a ‘method of self report’
questionnaires are where a participant answers questions about themselves and their opinions.
Why do we describe questionnaires as a ‘non-experimental’
you do not need an IV or DV (but you can have them). You are collecting opinions and answers from participants about a particular topic
True or false: Questionnaires can only be used on their own and not alongside other methods, for example, an experiment may use a questionnaire as a method.
False - Questionnaires can be used alongside other methods, for example, an experiment may use a questionnaire as a method.
True or false -Questionnaires can be given to a large amount of people which are referred to as a survey.
True
What are the two types of question which can be asked on a questionnaire?
Open and closed
What are open questions?
Participants are free to give any response. Allows participants to expand on their view points – written or verbal. Participants are asked to expand on their answers e.g., Explain how? Explain why? Collects qualitative data.
What are closed questions?
Participants are given a forced choice answer of a limited number of responses (participants must choose one).
Closed questions collect quantitative data.
Give an example of an open question from social psychology.
An example: “Explain a time that you disobeyed an order.”
Give an example of an open question from cognitive psychology.
What cues do you have that trigger some episodic memories such as holidays?
Give an example of an open question from biological psychology.
Why you would engage in a physical confrontation if you were angry instead of walking away?
Give an example of an open question from learning psychology.
Why your mum is your role model?
Give an example of an open question from child psychology.
How is your relationship with your mother?
Give an example of an open question from clinical psychology.
e.g. depression
How are your depression symptoms affecting your everyday life?
Give an example of a closed question in social psychology
I would obey my parents if they told me to stay in the house.
Strongly Agree 1
Agree 2
Not sure 3 Disagree 4
Strongly Disagree 5
Give an example of a closed question in cognitive psychology
Do you consider yourself to have a good memory? Yes No
Give an example of a closed question in biological psychology
On a scale of 1-5 how much do you agree with the following statement:
‘I lose my temper easily’
1=strongly agree, 5=strongly disagree
1 2 3 4 5
Give an example of a closed question in learning psychology
Is your mum your role model? Yes No
Give an example of a closed question in child psychology
Did you have a good childhood? Yes No
Give an example of a closed question in clinical psychology
Rank the following methods of talking therapy which you would find most suitable to help you (1=least effective to 4= lmost effective)
* Talking face to face
* Talking on the telephone
* Text messaging
* Other (e.g., instant messenger, direct messages on Instagram)
What is a Likert scale?
A type of closed questions where participants have to answer by indicating a number which reflects what they think
e.g. 1=strongly agree
2= agree
3=neither agree nor disagree
4 = disagree
5 = strongly disagree
Give a strength of a questionnaire
One strength of a questionnaire is that a large number of questionnaires can be administered quickly. This is a strength as it is cost efficient and less time consuming.
Give a strength of a questionnaire
One strength of a questionnaire is that they can be used to reach a wide range of participants. This is a strength as the results can be generalised to the target population.
Give a strength of a questionnaire
One strength of a questionnaire is that results can be completed privately and made anonymous. This is a strength as it means that participants are likely to give an honest, more valid response, reducing both social desirability and demand characteristics.
Give a strength of open questions
The use of open questions in a questionnaire increases validity. Participants will provide responses in a way they wish to and can go into lots of details to provide rich detail.
Give a strength of closed questions?
The use of closed questions can make the results easier to compare.
Give a weakness of questionnaires
One weakness of questionnaires is that participants may be influenced by social desirability. This is a weakness as participants may lie to provide answers which may look good, which lowers the validity.
Give a weakness of questionnaires
One weakness of questionnaires is that they often have low response rates. This is a weakness as it makes the results harder to generalise to the target population.
Give a weakness of questionnaires
One weakness of questionnaires is that they may have response bias. This is a weakness as only certain types of people may return the questionnaires, making the results less generalisable to the target population.
