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Psychology > Research methods > Flashcards

Research methods Flashcards

1
Q

What are 3 characteristics of scientific research?

A

Objective, independent of beliefs or opinions

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2
Q

What did Popper (1969) argue about scienfic theories?

A

That they should be falsifiable, in every experiment there should be an attempt to falsify it

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3
Q

How can psychological research affect the economy?

A

People with untreated mental health disorders may need more time off work research into treatment can help reduce this, and research into sleep behaviours can help shift workers

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4
Q

What is a Laboratory experiment?

A

Aim is to control all relevant variables except one key variable which is altered to see what the effect is (IV) always conducted in an artificial setting

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5
Q

What are the advantages of lab experiments?

A

Effects of cofounding variables are minimised easy to replicate and its possible to establish a cause and effect relationship, low ecological validity

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6
Q

What are the disadvantages of lab experiments?

A

Its artificial so doesn’t measure real-life behaviour, there’s the chance of demand characteristics and there often an element of deception used making informed consent hard

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7
Q

What is a field experiment?

A

Conducted outside of the lab, behaviour is measured in a natural environment and a key variable is altered to its effect can be measured

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8
Q

What are the advantages of field experiments?

A

Can establish a cause and effect relationship, there’s high ecological validity and demand characteristics can be avoided

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9
Q

What are the disadvantages of field experiments?

A

There’s no control over extraneous variables and element of deception used, participants normally don’t give consent to be observed sometimes causing distress

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10
Q

What is a natural experiment?

A

When the researcher looks at an IV which isn’t manipulated by the researcher and now it effects DV, IV isn’t manipulated because its and event which occurs naturally

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11
Q

What are the advantages of natural experiments?

A

It is possible to study variables what would otherwise be unethical as its naturally occurring, demand characteristics can be avoided and high ecological validity

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12
Q

What are the disadvantages of natural experiments?

A

Can’t identify cause and effect relationship as your not the one manipulating the IV, other variables may effect it and deception is often used making informed consent difficult

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13
Q

What is a Quasi experiment?

A

Researcher isn’t able to use random allocation to put participants into groups, as the IV is a particular feature of participants such as gender

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14
Q

What are the advantages of quasi experiments?

A

Carried out under controlled conditions, resulting in high ecological validity

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15
Q

What are the disadvantages of quasi experiments?

A

Can’t randomly allocate participants to a conditions meaning there’s no control over those variables making it hard to establish cause and effect relationships

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16
Q

What is a peer review

A

Process used to ensure the integrity of published scientific work
Before publication the work is sent to experts in the field to assess the quality of the work

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17
Q

What’s good about peer reviews

A

They help keep the scientists honest, if they set up their experiments it won’t pass peer review
Helps to validate conclusions

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18
Q

What’s bad about peer review

A

Sometimes mistakes are made and bad science is published
Peers may not publish work as its close to their own work/proves their work wrong

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19
Q

What have our currently accepted theories survived to be published

A

‘Trial by evidence’ meaning results are there to back them up

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20
Q

What is a paradigm

A

A set of principles, methods or techniques which define a scientific discipline

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21
Q

What did Kuhn (1970) say something must have to be a science

A

A paradigm

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22
Q

What is the paradigm shift

A

Some believe that psychology has a paradigm, it was initially behaviourism but then it underwent a change to cognitive psychology, this change is a paradigm shift

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23
Q

What is a naturalistic observation

A

Involved observing subjects in their natural environment
Researchers take great care not to interfere in any way with the subjects their studying

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24
Q

What are the strengths of a naturalistic observation

A

High ecogical validity, the RPS behaviour is natural and no demand characteristics

Useful in theory development

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25
Q

What are the weaknesses of a naturalistic observation

A

You can’t control extraneous variables
Observer bias, affecting what’s recorded or focused on
Participants haven’t given consent to be studied

