research methods- 2 Flashcards
theories are..
an explanation of a phenomena- constructed using evidence
what is hypothesis testing
the process in which theories are tested
what is a hypothesis
testable prediction of an element of a theory,
by using a theory to generate hypotheses, researchers can see if their theory is wrong
what is falsifiability and who came up with it
key feature of science developed by Karl popper stating that it must be at least theoretically possible to prove theories wrong, unfalsifiable theories are not scientific
what is replicability
when a different team can repeat the same experiment and receive the same results, variables have to be operationalised
what is the empirical method
collecting data through direct observation or experiments to test their ideas
what is the aim of an experiment
simple summary of what variables are being investigated, and setting up the purpose of the study
what is operationalisation
clearly defining the variables in such a a way other researchers can replicate the exact conditions and method of the study
what are confounding variables
type of ev that cause significant problems for the study’s internal validity, have a causal effect on the dv, researcher cannot tell if it was the iv or the cv that had the effect on the dv
strength- independent groups design
helps strengthen internal validity of the study- no order effects
limitation- independent groups deign
uncontrolled participant evs
strength- matched pairs design
controlled participant evs- no differences between conditions in participants
limitation- matched pairs
time consuming and expensive- matched pairs is harder to find than independent groups
strength- repeated measures design
no participant evs
limitation- repeated measure design
order effects
what is a lab exp
true exp- controlled conditions
what is a field exp
true exp- naturalistic conditions
what is a quasi exp
not a true exp- iv determined by pre-existing differences
what is a natural exp
not a true exp- iv determined by naturally occurring evet
strength and limitation of a lab exp
strength- high internal validity
limitation- low external validity- ecological validity
strength and limitation of a field exp
strength- high external validity- ecological validity
limitation- low internal validity- less controlled settings
strength and limitation of a quasi exp
strength- necessary- only way to study variables such as age or gender
limitation- low internal validity- impossible to randomly allocate- uncontrolled participant evs
strength and limitation of a natural exp
strength- high external validity- study of real life events
limitation- low internal validity- impossible to randomly allocate- uncontrolled participant evs
strength of unstructured interviews
flexibility- helps clarify answers, can ask follow up questions
limitation of unstructured interviews
hard to analyse- lots of qualitative data
strength of structured interviews
replicable- standardized format, more data can be collected easily
weakness of structured interviews
no follow up questions- miss out on potentially useful data
strength of open questions
high ecological validity- more natural responses from participants
weakness of open questions
harder to analyse- qualitative data
what is a likert scale
how satisfied are you with…
acquiescence bias
type of response bias in which people have a tendance to agree with statements
strength and limitation of qualitative data
strength- greater external validity
limitation- harder to analyse
strength and limitation of quantitative data
strength- more objective, less open to bias
limitation- narrower in scope of data, may fail to represent ‘real- life’
strength and limitation of primary data
strength- authentic data collected specifically for the purpose of a specific investigation
limitation- requires time and effort from researcher
strength and limitation of secondary data
strength- easily accessed, limited effort and time
limitation- may be variation in quality and accuracy of secondary data compared to primary- may not fit researchers specific needs
outline controlled observations
carried out in a controlled setting, uses a standardized procedure
one strength and limitation of controlled observations
strength- high internal validity
limitation- low external validity
outline naturalistic observations
takes place in conditions where behaviour would naturally occur- aspects of environment will vary
one strength and limitation of naturalistic observations
strength- high ecological validity
limitation- low internal validity- lacks control
what are covert observations
participants is observed without their knowledge or consent
strength and limitation of covert observations
strength- high ecological validity
limitation- ethical issues- informed consent
what are overt observations
behaviour is observed with their knowledge and consent
strength and limitation of overt observations
strength- ethics- obtain informed consent
limitation- low ecological validity
what is a participant observation
the researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour is being observed
strength and limitation of participant observations
strength- collect rich data- can experience the situation as the participants experience it
limitation- loss of objectivity- can compromise validity
what is a non- participant observation
the researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour is being observed
strength and limitation of non- participant observation
strength- remain objective- improves validity
limitation- may miss nuances in participants’ behaviour
what is a paradigm
set of shared assumptions and agreed methods for a scientific discipline
what is a paradigm shift
researchers switch to a new paradigm with a whole new set of shared assumptions and methods- e.g. behaviourist to cognitive
what is content analysis
studies behaviour indirectly through their communications- diaries, transcribed phone conversations
- analysing qualitative data using quantitative techniques
what are coding categories- content analysis
specific types of communication the coders will look for
how to conduct content analysis
identify coding categories- repeatedly look through data and tally instances of categories- can then be charted
what is thematic analysis
studies behaviour indirectly through their communications- diaries, transcribed phone conversations
- qualitative data analysed qualitatively, by identifying themes within the data
how to conduct thematic analysis
Familiarisation with the data –immerses themselves in the data by intensely reading
- identify ideas that reoccur in the data
-group the ideas together into themes, broad categories that are important
- write a report of their findings including direct quotes
strength of content and thematic analysis- ecological validity
used to analyse qualitative data from real-life communications
-This means research findings from content/thematic analysis may be more generalisable
limitation of thematic analysis- subjectivity
researchers have to analyse the data to identify the themes within it
-requires a significant degree of interpretation, which can result in observer-bias
-subjective and therefore unscientific.
