Research Methods Flashcards
Outline and evaluate case studies
case studies are a detailed, in-depth investigation of an individual, a small group or an institution/event.
- offer a rich insight into unusual or atypical behaviour
- may generate hypotheses for future study
- generalisability because of small sample size
- if the use of retrospective data is required, it may hinder the validity and/or reliability of findings obtained as human memory is fallible
Define content analysis, coding and thematic analysis
Content analysis: an indirect study of behaviour by examining communications between people, such as texts, films or other media
Coding: a stage of content analysis which allows communication to be studied by identifying particular (behavioural) categories
Thematic analysis: a process of content analysis that involves the identification of explicit or implicit ideas that are recurrent within the data
Evaluate content analysis
- can study things that may not be able to be investigated otherwise as a result of ethical issues as the media is already pre-existing in the public domain
- flexible: can produce either qualitative or quantitative data depending on the aims of the research
- people are studied indirectly as part of content analysis, meaning their communications are often analysed outside of the context in which it occurred
- may suffer from a lack of objectivity if descriptive forms of thematic analysis are employed
Define reliability, test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability
Reliability: the extent to which the findings from a study are consistent
Test-retest reliability: a method of assessing the reliability of a questionnaire by assessing the same person with the same test at a different time to ensure consistency in the measure
Inter-rater reliability: the extent to which there is consistency/agreement between two or more observers by correlating their observations. More than +.80 is said to have high inter-rater reliability
Define validity, ecological validity and mundane realism
Validity: the extent to which an observed effect is genuine
Ecological validity: the extent to which findings from a study can be generalised to other situations
Mundane realism: when the task used to measure the DV is not reflective of real life; ecological validity is affected by the level of mundane realism
Outline face, concurrent and temporal validity
Face Validity: a basic form of validity which looks at whether a measure/test appears to measure what it aims to
Concurrent Validity: the extent to which a new psychological measure/test correlates to an existing, pre-validated measure
Temporal Validity: the extent to which findings from research can be generalised to other time periods/eras (another form of external validity)
Describe each level of measurement
1) Nominal: categorical data (discrete)
2) Ordinal: data that is ordered or ranked with no equal interval between each unit; often subjective
3) Interval: numerical data where the difference between each point is standardised, e.g: time.
What things must be considered when choosing a statistical test?
1) Level of measurement
2) Whether the experimenter is looking for a difference or a correlation
3) whether a related or unrelated experimental design is used
What criteria must be met in order for a parametric test to be used?
1) homogeneity of variance: set of scores that have a similar dispersion across each condition
2) data must be of the interval level
3) the variable should be expected to show a normal distribution across the population
What is meant by the term `levels of significance’?
Levels of significance refers to the likelihood of any difference shown from the results being due to chance; the significance level shows the point at which the null hypothesis (H0) should be rejected and the alternative (H1) accepted
When should your calculated value be greater than your critical value to be deemed significant?
If there is an ‘R’ in the name of the statistical test.
What is a type 1 error?
- A false positive
- An incorrect rejection of the null and incorrect acceptance of the alternative; no real difference
What is a type II error?
- A false negative
- An incorrect acceptance of the null and incorrect rejection of the alternative; real difference
When is a type I and a type II error likely to occur?
when more stringent significance levels (such as p
What is a paradigm and a paradigm shift?
Paradigm: a set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
Paradigm Shift: a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline; the result f a scientific revolution