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26
Q

What is correlational research

A

Looks for a relationship between 2 variables
All variables aren’t manipulated as in an experiment, it’s not possible to state that just these two variables rise and fall together there might be a third unknown variable

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27
Q

What are the strengths of correlational research

A

Causal relationships, these can be rules out if no correlation exists
You can study variables that would be unethical to manipulate

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28
Q

What are the weaknesses of correlational research

A

Casual relationships can’t be assumed from a correlation which may be caused by a third unknown variable
Ethics, misrepresentation can be an issue sometimes the media infer causality from a correlation

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29
Q

What are the strengths of a questionnaire

A

Practical as you can collect large amounts of data easily, quickly and cheaply

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30
Q

What are the weaknesses of a questionnaire

A

Some bad questions may be added, leading questions which suggest an answer
Biased sample, certain types of people are more likely to respond
Self report meaning people are more likely to show themselves in a good light
Ethics, confidentiality can be an issue

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31
Q

What is a structures interview

A

Follow a fixed set of questions that are the same for all participants

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32
Q

What is an unstructured interview

A

May have discussion topics but are less constrained about how the conversation goes

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33
Q

What are the strengths of an interview

A

Rich data can be gathered (detailed)
Useful way to gather info before a study (pilot study)

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34
Q

What are the weaknesses of a interview

A

Self report techniques, people might want to she themselves in a good light
It’s impractical as it’s time consuming and requires skilled interviewer
Analysis of the data can be hard
Confidentially can be a problem

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35
Q

What do case studies allow the researcher to do

A

Analyse unusual cases in a lot of detail

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36
Q

What are the strengths of a case study

A

Rich data can be collected as they have the opportunity to study rare cases
And unique cases can challenge existing ideas and theories

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37
Q

What is a negative of case studies

A

They can’t establish a cause and effect relationship
Only studying a single case makes generalising the results extremely difficult
Informed consent can be difficult to obtain in some cases

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38
Q

What is content analysis

A

A research method used to analyze secondary data and data you’ve already collect
It involves splitting the data into assigned categories

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39
Q

What are strengths of content analysis

A

It’s usually cheap and easy to do
Interpretation and categorizing the data can be subjective

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40
Q

What is an aim

A

A statement of a study purpose, research should state its aim beforehand so that it’s clear what the study intends to investigate

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41
Q

What is a hypothesis

A

What’s actually being studied

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42
Q

What are the 4 types of hypothesis

A

Null
Alternative
Directional
Non-directional

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43
Q

What is a null hypothesis

A

Is what your going to assume is true during the study
Any data you collect will either back up the assumption or it won’t
If the data doesn’t support you reject the null and go with alternative instead
Usually predicts there’s no significant difference

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44
Q

What is an alternative hypothesis

A

If data forces you to reject the null the you accept the hypothesis instead

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45
Q

What’s a directional hypothesis

A

A hypothesis might predict a difference between the exam results obtained by two groups of students
If the hypothesis states which group would do better than it’s making a directional prediction

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46
Q

What’s a non-directional hypothesis

A

A hypothesis that will state a difference but not a direction it would go in
Used when there’s no previous research

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47
Q

What is a variable

A

Is a quantity whose value can change

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48
Q

What is the independent variable

A

Is variable that’s directly manipulated by the researcher

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49
Q

What is the depended variable

A

Variable that you think will be affected by changes in the IV

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50
Q

What is meant by operationalisation

A

Variables must operationalised, this means describing the process by which the variable is measured

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51
Q

What does operationalisation allow

A

Allows others to see exactly how you’re going to define and measure your variables

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52
Q

What are the 3 experimental designs

A

Independed groups design
Repeated measure design
Match pairs design

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53
Q

What is an independent group design

A

Means there are different participants in each group
Avoids problem that if all participants did the test in both conditions any improvement in performance might be due to them having two goes at the task

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54
Q

What is an advantage of independent groups design

A

No order effects, no one gets better through practice (learning effects)
Mo one gets worse through being bored or tired (fatigue effect)

