Research Methods Paper 2 and 3 Flashcards
What is a case study ?
this is an in depth study of one person or a group of people over time
What are the strengths of a case study ?
- in depth analysis increases validity
- the detail collected on a single case can lead to interesting findings that conflict with current theories and create new pathways of research
What are weaknesses of a case study ?
- findings cannot be generalised easily to other individuals
- it is difficult to replicate a study, they lack reliability
What is content analysis ?
its a method used to analyse qualitative data
What are the 4 methods required to create content analysis ?
- Sampling
- Pilot
- Coding categories
- coding/tally
What are the two types of sampling ?
- time sampling: this is where a researcher records behaviour that occur during a time interval
- event sampling: recording information every time a particular event or behaviour on your tally chart occurs
What is a pilot study ?
these are trial versions of proposed studies to test their effectiveness and make improvements
What are coding categories ?
the researcher will create behavioural categories
What is a tally ?
creating a tally chart to record what the researcher finds/obeserves
What is Thematic Analysis ?
this is where when the data has been analysed, it is reviewed repeatedly in order identify trends in the data. The trends are then analysed and are made more refined and relevant.
What is internal reliability ?
this describes the internal consistency of a measure
What is external reliability ?
assesses the consistency when different measures of the same thing are compared
What are the 3 methods used to assess reliability ?
- Test-retest method
- split half method
- inter-rater reliability
What is the test-retest method for when testing for reliability ?
the measure is administered to the same group of people twice. If the results on the two tests are similar, we can assume the test is reliable
What is the split half method when testing for reliability ?
splitting a test into two halves, and comparing the scores in both halves. If the results in the two halves are similar, we can assume the test is reliable
What is inter-rate reliability when testing for reliability ?
if the measure depends upon the interpretation of behaviour, we can compare the results from two or more individuals. If there is a high agreement between the individuals then we can assume the test is reliable.
What is temporal validity ?
its the issue of finding if findings from a particular study hold true over time
What are the 3 methods used to assess validity ?
- Predictive reliability
- Face validity
- Concurrent Validity
What is predictive validity when assessing validity ?
this is used to assess whether a test can predict future outcomes
What is face validity when assessing validity ?
this is when researchers observe a test to determine if it seems to measure what it intends to measure
What is concurrent validity when assessing validity ?
this is when researchers compare a new test to an already established test that measure the same thing
What can compromise internal validity ?
- investigator effects
- participant effects
- poor research design
- situational variables
How can the factors that negatively affect internal validity be solved ?
- Participant effects: maintaining anonymity throughout the study
- Poor research design: randomly
allocating participant’s to different conditions or using counter-balancing - Situational variables: external factors should be controlled or kept the same throughout the whole study to make sure the the findings are not impacted
- Investigator effects: to reduce this effect double blind procedures can be utilised. This is where neither the participant or the investigator know who is receiving a particular treatment or condition, this reduces bias.
What is nominal data ?
data that comes from recording the number of scores which fall into different behavioural categories
What is ordinal data ?
this is data which is a number but only tells you about an order, without having a fixed scale.
What is interval data ?
this is data which is a number with a scale and where each unit on the scale is the same size
How do you write a hypothesis ?
- create an alternative hypothesis of what might happen
- decide whether it is a directional or a non-directional hypothesis
- identify your null hypothesis, during the experiment you will assume this is true and try collect date to disprove the null hypothesis.
Why do we use inferential statistics ?
- to see if our results from our research is due or because the IV has affected the DV
- in the case of a correlation, the relationship between the co-variables is significant
