Ch 2. Research Designs

Question 1

A framework for the collection and analysis of data

Answer 1

Research Design

Question 2

What is a nomothetic explanation?

Answer 2

Involve attributions of cause-and-effect, expressed in terms of
general laws and principles (typically quantitative)

Question 3

Nomothetic explanations must satisfy what three criteria of causation?

Answer 3

• Correlation
• Time order
• Non-spuriousness

Question 4

What is an idiographic explanation?

Answer 4

Involve a rich description of a person or group and seek to explain
the particular (typically qualitative)

Not meant to apply to persons/groups who were not part of the study. Wants to have an empathetic understanding.

Question 5

What are specific research methods that can be selected once a design is selected?

Answer 5

– Questionnaire
– Structured interview
– Participant observation
– Ethnography
– Experiments

Question 6

What are four research designs?

Answer 6

• Experimental design
• Cross-sectional design
• Longitudinal design(s)
• Case study design

Question 7

True experiments are common in psychology and organizational studies but rare in…

Answer 7

…sociology or political science

Question 8

What are two kinds of experiments?

Answer 8

1. field experiments (real-life surroundings)
2. laboratory experiments (artificial environments)

Question 9

Experimental designs are done through the manipulation of variables. What are variables?

Answer 9

characteristics or attributes of data that vary or change (e.g., gender, age, interest in a subject, belief)

Question 10

What is the difference between an independent variable & dependent variable?

Answer 10

Independent variables are manipulated to see if they have an impact
on dependent variables

Question 11

What is the difference between experimental/treatment group and the control group?

Answer 11

The experimental or treatment group receives a treatment or
manipulation of some kind while the control group does not get treatment/manipulation

Question 12

participants are placed in the experimental or control group using a random method

Answer 12

Random assignment

Question 13

Pre-test (experiment)

Answer 13

measurement of the dependent variable before the experimental manipulation

Question 14

Post-test (experiment)

Answer 14

measurement of the dependent variable after the experimental manipulation

Question 15

• Independent and dependent variables are identified
• Dependent variable is observed/measured (pre-test) in control
  and treatment groups and recorded at T1 (time 1)
• The treatment group receives the treatment while the control group is left alone
• The dependent variable is observed/measured (post-test) in each of the control and treatment groups and recoded as occurring at T2 (time 2)
• Any changes in each group are noted

Answer 15

Classic Experimental Design

Question 16

True experimental evidence would eliminate what?

Answer 16

all other possible (rival) explanations for the change in the dependent variable in the treatment group

Question 17

Validity is concerned with…

Answer 17

…the integrity of the conclusions generated by a piece of research. Are we measuring what we want to measure?

Question 18

Internal validity is concerned with the issue of…

Answer 18

…whether causation has been established by a particular study

Question 19

• history (some event may have influenced dependent variable)
• testing (pre-test may have influenced dependent variable)
• instrumentation (changes in the way a test is administered)
• mortality
• maturation (participants change over time)
• selection (post-test differences may have been caused by pre-existing differences)

Answer 19

What are some threats to internal validity? (6)

Question 20

What involves the question “Are you measuring what you want to measure?”

Answer 20

Measurement Validity

Question 21

External validity has what two primary concerns?

Answer 21

Are the findings applicable to situations outside the research environment?
Can the findings be generalized beyond the people or cases studied?

Question 22

• the representativeness of the study participants
• the effects of the setting
• history effects
• effect of pretesting
• reactive effects of experimental arrangements (behaving atypically)

Answer 22

What are threats to external validity?

Question 23

The results remain the same when others repeat all or part of a study and the procedures used to conduct the research are sound and are spelled out

Answer 23

Replicability

Question 24

What are the benefits and limitations of a laboratory experiment?

Answer 24

Benefits: greater control over the environment as an asset and easier to assign participants randomly to conditions

Limitations: low external validity in a test tube environment

Question 25

Quasi-experiments differ from true experiments in that...

Answer 25

...internal validity is harder to establish

Question 26

Involve taking observations at one point in time (no “before” and “after” comparisons). They do not include a manipulation of the independent variable. Two ore more variables are measured to detect patterns of association. One strength of the design is that it can examine the effect of variables that cannot be manipulated in experiments.

Answer 26

Cross-Sectional designs

Question 27

What are the issues with cross-sectional design?

Answer 27

- establishing internal validity and establishing the direction of causation - establishing external validity if random methods are not used

Question 28

Cases are examined at a particular time (T1), and again at a later time or times (T2, T3, etc.) These designs provide information about the time-order of changes in certain variables which helps establish the direction of causation.

Answer 28

Longitudinal Design

Question 29

What are two basic types of longitudinal designs?

Answer 29

1. panel study: the same people studied at different times 2. cohort study: people sharing the same experience are studied at different times, but different people may be studied at each time

Question 30

What are the drawbacks of longitudinal design? (3)

Answer 30

– Attrition over time – It may be difficult to determine when subsequent waves of the study should be conducted – Panel conditioning: People’s attitudes and behaviours may change as a result of participating in a panel

Question 31

Involves an in-depth study of a single case (person, family, organization) and can involve qualitative and/or quantitative research methods. Achieving external validity is not the main purpose. Goal is to provide in-depth descriptions of the characteristics of a particular case that cannot be achieved using other methods

Answer 31

Case Study Design

Question 32

Types of cases in case study design (2)

Answer 32

1. critical case: illustrates the conditions under which a certain hypothesis holds or does not hold 2. extreme/unique case: illustrates unusual cases, which help in understanding more common ones

Question 33

Be able to write a table of the four research designs covered which are:

Answer 33

1. experimental 2. cross-sectional 3. longitudinal 4. case study