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55
Q

What is a disadvantage of independent groups design

A

Participant variables: differences between the people in each group might affect the result
Number of participants: twice as many participants are needed to get the same amount of data compared to having everyone do both conditions

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56
Q

What is meant by repeated measure design

A

Where all participants do the same task both with an audience and then without
You can compare the performance in each condition knowing the differences weren’t due to participant variables

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57
Q

What is an advantage of repeated measure design

A

Participant variables now the same people do the test in both conditions so any differences between individuals should affect results
Number of participants: fewer participants are needed to get the same amount of data

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58
Q

What is a disadvantage of repeated measure design

A

Order effects

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59
Q

What is a matched paired design

A

Means there are different participants in each condition but they’re matched on important variables
Participants are paired on a relevant characteristic such as age and then two members of the pair are randomly assigned to either conditions

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60
Q

What is an advantage of matched pairs design

A

No order effects different people in each condition
Participant variables: important variables are minimised though matching

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61
Q

What is a disadvantage of matched pairs design

A

Need twice as many participants
Time consuming

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62
Q

why should variables be controlled?

A

Avoid the effects of extraneous variables

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63
Q

what is counterbalancing

A

mixing up the order of the tasks
half the rps do the tasks in one order and the other do it in the opposite

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64
Q

what does counterbalancing help to eliminate

A

order effects in repeated measure design

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65
Q

what is random allocation

A

an example would be picking names out of hat
means everyone has an equal chance of doing either conditions

66
Q

what does random allocation ensure

A

ensure groups are not biased

67
Q

what does standardised instructions ensure

A

that the experimenter acts in a similar way to rps

68
Q

what is randomisation

A

when the material is presented to the rps in a random order

69
Q

what does randomisation avoid

A

order effects

70
Q

why is it good to run a small pilot study first

A

no piece of research is perfect to help foresee any problems in actual research
gives researchers practise at following the procedures
problems can be tackled before running main study

71
Q

what is a pilot study

A

small scale study can be run first, to establish whether the design works ect…

72
Q

what is meant by reliability

A

refers to how consistent or dependable a test is
a reliable test carried out in the same circumstances on the same rps should get the same results

73
Q

what are the 3 types of reliability

A

internal, external and inter-observer reliability

74
Q

what is meant by internal reliability

A

different parts of the test should give consistent results
a test can be assessed using the split-half method

75
Q

When testing internal reliability what is the split half method

A

splitting the test into 2 halves and the results from each half should produce a high positive correlation

76
Q

what is meant by external reliability

A

the test should produce consistent results regardless of when its used

77
Q

how do we test for external reliability and explain how to do it

A

test-retest method, involves repeating the test using the same participants
reliable test should produce high positive correlation

78
Q

what is meant by inter-observer relaibility

A

test should give consistent results regardless of who administers it

79
Q

how can you assess inter-observer relaibility

A

by correlating the scores that each researcher produces for each participant
high positive correlation should be found

80
Q

what are the 4 types of validity

A

face. concurrent, ecological and temporal

81
Q

what is meant by validity

A

refers to how well a test measures what it claims to

82
Q

what is face validity

A

the extent to which the test looks to the participants like it will measure what it is supposed to

83
Q

what is concurrent validity

A

the extent to which the test produces the same results as another established measure

84
Q

what is ecological validity

A

the extent to which the results of the test reflect real-life

85
Q

what is meant by temporal validity

A

the extent to which the test provides results that can be generalised across time

86
Q

how can we assess validity

A

a quick way of assessing validity is to simply look at the test and make a judgement on whether it appears to measure which it claims to
comparing results of the test which the results of existing measure to determine validity
can be used to predict results future tests

87
Q

what 2 ways can reliability validity can be increased

A

standardising research
operationalised variables

88
Q

what does standardising research involve

A

involves creating specific procedures which are followed every time the test is carried out

