Research methods Year 2 Flashcards
strengths of case studies
offer rich detailed insight into unusual behaviour
may contribute to our understanding of typical function
can help generate hypotheses and theories
What is a case study
usually analysis of unusual individuals/events to provide in depth analysis
Tend to take place over a long period of time
may be subject to interviews, observations, testing …
limitations of case studies
generalisation as sample size is so small
information in the report is based on researchers opinion
personal accounts can be inaccurate
what is content analysis
observational researcher where people are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced
aims to summarise and describe communication in a systematic way so conclusions can be drawn
what is coding in content analysis
initial stage of analysis if data set is large
categorises info into meaningful units e.g. no. times a specific word appears
produces quantitative data
what is thematic analysis in content analysis
involves the identification of themes that cover most aspects of the data
strengths of content analysis
can get around ethical issues as communications are public so permission is not needed
high external validity
flexible as can produce quantitative and qualitative data
limitations of content analysis
as people are studied indirectly they are analysed outside of original context
researcher may attribute opinions to the speaker/writer that were not originally intended
less objective especially in thematic analysis
what is reliability
measure of consistency
if a measurement is made twice and produces the same result the measurement is reliable
ways to assess reliability
test-retest
inter-observer reliability
what is test-retest
administering the same test or questionnaire to the same person on different occasions
if the result obtained is the same or very similar it is reliable
must be sufficient time between tests so Ps don’t remember answer but also haven’t changed too much
test scores may be correlated to see if significant and positive
What is inter-observer reliability
used in observations to check observers are applying behavioural categories in the same way
more than one observer then results compared
how to improve questionnaire reliability
test-retest correlation should be +0.8 or more
questions that are ambiguous or open may need to be removed
how to improve interview reliability
use same interviewer every time
don’t ask leading questions
use a structure interview
how to improve observation reliability
operationalise behavioural categories
train observers on the behavioural categories
how to improve experiments reliability
standardise procedures
what is validity
whether or not an observed effect is a genuine one
what is face validity
the extent to which test items look like what the test claims to measure
what is concurrent validity
means of establishing validity by comparing an existing test or questionnaire to the one you are interested in
what is ecological validity
the ability to generalise a research effect beyond the particular setting in which it is demonstrated to other settings
what is temporal validity
the ability to generalise a research effect beyond the particular time period of that study
how to assess validity
face validity
concurrent validity
how to improve face validity
revise questions/method so they relate more obviously to the topic
how to improve concurrent validity
remove questions that are irrelevant
what are the 7 features of science
empirical methods
objectivity
replicability
theory construction
hypothesis testing
falsifiability
paradigms
paradigm shift
what are empirical methods
information gained through direct observation or experiment
what is objectivity
when data is not affected by the expectations of the researcher
conditions must be carefully controlled
what is replicability
procedures must be recorded carefully so someone else can repeat them to verify the original results to be valid
what is theory construction
a collection of general principles that explain observations and facts
help to understand and predict natural phenomena
what is hypothesis testing
testing the validity of a theory
theories must be able to generate testable expectations stated in the form of a hypothesis
What is falsifiability
the ability to prove a hypothesis wrong
what is a paradigm
a shared set of assumptions about the subject matter of a discipline and the methods appropriate to its study
what is a paradigm shift
when disconfirming evidence of a paradigm accumulates until it can longer be maintained resulting in a shift
e.g. people thought the earth was the centre of the universe for 2000 years then this belief was overthrown
what is involved in reporting psychological investigations
abstract
introduction
method
results
discussion
references
what is in an abstract
short summary including all major elements of the article to give reader a quick picture of the study and its results
what is in an introduction
review of previous research that leads logically to the study being conducted
reader knows what other research has been done and the reasons for the current study
what is in a method
detailed description of what the researcher did with enough information for replication
design e.g. repeated measure or covert observation etc
participants - how many, sampling, details e.g. age
apparatus
procedures including standardise instructions, test environment order of events etc
ethics and how they were dealt with
what is in a results
descriptive statistics
inferential statistics
qualitative research will give categories and themes with examples
what is in a discussion
summary of the results
relationship to previous research
may include criticisms of method and improvements
implication for psychological theory and real-world
suggestions for future research
how to reference a journal
Author, date, title of article, journal title, volume (issue number), page numbers
how to reference a book
author, date, title, place of publication, publisher
what is nominal data
represented in the form of categories e.g. colours
what is ordinal data
data that can be ordered but there are not equal intervals between each unit e.g. how much you like something 1-10
what is interval data
data that includes units of equal precisely defined size e.g. seconds
when to use the sign test
paired or related data
nominal data
how to do the sign test
assign each pair of data a + or - or 0 for no difference
add pluses and minuses
select the smaller value
find critical vale
if calculated value is equal or less than critical value result is significant
What is probability
a measure of the chance that a certain event will occur
what is a null hypothesis
an assumption that there is no relationship in the population with respect to the variables being studied
what is the alternative hypothesis
a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables
what is a type I error
when the null hypothesis is rejected when it is true
what is a type II error
when the null hypothesis is retained when it was not true
sentence for choosing statistical test
cocks should come
men will spunk
unless really pissed
