Research methods:Non Experimental Methods Flashcards
Self report
Obtaining data by asking questions and recording their answers. Standardised set of questions given.
Self report e.g.
Questionnaire
Interviews
What is Observations and types
Involves watching ps and recording their behaviours. Naturalistic, Controlled
Naturalistic observation
:) :(
Observing natural interactions No manipulation Not interfered with Less demand characteristics,high ecological validity Lack of informed consent
Controlled/ lab observation
:) :(
Observing behaviour of ps in a controlled setting
Ps often know they’re being observed
Variables controlled by researcher
EVs controlled so high replicability
But demand characteristics, low ecological validity
Observational techniques
Overt, covert, participant, non participant
what is Overt observation
Ps aware they’re being observed
ZIMBARDO
No ethical issues
But Demand characteristics and Hawthorne effect
what is Covert observation
Ps remain unaware of being observed
Festinger cult study
Limits demand characteristics
Lack of informed consent, difficult to record
what is Participant observation
Observers actively involved in situation being observed, getting more hands on perspective
ZIMBARDO
Deeper understanding
Observer may influence behaviour, risk of bias
what is Non participant
Observers not actively involved in behaviour being studied Watching from afar Ainsworth strange situation study Open minded so objective But Less understanding of behaviour
what is Structured observation
Observers use various systems to organise observations. Behavioural charactertics which r operationalised e.g.
Checklists, event time sampling like tallies , rating scales
what is Unstructured observation
Observers record all relevant behaviour,
has no system. Often used as pilot study.
Running record or Anecdotal/incidental record
what is Case study
An in depth study that gathers a lot of detail about one person or small group
Usually longitudinal.
Range of sources : individuals, family, friends
Techniques: psychological tests, observations, interviews, experiments
Case study :)
Rich, in depth qualitative data can be collected
Complex interaction of factors can be studied
Can study unique cases that might be unethical to manipulate
Case study :(
Difficult to generalise - low population validity as each person has unique factors
Subjective - maybe affected by investigator bias - low internal validity
Difficult to replicate
Time consuming, difficult to analyse
what is Content analysis
Form of observation but instead of people you study their communications instead like newspapers, TV adverts. The analysis of the content created by humans.
Qualitative content analysis
Thematic analysis- to identify themes and patterns in data
- Familiarisation - read and reread to gain meaning
- Break data Into meaningful sections
- Coding - break data into codes
- Combines codes into larger generalised themes
Quantitative content analysis
- Sampling
- Familiarise
- Construct categories
- Collect data - tally
- Draw conclusion
Content analysis :)
No social desirability / demand charactertics - improves internal validity
High mundane realism - high ecological validity cuz its already exists
High replicabiloty
No ethical issues cuz no ps
Content analysis :(
Time consuming- incomplete analysis - affects internal validity
Identifying patterns only - no cause and effect
Observer bias - affects internal validity
Improve validity of content analysis
Use double blind
Use clearly operationalised and defined codes/ categories
Improve Reliability or content analysis
Have more than 1 observer
Use inter rater reliability
Use same coding sheet or behavioural categories s
Types of Qs in questionnaires
Open qs: qualitative data - rich in detail, narrative. allows ps to answer however they want.
Closed Qs: quantitative data. restricts ps to predetermined set of responses. e.g. checklists, ranking scale.
Questionnaires good and bad
can gain insight into peoples views, opinions and attitudes. can gather large amounts of data very easily. highly replicable. BUT self-reports subjective/biased, response set (always reply in same way without reading q), open questions difficult to analyse, low response rate.
Design questionnaire
ensure qs are clear and unambiguous, avoid leading qs, filler qs can be used to mislead ps
Steps in Questionnaire
- Decide which attitudes/behaviours/traits you want to measure
- Decide whether you want qualitative or quantitative data
- Decide which sort of questions you will ask
- Pilot and modify questionnaire
- Collect data
Interviews what is it
an interviewer asks questions verbally and ps respond verbally.
Structured interview
Follows standardised qs
Unstructured interview
Questions change and adapt to the conversation
Interviews bad
Social desirability bias-giving answers that are politically correct, interview bias: interviewers show their own opinion which influences the answers. Difficult to analyse and compare unstructured interviews.
Recording methods in interviews
- wait until interview is over and write notes on ps responses - full attention given, but may forget details.
- Take notes on ps responses during the interview. - everything recorded, distracting+time consuming
- use tape recorder and transcribe ps responses later - full attention but misses non-verbal cues
- use video camera and transcribe later - all info recorded but need to have consent.
interviews good
can gain insight into attitudes, thoughts or feelings of ps. Unstructured - deeper understanding/more detail. Structured - replicable. Can assess nonverbal commubnication and verbal.
Improve reliability of case studies by…
Using inter-observer reliability