89
Q

what are operationalised variables do

A

clearly defining all of the research variables

90
Q

what is a participant observation

A

when researcher participates in the activity under study

91
Q

what is the advantages of participant observation

A

develops relationship with the group under study, so they can gain a greater understanding of group’s behaviour

92
Q

what is the disadvantages of participant observartions

A

the researcher loses objectivity by becoming part of the group
the participants may act differently if they know a researcher is amongst them

93
Q

what is a non-participant observation

A

is when the researcher observes the activity without getting involved in it

94
Q

what is an advantage of non-participant observations

A

the researcher can remain objective throughout the study

95
Q

what is a disadvantage of non-participant observation

A

the researcher loses a sense of the group dynamics by staying separate from the group

96
Q

what is a structured observation

A

where the behaviour categories that are going to be used are defined in advance

97
Q

what is an advantage of structures obseravtions

A

easier to gather relevant data because you already know what you’re looking for

98
Q

what is a disadvantage of structures observations

A

interesting behaviours could go unrecorded because they haven’t been pre-defined as important

99
Q

what are overt observations

A

where the researchers presence is obvious to the participants

100
Q

what are the advantages of overt obserations

A

they are much more ethically sound than other methods because the participants are aware of the research

101
Q

what are the disadvantages of overt observations

A

people might change their behaviour if they know they’re being observed

102
Q

what is a covert observation

A

where the researcher’s presence is unknown to rps

103
Q

what is an advantage of covert observations

A

much more ethically sound than other methods because the participants are aware of the research

104
Q

what is a disadvantage of covert observations

A

gaining ethical approval may be difficult

105
Q

what are controlled observations

A

often take place in lab so the researcher can control the conditions

106
Q

what are advantages of controlled observations

A

because the study is highly controlled it is possible to replicate it to check that the results are reliable
a controlled environment means that extraneous variables can be controlled so it becomes possible for cause and effect to be established

107
Q

what are the disadvantages of controlled observations

A

they will have lower ecological validity than naturalistic observations
participants may alter their behaviour if they know they are being observed

108
Q

What must some one carrying out a naturalistic observations consider

A

Design of study considering how to
Record data
Categorise data
Rate behaviour
Sample behaviour
Inter-rated reliability

109
Q

How should you consider recording of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations

A

If you want qualitative data you could make written notes
But video or audio recordings mean you have more accurate permanent record

110
Q

How should you consider categorising of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations

A

You must define the behaviours you aim to observe involves operationalising variables
But be careful not to miss out anything important otherwise your definition may not be valid

111
Q

How should you consider sampling of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations

A

The behaviours that you’re interested in may be things that are a matter of degree so you might need to use a rating scale to classify behaviour
Put each participant’s behaviour into one of several categories/coding system

112
Q

How should you consider when sampling the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations

A

Decide how often and for how long your going to observe the participants
Event/time-interval sampling

113
Q

What’s event sampling and a positive/negative of it

A

This is when you only record particular events that tour interested in
+ Researchers know exactly what behaviour they’re looking for
- potentially interesting behaviours could be ignored

114
Q

What’s time-interval sampling and a positive/negative of it

A

If the behaviour occurs over a long time period you might choose to observe for only a set time interval they should be chosen randomly
+ very convenient for the researcher to carry out
- if interesting behaviours occur outside the sample intervals they won’t be recorded

115
Q

When doing a natural observation what should they observe about inter-observer reliability

A

Even after you’ve defined the behaviours your interested in you have to make sure that the observers are actually putting each participant in the right category

116
Q

What are the 5 things you must consider when making a questionnaire/ interviews and why

A

Type of data- quantitative or qualitative/ open or closed questions
Ambiguity- you have to avoid questions and answer open tone which aren’t clearly defined
Doubled-barrelled questions- best not to use these as people may interpret them differently
Leading questions- they lead the participants towards a particular answer
Complexity- when ever possible use clear english avoiding jargon

