Week 2 : Research Strategies Flashcards
Theory
An orderly, integrated set of statements that
describes, explains and predicts
behaviour
Hypothesis
A prediction drawn
from a theory
Scientific method
-Identify a research question
-Propose a hypothesis
-Choose a research method/ design
-Collect data
-Draw conclusion.
Typically pictured as a cycle
Give examples of research methods
Systematic Observation
*Self-Reports
* Neurobiological Methods
* Clinical, or Case Study Methods
*Ethnography
What are two types of systematic observation
-Naturalistic
-Structured observation
What is naturalistic observation as a research method? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
-occurs in the natural context i.e. school, home, kindergarten, playground. Anywhere the child normally interacts
-Strengths = Reflect everyday behaviours
-Limits =
1. Conditions cannot be controlled (confounding variables in the environment i.e. hard to isolate why the behavior is occurring), or the behaviour may not occur very frequently / at all
2. Possibility of observer influence/ bias
What is structured observation as a research method? What are the advantages/ disadvantages? What is an example?
-Occurs in a lab setting e.g. John Watson white rat experiment. NOTE = lab setting doesn’t mean it is super sterile -> usually they try to mimick a normal environment
-Strengths =
1.conditions are the same for all participants (i.e. the ordering of conditions)
2. allows the study of behaviours that may occurs infrequently in everyday life
-Limits =
1. May not yield typical behaviours
2. possibility of observer influence/ bias
What type of research method did John Bowlby’s student Mary Ainsworth use?
-Structured observation
-Wanted to gain more insight into the attachment style of children with their parents.
-Watched a video in class of an experiment where the child is initially in a room (Lab setting but made to look semi homey) with mother and stranger, then mother leaves the child with just the stranger.
-The child’s reaction to the mother’s return (reunion) is monitored particularly. Cries when leaves and mother able to soothe on return is a sign of a secure attachment.
-Strengths = variable can be controlled in a ‘lab setting’ and it’s relatively quick can be repeated with multiple children
-Limitations = it’s still a lab setting and child might respond differently than when at home, observer influence
What is observer influence?
-Observer influence the validity of findings from both naturalistic and structured observation. People tend to behave differently when they know they are being monitored/ observed or when there is a new person in the environment that isn’t usually there and children are the exact same.
-In some cases the experimenter can accidently cue or look for certain behaviours i.e. a bias is present
What are the two main types of self-report ?
-Clinical interview
-Structured interview
What is a clinical interview? Examples? Strengths and Weaknesses?
Key Features
* Flexible, conversational style employed to probe for the
participant’s point of view
Strengths
* Permit people to display their thoughts in terms that are close
to the way they think in everyday life
* Generate a large amount of information in a fairly short time
Limitations
* Participants do not necessarily report their thoughts, feelings,
and experiences accurately
* Flexibility may make responses too varied
Examples = doctors -> ask an initial why are here then let your response guide their questions
What is a Structured interviews? Examples? Strengths and Weaknesses?
Key Features
* Each participant is asked the same set of questions in the same way
Strengths
* Eliminates most interviewer bias
* Efficient (more so than clinical interview because more precise)
Limitations
* Can still be affected by inaccurate reporting
* Not as in-depth as a clinical interview
What is reliability? Examples
The extent to which an instrument or a method yields consistent results, both over time and across raters or observers
-A recipe, car starting, consistency in research
Validity? What are the two sub types of validity?
The extent to which an instrument or a method measures what it was actually intended to measure.
External validity: The degree to which a study’s “findings generalise to settings and participants outside the original
study” (Berk, 2013, p. 55).
Internal validity: “The degree to which conditions internal to the design of the study permit an accurate test of the
researcher’s hypothesis and research question” (Berk, 2013, p.
55)
What are some reasons why the Dunedin study has his internal validity?
-There is high confidentiality and trust between the researchers and participants which means the retention rate remains high (around 96%) and you keep people in the study who are at the ‘extremes’. People fell comfortable disclosing sensitive things because they know they won’t be outed
Correlational design… example?
- A design that enables the relationship between variables to be explored.
- Within the field of child development, researchers use this approach to look at relationships between participants’
characteristics and their behaviour or development. - No attempt is made to alter the participants’ natural circumstances.
- Does not permit inferences about cause-and-effect relationships (would need an experimental design for this)
Example = The more that children observe acts of violence on TV, the more inclined they will be to behave aggressively toward their own peers. Bandura’s bobo doll experiment.
What is a correlational coefficient?
-Number that describes how two variables are related to each other
Positive or negative numbers refers to the direction rather than the strength I.e. +1 and –1 are equally strong of a relationship
Experimental Designs
Permit inferences about cause and effect.
* Involve researchers randomly assigning participants to two or more treatment conditions and studying the effect
that manipulating an independent variable has on a dependent variable.
What is an independent variable?
The aspect of the environment
that the investigator modifies or
manipulates.
- The variable that the investigator
expects to cause changes in
another variable.
What is a dependent variable?
- The aspect of the environment
that the investigator measures,
but does NOT modify. - Assumed to be under the control
or influence of the independent
variable.
A researcher wants to find out which
of two interventions is more effective
in promoting children’s self control.
*What is the independent variable?
*What is the dependent variable?
IV = type of intervention
DV= measure or level of self control
What is a confounding variable?
Factors other than the independent variable that could explain
differences across the treatment conditions in participants’
performance on the dependent variable
What is random assignment?
All participants in a research study have an equal chance of being
assigned to each condition.
What is matching?
- A research procedure in which participants are measured ahead of
time on the factor in question, enabling investigators to assign
participants with similar characteristics in equal numbers to each
treatment group.
Longitudinal Design- what is it?
- A research strategy in which “one group of participants is studied repeatedly at different ages” (Berk, 2013 Glossary).
- A longitudinal study may span:
-A relatively short period: A few months–several years
-An extended period: A decade or a lifetime
e.g. Dunedin study, growing up in NZ
Strengths of longitudinal design?
- Enables common patterns and individual differences in development to be identified.
- Enables the relationship between early and later events and behaviours to be examined.
Limitations off longitudinal design?
Longitudinal studies can be threatened by:
* Biased sampling (Not so much in Dunedin study because it was opt out, but growing up in NZ study is opt in so you risk only certain types signing up )
* Selective attrition (People who are most interesting are harder to keep in)
* Cost
* Cohort effects
-Practice effects
-Time-related effects stemming from changes in field (e.g. technology)
What is selective attrition and how do we limit it?
Selective attrition refers to the tendency for certain individuals to drop out of a study or research project at higher rates than others, leading to a non-random loss of participants.
-Dunedin study really good at bringing people back and make sure they keep participating
e.g. flying people back, going to people who can’t come like prisons
Retention rate is at 96% of surviving participants
What is a cross sectional design study?
In the cross-sectional design, groups of people in
different age groups, or cohorts, are studied at the same
point in time using a similar measure.
Strengths of cross-sectional design?
Great for describing
age-related trends
-More time efficient = don’t have wait for the people to grow to measure a variable at different ages
- Avoids the problems associated with:
- Selective attrition
- Practice effects
Disadvantages of cross-sectional design?
-Does not permit the study of individual
developmental trends
- Can be threatened by cohort effects e.g. the cohort of 5 years could be very different to the cohort of 3 year olds irrespective of age
Ethics and Children’s Research Rights
and example
- Protection from harm
- Informed consent
- Right to refuse involvement
- Right to withdraw
- Right to Privacy
- Right to results
-> For example = Ethics have changed since the Dunedin study which was opt out, the growing up in New Zealand study is opt in i.e. have to specifically decide you want to be a part of it
