research methods (y2) Flashcards
what is a correlation?
investigate an association between 2 variables
what is a correlation coefficient?
A number between -1 and +1 that represents the direction and strength of a relationship between co variables
What is a strong correlation and weak?
strong is closer to -1 or +1 and weak is closer to 0
What is a case study?
Involve analysis of unusual individuals, events, groups and institution
What is a content analysis?
A research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce
What is the initial stage of content analysis and what does it consist of?
Coding - data is analysed and categorised into meaningful units
What is thematic analysis?
A theme is identified which is a idea, explicit or implicit thing that is recurrent
Is thematic analysis more quantitative or qualitative?
qualitative as they are more descriptive
a03 - case studies?
STRENGTH
- rich detail insight that shed light on atypical forms of behaviour
- eg HM as it demonstrated memory processing
LIMITATIONS
- generalizations is hard when using a small sample size
- based on subjective selection and interpretation
- personal accounts from ppts and their family/friends may have inaccuracy
A03 - content analysis
STRENGTHS
- circumnavigate all of the ethical issues normally associated with psychological research
- things such as adverts, fims already exists in the personal domain
- high in external validity
LIMITATIONS
- people tend to be studied indirectly as part of content analysis so communications that occurred are analyze outside of context within it occurred
- researcher may attribute opinions that were not there originally
- lack of objectivity
what is reliability?
how consistent a measurement is and the results that come from it
What are the two ways of assessing reliability?
Test-Retest
Inter observer reliability
What is test retest
- Administer same test to the same person on different occasions
- If it is reliable then results should be similar each time they are administered
- Must be sufficient time between test-retest so they cannot recall answers
- Two sets of scores would be correlated
What is inter-observer reliability?
The extent to which there is agreement between 2 or more observers involved in observations of a business, measured by correlating the observations of 2 or more observers.
How do you establish inter observer reliability ?
- involve a small scale trial run
- check that observers are applying behavioural categories in the same way
- data should be correlated to assess its reliability
How do you measure reliability?
Correlation Coefficient which should exceed +80 for reliability
how do you improve reliability in questionnaires?
- test retest
- comparing two sets of data produces a correlation exceeding +80
- if the correlation is lower the items may be deselected
- replace open questions with fixed questions
how do you improve reliability in interviews?
- same interviewer
- interviews must be properly trained
- use structured interviews
how do you improve reliability in observations?
- behavioural categories have been properly operationalised to reduce subjectivity and overlapping
how do you improve reliability in experiments?
standardised procedures
what is validity?
the extent to which an observed effect is genuine and if the researcher has managed to measure what they were looking to measure
what is the two types of validity and differences?
internal - whether the effects observed in an experiment are due to IV manipulation or some other factor
external - whether factors can be generalised to outside and if any factors can influence findings
what is a threat to internal validity?
demand characteristics
what is ecological validity?
generalising the findings from a study to other settings
what is temporal validity?
findings or concepts from a particular study hold true over time
what are the ways of assessing validity?
face validity - measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears what it is supposed to measure
concurrent validity - the results obtained matched another well established regular test result at a +80 coefficent
how do you improve validity in an experiment?
- control group to see whether changes in the DV were due to IV
- standardise procedures to reduce bias and effects
- single and double blind
how do you improve validity in a questionnaire?
- incorporate a lie scale in order to assess consistency of a respondents response and control social desirability
how do you improve validity in an observation?
- covert
- in depth behavioural categories that do not overlap
how do you improve validity in qualitative research?
- depth and detail better reflects reality
- ensure interpretation matches reality
what is triangulation?
the use of a number of different sources as evidence
what is a paradigm? - feautures of science
a paradigm is a set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
what is a paradigm shift ?- feautures of science
the results of a scientific revolution when there is a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline
what is a theory? - feautures of science
a theory is a set of general laws or principles that have the ability to explain particular events or behaviours
what is theory constuction? - feautures of science
Occurs through gathering evidence via direct observation
what is hypothesis testing? - feautures of science
Testing a hypothesis using systematic and objective methods to determine whether it will be supported or refuted
what is deduction? - feautures of science
deriving new hypotheses from an existing theory
what is falsifiability? - feautures of science
genuine scientific theories should hold themselves up for hypothesis testing and being proved false
what are pseudosciences? - feautures of science
theories that cannot be falsified
what is replicability? - features of science
assess validity of a finding by repeating over a number of different contexts and circumstances then we can see the extent to which it can be generalised
what is objectivity?- features of science
this is where researchers must keep a distance from research to ensure they do not allow their personal opinions or biases discolour data or influence behaviour of ppts
what is the empirical method? - features of science
importance of data collected from direct, sensory, experiences
what is the abstract and what does it include ? - reporting psychological investigations
short summary of 150-200 words that includes aims, hypothesis, methods, results and conclusions
what is the introduction and what does it include ? - reporting psychological investigations
literature review of general area of research detailing theories, concepts and studies related to current study
follow a logical progression becoming more specific until aims and hypotheses presented
what is the method and what does it include ? - reporting psychological investigations
design - independent/naturalistic and justification
sample - how many ppts/ demographic/ method/ target pop
apparatus - assessments used
procedure - briefing, standardised instructions, debriefing
ethics- how they were addressed
what is the results section and what does it include ? - reporting psychological investigations
summarise key findings
descriptive stats
inferential stats
raw data
qualitative methods
what is the discussion and what does it include ? - reporting psychological investigations
summarise results verbally
discuss limitations and how to improve
wider implications
how does referencing work for a journal ?
author (s) , date , title , journal name (italics) , volume issue, page number
how does referencing work for a book?
author (s) , date, title, place of publication, publisher