Give a weakness of closed questions
One weakness of questionnaires is that the use of closed questions and the element of forced choice may make responses less valid. This is a weakness as the responses may not accurately reflect a participants view point.
Give a weakness of closed questions
One weakness of questionnaires is that the use of closed questions means that participants may interpret the forced choices differently. This is a weakness as it will lower the validity of responses.
Give a weakness of open questions
One weakness of questionnaires is that the use of open questions may lead to issues of interpretation (subjectivity). This is a weakness as it will make the results harder to compare.
Why are interviews described as a method of ‘self report’?
Interviews are a method of self-report where someone answers questions about themselves or their opinions.
True or false - Interviews are non-experimental methods?
True - Interviews are a non-experimental method, where you do not need an IV or DV (but you can have them).
True or false - Interviews
can be used along side other experimental methods?
True - Interviews can be used alongside other methods, for example, an experiment may use a interviews as a method.
What are the three types of interview?
Structured, semi-structured or unstructured
What are structured interviews?
Everyone has set questions that are in a set order. The questions can not be changed, altered or expanded on.
What are semi-structured interviews?
A mid-way point between structured and unstructured. There are some set questions, but these can be followed up by adding questions if the participant discloses something of interest.
What are unstructured interviews?
There are no real set questions, just a general topic area to be studied. Questions can be changed and altered as needed. They are flexible, for example, someone might say something interesting, so you change the next question in line with this.
Give 2 strengths of interviews as a whole
- closed questions (e.g., yes or no) can be used o provide quantitative data meaning that the results can be easily analysed using a statistical test.
-open questions can be used to gather qualitative data which is rich in detail. This is a strength as due to the participant providing detailed responses, the results will be more valid.
Give 3 strengths of structured interviews
- Every participant receives the same questions, which is standardised. This is a strength as it means the results from the interview can be repeated and tested for reliability.
- This is also a strength as it means that the results are easy to compare.
- easy to conduct and do not require a lot of training. This is a strength as it means they are less time consuming.
Give a strength of an unstructured interview
- you can change the questions and add follow up questions if the participants states something interesting. This is a strength as participants will provide more detailed responses, therefore results will be more valid.
Give 4 weaknesses of interviews as a whole
- they can be time consuming. This is a weakness as it may be harder to repeat.
- people have to be trained to administer the interview. This is a weakness as it may be more costly and time consuming.
- the use of open questions leads to qualitative data, which may be subject to interpretation bias. This is a weakness as it means the results will be harder to analyse.
- answers given by participants can be influenced by social desirability. This is a weakness as the results of the interview may be less valid.
Give a weakness of a structured interview
One weakness of structured interviews is that you cannot change the questions to follow up on an interesting point. This is a weakness as the results will be less in-depth and therefore less valid.
What is a covert observation?
The participants do not know that they are being observed e.g. in public, through a one way mirror
What is an overt observation?
The participants know that they are being observed e.g. in a job interview
What is an naturalistic observation?
Where an observation takes place in a real life setting e.g. observing children sharing behaviour in a play room at nursery
What is a structured observation?
Where the environment has been created for the purpose of the observation e.g. Milgram
The researcher will control some of the variables thus reducing the naturalness of the behaviour.
* Often they take place in an artificial setting, such as a playroom for children.
What is a participant observation?
Where the observer is a part of the participants which they are observing
What is a non-participant observation?
Where the observer is not a part of the participants which they are observing e.g. behind a one way mirror
What is a coding system in observations?
A method of recording the behaviour which is observed
What is event sampling?
Event sampling: Use a coding scheme to tally events when they occur e.g. in Bandura the researcher recorded each time they heard the child say ‘sock em in the nose’ (imitated verbal aggression)
What is continuous sampling?
Continuous sampling: Making notes of everything which is happening.
What is time sampling?
Time sampling: Recoding their behaviours every nth time, for example every 30s or once every 3 minutes over a set period of time – you write down exactly what they’re doing at that moment.
