Week 1 Flashcards
Experimental methods
Why do we need to use the Scientific Method?
To make research is objective and reliable
Provides a framework to which studies can be done in a systematic way
What are the steps of the scientific method
- observe and gather data
- make generalisations
- develop a theory
- hypothesis to test theory
- experiment
- results, either support or disprove theory
What is inductive reasoning?
A particular occurrence and then moving on to see if it is a general human behaviour
When does inductive reasoning take place?
At the beginning of the scientific process
What is deductive reasoning?
A logical argument where we use developed rules to conduct an experiment and obtain a conclusion
When does deductive reasoning take place?
At the end of the scientific process
Who coined the term falsifiability?
Karl Popper
What does falsifiability mean?
defining theories in a way that means they can be proven wrong
An example of falsifiability
behaviour is learnt from observing others
THINK Bandura’s Bobo doll study
Quantitative data is…
data in numerical form
e.g. counting the number of times something occurs
Qualitative data is…
data left in its original form of meaning
e.g. speech or text
What can you do with Qualitative data
Content Analysis
What is content analysis?
developing themes or codes that emerge from the data
Why do we use content analysis?
by organising and obtaining meaning from the data collected it helps us to draw realistic conclusions
How do we support our developed themes and codes?
by using evidence from the source e.g. quotations
What information do we obtain from qualitative data?
Rich
Full of information and detail about peoples emotions and opinions
What information to we obtain from quantitative data?
Narrow and constrained by categories
How is qualitative data interpreted?
Subjective
Researchers examining data may come up with different ideas/themes, it depends on the perceptions of the researcher
How is quantitative data interpreted?
Objective
All researchers will come up with the same answer. its verifiable information based on facts
How reliable is qualitative data?
Low
When we examine the data we don’t always come up with the same answers
How reliable is quantitative data?
High
A number of different researchers examining the same data will come up with the same answer
What setting is qualitative data?
Realistic, natural often set in the real work
What setting is quantitative data?
Artificial and collected form lab setting
When would we use qualitative data?
In exploratory research, like trying to come up with a theory of hypothesis and develop an idea
When would we use quantitative data?
In confirmatory research, when trying to support or challenge a theory
How could we generate qualitative data?
Informal discussions
Interviews or Focus groups
Use of open questions
How could we generate quantitative data?
Usually in the form of an experiment, very focused and specific
A statistical approach that uses a range of target measures
What part of the scientific method need to be falsifiable?
The hypothesis
Why does a hypothesis need to be feasible?
it must be able to be carried out
think - time and money
Why do we need to collect quantitative data when we have already collected qualitative data?
qualitative data doesn’t give us evidence, we need stats to give us probabilities and help us prove right from wrong
