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PIRM > Week 5: Key principles of scientific research > Flashcards

Week 5: Key principles of scientific research Flashcards

1
Q

What are the four key components of the scientific method?

A
  • verifiability
  • predictability
  • falsifiability
  • fairness
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2
Q

Describe verifiability

A
  • experiments must be replicable

- methods should be documented and experiment structure and results clearly explained

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3
Q

Describe predictability

A
  • implies that the theory should enable us to make predictions about future events
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4
Q

Describe falsifiability

A
  • whether a hypothesis can be disproved
  • it must be logically possible to make an observation or do a physical experiment that would show there is no support for a hypothesis
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5
Q

Describe fairness

A
  • all data must be soldiered when evaluating hypotheses

- researcher cannot pick and choose what data to keep and what to discard or focus specifically on

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6
Q

What is the key principle of the hypothetico-inductive model

A
  • causes have effects
  • cause effect relationship can be deduced by experimentation, observation and measurement
  • the universe is governed by rules
  • acquiring knowledge involves testing and refining hypotheses by falsification
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7
Q

What does reductionism say?

A

All phenomena can be broken down into smaller parts that can be subjected to hypothesis testing (reductionism)

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8
Q

Describe positivism

A
  • absolute truths in nature can be discerned by careful observation and measurement
  • the more accurately they can be described by maths the greater their positivity
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9
Q

Describe post-positivism

A
  • important to be aware of factors that may have biased the outcome or interpretation of a set of observations
  • it is impossible to prove something, as a single observation can undo a theory
  • however it is possible to design experiments to disprove a hypothesis
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10
Q

List three important elements of critical thinking

A
  • scepticism
  • objectivity
  • open mindedness
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11
Q

How is social constructivism different from post positivism?

A

Instead of starting with a hypothesis and then trying to falsify it, social constructivists go into situations with no opinion

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12
Q

What is the key principle of social constructivism?

A

Individuals seek to give meaning to their experiences and the researcher can only fully understand the situation by compiling the diversity of meanings/viewpoints

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13
Q

In their questioning, social constructivists…

A
  • non directive
  • objective
  • open minded as possible
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14
Q

Rather than starting with a hypothesis, grounded theorists…

A

They start with no position and then gradually build up a hypothesis, that is inductively based on the multiple view points they have obtained

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15
Q

What does advocacy/participatory research argue?

A
  • post positivism entrenches beliefs and view points of middle aged males
  • minorities and other people need a voice
  • social constructivism describes situations rather than addressing social inequities or assisting marginalised peoples
  • we need to actively address inequities
  • knowledge is power and should be used to address societal change
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16
Q

Principles of advocacy/participatory research

A
  • research should be intertwined with politics and have a political agenda
  • empowerment, inequality, oppression, domination, suppression
  • helps participants become more aware of the injustice of their situation
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17
Q

What are the main three methods of data collection?

A
  • quant
  • qual
  • mixed
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18
Q

Describe quantitative strategies

A
  • turns observations into numbers
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19
Q

How are numbers useful in quant studies?

A
  • universal language
  • simple
  • exact, precise
  • objective - enable comparisons
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20
Q

What are the three broad categories of quantitative research

A
  • experiments
  • correlations
  • surveys
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21
Q

Describe experiments

A

Determine the influence of an intervention on an outcome. Typically by comparing one group that received the intervention with one that did not

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22
Q

Describe correlations

A

Use population data to determine whether one subgroup differs from another and infer to the contribution of a particular variable to that outcome

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23
Q

Describe surveys

A

Uses questionnaires or structured interviews to obtain information about a sample population which is then generalised to a larger population

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24
Q

How does research methodology involve compromise?

A

High precision studies may give up some relevance to the real world, however observational work won’t be as accurate

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25
Q

List qualitative strategies

A
  • ethnography
  • grounded theory
  • case study
  • phenomenological
  • narrative
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26
Q

Describe ethnography

A

Observations and interviews conducted over a prolonged period of time in an intact cultural group in their natural setting with the aim of understanding the beliefs and societal norms that underpin the culture

27
Q

Describe grounded theory

A

An iterative approach where information from non directed interviews is used to develop a hypothesis which is tested against further observations until a consistent view is arrived at

28
Q

Describe a case study

A

A detail examination, through multiple lines of enquiry, of a single event or individual

29
Q

Describe phenomenological strategies

A

Prolonged observations and interviews conducted with a small number of individuals in order to understand how their lived experience has shaped the meaning they attach to an aspect of their lives

30
Q

Describe narrative strategies

A

An individual is encouraged to relate their life’s story in great detail in order to illuminate the factors that have shaped that person’s beliefs and led to their current situation

31
Q

What is the origin of quant

A

Logical empiricism

32
Q

What is the origin of qual

A

Theoretical

33
Q

What is the goal of qual

A

Understanding, description, discovery, hypothesis generation

34
Q

What is the goal of quant

A

Prediction, control, confirmation, hypothesis, testing

35
Q

Design characteristics of qual

A

Flexible, evolving, emergent

36
Q

Design characteristics of quant

A

Predetermined, structured

37
Q

Setting of quant

A

Unfamilliar, articificial

38
Q

Setting of qual

A

Natural, familiar

39
Q

Sample of qual

A

Small, non random, theoretical

40
Q

Sample of quant

A

Large, random, representative

41
Q

Data collection in qual

A

Researcher led interviews, observations

42
Q

Data collection in quant

A

Instruments (scales, tests, surveys, etc)

43
Q

Mode of analysis in qual

A

Inductive (by researcher)

44
Q

Mode of analysis in quant

A

Deductive (stats methods)

45
Q

Findings of qual

A

Comprehensive, holistic

46
Q

Findings of quant

A

Precise, narrow, reductionist

47
Q

Two methods of mixed method strategies

A
  • sequential

- concurrent

48
Q

Describe sequential mixed methods

A

Begins with a quantitative or qualitative study and then follows up with the opposite

49
Q

Describe concurrent mixed methods

A

Complementary quantitative and qualitative investigations are undertaken together, on the same subjects

50
Q

Describe sensitivity

A

Capacity of a test to correctly detect the presence of a particular condition ‘true positives’

51
Q

Describe specificity

A

Capacity of a test to correctly detect the absence of a particular condition ‘true negatives’

52
Q

What are the four types of validity?

A
  • content
  • predictive
  • concurrent
  • construct
53
Q

Content validity

A

Do the items measure the content they’re supposed to?

54
Q

Predictive validity?

A

Do the results have predictive value?

55
Q

Concurrent validity?

A

Do the results correlate with results from other measures?

56
Q

Construct validity?

A

Do the results measure hypothetical concepts and do the scores have a useful application in practice?

57
Q

What is reliability?

A

The consistency of the measurement tool: the extent to which the same result is obtained on repeated testing of the same subject

58
Q

Discuss some threats to internal validity

A

Aspects of experimental design or measurement that may limit the ability to make correct inferences from the data about the study population

59
Q

Threats to external validity

A

Characteristics of the sample population, the research setting or the timing of the research that may limit the ability to make accurate generalisations to groups beyond the study population

60
Q

List some of the common threats to internal validity (MR. SMITH)

A
  • maturation
  • regression to the mean
  • selection of subjects
  • subject naivety
  • mortality
  • instrumentation
  • testing
  • history
61
Q

Describe maturation

A

The individual subjects may change or mature during the project

62
Q

Describe mortality

A

Drop out of participants during the study

63
Q

Common threats to external validity

A
  • narrow population characteristics
  • setting of data collection
  • historical timing of the research

PIRM (11 decks)

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