Research Methods YEAR 2

Question 1

What are case studies

Answer 1

An in depth investigation , description and analysis of a single individual group institution or event .

Question 2

What is content analysis

Answer 2

a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining , communications that people produce , for example in texts , emails , TV , film and other media .

Question 3

what is coding

Answer 3

the stage of a content analysis in which the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories (which maybe words , sentences , phrases )

Question 4

WHAT IS thematic analysis

Answer 4

an inductive and qualitative approach to analysis , that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data . Themes will often emerge once the data has been coded .

Question 5

What do case studies consist of

Answer 5

They usually consist of analysis of unusual individuals or events , such as a person with a rare disorder , or the sequence of events that led to the 2011 riots :::

-But case studies may also concentrate on more typical cases such a s an elderly person’s recollections of their childhood .

Question 6

What may conducting a case study consist of (1)

Answer 6

Conducting a case study usually consist of the production of qualitative data .
-Researchers may construct a case history of the individual concerned , by using interviews observations , questionnaires or a combination of these .

Question 7

What may conducting a case study consist of (2)

Answer 7

It is even possible , that the person maybe subject to experimental or psychological testing , to assess what they are or are not capable of , this may produce quantitative data .

-Case studies tend to take place over a long period of time (longitudinal) and may involve additional data from family and friends of the individual as well as the person themselves .

Question 8

What information may be subject to content analysis

Answer 8

it is wide ranging , including spoken interaction ( such as conversation or speech / presentation ) written forms (texts or emails ) or broad like magazines tv programmes .

-The aim is to summarise and describe this communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn .

Question 9

How may one code (1)

Answer 9

-May involve simply counting up the number of times a particular word or phrase appears in the text to counting up to produce quantitative data .

-Newspaper repots for example .

Question 10

What does thematic analysis refer to

Answer 10

-Thematic analysis refers to any ideas explicit or implicit , that is recurrent , in other words keeps cropping part as part of the communication being studied .

Question 11

what type of data is thematic analysis

Answer 11

These are likely to be descriptive than the coding units describe above . Mental health in newspapers misrepresented a as a threat to the well being of children . Drain on resources on NHS , such themes may then be developed into broader categories such as control or stereotyping .

Question 12

what does the researcher to do once they are happy with the categories in their thematic analysis ?

Answer 12

Once the researcher is satisfied with the themes that they have developed and that they cover most of the aspects of the data that they were analysing they may collect a new set of data , to test the VALIDITY of the themes and categories . Assuming these explain the new data adequately the researcher will write up the final report , typically using direct quotes from the data to illustrate each theme .

Question 13

Evaluation - strengths of case studies

Answer 13

Case studies are able to offer rich ,detailed insights that may shed light on very unusual and atypical forms of behaviour . This may be preferred to the more superficial forms of data that might be collected from say an experiment or questionnaire .

Question 14

Evaluation - strengths of case studies (2)

Answer 14

As well as this , case studies may contribute to our understanding of typical functioning . For example the case of HM , was significant as it demonstrated typical memory processing - the existence of separate stores of STM AND LTM .

Question 15

Evaluation - strengths of case studies conclusion

Answer 15

Case studies may generate hypotheses for future study and one solitary contradictory instance may lad to the revision of an entire theory the single pebble that starts an avalanche .

Question 16

Evaluation - limitations on case studies

Answer 16

Generalisation of findings is obviously an issue when dealing with such small sample , sizes . Furthermore , the information that makes it into the final report is based on the subjective section and interpretation of the researcher .

Question 17

Evaluation - limitations on case studies (2)

Answer 17

Add this to the fact that personal accounts from the participants and their family and friends may be prone to inaccuracy and memory decay , especially if childhood stores are being told . This means that evidence from case studies begins to look a little low in validity .

Question 18

EVALUATION - strengths of content analysis

Answer 18

content analysis is useful in that it can circumnavigate many of the ethical issues normally associated with psychological research . Much of the materials that an analyst might want to study , such as TV adverts film , personal ads may already exist within the public domain .

Question 19

EVALUATION - strengths of content analysis (2)

Answer 19

Thus there are no issues , with obtaining , permission . Such communications have the benefit of being high in external validity , and may access data of a sensitive nature provided the authors consent to its use .
-We have also seen that content analysis is flexible in the sense that it may produce both qualitative and quantitative data depending on the aims of the research .

Question 20

Evaluation - limitation of content analysis (1)

Answer 20

People tend to be studied indirectly , as part of content analysis so the communications , they produce are usually analysed outside , of the context within which it occurred . There is a danger (similar to case studies above ) , that theresearchers may attribute opinions and motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended originally.

Question 21

Evaluation - limitation of content analysis (2)

Answer 21

To be fair , many modern analysts are clear about how their own biases and preconceptions influence the research process , and often make reference to these as part of their final report (see the idea of reflexivity on page 95) . However content , analysis may suffer from a lack of objectivity , especially when more descriptive forms of thematic analysis are employed .