research methods part 4/5 Flashcards
what does science allow us to do ?
make predictions and control the world
what are the 4 scientific methods that we can use in a study ?
- empirical methods & objectivity
- replicability and falsifiability
-theory constructions & hypothesis testing - paradigms and paradigm shift
what is the aim with empirical methods ?
to gain facts
why is empirical methods important ?
because people can make ‘claims’ on anything but the only way we can verify it to be true is through direct testing
what produces empirical evidence ?
direct testing
what is objectivity ?
basing findings on facts rather then opinions
does something to be scientific need to be objective or subjective ?
objective
what is replicability ?
where we have the ability to repeat a study and test the findings aren’t just a ‘fluke’
- as if it isn’t a fluke then it is reliable
what is necessary for re-testing to happen similarly ?
clear standardised procedures
what is necessary for a scientific theory to be trusted ?
must be repeatable over a number of different context and circumstances
who created the theory that for a study to be truly scientific it needs to be falsifiability ?
karl popper (1934)
what does falsifiable mean ?
for a theory to be proven wrong
why is falsification good for a theory ?
as the more a hypothesis is able to stand up against this process the more likely it is to be true
what is a theory ?
is a set of general laws or rules to explain events or behaviours
what might a theory but put foward for ?
a particular behaviour
what does theory construction include ?
induction
deduction
what does the induction in theory construction resemeble ?
involves the reasoning from the particular to the general
what does the deduction theory resemble in theory theory construction ?
involves reasoning from the general to the particular
what does the theory construction form the basis of ?
of a hypothesis
what is a paradigm ?
a particular set of assumptions or a generally accepted way of thinking wishing a subject or discipline
what did Kuhn (1962) suggest about psychology and social sciences ?
that psychology and other social sciences are not scientific as they do not posse a single paradigm as they have a number of competing assumptions
how often did Kuhn suggest a paradigm shift happens ?
ever so often
what is a paradigm shift ?
where a new way of thinking takes over
when would a paradigm shift happen ?
once enough evidence emerges to challenge the current paradigm
what is a case study ?
an in-depth investigation of a single person, group or event, community
how is case studies typically gathered ?
gathering data in a variety of ways/ sources from different methods
what are the 3 key features of a case study ?
- qualitative data
- quantitative data
- likely to be conducted over a long period of time
how does the researcher gather quantitative data ?
potential experimental testing
what does the researcher use qualitative data for ?
to construct a case history of the subject
what is 2 examples of a caste study ?
- Phineas Cage
- Genie Wiley
what are 2 strengths of case studies ?
- rich, detailed information that focuses on 1 person
- useful at contributing to our understanding of ‘normal’ behaviour
what are 2 weaknesses to case studies ?
- case studies only focus on one person or very small numbers
- they rely on personal accounts of behaviours and experiences
what is content analysis ?
a type of analysis of any from of communication that people produce
why for content analysis are people studies are indirectly ?
because its their communication that’s studies rather than the person themselves
what type of data is used for content analysis ?
- qualitative
- quantitative
- or both
what are examples of communication that can be studies for content analysis ?
- emails
- text messages
- tv programmes
- films
- newspapers
- magazines
- presentations
- interviews
- conversations
what is the aim of content analysis ?
summarise and describe the information in a systematic way so we can draw conclusion
what process is content analysis similar too ?
observation studies
- but observe books instead of people
what does the researcher create in stage 1 ?
quantitative data
what is the first stage in conducting content analysis include ?
coding
what does the researcher do in the first stage of content analysis ?
researcher creates behavioural categories
what does the researcher do with the data after from stage 1 ?
the researcher categories the data into meaningful units
what does the second stage of content analysis include ?
thematic analysis
what 2 things need to be taken into consideration during content analysis ?
- the sampling methods
- how the data should be recorded