Year 2 Research methods Flashcards
What is research methods?
The processes by which information or data is collected usually for the purpose of testing a hypothesis and/ or a theory.
What is a correlation?
A mathematical technique in which a researcher investigates as association between two variables (co-variables).
What is a correlation coefficient?
A number between -1 and +1 that represents the direction and strength of a relationship between co-variables.
What are correlations plotted on?
Correlations are plotted on a scattergram where each axis represents one of the variables investigated.
What is a +1 correlation?
A +1 correlation is a perfect positive correlation.
What is a -1 correlation?
A -1 correlation is a perfect negative correlation.
Explain what the correlation coefficient means.
The closer the coefficient is to +1 or -1, the stronger the relationship between the co-variables is; the closer to zero, the weaker the relationship is.
However, certain coefficients that appear to indicate weak correlations can still be statistically significant - it depends on the size of the data set.
What does ‘r’ mean when talking about correlations?
The letter ‘r’ stands for correlation coefficient.
What is descriptive statistics?
Descriptive statistics refer to things like graphs, tables and summary statistics (such as measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion). They are used to identify trends and analyse sets of data.
What is inferential statistics?
Inferential statistics refers to the use of statistical tests which tell psychologists whether the differences or relationships they have found are statistically significant or not. This helps decide which hypothesis to accept and which to reject. A correlation coefficient is calculated using a statistical test an, as such, is an inferential statistic.
What is a case study?
An in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event.
They often involve analysis of unusual individuals or events .
How do you conduct a case study?
Conducting a case study usually involves the production of qualitative data. Researchers will construct a case history of the individual concerned and they may be subject to experimental or psychological testing to assess what they are (or are not) capable of, and this may produce quantitative data.
Case studies tend to take place over a long period of time (longitudinal) and may involve gathering additional data from family and friends of the individual as well as the person themselves.
What is content analysis?
A research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce (in texts, emails, TV, film and other media).
This is also turning qualitative data into quantitative data.
Explain content analysis.
Content analysis is a type of observational research in which people are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced. The aim is to summarise and describe this communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn.
What is coding in content analysis?
Coding is the initial stage of content analysis. It is the stage in which the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories.
It is essentially categorising information into meaningful units.
What is thematic analysis in content analysis?
Thematic analysis is 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.
What is a theme in content analysis?
A theme in content analysis refers to any idea, explicit or implicit, that is recurrent.
Once a theme has been identified it can then be developed into broader categories.
What happens once a theme has been identified in content analysis?
Once the researcher is satisfied that the themes they have developed cover most aspects of the data they are 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.
What are the strengths of case studies?
- 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 an experiment or questionnaire.
- Case studies may contribute to our understanding of ‘normal’ functioning. E.g. the case of HM demonstrated ‘normal’ memory processing - the existence of separate stores in STM and LTM.
- Case studies may generate hypotheses for future study and one solitary, contradictory instance may lead to the revision of an entire theory.
What are the limitations of case studies?
- Generalisation of findings is obviously an issue when dealing with such small sample sizes. Also, the information that makes the final report is based on the subjective selection and interpretation of the researcher.
- Personal accounts from participants or their family and friends may be prone to inaccuracy and memory decay, especially if childhood stories are being told. This means that the evidence from case studies begins to look low in validity.
What are the strengths of content analysis?
- Content analysis is useful because it can get around (circumnavigate) many of the ethical issues normally associated with psychological research. Normally all the evidence needed all ready exists and so there is no issues with obtaining permission.
- Communication of sensitive nature such as a conversation by text is high in external validity.
- Content analysis is flexible as it can produce both qualitative and quantitative data depending on the aims of the research.
What are the limitations of content analysis?
- People tend to be studied indirectly as part of content analysis so the communication they produce is usually analysed outside of the context within which is occurred. There is danger that the researcher may attribute opinions and motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended originally.
- Content analysis may suffer from a lack of objectivity, especially when more descriptive forms of thematic analysis are employed.
Describe Matthews et al’s study?
Matthews et al analysed 1,200 instances of graffiti gathered from toilet walls in US bars. Graffiti was coded according to a number of distinct categories: sexual references, socio-political, entertainment, physical presence, love/romance and scatological (an interest in excrement and excretion).
Graffiti was also classified in terms of whether it was interactive (a response to other graffiti) or independent.
They found that males composed significantly more sexual and physical presence graffiti, whilst females authored more romantic and interactive graffiti.
How do you conduct a content analysis?
- Sampling method – Time or event sampling?
- Recording data – Should the data be transcribed or recorded? Should the data be collected by an individual researcher or within a team?
- Analysing and representing data – How should the material be categorised or coded in order to summarise it? Should the number of times something is mentioned be calculated (quantitative analysis) or described using themes (qualitative analysis)?
What is reliability?
Reliability is a measure of consistency, it refers to how consistent the findings from an investigation or measuring device are. In general terms, if a particular measurement can be repeated then that measurement is described as being reliable.
What are the two ways to assess reliability?
Test-retest
Inter-observer reliability
What is test-retest reliability?
A method of assessing the reliability of a questionnaire or psychological test by assessing the same person on two separate occasions. This shows to what extent the test (or other measure) produces the same answers (to show if it is consistent or reliable).
There must be sufficient time between test and retest to ensure that the participant cannot recall their answers to the questions to a survey but not so long that their attitudes, opinions or abilities may have changed.
