research methods 4 Flashcards
what is a case study
an in depth study of one person or a small group of people. Usually carried out in the real world and collects alot of information about one person or small group. Takes a long time.
techniques used used in case studies
interviews
psychological tests
observations
experiments (see what they can and cant do)
evaluate case studies
-low gernerlisability as it only focuses on one person
-memory isnt always reliable
+high validity as they are real life cases and get lots of information indepth
-not practical as it takes a long time to collect all the info
+good to bypass ethical issues as event has already happened
+ confidentiality is kept as fake names are used
what is content analysis
research method used to analyse quantitative data of various kinds, usually media like newspapers and books. puts data into categories and helps count it.
steps of a content analysis
-decide aim
- decide what material to use and how many, how often (sampling method)
-identify important categories in the qualitative data, these can be decided beforehand (coding data)
-work through qualitative data. count the number of occurrences of each categories (representing the data)
this will produce quantitative data
what is thematic analysis
when a source can be analysed in the themes that emerge from the content
evaluation of content analysis
+high ecological validity as it uses observations of what people actually do or current affairs
+ test retest reliability as when the sources can be accessed by others the analysis can be carried out and checked
+ methods are not prone to ethical issues as content analysis is usually carried out with information available to the public
- observer bias- this can effect the objectivity of the findings because different researchers may interpret the meanings of the categories differently.
- culture bias as the interpretation of the categories is likely to affected by how someone was brought up. reduces validity.
how to conduct a thematic analysis
no strict way but basic guide is:
- read and re-read through data- impartially
- break down data into meaningful units, usually small bits of text
-overarching themes are identified
- researcher may collect a new set of data to check the validity of identified themes and categories
- final report will be written up using quotes to illustrate each theme
what is reliability
extent to which results or tests in psychological research are consistent
what is internal reliability
to do with the consistency of the test used to measure the variables
how can you assess the reliability of a test
using split half
what is inter rater reliability
when the different interviewers and observers findings must be consistent with each other
what is external reliability
consistency of the test over time. should produce the same results every time
how to asses the reliability of an observations and interviews
- check the inter rater reliability
- get 2 observers to observe the same pps
- score from observer A is correlated with scores from observer B
- use a test to test the strength of the correlation
-co-efficient of 0.8 or more suggests good inter observer reliability
how to asses the reliability of an experiment
-test retest methods
-use same pps to complete a test on a different occasion
-scores from first test are correlated with second test and then do the same tests as before
