Research Methods Flashcards
What is an open question
A question phrased in a way that allows the participant to answer in any way they want
What is a closed question
The question is phrased in a way that responses are limited to a few options. This produces quantitative data
What are benefits to open questions
Freedom to choose their response and this can be argued to lead to more valid responses
What is a negative if open question
Makes analysis between large number of participants difficult making it harder to spot patterns in responses
What are positives of closed questions
Allows for easy analysis between large number of participants so patterns are easily spotted
Disadvantage of closed questions
Responses are limited
Demand characteristics
What is a structured interview
Interview reads out a list of prepared questions as they are written
What are advantages of structured
.Interview does not have to be highly trained
.easy to compare as same questions are used
What are negatives of structured
Can’t be followed up by additional questions that can provide more detail
What is unstructured
No set list of questions, an open conversation about topic
Positives of unstructured
.Rapport-where the participant feels more comfortable to answer
.additional questions are allowed
What are some negatives of self report techniques
Social desirability-participants responding in a way at to look good for researcher
Demand characteristics
Cues in the environment which leads to participants working out the aim
Researcher bias
Researcher interpreting responses to open questions in a way that confirms their research hypothesis
Investigator effects
Personal characteristics of interview which influence participant responses
Positives of questionnaire
.dont require trained interviewer making collecting data a cheap and easy process
.closed questions can compare responses easily
Questionnaire negatives
.not taken seriously
.participants can’t have questions rephrased if they don’t understand
Benefits of interviews
.can rephrase difficult questions
.can build rapport with participant
Interview negatives
.requires an interviewer and this increases cost per participant especially if training is required
.interviewer effects
What is validity
The test measures what it aims to measure
Reliability
How consistent data is
Internal validity
How well a study’s results support a claim about cause and effect
Ecological validity
Measure of how well a study’s finding can be applied to real world settings
Population validity
Type of external validity that measures how well a study’s finding can be generalised to a target population
