RESEARCH METHODS - case studies and content analysis Flashcards
what is a case study
an in depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual , group, institution or event
case study involve analysis of what type of events
unsual individuals or events e.g person with rare disorder
case studies may concentrate on more
typical cases e.g elderly persons recollection of their childhood
conducting a case study usually invoves production of
qualititaive data
researchers may construct case history t/f
t
how do we construct a case history
using interviews, observations questionnaires or a combo of all of these
in case studys a perosnmay be subject to experimental or psychological testing to
what type of data may this produce
asses what they are (not ) capable of
this may produce quantitiative data
case studies tend to take place over a long period of time what is this called
longitudinal
in longitudinal case studies may invlve gathering additional data from
family and friends of the individual as well as person themselves
weaknesses of case studies
- Due to the small sample size, it is unlikely that findings from a case study alone can be generalised to a whole population. + got unique characteristics
- The case study’s researcher may become so involved with the study that they exhibit bias in their interpretation and presentation of the data, making it challenging to distinguish what is truly objective/factual.
- There is little control over a number of variables involved in a case study, so it is difficult to confidently establish any causal relationships between variables.
- Case studies are unusual by nature, so will have poor reliability as replicating them exactly will be unlikely.
strengths of case study
Offers rich, in-depth data, so information that may be overlooked using other methods is likely to be identified. e.g experiments
They allow researchers to observe and record information about rare, impractical, or unethical conditions and behaviours.
They provide researchers with new evidence to support psychological theories.
- Case studies create opportunities for a rich yield of data, and the depth of analysis can in turn bring high levels of validity (i.e. providing an accurate and exhaustive measure of what the study is hoping to measure).
strengths of case studies
- The detail collected on a single case may lead to interesting findings that conflict with current theories, and stimulate new paths for research.
in case studies because personal accoutns are from participants and family friends this may be prone to
innacuracy and memory decay
especially if childhood stories are being told
so evidence from case studies mayb e low in validity
what is a content analysis
type of observatoinal research where people are studied indirectly via communications htey produce
what are the forms of data that may be subject to a content analysis
spoken interaction e.g conversation , speech , presentatinos
written form- emails texts
broader examples from the media e.g books, films
what is the aim of content analysis
summairse and describe communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn
give example of content analysis in attachment research
pparents to keep diary of first couple ot years of chids life so you can look at specific behaviours youre intersted in e.g weeks before child goes to nursery weeks after child goes to nursery to see if behaviour changes
what is coding in content analysis
intial stage of content analyssi
where some data sets may be very large so info needs to be categorised into meaningful untis
how can we categorise data into meaningful units
counting up number of times a prtclr word or phrase appears in text to produce a quantitiative form of data
give an exampel of coding in a newspaper
analys # of times deregotatory terms are used for people with mental health issues such as crazy or mad
give example of coding in tv ads
count number of times men and women are depicted in professional roles at work or familial roles at home
what is thematic analysis
a form of content analysis where outcome is ualititative
what is the main process of thematic analysi
identificatino of themes
what is a theme in content analysis
any idea implici or explicit that is recurrent
compare tehmes to coding units
more descripitiv e
a theme for people with mental health issues may be drain on resources on the nhs - these may be developed into broader categories such as
contorl
stereotyping
treatment
of people with mental health issues
once researcher is satisfied with themes theyve devloepd covering most aspects of data theyve analysed what may they do
collect a new set of data to test validity of the themes and categories
assuming our themes and categories explain the new data accuratey what will researcher do
researcher will write up final report, typically using direct quotes from the data to illustrate each theme
assuming our themes and categories explain the new data accuratey what will researcher do
researcher will write up final report, typically using direct quotes from the data to illustrate each themes
strength of content analysis
flexible - can produce both qualitative and quantitative data depending on the aims of the research
ethical issues not a problem - as majority of info used in a content analysis already exists in the public domain so eprmission is not an issue
high external validity - due to realistic nature of data
limitation of content analysis
people studied indeirectly , so comm they produce are analysed outside of context in which they ocured
so danger researcher may attribute opinions and motivations to the speaker/writer that werent originally intended
so lacks objectivity
counter point to limitation of content analysis
many modern researchers clear about how their own biases and preconceptions influence the research process and often make refernce ot these as part of theri final report
