Research methods Flashcards
What is primary data?
It is information that researchers have gathered themselves directly from a group of participants
What is a clinical example of primary data?
Rosenhan as they sent participants to mental hospitals to test the reliability of the DSM and they observed.
What are the strengths of primary data?
- You are reliant
- Appropriate to the study
- Operationalised
- More credible as the data is gathered for a particular purpose
What are the weaknesses of primary data?
- Time-consuming
- Expensive
- Limited by time, location, number and type of participants
What is secondary data?
Relies on evidence that has been gathered by other researchers by accessing peer-reviewed articles or public statistics.
What is an example of secondary data in clinical?
Carlsson did a meta-review on multiple pieces of research to find the relationship between dopamine and neurotransmitters.
What are the strengths of using secondary data?
- Quick
- Easy
- Can check for reliability and validity
- Offers potential for large quantities of data
What are the weaknesses of using secondary data?
- Having to rely on others that the experiment and the findings are reliable
- That may not be appropriate to the study
- The study could have been subjective to interpretations
What is longitudinal data?
Takes place over a long period of time and often involves comparing a single sample group with their own performance over time which means development or time is measured.
What is an example of longitudinal data in clinical?
Twin studies- as it is looking at how twins behave over periods of time and comparing if they are similar or stay the same.
What are the strengths of longitudinal data?
- No difficulty in making comparisons between people that could be affected by individual differences
- Only reliable way to measure the effect of behaviour with time.
- Important for considering long term effects of a treatment
What are the weaknesses of longitudinal data?
- Sample- attrition- people drop out or die so the sample is smaller and is not reliable
- Cohort effects- they will all share the same experience so not generalisable
- New treatment may be developed and therefore becomes outdated.
What is cross-sectional data?
Researchers take a quick ‘snapshot’ of behaviour in a given population. They take a large sample to get a good cross-section of the target population.
What is an example of cross-sectional data in clinical?
Becker- Fiji
The TV and the effects on body image from role models on TV. Used 2 different groups in different years.
What are the strengths of cross-sectional data?
- Quicker than longitudinal so can apply results sooner
- Results are more valid as reported at the time when they have the most application rather than years later.
What are the weaknesses of cross-sectional data?
- Cohort effects- comparing different groups of people, individual differences may have an effect.
- The results could be an effect of being raised in a particular time/place- cultural ideas
What is cross-cultural data?
Taking samples from different cultures groups to draw comparisons bout similarities and differences to consider hoe culture impacts a particular behaviour.
What is an example of cross-cultural data?
Luhrmann et al. (2015) interviewed 60 Americans, Indians, and Ghanaian people with schizophrenia. 70% of Americans said their voices told to hurt people, while 50% of Ghanaian people said their voices were positive.
What are the positives of cross-cultural data?
- how culture plays a role in how behaviour- reliability and validity of the diagnosis.
- Identify elements of abnormal behaviour
- Reduce ethnocentrism- improve generalisability
What are the negatives of cross-cultural data?
- likely to be a conflict between the cultural values of some or all the participants and those of the researcher
- lack validity in interpretation
- clinicians must fully understand culture
- there are different cultures within a country
What is a meta-analysis data?
Looking at secondary data from multiple studies conducted by other researchers and drawing the findings together to make overall conclusions
What is an example of meta-analysis data?
Carlsson et al. (2015) looked into neurotransmitters and their role in schizophrenia. He found that more glutamate caused negative schizophrenia symptoms in the cerebral cortex and also looked into treatments
What are the positives of meta-analysis data?
- large sample from different areas
- quick
- cost less
- no ethical concern
What are the negatives of meta-analysis?
- Not involved in getting the information directly- lacking reliability and validity that you are not aware of
- Research that had a null effect may not be published- biased
- Researchers may choose to include unpublished work to make their findings more valid, so there is an increased risk that it is not peered reviewed.