limitation of content analysis- surface level analysis
can only access the manifest content within communication data- (I.e., evident/obvious) on the surface
- relies only on counting instances of types of communication, can describe what the data appears to show, but may easily miss the latent content- deeper meanings that are hidden below the surface
strength of thematic analysis- latent content
requires the researcher to interpret the data so they can go beyond just describing the communications and instead explain what they meant to communicate
- thematic analysis is good at accessing the latent content of communication data, meaning it can detect the hidden meanings below the surface
strength of content analysis- scientific credibility, replicability
easily replicable as once the researcher has generated their coding categories and specified the data they have analysed, another team of researchers can easily re-analyse the data with the same coding categories, and so determine if the results are replicable
what is the abstract of a scientific report
-first section of a scientific report- provides an overview of the report,
allows other researchers to quickly scan and decide if it is appropriate for their research
- contains summary of the aims, hypothesis, method, results and conclusions
-about 150-200 words.
what is the introduction of a scientific report
provide background information and a rationale for the current research
-contains a review of previous research relevant to the investigation + the aims and hypotheses of the study
- structured like a funnel, moving from the general conclusions of previous research to the specific aim and hypotheses of the study
what is the method of a scientific report
detailed description of what the researcher did- needs to be detailed enough to allow replicability
should include- the design, participants/sampling
(detail about participants must be anonymised), materials, procedure and ethics
what are the results of a scientific report
what they found in their investigation, includes;
- Descriptive statistics e.g. graphs
- Inferential statistics e.g. significance levels
- final outcome: which hypotheses were accepted or rejected
- if qualitative research; results section would involve description of the categories, themes and examples
what is the discussion in a scientific report
the researcher interprets the results of the study and reflects on the investigation- includes;
- summary of the results – verbal summary
- Relationship to previous research – supported or challenged?
- Reflection on methodology –consider problems within their study
- Implications of research – discuss real-world implications of their research
- Suggestions for future research – lay out suggestions for future research
what is the refence section of a scientific report
full details of any sources used when writing report
- name of the author(s), title of the source, date of publications, publisher
-It also provides an important check on plagiarism
what are case studies
a detailed and intensive analysis of a single case; individuals, organisations, communities
- the case is not being studied because it is intended to be representative of a broader target population- it is studied to be the focus of interest in its own right
limitation of case studies- external validity
case study research conducted on a single case- small sample size + unique
- generalising from case study research can be difficult- e.g. Freud’s psychodynamic theories- Little Hans
-however case study research is not intended to be generalized- purpose is to understand a single case in its own right
-criticism may be inappropriate
strength of case studies- evaluating a theory
-Clive Wearing case study used to challenge validity of MSMs claim that there is only one LTM store.
- unique cases can be used to test hypotheses generated by a theory
-play an important role in challenging current thinking
-guides the way to the development of new theoretical ideas
what are statistics and what are they used for
branch of mathematics used to analyse data
used by psychologists to aid hypothesis testing -analyse their data and determine if their hypotheses are supported
presence of manipulation in correlational or experimental
experimental
purpose of correlational study
establish whether two or more variables are associated in some way
purpose of experimental study
establish a causal relationship
what descriptive stats can be used in correlations and experimental
correlations- correlation coefficient
experimentals- measures of central tendency
what is nominal data
simplest level of measurement
-assigning labels or names to identify and categorize objects or subjects, without any quantitative value or order
what is ordinal data
categorizing data into discrete groups with a meaningful order or ranking among the categories
- intervals between categories are not uniform
what is interval data
numerical scales with a consistent interval or distance between value
what do descriptive statistics do
describe overall patterns in data
- can be used to make a judgement about; which condition (if any) did “better” and Whether there was a positive or negative correlation and its strength
what do inferential stats do
assess whether the results could have occurred by chance
what is a related design
repeated measures and matched pairs designs
what is a non- related design
independent groups design
what is a type 1 error
the researcher claimed they have found significant results when in reality the results are not significant
what is reliability
how consistent the findings of the test are
what is test- retest
requires the researcher test the same participant twice, with both these tests having consistent result
what is inter-observer reliability
two different researchers conduct the test on the same participant, and their observations are consistent
when does a test have validity
if it measures what it claims to measure
acronym for statistical tests
carrots should come mashed with sweet un-roasted potatoes
-chi, sign, chi, mann, wilcoxon, spearmans, unrelated, related, pearsons
how to find calculated value (sign test)
allocate
- plus if condition 1 is larger
-minus if condition 2 is larger
-equals (ignore in calculation) if equal
then count frequency of least common sign
written as S=
how to calculate DF for contingency table-chi-squared
(columns-1)X(rows -1)
