Research Methods, Y2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a case study

A

A detailed and in depth analysis of an individual/group/institution or event

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2
Q

What do case studies involve

A

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

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3
Q

What does conducting a case study involve

A

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

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4
Q

How long so case studies last

A

Take place over long period of time (longitudinal) and may involve gathering additional data from family/ friends and person themself

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5
Q

What is content analysis

A

Type of observational research where people indirectly studied via communications they have produced

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6
Q

What are the forms of communication in content analysis

A

Wide ranging but may include spoke interactions, written forms, broader examples from media lien magazines or tv shows

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7
Q

What is the aim of content analysis

A

To summarise and describe this communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn

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8
Q

What is coding in content analysis

A

The initial stage, some data sets analysed may be very large and needs to be categorised into meaningful units

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9
Q

What does coding involve

A

Counting up number of times a particular phrase appears to produce quantitative data

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10
Q

What is an example of coding

A

Newspaper articles analysed for derogatory terms for people with mental health issues, like crazy or mad

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11
Q

What is thematic analysis

A

A form of content analysis but outcome is qualitative

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12
Q

What is main process in thematic analysis

A

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

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13
Q

What is an example of thematic analysis

A

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

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14
Q

What are strengths of case studies

A

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

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15
Q

What are limitations of case studies

A

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

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16
Q

What are strengths in content analysis

A

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

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17
Q

What are limitations of content analysis

A

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

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18
Q

What is reliability

A

A measure of consistency, if a certain measurement is made twice and produces the same result then that measurement is reliable

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19
Q

What would we expect if we did a test in psychology on one day and on another day

A

We would expect same results, unless the thing has changed

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20
Q

What ways do we assess reliability

A

Test-retest, inter-observer reliability, measuring reliability

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21
Q

What is test-retest for assessing reliability

A

Involves administering same test/questionnaire to same people on different occasions, if test is reliable results will be similar on all different occasions

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22
Q

What must happen when using test-retest for reliability

A

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

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23
Q

test-retest method used for what studies

A

Questionnaires and psychological test and interviews

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24
Q

When using test-retest for test or interview what can be done with results

A

To scores can be correlated to ensure they’re similar, if correlation is significant and positive then reliability is good

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25
Q

When is inter-observer reliability used (for what studies) to measure reliability

A

Observational research, as it is subjective, bias and unreliable

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26
Q

How does inter rater reliability work

A

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

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27
Q

When is inter observer reliability also used

A

For content analysis and inter interviewer reliability can be used for interviews

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28
Q

How is reliability measured

A

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

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29
Q

How can questionnaires improve their reliability

A

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

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30
Q

How can interviews improve their reliability

A

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

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31
Q

How can observations improve their reliability

A

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

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32
Q

How can experiments improve their reliability

A

The procedure must be consistent to compare reliability. So if the experiment has a standardised procedure it is likely to be reliable

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33
Q

what is valdity

A

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

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34
Q

what is an example of a study producing reliable data that is not valid

A

a broken set of scales may give a constant reading of weight but it is not the correct weight

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35
Q

what is internal validity

A

whether the effects observed in an experiment are due to manipulation of the independent variable and not some other factor

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36
Q

what is a major threat to internal validity in an experiment

A

if participants respond to demand characteristics and act in a way they believe is expected of them

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37
Q

what is external validity

A

factors outside the investigation like generalising to other settings, other populations of people and other eras

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38
Q

what is ecological validity

A

type of external validity concerns generalising findings from a study to other settings like everyday life

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39
Q

do lab studies always have low ecological validity

A

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

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40
Q

what is temporal validity

A

issue of if findings from a certain concept or study stay true over time,

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41
Q

what is an example of temporal validity

A

Asch experiments produced from a certain conformist era and may produce different results if repeated today

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42
Q

what is face validity

A

a basic form of validity where a measure is scrutinised to determine if it measures what its supposed to measure

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43
Q

what is a basic form of validity

A

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

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44
Q

how is face validity measured

A

eyeballing the measuring instrument or passing it to an expert to check

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45
Q

what is concurrent validity

A

extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure

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46
Q

when is concurrent validity of a test or scale demonstrated

A

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

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47
Q

how is validity improved in experiments

A

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,

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48
Q

how is validity improved in questionaires

A

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

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49
Q

how is validity improved in observations

A

observer remains undetected, covert observations, meaning behaviour is authentic and natural, narrow behavioural categories which are unambiguous was improve validity too

