Research Methods Flashcards
(13 cards)
What are the features of science?
Paradigms, theory construction/hypothesis testing, falsifiability, replicability, objectivity.
What is a paradigm?
A framework of beliefs and assumptions that people working within a particular field all share.
How does theory construction occur?
Through gathering evidence through direct, real life observations.
What is the process of deriving new hypotheses from existing theory called?
Deduction.
What is meant by falsifiability?
The idea that a theory CAN be proven wrong through analysis of its evidence.
What is replicability?
The ability of findings to be repeated in a number of different contexts and circumstances.
Why are case studies good?
They yield detail rich data (qualitative data).
They may also cause a theory to be revised if it acts as an outlier (pebble causes an avalanche).
What is bad about case studies?
Generalisability issues.
Data is subject to subjective analysis by the researcher.
What is content analysis?
A type of observational research where people are indirectly studied via the communications they have produced.
What is coding in relation to content analysis?
The initial stage of content analysis.
Large data sets may be categorised into meaningful units.
What is thematic analysis in relation to content analysis?
Form of content analysis that yields qualitative data.
Looks at identifying themes that are recurrent in the data set.
Likely to be descriptive.
What are the good things about content analysis?
Circumnavigates ethical issues in psychological research, as information exists within the public domain already.
Can produce qualitative and quantitative data.
What are the limitations of content analysis?
Communications produced are usually studied outside of the contexts they were committed in, meaning there is subjectivity. Lack of objectivity.
Can be mitigated by employing reflexivity.