Give 2 strengths of a covert observation
- there is less chance of demand characteristics, as participants do not know they are being observed making the findings more valid.
- there is less chance of social desirability as the participants do not know they are being observed making the findings more valid.
What is a weakness of covert observations?
One weakness of covert observations is that there are potential ethical issues as the participants do not know they are being observed. This is a weakness as there is no consent from the participant.
Give one strength of overt observations
One strength of overt observations is that there are less ethical issues as participants know that they are being observed.
Give 2 weaknesses of overt observations
-there is a high chance of demand characteristics which lowers the validity as the participant may try to behave in line with what they think the observer wants to see.
- there is a high chance of social desirability which lowers the validity as the participants may try to behave in a way that they believe is socially acceptable.
Give a strength of a participant observation
One strength of a participant observation is that it gathers in-depth information. This is a strength of a participant observation as the findings will be more valid.
Give 3 weaknesses of participant observations
- they may be difficult to replicate and so we cannot test the findings for reliability.
- the findings may have researcher/observer which bias is a weakness as the findings from the participant observation may not be valid.
- there is a high chance of demand characteristics which lowers the validity as the participant may try to behave in line with what they think the observer wants to see.
Give one strength of a non-participant observation
One strength of non-participant observation is that they may be less bias. This is a strength as the observer can view the situations objectively.
Give two weaknesses of non-participant observations
- there may be demand characteristics as the observer may influence the behaviour meaning that the behaviour observed is less valid.
- they gather less detail. This is a weakness as the findings may lack validity.
Give 3 strengths of structured observations
- the variables can be controlled meaning that there is less chance of extraneous variables, increasing validity of findings.
- they are often standardised so the findings can be tested for reliability.
-they are less time consuming. This is a strength is as we are ‘causing’ the situation, meaning it will be less time consuming as we would know the behaviours to look out for.
Give 3 weaknesses of structured observations
- they are often in lower in ecological validity meaning the findings will be less valid.
- they may be high in demand characteristics as the person knows they are being observed and may change their behaviour, reducing validity of the findings.
- there may be ethical concerns. This is a weakness as the observer is responsible for what is happening in the observation.
Give 2 strengths of a naturalistic observation
- they are high in ecological validity meaning that the findings can be applied to real life situations.
-there is a reduction in demand characteristics meaning the findings from a naturalistic observation will be more valid.
Give 3 weaknesses of a naturalistic observation
- they do not follow a standardised procedure so we can not test the findings for reliability.
- One weakness of a naturalistic observation is that you can not only EV’s. This is a weakness as the findings are less valid.
- One weakness of a naturalistic observation is that they are more time consuming. This is a weakness as you are waiting for a behaviour to occur naturally.
What ‘big question’ do adoption studies attempt to answer about a mental health condition?
If it is ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’
How is an adoption study carried out?
We find an adopted person with a specific trait and we look at how many of their biological family members (usually parents) and adopted family members also share that trait (and compare those two concordances).
*They look at differences in frequency between groups and may also compare these levels with the baseline level in the population.
What is measured in an adoption study?
- Researchers look at the frequency with which a trait occurs in children living with a parent who has that same trait.
- They also look at rates for children of people with that trait who have been adopted into families without that trait.
What is our adoption study in biological psychology?
Kety
What was the aim of Kety?
Aim: To find out if there is a genetic basis for schizophrenia and to see if there is a higher rate of
schizophrenia-related illness among biological relatives than adoptive relatives.
What is the sample of Kety?
34 schizophrenic patients (two of them MZ twins) taken from the Danish Adoption Register for
Copenhagen. They were aged 20-43. These are referred to as ‘index patients’
Control: 33 mentally-healthy Controls were selected from the Danish Adoption Registry. They were
matched to the schizophrenic patients on age, gender, the age at which they were adopted and the social
class of the adoptive family.
What groups were the index patients split into in Kety?
