Research Methods Flashcards
Describe Qualitative Data?
-Descriptive, non-numerical information, such as generated by open-ended questions, unstructured interviews etc.
-Difficult to analyse statistically & therefore to generalise from.
-Greater validity as provides more detail & means answers can be explored in more depth making conclusions more meaningful; comes direct from the participant so more ecologically valid (IE PPS own experiences and values)
-Qualitative data can be broken down into quantitative data (IE by analysing themes & trends that arise BUT quantitative data cannot generate qualitative date).
Describe Quantitive Data?
-Information is numerical in nature, such as generated by closed questions, likert scales etc.
-Numerical data only tells you how often behaviour occurs, not the underlying motivation for behaviour, reduces thoughts & attitudes to numbers which undermines validity.
-Data that is more likely to be drawn from controlled situations EG laboratory experiments, therefore is reliable as it is easy to collect, repeat, easy to analyse and therefore to generalise from and is more objective, as it doesn’t require subjective interpretation of PPS responses to open-ended questions.
-Easy to compare PPS responses.
Give a description of the method of closed questions.
Contains fixed/ limited responses as PPS select answers the at apply to them through 1 word and yes or no answers.
Likert scales, multiple choices, yields Quantative data.
It is useful for questions with finite, clear-cut answers.
What are the strengths of the method of closed questions?
Reliable, easy to replicate, easy to interpret & statistically analyse answers, objective, can be large scale. Well controlled as it requires PPS to answer in defined way.
What are the weaknesses of the method of closed questions?
Low validity: demand characteristics, socially desirable answers, little detail, superficial. Only tells you how not why.
Longer questions can lead to fatigue/ boredom. You may need to know the range of answers to the questions. May be low response rate.
What is the description of the method of open questions?
Can be answered how participant chooses, without restriction, words nor numerical response, allows PPS to explain answers & express opinions, yields expressive data: may generate unexpected content that gives researchers nee lines of enquiry.
What are the strengths of the method of open questions?
Detailed, more valid: offers flexibility to PPS; good way of accessing motivations & feelings, good if you don’t know the range of possible answers to put in closed questions.
What are the weaknesses of the method of open questions?
Low reliability, subjective interpretation, therefore more difficult to validity interpret & harder to analysis statistically, more time consuming, therefore harder to replicate/ generate large amounts of data/ responses.
Describe surveys.
Questionnaires & interviews generate self-report data, IE information elicited from questions which relies on the participants reporting their own behaviour, feelings, attitudes etc. This information can come from open and closed questions & likert/ ranking scaled (gives PPS more flexibility in their responses, whilst still easy to interpret and analyse).
What are the strengths of surveys? (3)
Allows more detailed access to PPS thoughts & feelings.
Enables psychologists to investigate what PPS might think, feel or do in the future.
PPS answer about their own experiences, so good for ecological validity.
What are the weaknesses of surveys? (3)
Relies on PPS being honest, articulate & insightful, which might not always be the case.
PPS may feel they need to give socially desirable answers IE in order to appear in a more positive light, PPS responses reflect current social norms & values, not real attitudes.
The purpose of the research might be easy to indenting, leading to demand characteristics.
What are Likert/ Ranking scaled?
Involve PPS selecting from a fixed set of choices to rate their agreement with a series of statements IE not just a yes/ no response. Adornos research on Authoritarianism involved likert scales.
What is a Likert scale?
Involve PPS rating their opinions/ attitudes.
What is a ranking scale?
Involve PPS ranking their choice relative to other options.
What are the strengths of a Likert/ ranking scale? (2)
Easy to analyse, compare data, less time consuming than open questions so may get more PPS & more data. As a result may be easier to replicate, generate reliability, & be more generalisable if a big sample is easier to obtain.
Gives more flexibility to PPS in their response choices than closed questions so responses more likely to reflect PPS views/ opinions.
