jones - research methods Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is a case study?
The detailed study of a single individual, institution or event
-> use information from a range of sources
-> many techniques may be used
What does a case study often involve?
often involves the analysis of unusual individuals or events
Where are case studies usually carried out?
in the real world
What does it mean for a case study to be longditudinal?
follows the individual or group over an extended period of time
What is an example of case study and why?
Genie
- government paid research to be conducted towards whether language could be developed after critical period
What are the ethical issues raised within Genie’s case study?
- protection from harm
- informed consent
What did the case study of Phineas Gage show about the personality and the brain?
Mr.Gage had a rod stuck into his frontal lobe
-> discovered that personality + decision making + planning were all located in the frontal lobe
What are some strengths of conducting a case study?
+ rich detailed insights could be gained
+ analysis on unusual forms of behaviour that wouldnt be ethical to generate just to create a condition for an experiement
+ generates hypothesis for future studies
What are some disadvantages of conducting a case study?
- cannot be generalised easily
- subjective (based on intrepretation of researcher)
- low validity (as it involves the recollection of the past
What is peer review?
When scientific studies are reviewd by a panel of experts in a field to ensure the research is in a sufficient quality to be published
What is the process of peer review?
scientists study something
-> scientists write about their results
-> journal editor recieves an article and sends it out for peer review
-> peer reviewers read the article and provide feedback to the editor
- if the article dies not maintain sufficiently high scientific standards it will be rejected -> scientists revise and resubmit the article for further review
- if an article meets editorial standards, it is published in a journal
What is an example where peer review hasnt occured and caused huge consequences?
Andrew Wakefield (struck out of the medical council and can no longer be a doctor)
-> published a study saying that the MMR vaccination could cause autisim
-> turned out that he was wrong (unscientific methods + conclusions were based on unscientific work + had conflicts of intrests)
-> rumours persisted - many parents chose not to vaccinate their children - rate of measles infections shot up
Who are the peers?
experts in a particular field
What is the most common way in which psychological research is published?
academic journal
What are the three aims of peer review?
- allocate research funding (research is funded by government so poor peer review will mean a lack of funding)
- ensure the high quality of research and studies published in scientific journals
- ensures the integrity of psychological research and the high quality by reviewing uni departments
What are some strengths of peer review?
+ anonymity
-> the peer doing the review remains anonymous
-> more likely to produce a more honest approval to critisism
HOWEVER… some might use anonymity as critisising rival research -> so they recieve less funding
+ provides a trusted form of scientific communication
-> as it ensures that published work meets certain standards of scientific quality
What are some weaknesses for peer review?
- publication bias
-> journal editors may only publish research that are headline grabbing to increase the credibility and circulation of their publication - burying groundbreaking research
-> the peer review process may supress opposition for mainstream theories wishing to maintain the status qup within particular scientific fields - time consuming
-> involves ore than a year between submisssion and publication - highly competitive process
-> highly regarded journals only publishes a small amount of submissions
-> eg. Science - less than 8%
new england journal of medicine - just 6%