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50
Q

how is validity improved in qualitative research

A

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)

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51
Q

what is statistical testing used for

A

to determine wether a difference/association/correlation is statistically significant which has implications for accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis

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52
Q

what 3 factors must be considered when deciding what statisitcal test to use

A

whether the researcher is looking for a difference or correlation, in case of difference what experimental design is being used, level of measurement

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53
Q

Why is it important to first work out if its a difference or correlation when choosing a statistical test

A

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

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54
Q

Why is it important to 2nd work out the experimental design when choosing a statistical test

A

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

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55
Q

When is chi-squared used

A

nominal data, with unrelated design, or nominal datas with test of association/correlation

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56
Q

when is Mann-whitney usede

A

with ordinal data and unrelated design

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57
Q

when is unrelated t-test used

A

with interval data and unreleated design

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58
Q

when is sign test used

A

nominal data and related design

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59
Q

when is wilcoxon used

A

ordinal data with related design

60
Q

when is related t-est used

A

interval data and related design

61
Q

when is spearmans rho used

A

ordinal data and test or association/correlation

62
Q

when is pearson’s r used

A

interval data with test of association/correlation

63
Q

what can quantative data be divided into

A

different levels of measurement, the 3rd factor infulencing statistical tests

64
Q

what are the 3 levels of measurement

A

interval, ordinal and nominal

65
Q

what is nominal data

A

data represented in categories, It is descrete data (1 item can only appear in 1 category)

65
Q

what is nominal data

A

data represented in categories, It is descrete data (1 item can only appear in 1 category)

66
Q

what is ordinal data

A

data is ordered in some way, it doesn’t have equal interval between each unit like interval data, it lacks presision as based on subjective opinion. Ordinal data due to its low reliablity is not used as part of statistical testing, instead raw scores converted to ranks and ranks are used for calculations

67
Q

what is interval data

A

based on numeric scales including units of equality and precisly defined size. Interval data is better than ordinal and ordinal is better than nominal so it is the most precise data in psychology, it is a necessary critera for parametric tests

68
Q

what is sign test

A

statisitcal test for difference in scores between related related items, data should be nominal level or better

69
Q

what is spearmans rho

A

a tets for correlation when data is atleast ordinal level

70
Q

what is Pearsons r

A

a parametric test for a correlation when data is at interval level

71
Q

what is wilcoxon

A

a test for a difference between 2 sets of scores when data is ordinal level and using related design

72
Q

what is Mann-Whitney

A

test for difference between 2 sets of scores, data should be ordinal or above or using unreleated design

73
Q

what is related t-test

A

a parametric test for difference between 2 sets of scores, data must be interval level with related design

74
Q

what is unrelated t-test

A

parametric test for difference btween 2 sets of scores, data must be interval with unrelated design

75
Q

what is chi-squared

A

test for an association between 2 variables/conditions, data should be nominal level using unrelated design

76
Q

is a null hypothesis dirctional or non-directional

A

can be both

77
Q

What is a null hypothesis

A

states there is no difference between the conditions

78
Q

what do statistical test do

A

determine if null hypothesis or alternative hypothesis is true, if we accept or reject null hypothesis

79
Q

what is alternative hypothesis

A

the opposite of null hypothesis, what we accept if we reject the null hypothesis

80
Q

what are statistical tests based on

A

probability not certainty

81
Q

what is a level of significance in statistical testing

A

point at which researcher can claim they found a large enough difference or correlation within data to claim an effect has been found, point at which researcher rejects null hypothesis

82
Q

in psychology what is the level of significance

A

0.05, 5%

83
Q

what does 5% level of significance mean

A

mean that probability that observed effect occured when there is no effect in the population is equal to or less than 5%, so even when research claims significant diffefrence still 5% change difference it isn’t true

84
Q

can psychologists ever be 100% certain with statistical testing

A

no there is always a chance it isn’t accurate, based on probability

85
Q

what is tthe calculated value

A

the resulting number from a statistical test

86
Q

how is the calculated value found to be significant or insignificant

A

it is compared to a critical value, this number says whether to accept or reject null hypothesis, for some tests number must be < or equal to for others it must be > or equal to