- B1 was a group of 16 patients with chronic (long-term) schizophrenia
- B2 was a group of 7 with acute (short-term or one-off) schizophrenia
- B3 was a group of 11 with “borderline schizophrenia” or “latent schizophrenia”
What was the independent and dependent variables in Kety?
IV: Schizophrenia sufferers and a Control Group with no history of mental illness.
DV: The researcher’s measured the prevalence of schizophrenia-related mental illness among family
members
What is the method of Kety (your adoption study)?
-Danish family records were used to locate adoptive and biological relatives of all the participants (463 relatives used and their mental health status was assessed).
- Using a blind test (the psychiatrists did not know whether the records were from an adoptive or a biological family member) 4 Danish psychiatrists used the medical records to diagnose the family members
-4 Psychiatrists diagnosed the family based on their medical records and classified them as SZ or no and they were then assigned to either ‘adoptive’ or ‘biological’ relative groups once identities were revealed
- In 4 cases, they couldn’t reach a conclusion and these relatives were dropped from the study
Give 2 results of Kety
Of 150 biological relatives of index cases;
* 13 (8.7%) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia (or similar)
* Of 156 biological relatives of the controls;
* 3 (1.9%) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia (or similar)
What is the conclusion of Kety?
There seems to be a genetic component to schizophrenia. Schizophrenic adoptees were more
likely to have schizophrenia in their biological family than their adoptive family. Their biological families
were more likely to have schizophrenia than the families of Controls
Is it a strength or a weakness that adoption studies help us to determine if behaviour is due to nature or nurture and why?
Strength. This is a strength of adoption studies as it is useful in helping us determining why a behaviour may occur in order for us to put support/interventions into place to support a person.
Is it a strength or a weakness that adoption studies are naturally occurring and they do not require manipulation of groups from the researcher.
Strength
One strength of adoption studies is that they are considered ethical. This is a strength as adoption is a naturally occurring events that does not require manipulation of groups from the researcher.
Why is it a weakness that adopted children need to be identified, followed for a long time and locate and assess each of the family members?
One weakness of adoption studies is that recruitment may take a long time to find children who meet the criteria and match to families. This is a weakness as it becomes time consuming as it may take several years.
Why can it be difficult to establish ‘nature vs nurture’ in an adoption study?
One weakness of adoption studies is that it may be difficult to establish what is due to nature or nurture. This is a weakness as the prenatal environment of the children may be different.
Why is it a weakness for validity in adoption studies that some children are adopted by people who are the same culture as their biological parents?
One weakness of adoption studies is that it may be difficult to establish what is due to nature or nurture. This is a weakness as adopted children may be adopted by a family culturally similar to their biological one and so may end up with some shared environment.
Why is attrition an issue for adoption studies?
One weakness of adoption studies is that there may be attrition (participant drop out). This is a weakness as the results in the adoption studies may not longer be representative.
Content analysis is used to turn _________ data into ____________ data
Qualitative –> Quantitative
What type of data can content analysis analyse?
Qualitative
What are the steps to content analysis?
- Read through the data (familiarisation)
- Identify themes/key words which arise (exactly the same as thematic analysis)
- count up how many times those themes occur.
- Summative content analysis - you look at themes about when and where those themes occur (who said them in different instances).
- Produce final report
What type of things could you conduct a content analysis on?
Newspaper articles, interviews, books, open question answers on questionnaires
Give 3 strengths of content analysis
- Content analysis produces quantitative data which you can then analyse statistically so you can establish if the results are due to chance
- The process is standardised so it can be re done to test for reliability.
- Multiple researchers can do it to test for inter rated reliability
- Ethical as it uses secondary data
Give 3 weaknesses of content analysis
- Can be subjective as the researcher is selecting themes and there could be bias which reduces validity
- The findings may lack internal validity owing to this subjectiveness
- One weakness of content analysis is that it reduces complex information down to a simpler form. This is a weakness as important information may be loss and therefore may reduce the validity.