117
Q

With interviews what are 3 very important things to consider

A

How an interview is structured- informal or formal (less detail easier to analyse but not as data rich)
Using question checklist- if structured, a checklist ensures that no questions are left out
The behaviour of the interviewer- could influence participants behaviour

118
Q

What’s random sampling and a positive and negative of it

A

Every member of the group has an equal chance of being chosen (random number generator/out of a hat)
+ less bias and makes it fair
- doesn’t guarantee a representative sample, still chance all people in the same group are chosen

119
Q

What’s opportunity sampling and a positive and negative of it

A

When researcher samples whoever is available and willing to be studied
+ quick and practical
- unlikely to be representative can’t generalise

120
Q

What’s volunteer sampling and a positive and negative of it

A

People actively volunteer to be in study (usually due to an advert) research may only select those suitable for study
+ large number of people may respond allowing for large sample and a more in-depth analysis
- only people who see the advert can be selected and you may get people all with the same characteristics e.g helpful

121
Q

What’s systematic sampling and a positive and negative of it

A

Every nth name from a sampling frame is taken (school register)
+ sample and effective, people likely to be evenly sampled
- subgroups may be missed and it will not be representative

122
Q

What’s stratified sampling and a positive and negative of it

A

This is where all the important subgroups in a population are identified and a proportionate number of each is randomly obtained
+ fairly representative sample formed can be used with random sampling
- takes a lot of time and money and some subgroups can be missed

123
Q

What’s the Hawthorne effect

A

If people are interested in the something and in the attention they are getting then they show more positive response try harder at tasks etc
Making results artificially high and invalid
Opposite effects may occur if the RPS are uninterested in the task

124
Q

What are demand characteristics

A

When theres aspects of the study that allow the participants to form an idea about the purpose
If they know when they act in a certain way to please experimenter or deliberately do the opposite
Making results invalid

125
Q

What’s social desirability bias

A

People try to show them selves in the best possible light
So survey might not be completely truthful
Less valid

126
Q

What’s researched bias

A

The researchers expectations can influence the design of the study and how they behave towards the RPS
Also might influence how they take measurements and analyse data

127
Q

What are investigators effects

A

Anything that the researcher does which can affect how the RPS behaves
If a researcher’s expectations influence how they behave towards their participants then participants might respond to demand characteristics

128
Q

Who provides ethical guidelines

A

British psychological society

129
Q

What are the 5 ethical principles outlined by British psychological society

A

Informed consent
Deception
Protection from harm
Debriefing
Confidentiality

130
Q

What are the BPS ethical guidelines around informed consent

A

Always given
Told about aims and nature of the study before agreeing
Right to withdraw must be given

131
Q

What are the BPS ethical guidelines around deception

A

If participants are deceived they couldn’t have given informed consent
But sometimes psychologists much withhold info about the study because the RPS wouldn’t have naturally behaved

132
Q

What are the BPS ethical guidelines around protection from harm

A

Say that risk of harm to participants should be no greater than they would face in normal life
Hard to accurately asses this

133
Q

What are the BPS ethical guidelines around debriefing

A

Supposed to return the participant in the start they were in before the study
Especially important if deception occurred
Participants given a right to withdraw data

134
Q

What are the BPS ethical guidelines around confidentiality

A

None of the PRS in study should be identified and have right to withdraw data

135
Q

how can quantitative data be obtained

A

Categorising and rating behaviour

136
Q

how may you get qualitative data

A

audio/video recordings
written notes on what the observers witnessed analysis isnt very straightforward

137
Q

what would you consider no matter what type of data you have

A

1) there must be adequate data sampling to ensure representative sample of participants
2) language must be used accurately the words used to describe behaviours should be accurate and appropriate (operationalised definitions)
3) researcher bias must be avoided not good to just support theory as leads to biased interpretations

