L16-20 Research Methods

Question 1

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what are overt and covert observations

Answer 1

overt - participants behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent
covert - participants behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent

Question 2

what are behavioural categories

Answer 2

when a targe behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable

Question 3

what is a structured observation

Answer 3

when the researcher uses various sytems to organise the observation
- choosing behavioural categories
- using a sampling method

Question 4

what is an unstructured observation

Answer 4

every instance of behaviour is recorded in as much detail as possible. This is useful if the behaviours you are interested in do not occur very often

Question 5

what is a participant observation
what is a non participant observation

Answer 5

participant - the researcher ecomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching and recording
non participant - the researcher remains outside of the grou whose behaviour they’re recording

Question 6

what is continuous, time and event sampling

Answer 6

continuous - when they record everything they see in as much detail (providing qualitative data)
time - a target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame every 60 seconds
event - a target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs

Question 7

what is a naturalistic observation
what is a controlled observation

Answer 7

naturalistic - watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would normally occur
controlled - watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment i.e. one where some variables are managed

Question 8

s + w of naturalistic observations

Answer 8

s - high external validity as findings can be generalised
w - lack of control meaning replication is difficult, could be uncontrolled confounding variables

Question 9

s + w of controlled observations

Answer 9

s - confounding variables are less of a factor so replication is easier
w - can’t generalise to everyday life

Question 10

s + w covert observations

Answer 10

s - removes demand characteristics,
ensures behaviour observed is natural <– increases internal validity
w - ethics may be questionsed as people may not wish to have their behaviour observed

Question 11

s + w overt observations

Answer 11

s - more ethically acceptable
w - demand characteristics (the knowledge participants have that they are being observed may act as a significant influence on their behaviour)

Question 12

s+w participant observations

Answer 12

s - researcher can experience situation increasing external validity
w - researcher may lose objectivity if they come to identify too strongly with those they’re studyign

Question 13

s+w unstructured observations

Answer 13

s - more richness and depth of detail in data collected
w - tent to produce qualitative data which is harder to analyse, greater risk of observer bias as objective behavioural categories aren’t present

Question 14

s+w structured interviews

Answer 14

s - data more likely quantitative meaning its easier to analyse and compare
w - less detail

Question 15

how are observations better than self report techniques

Answer 15

• an observation allows us to see peoples actual behaviour rather than what they say they will do
• participants may become disengaged with self-report technique

Question 16

how might self report techniques be better than observations

Answer 16

• if exploring thoughts and feelings, the participant has greater insight than a researcher so getting them to report is more effective than observing thoughts and feelings

Question 17

what is content analysis (2 marks)

Answer 17

a systematic analysis of qualitative data (a form of media e.g. newspaper articles). The data is placed into categories and counted (creating quantitative data). A different version of a content analysis, called a themantic analysis, means that the qualitative data can be analysed in themes (keeping data qualitative)

Question 18

how would a pyschologist carry out a content analysis
4 steps

Answer 18

• watch the media
• identify categories (would need examples in an EQ)
• then re-watch videos
• tally/count each occurence of any of the categories to give us quantitative data

Question 19

what are the two ways of assessing reliability

Answer 19

1. inter-rater reliability
2. test-retest reliability

Question 20

what is inter-rater reliability

Answer 20

the two psychologists could carry out the content analysis of the films seperately (they watch the clips and create the categories separately, agree on them and do the analysis **separately using the same data and same categories **) and compare their answers looking for an agreement (correlation of +0.8 or above = reliable)

Question 21

what is test-retest reliability

Answer 21

the pyschologist could conduct the content analyis (including watching the clips and creating the categories) and then repeat the content analysis on a second occassion using the same data (e.g. films) and the same categories and a later data and compare the two sets of data looking for an agreement (correlation of 0.8 or above = reliable)

Question 22

what is primary data

Answer 22

results collected directly for a specific research purpose (aim). It arrives first hand from the participants

Question 23

what is secondary data and what is one way of gathering it

Answer 23

using results that were gathered previously by someone else, often for a different purpose. One way of doing this is meta analysis - a process of collecting and collating a wide range of results from a number of studies on a specific topic to provide an overall conclusion. The collated research is reviewed together. If this is done on quantitative data, the result is called an effect size

Question 24

what is a case study

Answer 24

An indepth investigation, description and analysis of an individual, group, institution or event

Question 25

what is coherence and triangulation (case studies)

Answer 25

coherence- how well the conclusion represents all the ideas triangulation - comparing the results of two or more studies of the same thing to see if their in agreement <-- demonstrating validity

Question 26

strengths of case studies

Answer 26

- able to offer rich, detailed insights that may shed light on very unusual and atypical forms of behaviour - case studies may contribute to understanding of 'typical functioning' - may generate hypotheses for future studies

Question 27

weaknesses of case studies

Answer 27

- generalisation of findings is an issue when dealing with small, specific sample sizes - personal accounts from participants such as childhood stories may lower validity due to inaccuracy and memory decay

Question 28

what is a paradigm shift

Answer 28

the result of a scientific revolution when there is a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline

Question 29

what is theory construction

Answer 29

the process of developing an explanation for the causes of behaviour by systematically gathering evidence and then organising this into a coherent account

Question 30

wbat is hypothesis testing

Answer 30

A key feature of a theory is that it should produce statements (hypothesis) which can then be tested. Only in this way can a theory be falsified

Question 31

what is falsifiability

Answer 31

The principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue (false)

Question 32

what is replicability

Answer 32

The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers

Question 33

what is objectivity

Answer 33

All sources of personal bias are minimised so as not to distort or influence the research process

Question 34

what is the empirical method

Answer 34

scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence though direct observation and experience