Research methods 2

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

surface level review looking at the freq of certain key words or concepts
research tool used to indirectly observe the presence of certain words, images or concepts within the media.
psychboost have a useful youtube video!!

Question 2

what type of data is content analysis usually carried out on?

Answer 2

secondary

Question 3

how does content analysis work?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

advantages and disadvantages of content analysis

Answer 4

+
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

Question 5

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 5

looks for emergent themes in data, codes them and interprets their meaning
more in-depth than content analysis, qualitative

Question 6

what is top down analysis?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

what is bottom up analysis?

Answer 7

more open ended analysis- no initial assumptions are made

Question 8

evaluate thematic analysis

Answer 8

+
easy, cheap
flexible
in-depth
unexpected results can be identified
_
subjective
communication is studied out of context
time-consuming
bias can influence procedure

Question 9

what is a case study?

Answer 9

in-depth study, using a range of methods on one person or small group

Question 10

evaluate case studies

Answer 10

+
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

Question 11

what does the psychoanalytical theory suggest?

Answer 11

behaviour is the result of unresolved motivations and desires
problematic childhood has lasting effects

Question 12

what is reliability?

Answer 12

consistency of a test/procedure

Question 13

what is inter-rater reliabilty?

Answer 13

would 2 observers come to the same conclusion?
both researchers need to be trained in the same way and achieve an 80% concordance rate

Question 14

what is test-retest?

Answer 14

would the results be consistent in a second test?

Question 15

what is face validity?

Answer 15

would common test tell us this test would work?

Question 16

what is predictive validity?

Answer 16

predicts future performance w some accuracy eg GCSE results predict A-Level results

Question 16

what is concurrent validity?

Answer 16

compares 2 methods of testing to see if results are comparable eg testing old A-Level system against new

Question 16

what is ecological validity?

Answer 16

can findings be generalised beyond the lab- would it work irl

Question 17

what is temporal validity?

Answer 17

results may have been true in that period but may not be valid today

Question 18

why is it good for something to be shown to be reliable and valid in multiple ways?

Answer 18

can be more confident using it as a research tool and can be more confident about results and conclusions

Question 19

according to Thomas Kuhn, what should a science have a shared set of?
which do psychology have?

Answer 19

a) assumptions
b) scientific methods
c) terminology
psych has b and c (it has conflicting assumptions)

Question 20

what should a science provide?
does psych do this?

Answer 20

precise (operationalised) hypotheses which can be tested in order to support or refute a theory
yes but some aspects are hard to operationalise

Question 21

what is falsification?

Answer 21

doesnt mean something is false but that if it is, this can be shown in observations or experiments

Question 22

what is predictive power?
what is nomothetic?
what is idiographic?

Answer 22

theories should provide general laws to allow predictions of behaviour
applies to whole pop
applies to individuals/ small groups

Question 23

what are scientific paradigms?

Answer 23

kuhn suggests the physical sciences could hold one unifying theory/ paradigm which may shift due to new evidence
not applicable to social sciences

Question 24

behaviourism

Answer 24

once seen as unifying theory for psych but too simplistic

Question 25

ethical considerations

Answer 25

cant isolate and test variables wo being cruel or unethical
can use animals- but still cruel and cant generalise to humans

Question 26

what are the features of a sciencce?

Answer 26

FALSIFICATION
PREDICTIVE POWER
scientific paradigms
behaviourism
ethical considerations

Question 27

how must investigations be written up?
what must it contain?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

what is nominal data?

Answer 28

level of measurement where data are in separate categories (frequency)

Question 29

what is ordinal data?

Answer 29

level of measurement where data are ordered in some way (rank order)

Question 30

what is a shared rank?

Answer 30

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

Question 31

what is interval data?

Answer 31

units of equal measurements are used (scale w equal intervals) eg minuets

Question 32

what is ratio data?

Answer 32

data on a scale but has a true zero eg weight, height, time, distance