Research methods Flashcards
A family of research approaches that is un-obstructive, non-controlling, and seeks to understand phenomena from multiple perspectives by looking at the entire phenomenon being investigated
Qualitative research
Qual research method that seeks an explanation or causation, through development or confirmation of theories to explain social processes (“how?”)
Grounded theory
Qual research method that seeks to describe a phenomenon in depth.It gives thick description of a phenomenon that has not been described before (“what?”)
Descriptive phenomenology
Qual research method that seeks to interpret actions and people’s reasoning. No theory or causative relationships are developed. (“why?)
Interpretive phenomenology
Qual research method that is an alternative to interpretive phenomenology, with less detail and analysis so that it is less burdensome.
Interpretive description
Qual research method that describes a culture in detail, and requires the researcher to be immersed for extended periods of time to interact with subjects (“who?”)
Ethnography
Research methods that describe outcomes in terms of numbers, and uses statistics to provide answers to a questions
Quantitative research
What are the two major umbrella groups of quantitive research designs
Observational and experimental
Cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control are the three types of what kind of studies?
Observational quant studies
What do descriptive quantitative research designs do?
Collect data on one or more variables, and then characterize them using descriptive statistics
What do relationship quantitative research designs do?
examine the relationship between two or more variables and assess the strength of the relationship. Cannot imply causation.
What do cross-sectional quant research designs do?
Examine data from self-reported information from participants. Variables are not manipulated by researchers
What are experimental quantitative studies?
Studies that examine cause and effect relationships, where you intervene and record what happens
Research method that provides evidence of probable causality by comparing a randomly assigned intervention group to a randomly assigned control group
RCT or true experimental
What is a quasi-experimental design?
Like RCT, but groups are not randomly assigned
What is a pre-test post-test design?
Qual research method where a single group is compared before and after intervention; all participants receive the intervention and there is no control group
True experimental (RCT), quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test, cross over, and single subject are the five-methods of what kind of research?
Experimental quantitative research
What is a cross-over research design?
Research method where participants are randomly assigned to different conditions, but everyone experiences both/all of the conditions.
What is a single subject research design?
Research method where the effectiveness of an intervention is examined for each individual participant. It compares baseline to measures taken over time during treatments.
What is the independent variable?
The one that is being studied, that the researcher manipulates or controls
What is the dependent variable?
The outcome of the study. A study examines changes in the dependent variable, based on the independent variable.
What is a confounding variable?
Extraneous variables that may affect relationships between the independent and dependent variables; should be controlled for in the design or analysis
What is a type I error?
Reporting a relationship where there is none (i.e., accepting the hypothesis when it’s actual false.)
What is a type II error?
Failure to find and report a relationship when one actually exists (i.e., hypothesis rejected when it is actually true)
