Research Methods, Y2 Flashcards
What is a case study
A detailed and in depth analysis of an individual/group/institution or event
What do case studies involve
Analysis of unusual individuals or events like a person with a rare disorder or sequence of event that to something. Or they may concentrate on typical cases like elderly person memories of childhood
What does conducting a case study involve
Production of qualitative data, researcher may construct case history of individual concerned using interviews, observations, questionnaires or all of them, person may be subjected to experimental or psychological testing to access what they’re capable of producing quantitative data
How long so case studies last
Take place over long period of time (longitudinal) and may involve gathering additional data from family/ friends and person themself
What is content analysis
Type of observational research where people indirectly studied via communications they have produced
What are the forms of communication in content analysis
Wide ranging but may include spoke interactions, written forms, broader examples from media lien magazines or tv shows
What is the aim of content analysis
To summarise and describe this communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn
What is coding in content analysis
The initial stage, some data sets analysed may be very large and needs to be categorised into meaningful units
What does coding involve
Counting up number of times a particular phrase appears to produce quantitative data
What is an example of coding
Newspaper articles analysed for derogatory terms for people with mental health issues, like crazy or mad
What is thematic analysis
A form of content analysis but outcome is qualitative
What is main process in thematic analysis
Identification of themes, such as any idea, explicit or implicit, that reoccurs in whatever is being studied, likely to be more descriptive than coding units
What is an example of thematic analysis
People with mental health may be misrepresented in newspaper as threat to well being of children or drain on NHS, such themes can be put into broader categories like control, stereotypes, treatment, once researcher Stanford that themes develop cover most aspects they collect new set of data to test validity of theme and categories and if they explain new data research will write up report using direct quite to illustrate themes
What are strengths of case studies
Offer rich, detailed insights that shed light on atypical behaviour, may be preferred to superficial data from questionnaires. Eg. HM helped understanding of typical function by existence of STM and LTM stores. Case studies generate hypothesis for future studies
What are limitations of case studies
Generalisation of findings issue when dealing with small sample size, info based on subjective selection and participant may be prone to memory decay and inaccuracy especially if childhood memory being told, so evidence low in validity
What are strengths in content analysis
Useful to get around ethical issues as lots of material is already existing in public domain so no issues with getting permission. So high in external validity, can also produce both qualitative and quantitative data
What are limitations of content analysis
People studied indirectly so communication analysed outside of context so research may attribute options and motivations that writer didn’t originally intend. Content analysis lacks objectivity especially in thematic Analysis
What is reliability
A measure of consistency, if a certain measurement is made twice and produces the same result then that measurement is reliable
What would we expect if we did a test in psychology on one day and on another day
We would expect same results, unless the thing has changed
What ways do we assess reliability
Test-retest, inter-observer reliability, measuring reliability
What is test-retest for assessing reliability
Involves administering same test/questionnaire to same people on different occasions, if test is reliable results will be similar on all different occasions
What must happen when using test-retest for reliability
Must be sufficient time between the tests to ensure the participant can’t recall their answers but not too long that their attitudes/abilities have changed
test-retest method used for what studies
Questionnaires and psychological test and interviews
When using test-retest for test or interview what can be done with results
To scores can be correlated to ensure they’re similar, if correlation is significant and positive then reliability is good
When is inter-observer reliability used (for what studies) to measure reliability
Observational research, as it is subjective, bias and unreliable
How does inter rater reliability work
May involve small scale trial run of observation to check observers apply behavioural categories in same way or a comparison may be reported at end of study, observers must watch same event bud record data independently, data should be correlated to assess reliability
When is inter observer reliability also used
For content analysis and inter interviewer reliability can be used for interviews
How is reliability measured
Using a correlational analysis, in test-retest and inter observer reliability the 2 sets of scores are correlated. Correlation coefficient must exceed +.80 for reliability
How can questionnaires improve their reliability
If low test-retest reliability found may require some items to be rewritten, if some questions complex/ambiguous, they may be interpreted differently by same person on different occasion, so one solution is to change open questions to closed fixed questions which are less ambitious
How can interviews improve their reliability