How do you test-retest using a questionnaire or test?
The two sets of scores would be correlated to make sure they are similar. If the correlation turns out to be significant (and positive) then the reliability of the measuring instrument is assumed to be good.
What is inter-observer reliability?
The extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observations of a behaviour. There is an issue relevant to observational research that one researcher’s interpretation of events may differ widely from someone else’s - introducing subjectivity, bias and unreliability into the data collection process. Inter-observer reliability is measured by correlating the observations of two or more observers.
What is the formula for reliability / inter-observer reliability?
A general rule is that if (total number of agreements) / (total number of observations) > +0.80, the data has high inter-observer reliability.
How is inter-observer reliability established?
This may involve a small-scale trial run (a pilot study) of the observation in order to check that observers are applying behavioural categories in the same way, or it may be reported at the end of a study to show that the data collected was reliable.
Observers need to watch the same event, or sequence of events, but record their data independently.
The data collected by the two observers should be correlated to assess its reliability.
When using this with content analysis or interviews it is referred to as inter-rater reliability and inter-interviewer reliability.
How do you improve reliability with questionnaires?
The reliability of questionnaires over time should be measured using the test-retest method. Comparing two sets of data should produce a correlation that exceeds +0.80.
A questionnaire that produces low test - retest reliability may require some of the items to be ‘deselected’ or rewritten.
How do you improve reliability with interviews?
For interviews the best way to ensure reliability is to use the same interviewer each time. If this is not possible or practical, all interviewers must be properly trained so.
E.g. An interviewer should not ask questions that are too leading or ambiguous. This is more easily avoided in structured interviews where the interviewer’s behaviour is more controlled by the fixed questions.
Interviews that are unstructured and more ‘free-flowing’ are less likely to be reliable.
Why are experiments reliable?
What can affect reliability?
Lab experiments are often described as being ‘reliable’ because the researcher can exert strict control over many aspects of the procedure.
One thing that may affect the reliability of a finding is if participants were tested under slightly different conditions each time they were tested.
How do you improve reliability with observations?
The reliability of observations can be improved by making sure that behavioural categories have been properly operationalised, and that they are measurable and self-evident.
Categories should not overlap and all possible behaviours should be covered on the checklist.
If categories are not operationalised well, or are overlapping or absent, different observers have to make their own judgements of what to record where and may well end up with differing and inconsistent records.
Define validity.
The extent to which an observed effect is genuine.
What is validity?
Validity refers to whether a test, observation, experiment… produces a result that is legitimate. It is whether the observed effect is genuine and represents what is actually ‘out there’ in the real world.
What is internal validity?
Whether the researcher has managed to measure what they intended to measure.
What is external validity?
The extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the research setting in which they were found
Can a test be reliable but not valid?
It is possible for studies and measures to produce reliable data that is not valid.
E.g. a broken set of scales may give a consistent reading of someone’s weight which is an inaccurate reading. Therefore, the scales are reliable but the weight recorded is not true so the measurement lacks validity.
What does internal validity refer to?
Internal validity refers to whether the effects observed in an experiment are due to the manipulation of the IV and not some other factor.
One threat to internal validity is if participants respond to demand characteristics and act in a way they think is expected.
What is ecological validity?
Ecological validity concerns generalising findings from one setting to other settings. It is a form of external validity that measures the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other settings and situations.
It is not about how natural a setting is but how much a task is like everyday life.
What is temporal validity?
Temporal validity is the issue of whether findings from a particular study, or concepts within a particular theory, hold true over time. It is a form of external validity.
What is face validity?
A basic form of validity that measures whether something, a test or scale, etc, appears to on the face of it measure what it is supposed to measure.
What is concurrent validity?
The extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure.
A test would have concurrent validity if the results obtained are very close to, or match, those obtained on another recognised and well-established test.
How do you improve validity on experimental research?
In experimental research, validity is improved in many ways.
- Using control groups means that a researcher is better able to assess whether changes in the dependent variable were due to the effect of the IV.
- Standardising procedures minimises the impact of participant reactivity and investigator effects on the validity of the outcome.
- Single blind and double blind procedures also reduce the impact of participant reactivity and investigator effects.
How do you improve validity on questionnaires?
Many questionnaires and tests incorporate a lie scale within the questions in order to assess the consistency of a respondent’s response and to control for the effects of social desirability bias.
Validity may be further enhanced by assuring respondents that all data submitted will remain anonymous.
How do you improve validity on observations?
Observational research may produce findings that have high ecological validity as there may be minimal intervention by the researcher, especially in covert observations.
Behavioural categories that are too broad, overlapping or ambiguous may have a negative impact on the validity of the data collected. Therefore, behavioural categories need to be identified to increase validity.
Does qualitative or quantitative data have higher ecological validity?
Qualitative methods of research usually have higher ecological validity than quantitative, less interpretative methods of research. This is because the depth and detail provided by qualitative methods is better able to reflect the participant’s reality.
What is interpretive validity?
The extent to which the researcher’s interpretation of events matches those of their participants.
What is triangulation?
A way to further enhance validity, it is the use of a number of different sources as evidence.
What are the levels of measurement?
Nominal data
Ordinal data
Interval data
What are statistical tests?
Tests that are used to determine whether a significant difference or correlation exists and consequently whether the null hypothesis should be rejected or accepted.
