Research methods 2 Flashcards
what is content analysis?
surface level review looking at the freq of certain key words/concepts
research tool used to indirectly observe the presence of certain words, images or concepts within the media.
psychboost have a useful youtube video!!
what type of data is content analysis usually carried out on?
secondary
how does content analysis work?
researchers quantify and analyse presence, meaning, relationships of words/concepts and make inferences about messages in media, the writer, audience, culture
media is coded/broken down into manageable categories on a variety of levels (word, word sense, phrase, sentence or theme) and then examined
advantages and disadvantages of content analysis
+
converts qualitative data into quantitative data
cheap/ easy
multi-media contexts
reliable- can repeat
external validity
_
subjective- researcher bias- inadvertently ignoring parts
poor inter-rater reliability
not strong enough to use stand alone- use in conjunction w another tool
might overlook things- reduces validity
what is thematic analysis?
looks for emergent themes in data, codes them and interprets their meaning
more in-depth than content analysis, qualitative
what is top down analysis?
start with an idea and fill in details
eg idea that case youre reading is case of depression then apply the symptoms of depression to the case
what is bottom up analysis?
more open ended analysis- no initial assumptions are made
evaluate thematic analysis
+
easy, cheap
flexible
in-depth
unexpected results can be identified
_
subjective
communication is studied out of context
time-consuming
bias can influence procedure
what is a case study?
in-depth study, using a range of methods on one person or small group
evaluate case studies
+
triangulation- increases reliability
longitudinal- can see effects of something over time
very in-depth so can help the individual
qualitative and detailed
_
small sample- not very generalisable
longitudinal so may drop out
complex
may lack scientific rigour
what does the psychoanalytical theory suggest?
behaviour is the result of unresolved motivations and desires
problematic childhood has lasting effects
what is reliability?
consistency of a test/procedure
what is inter-rater reliabilty?
would 2 observers come to the same conclusion?
both researchers need to be trained in the same way and achieve an 80% concordance rate
what is test-retest?
would the results be consistent in a second test?
what is face validity?
would common test tell us this test would work?
what is predictive validity?
predicts future performance w some accuracy eg GCSE results predict A-Level results
what is concurrent validity?
compares 2 methods of testing to see if results are comparable eg testing old A-Level system against new
what is ecological validity?
can findings be generalised beyond the lab- would it work irl
what is temporal validity?
results may have been true in that period but may not be valid today
why is it good for something to be shown to be reliable and valid in multiple ways?
can be more confident using it as a research tool and can be more confident about results and conclusions
according to Thomas Kuhn, what should a science have a shared set of?
which do psychology have?
a) assumptions
b) scientific methods
c) terminology
psych has b and c (it has conflicting assumptions)
what should a science provide?
does psych do this?
precise (operationalised) hypotheses which can be tested in order to support or refute a theory
yes but some aspects are hard to operationalise
what is falsification?
doesnt mean something is false but that if it is, this can be shown in observations or experiments
what is predictive power?
what is nomothetic?
what is idiographic?
theories should provide general laws to allow predictions of behaviour
applies to whole pop
applies to individuals/ small groups
what are scientific paradigms?
kuhn suggests the physical sciences could hold one unifying theory/ paradigm which may shift due to new evidence
not applicable to social sciences
behaviourism
once seen as unifying theory for psych but too simplistic
ethical considerations
cant isolate and test variables wo being cruel or unethical
can use animals- but still cruel and cant generalise to humans
what are the features of a sciencce?
FALSIFICATION
PREDICTIVE POWER
scientific paradigms
behaviourism
ethical considerations
how must investigations be written up?
what must it contain?
scientific report:
- pages numbered
- 3rd person passive (he, she, it, they)
- title
- contents page
- abstract
- introduction
- procedure
- design and overview
- ppts and investigators
- apparatus
- procedure
- results
- analysis of results
- choose appropriate stats test
- discussion:
- explanation of findings
- limitations and modifications
- implications and suggestions for further research
- references
- appendices
what is nominal data?
level of measurement where data are in separate categories (frequency)
what is ordinal data?
level of measurement where data are ordered in some way (rank order)
what is a shared rank?
if ordering numbers and 3 are the same, put them in the line and see what place they are in. add up the places and divide by the number (basically finding mean rank)
eg:
37,34,34,34,33,31,31
37 is rank 1
34 would all be rank 3
33 is rank 5
31 would both be rank 6.5
what is interval data?
units of equal measurements are used (scale w equal intervals) eg minuets
what is ratio data?
data on a scale but has a true zero eg weight, height, time, distance
