WEEK 3 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS Flashcards
Quantitative research
Deduce assumptions from prior theory, test those assumptions and conform or reject them in a systemic way.
Operationalization
Defining the construct of what we want to measure.
- behavior or construct.
- observable or latent.
- IV, DV, mediator or moderator.
Measurement
the quantification of a variable so it can be compared and related to other variables
Reliability
consistency of the measure. Are the results similar at different times?
Validity
whether a measure actually measures what we suppose to measure.
Internal validity
the extent to which an experiment is free from errors and the difference in measurement are only due to the manipulated variable.
- are there no other aspects that may cause difference in result?
External validity
the extent to which the findings of the study are generalizable to other people, contexts, and stimuli.
- specific sample? diversity in sample?
Ecological validity
the extent to which the findings of the study are generalizable to real-world life-settings.
- experiment setting, real behavior? real feeling/ attitude reported?
Self-reports
Answers that are given by the participants
Measurement biases
- open vs. closed response format
- interpretation of rating scales
- reference point of frequency scales
- question wording and order
- scale direction
Acquiescence responding style
tendency to always agree
Disacquiescene responding
tendency to always disagree
Netacquiescene responding
tendency to show a greater agreement than disagreement
Extreme responding
tendency to answer too extreme values
Response range
tendency to always chose narrow or broad ranges
Midpoint responding
tendency to always chose the middle option
Non-contingent responding
carelessly responding
Recall/ Memory bias
when participants do not accurately remember their past behavior they are questioned about.
Social desirability bias
respondents’ perception of what is socially accepted answer.
Click-through and attention bias
when the participants fail to read the instructions or answers.
Self-selection bias
when participants who select themselves to participate in the survey differ from those who do not participate.
Non-response bias
when actual participants differ from non-participants
Survey
uses structured questionnaires administrated to a sample of the target population, designed to gather information from participants.
Webscraping
collecting data from the internet for research purposes.
Secondary data
data previously collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand.
