Research Methods Flashcards
(33 cards)
Measures of data
Nominal - data into categories (mode)
Ordinal - data into subjective scales e.g. emotion (median)
Interval - data into objective categories e.g. height (mean)
Types of graph
Scattergrams - used for correlation/relationship
Bar chart - categorical data
Histogram - continuous data. Frequency and density.
Report writing
- Title
- Abstract - summary of research
- Introduction - where hypothesis comes from
- Method - ptps, design, materials, procedure and results
- Discussion - results and conclusion
- References
Researcher effects
Demand characteristics
Investigator effects
Peer review
A researcher submits an article to a journal. The choice of journal may be determined by the journal’s audience or prestige.
he peer reviewers assess: the methods and designs used, originality of the findings, the validity of the original research findings and its content, structure and language.
The article may be: Accepted as it is, accepted with revisions, sent back to the author to revise and re-submit or rejected without the possibility of submission.
Peer review is important because it prevent faulty data from entering the public domain, it provides a way of checking the validity of findings and the quality of the methodology and is used to assess the research rating of university departments
Role of peer review
Funding - approval of project proposals
Validation - quality check
Improvements - minor revisions or rejections
EV - burying research maintains status quo, there may be a publication bias
Features of science
Empiricism Objectivity Control Hypothesis testing Replicable Paradigm Theory of construction
Content and thematic analysis
CONTENT
- coding system
- analyse data
- repeat and tally
THEMATIC
- qualitative
- themes identified
- refined and left as themes
Measures of control
Random allocation - put into groups to reduce bias in ptps characteristics
Counterbalancing - used to deal with order effects (sample is divided - conditions in opposite)
Standardisation - reducing bias in study such as same instructions etc.
Psychology and the economy
Mental health and attachment
Sampling methods
A sample is the participants you select from a target population (the group you are interested in) to make generalisations about.
A Volunteer sample is where participants pick themselves through newspaper adverts, noticeboards or online.
Opportunity sampling uses people who are available at the time the study is carried out.
Random sampling is when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
Systematic sampling is when a system is used to select participants.
Stratified sampling is when you identify the subgroups and select participants in proportion with their occurrences.
Pilot studies
A pilot study is an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation; it involves selecting a few people and trying out the study on them. It is possible to save time, and in some cases, money, by identifying any flaws in the procedures designed by the researcher.
A pilot study can help the researcher spot any ambiguities (i.e. unusual things) or confusion in the information given to participants or problems with the task devised.
Sometimes the task is too hard, and the researcher may get a floor effect, because none of the participants can score at all or can complete the task – all performances are low. The opposite effect is a ceiling effect, when the task is so easy that all achieve virtually full marks or top performances and are “hitting the ceiling”.
Types of reliability
Internal - method consistent
External - results consistent
Improve - rewrite, standardise and operationalise
Tests of reliability
Test-retest reliability – Assessing the same person on two different occasions which shows the extent to which the test produces the same answers. Inferential test - Spearman or Pearson
Inter-observer reliability – the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers. Inferential test - Spearman or Pearson.
Correlations
Correlation means association - more precisely it is a measure of the extent to which two variables are related.
If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other then this is known as a positive correlation.
If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other then this is known as a negative correlation.
A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.
Distributions
Normal distribution - bell curve.
mean, median and mode at same point
Skewed
Negative - skews right
Positive - skews left
Types of data
Quantitative data is numerical data e.g. reaction time or number of mistakes. It represents how much or how long, how many there are of something. A tally of behavioral categories and closed questions in a questionnaire collect quantitative data.
Qualitative data is non-numerical data expressed in words e.g. an extract from a diary. It can’t be counted but can be turned into quantitative data by placing the data in categories and then counting frequency. Open questions in questionnaires and accounts from observational studies collect qualitative data.
Primary data is first hand data collected for the purpose of the investigation.
Secondary data is information that has been collected by someone other than the person who is conducting the research e.g. taken from journals, books or articles.
Types of observation
Covert observations are when the researcher pretends to be an ordinary member of the group and observes in secret. There could be ethical problems or deception and consent with this particular method of observation.
Overt observations are when the researcher tells the group he or she is conducting research (i.e. they know they are being observed).
Controlled: behavior is observed under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g. Bandura’s Bobo doll study).
Natural: Here spontaneous behavior is recorded in a natural setting.
Participant: Here the observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing.
Non-participant (aka “fly on the wall): The researcher does not have direct contact with the people being observed.
Aims and hypotheses
The aim of the study is a statement of what the researcher intents to investigate.
The hypothesis of the study is an idea, derived from psychological theory which contains a prediction which can be verified or disproved by some kind of investigation, usually an experiment.
A directional hypothesis indicates a direction in the prediction (one-tailed) e.g. ‘students with pets perform better than students without pets’.
A non-directional hypothesis does not indicate a direction in the prediction (two-tailed) e.g. ‘owning pets will affect students’ exam performances’.
Validity
Validity is whether the observed effect in genuine and represents what is actually out there in the world.
Concurrent validity – the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure and obtains close results. For example, a new intelligence test compared to an established test.
Face validity – does the test measure what it’s supposed to measure ‘on the face of it’. This is done by ‘eyeballing’ the measuring or by passing it to an expert to check.
Ecological validity – the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other settings / real life.
Temporal validity – the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalised to other historical times.
Improve - stratified sample, standardisation or make more realistic.
Observational design
Unstructured - researcher records everything - more info but hard to analyse Structured - controls what is recorded - may miss behaviours
Behavioural categories - target behaviour broken down to be observable
Sampling - event or time
Types of interview
Unstructured (informal) interviews are like a casual conversation. There are no set questions and the participant is given the opportunity to raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and ask them in their own way. In this kind of interview much qualitative data is likely to be collected.
Structured (formal) interviews are like a job interview. There is a fixed, predetermined set of questions that are put to every participant in the same order and in the same way. The interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee.
Range and standard deviation
Range - easy to calculate but unrepresentative
Standard deviation - how much scores deviate from mean
Case studies
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst the best-known ones carried out were by Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.
Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity.