The interviewer should be the same each time to ensure reliability, if not possible interviewers must be well trained and not ask leading questions, this is easily done in structured interviews
How can observations improve their reliability
Behavioural categories must be operationalised, measurable and self-evident. Categories shouldn’t overlap and all possible behaviours should be on checklist. If categories aren’t operationalised well, overlap or are absent, different observers make own subjective judgement. If low reliability observer may need more training
How can experiments improve their reliability
The procedure must be consistent to compare reliability. So if the experiment has a standardised procedure it is likely to be reliable
what is valdity
whether a psychological test, observation, experiment produces legitimate results, including whether researcher managed to measure what they intend to measure and the extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the research setting where they were found
what is an example of a study producing reliable data that is not valid
a broken set of scales may give a constant reading of weight but it is not the correct weight
what is internal validity
whether the effects observed in an experiment are due to manipulation of the independent variable and not some other factor
what is a major threat to internal validity in an experiment
if participants respond to demand characteristics and act in a way they believe is expected of them
what is external validity
factors outside the investigation like generalising to other settings, other populations of people and other eras
what is ecological validity
type of external validity concerns generalising findings from a study to other settings like everyday life
do lab studies always have low ecological validity
no, if a task that is used to measure dependant variables in a experiment isn’t like everyday life (low mundane realism) it has lower ecological validity, regardless of what experiment type it is, so must look at multiple factors to determine ecological validity
what is temporal validity
issue of if findings from a certain concept or study stay true over time,
what is an example of temporal validity
Asch experiments produced from a certain conformist era and may produce different results if repeated today
what is face validity
a basic form of validity where a measure is scrutinised to determine if it measures what its supposed to measure
what is a basic form of validity
face validity, whether a test, scale, the measure appears to measure what it’s supposed to, can be determined by eyeballing the experiment or passing it to an expert to check
how is face validity measured
eyeballing the measuring instrument or passing it to an expert to check
what is concurrent validity
extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure
when is concurrent validity of a test or scale demonstrated
when the results obtained are very close to those obtained on another well-establsihed test, a close agreement indicated when the 2 data sets score exceeds a correlation of +.8
how is validity improved in experiments
using a control group so researcher can asses if effect on DV was due to IV, standarise procedure to minimise impact of participant reactivity and investigator effects on validity, use single-blind or double-blind trial to reduce investiagtor effect and effects of demand characteristics,
how is validity improved in questionaires
incorporate a lie scale within to assess the consistency of a response and control for effects of social desirability bias, and validity is higher if participants assured their data is anonymous
how is validity improved in observations
observer remains undetected, covert observations, meaning behaviour is authentic and natural, narrow behavioural categories which are unambiguous was improve validity too
how is validity improved in qualitative research
qualitative research produces interpretive validity of researchers conclusions, the extent to which a researchers interpretation of events match the participants. Coherance of research narrative and direct quotes from participant can improve validity and triangulation (use of a number of different sources as evidence, eg, data complied through interviews with family/friends, diaries, observations, etc)
what is statistical testing used for
to determine wether a difference/association/correlation is statistically significant which has implications for accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis
what 3 factors must be considered when deciding what statisitcal test to use
whether the researcher is looking for a difference or correlation, in case of difference what experimental design is being used, level of measurement
Why is it important to first work out if its a difference or correlation when choosing a statistical test
it relates to the aims of the investigation, it should be obvious from the wording of the hypothesis which one they are looking for. Correlation involves tests that look for associations
Why is it important to 2nd work out the experimental design when choosing a statistical test
repeated measures and matched pairs are refered to as related designs as they either use same participants or partiicpants who are matched on some varobale related to the study. As participants in each condition of independant groups are differenet the design is unrelated. So here the researcher must decide if it is related or unrelated experimental design
When is chi-squared used
nominal data, with unrelated design, or nominal datas with test of association/correlation
when is Mann-whitney usede
with ordinal data and unrelated design
when is unrelated t-test used
with interval data and unreleated design
when is sign test used
nominal data and related design