87
Q

what are the 3 criteria to know which critical values to use

A

ore or two tailed, number of participants in study, level of significant

88
Q

what is 1 or 2 tailed in determining which critical value to use

A

use 1 tailed if directional hypothesis and 2 tailed for non-dirctional hypothesis, probability levels double when 2 tailed hypothesis is used as more conservative prediction

89
Q

what is number of participants in study in determining which critical value to use

A

appears as N value or for some degreees of freedom calculated instead

90
Q

what is level of significance in determining which critical value to use

A

0.05 is stanard level of signifcance in psychology so that is used for all statistical tests

91
Q

when is 0.01 level of significnce used

A

when their is human cost, like in a drug trial or in studies that can’t be repeated in the future because the lower the P value is the more statistically significant the results are

92
Q

what is a type 1 error

A

when null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis accepted when it should be other way round as infact null hypothesis is true, reffered to as false positive when researcher claims to have found a statistical difference when there is none

93
Q

as psychologists cant be 100% certain with statistical tests what are the 2 errors that can be made

A

type 1 error and type 2 error

94
Q

what is a type 2 error

A

null hypothesis is accepted when alternative hypothesis should have been accepted, reffered to as false negative

95
Q

when are were likely to make type 1 error

A

if significant level is to high, 10% instead of 5%

96
Q

when are were likely to make type 2 error

A

when significance level it too strict 1% instead of 5%

97
Q

why do psychologists have 5% level of significance

A

it is balance between type 1 and type 2 error

98
Q

What data is needed for Masnn-Whitney

A

independant groups, so unrelated design, levelm of measurement is ordinal and data is converted into ranks to test for a difference

99
Q

what is step 1 of Mann-whitney

A

rank the ratings. Need to consider data from both data sets at the same time. Lowest number has rank 1. If 2 numbers have same rank add them up find the mean and give them both this number.

100
Q

what is step 2 of Mann-whitney

A

work out value of U. Add up ranks of each data set separatly (R1) (R2), N=number of participants. add these into given formula to get U, calculate value

101
Q

what is step 3 of Mann-whitney

A

calculated and critical values. Need to know if hypothesis is 1 or 2 tailed to find critical value. If calculate value is lower than critical value we say results are significant and reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis.

102
Q

what is step 1 wilcoxon

A

cal;culate difference and rank difference, ranking done on difference between 2 data sets and signs ignored, if 0, not included in ranking and removed from N value

103
Q

what is step 2 wilcoxon

A

working out value of T, T= sum of the ranks of the less frequent sign (either + or -)

104
Q

what is step 3 wilcoxonq

A

calculated and critical values, if calculated value is lower than critical value it is significant

105
Q

what is step 1 unrelated t-test

A

table of data, Calculate sum of data set A and data set B separately, square each value in data set and and B and calculate sum of all squared values, separatly for A and B

106
Q

what is step 2 unrelated t-test

A

working out t, plot numbers into given formula

107
Q

what is step 3 unrelated t-test

A

calculated and critical values, calculated value must be higher than critical value for results to be significant

108
Q

what is step 1 related t-test

A

calculate difference between scores of condition A and B and sqaure each difference, add up values of difference and add up values of difference squared separatly

109
Q

what is step 2 related t-test

A

working out t, plot all values into formula given

110
Q

what is step 3 related t-test

A

calculated value must be higher than critical value to be significant

111
Q

what is step 1 spearman’s rho

A

table of ranks, rank each set of scores separately in each conditon from lowest to highest, if 2 or more scores same add them and find there mean

112
Q

what is step 2 spearman’s rho

A

calculate the difference, find difference between each pair of ranks and square the difference and add up squared difference, then plot these into formula to calculate rho.

