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Research methods Year 2 Flashcards

1
Q

strengths of case studies

A

offer rich detailed insight into unusual behaviour
may contribute to our understanding of typical function
can help generate hypotheses and theories

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2
Q

What is a case study

A

usually analysis of unusual individuals/events to provide in depth analysis
Tend to take place over a long period of time
may be subject to interviews, observations, testing …

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3
Q

limitations of case studies

A

generalisation as sample size is so small
information in the report is based on researchers opinion
personal accounts can be inaccurate

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4
Q

what is content analysis

A

observational researcher where people are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced
aims to summarise and describe communication in a systematic way so conclusions can be drawn

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5
Q

what is coding in content analysis

A

initial stage of analysis if data set is large
categorises info into meaningful units e.g. no. times a specific word appears
produces quantitative data

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6
Q

what is thematic analysis in content analysis

A

involves the identification of themes that cover most aspects of the data

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7
Q

strengths of content analysis

A

can get around ethical issues as communications are public so permission is not needed
high external validity
flexible as can produce quantitative and qualitative data

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8
Q

limitations of content analysis

A

as people are studied indirectly they are analysed outside of original context
researcher may attribute opinions to the speaker/writer that were not originally intended
less objective especially in thematic analysis

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9
Q

what is reliability

A

measure of consistency
if a measurement is made twice and produces the same result the measurement is reliable

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10
Q

ways to assess reliability

A

test-retest
inter-observer reliability

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11
Q

what is test-retest

A

administering the same test or questionnaire to the same person on different occasions
if the result obtained is the same or very similar it is reliable
must be sufficient time between tests so Ps don’t remember answer but also haven’t changed too much
test scores may be correlated to see if significant and positive

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12
Q

What is inter-observer reliability

A

used in observations to check observers are applying behavioural categories in the same way
more than one observer then results compared

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13
Q

how to improve questionnaire reliability

A

test-retest correlation should be +0.8 or more
questions that are ambiguous or open may need to be removed

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14
Q

how to improve interview reliability

A

use same interviewer every time
don’t ask leading questions
use a structure interview

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15
Q

how to improve observation reliability

A

operationalise behavioural categories
train observers on the behavioural categories

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16
Q

how to improve experiments reliability

A

standardise procedures

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17
Q

what is validity

A

whether or not an observed effect is a genuine one

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18
Q

what is face validity

A

the extent to which test items look like what the test claims to measure

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19
Q

what is concurrent validity

A

means of establishing validity by comparing an existing test or questionnaire to the one you are interested in

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20
Q

what is ecological validity

A

the ability to generalise a research effect beyond the particular setting in which it is demonstrated to other settings

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21
Q

what is temporal validity

A

the ability to generalise a research effect beyond the particular time period of that study

22
Q

how to assess validity

A

face validity
concurrent validity

23
Q

how to improve face validity

A

revise questions/method so they relate more obviously to the topic

24
Q

how to improve concurrent validity

A

remove questions that are irrelevant

25
what are the 7 features of science
empirical methods objectivity replicability theory construction hypothesis testing falsifiability paradigms paradigm shift
26
what are empirical methods
information gained through direct observation or experiment
27
what is objectivity
when data is not affected by the expectations of the researcher conditions must be carefully controlled
28
what is replicability
procedures must be recorded carefully so someone else can repeat them to verify the original results to be valid
29
what is theory construction
a collection of general principles that explain observations and facts help to understand and predict natural phenomena
30
what is hypothesis testing
testing the validity of a theory theories must be able to generate testable expectations stated in the form of a hypothesis
31
What is falsifiability
the ability to prove a hypothesis wrong
32
what is a paradigm
a shared set of assumptions about the subject matter of a discipline and the methods appropriate to its study
33
what is a paradigm shift
when disconfirming evidence of a paradigm accumulates until it can longer be maintained resulting in a shift e.g. people thought the earth was the centre of the universe for 2000 years then this belief was overthrown
34
what is involved in reporting psychological investigations
abstract introduction method results discussion references
35
what is in an abstract
short summary including all major elements of the article to give reader a quick picture of the study and its results
36
what is in an introduction
review of previous research that leads logically to the study being conducted reader knows what other research has been done and the reasons for the current study
37
what is in a method
detailed description of what the researcher did with enough information for replication design e.g. repeated measure or covert observation etc participants - how many, sampling, details e.g. age apparatus procedures including standardise instructions, test environment order of events etc ethics and how they were dealt with
38
what is in a results
descriptive statistics inferential statistics qualitative research will give categories and themes with examples
39
what is in a discussion
summary of the results relationship to previous research may include criticisms of method and improvements implication for psychological theory and real-world suggestions for future research
40
how to reference a journal
Author, date, title of article, journal title, volume (issue number), page numbers
41
how to reference a book
author, date, title, place of publication, publisher
42
what is nominal data
represented in the form of categories e.g. colours
43
what is ordinal data
data that can be ordered but there are not equal intervals between each unit e.g. how much you like something 1-10
44
what is interval data
data that includes units of equal precisely defined size e.g. seconds
45
when to use the sign test
paired or related data nominal data
46
how to do the sign test
assign each pair of data a + or - or 0 for no difference add pluses and minuses select the smaller value find critical vale if calculated value is equal or less than critical value result is significant
47
What is probability
a measure of the chance that a certain event will occur
48
what is a null hypothesis
an assumption that there is no relationship in the population with respect to the variables being studied
49
what is the alternative hypothesis
a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables
50
what is a type I error
when the null hypothesis is rejected when it is true
51
what is a type II error
when the null hypothesis is retained when it was not true
52
sentence for choosing statistical test
cocks should come men will spunk unless really pissed

Psychology (7 decks)

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