138
Q

what should be considered about the data obtained from interviews

A

context- the situation in which a participant says something and the way they are behaving at the same time may be important

selection of the data- a lot of qualitative data may be produced by an interview which may be difficult for the researcher to summarise in a report

interviewer should be aware of how their feelings about the interviewee could lead to biased interpretations of what they say, or how it is later reported

139
Q

what should be considered about the data obtained from questionnaires

A

questionnaires can give you both qualitative and quantitative data
important to distinguish the interpretations of the researcher from the statements of the participant and to be unbiased in selecting what to include
written analysis might be hard to find conclusions from

140
Q

what type of data does closed and open questions give

A

closed- quantitative
open- qualitative

141
Q

Whats thematic analysis

A

form of qualitative analysis it involves subjective decisions
its one of the most frequently used forms of qualitative analysis it involves making summaries of data and identify key themes and categories

142
Q

how do you carry out thematic analysis

A

1) researcher becomes familiar with the dad and they start to look for different themes, they review these themes and name the themes and write a report
2) however, different researchers may read different things into the theme it can be subjective
3) such analysis may give the basis for hypotheses- hypothesis formation is therefore grounded in the data

143
Q

strengths of thematic analysis

A

qualitative analysis preserves the detail in the data
creating hypotheses during the analysis allows for new insights to be developed
some objectivity can be established by using triangulation other sources of data are used to check conclusions

144
Q

criticisms thematic analysis

A

how do you decide which categories to use and whether a statement fits a particular category?
how do you decide what to leave out of the summary or which quotations to use?
they are subjective decisions and researchers may be biased

145
Q

whats content analysis

A

a way to qualify qualitative data
because of the detail that qualitative data can give some researchers prefer to avoid ‘reducing’ it to numbers
instead they analyse the data into categories or ‘typologies’, quotations or summaries
hypothesis may be developed during this analysis so that they are ‘grounded in the data’

146
Q

how do u do content analysis

A

1) Representative sample of qualitative data is first collected from an interview, printed material or the media
2) Coding units are identified to analyse the data (e.g act of violence) a valid operationalised definition must be first given
3) Statistical analysis can then be carried out

147
Q

strengths of content analysis

A

a clear summary of the patterns in the data may be established
once a coding system has been set up, replication is easy improving reliability

148
Q

limitations of content analysis

A

often an individuals judgment is used to define coding units so they can be subjective
reducing the data to particular coding units removing detail, and the true meaning of things may be lost when taken out of context

149
Q

what do descriptive statistics describe

A

the patters found in a set of data

150
Q

what is a central tendency

A

average
used to describe an average

151
Q

mean?

A

add all up and divide by how many there is

152
Q

median?

A

middle score when put in order

153
Q

advantage and disadvantage of mean

A

+shows most common or important score
+its always a result from the actual data set, so it can be a more useful or realistic statistic

-not very useful if there is several modal values
-can be skewed by anomalies

154
Q

advantages and disadvantages of median

A

+ quick and easy
+not affected by anomalies

-not all the scores are used to work out the median
-it has little further use in data analysis

155
Q

range

A

highest-lowest score

156
Q

advantages and disadvantages of range

A

+quick and easy
-completely ignored the centre values of data set so it can be misleading if there are very high and low scores

157
Q

-completely ignored the centre values of data set so it can be misleading if there are very high and low scores how can this be avoided

A

interquartile range is worked out
find median
if theres an odd number of values then you take the middle number as median
if theres an even number take middle two and add then and divide by 2

,median of lower is called lower quartile (Q1)
median of upper is called upper quartile (Q3)

IQR= Q3-Q1

158
Q

whats standard deviation

A

measures on average how much scores deviate from the mean

159
Q

standard deviation equation

A

sum of (x-x)2/N square root of this
second x is mean

160
Q

advantage and disadvantages of standard deviations

A

+ all scores in the set are taken into account, so its more accurate than the range
+ it can also be used in further analysis
-not as quick or easy to calculate as the range

Psychology (12 decks)

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