113
Q

what is step 3 spearman’s rho

A

calculated value must be higher than critical value to be significant

114
Q

what is step 1 pearson’s r

A

table of data, calculate sum of scores for X and Y, square each X value and Y value, multiply X and Y for each participant and add XY all together

115
Q

what is step 2 pearson’s r

A

work out r value, plot numbers into given formula

116
Q

what is step 3 pearson’s r

A

calculated value must be higher than critical value to be significant

117
Q

what is step 1 chi-squared

A

2 x 2 contigency table, draw 2x2 table showing observed frequencies

118
Q

what is step 2 chi-squared

A

expected frequencies calculated (frequency we wld expect if no difference between groups). Calculate by multiplying total of row by total of column divided by grand total

119
Q

what is step 3 chi-squared

A

put data info formula to calculate x*2

120
Q

what is step 4 chi-squared

A

if calculated value is higher than critical value results are significant

121
Q

what are the 6 sections to a scientific report

A

abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, referencing

122
Q

what is an abstract

A

short summary (200 words) that includes all major elements: aims/hypotheses, methods, results and conclusions. Psychologists often read abstracts to decide if those studies are worthy of further examination

123
Q

what is an introduction

A

a literature of general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies that relate to currant study, research review should follow logical progression, beginning broadly and gradually becoming more specific until aims and hypotheses are presented

124
Q

what is a mehtod

A

Method should include enough detail so other researchers can replicate it, the 5 elements are design, sample, apparatus, procedure, ethics

125
Q

what is design in writing a method

A

design is clearly stated and justification given, e.g. independent group, naturalistic, repeated measures, covert

126
Q

what is sample in writing a method

A

info related to poeple involved in study, sampling method and target population

127
Q

what is apparatus in writing a method

A

detail of any assessment instruments used and other relevant materials

128
Q

what is procedure in writing a method

A

recipie style list of everything that happened in the investigation form beginning to end including verbal records of what was said to participants (briefing, standardised instructions, debriefing)

129
Q

what is ethics in writing a method

A

an explanation of how ethical issues addressed in study

130
Q

what are resuklts in writing a report

A

summarise key findings from investigation, likely to include features of descriptive statistics like tables, graphs and charts, measure of central tendency and measures of dispertion. Inferential stats include reference to statistical tests + which hypothesis accepted. Any raw data collected. If any qualitative research produced results will involve analysis of themes/categories

131
Q

what are discussion in writing a report

A

research summarises results in verbal not statistical form, should be discussed in context of evidence presented in intro and other info that may be considered relevant. Researchers should discuss limitations of investigation and how they can be addressed in future studies. Wider implications are considered, e.g. real world application and how findings added to existing knowledge

132
Q

what is referencing in writing a report

A

includes full details of any source material cited in the report

133
Q

what is format for referencing journals

A

author, date, artical title, journal name (italics), volume (issue), page numbers

134
Q

what is format for referencing books

A

author, date, title of book(italics), place of publication, publisher

135
Q

how can be distinguish scientifc and non-scientifc disciplines according to Kuhn

A

paradigm (set of shared assumptions and agreed methods in a scientifc disciploine), when many people share sam eviews such as in process of evolution in natural scinece it can be classed as scientific, but in psychology many dissagreement so no paradigm and cant be classed as scientific

136
Q

what is paradigm shift

A

when group of scientists question an accepted paradigm and eventually so much evidence against this paradigm that a shift occurs to a new paradigm

137
Q

what is a theory

A

a set of genersl laws or principles that have ability to explain certain events/behaviours

138
Q

how does theory consturctions occur

A

through gathering evidence via direct observations (empirical method)

139
Q

what are essential compenents of theory

A

scientifically tested, should suggest number of possible hypothesis and these hypotheses can then be tested using systematic and objective methods to see if we accept or reject it. If accepted provides extra support to theory, if not theory may need ediiting

140
Q

what is deduction

A

process of deriving new hypotheses from existing theoru

141
Q

what is falsifiability

A

principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits possibility of being proven untrue, the strongest theories are those which have yet to be falsified after many attemots as despite researchers best efforts they have not been proved as untrue, this is why alterntive hypothesis always accompanied w null hypothesis, this is a feature of Poppers hypothetico-deductive method

142
Q

what is replicability

A

extent to whioch scientific procedures can be repeated by other researchers in different contexts and circumstances, replication important to determine internal and external validity and reliability

143
Q

why is objectivity important in science

A

investigator must maintain critical distance so their personal biases don’t discolour the data collected, the studies ith more control are usually lab studies and are most objective

144
Q

what is objectivity the basis of

A

the emprical method

145
Q

what is the empirical method

A

data collection based on direct experience and observation, experimental method and obervational method are 2 good examples of empirical method, a theory cannot claim to be scientific if it has not been empirically tested and verified