Terms Flashcards
(27 cards)
Reliability
How much it produces consistent results/could be replicated
Generalisability
The extent to which you could apply to a population outside of the one you’ve studied
(Also known as external validity)
Triangulation
Using various methods so you can increase validity
Social desirability bias
Saying what you think the socially acceptable response is, e.g under-reporting of drinking
Validity
How well it measures what it’s supposed to
Researcher Bias
When the presence of the researcher influences/changes the data collected
Hawthorne Effect
When knowing you’re being observed or studied changes behaviour or results
Demand Characteristics
When you say what you think the researcher wants you to say
Deductive Approach
Testing a hypothesis, where a theory leads to observation, leads to confirmation
Inductive Approach
Where observation leads to formation of a theory, more broad and exploratory
Reactivity
Where the participant is affected by the instruments or individual used to conduct the research e.g survey questions, nodding
Definition Bias
When you don’t properly define your subject population, e.g studying people with a drinking problem without quantifying what counts as problem drinking
Concept Bias
Lack of clarity about the concepts your research is based on
Selection Bias
When there is bias in how you picked your population, e.g selecting people for a study that takes a long time immediately rules out busy people
Length Bias
Where different points of a measured phenomenon will be different, so you measuring the people available may miss a section
Berkson’s bias
Where the sample affected show a bias in exposure, because the exposure was pathological. Therefore can’t be compared to the outside population to measure exposure because they had to be exposed to end up in hospital
Interviewer Bias
When the skill/characteristics of the interviewer will ellicit different responses, e.g if you’re much better at detecting a disease than other interviewers, your incidence rate will be higher
Attrition Bias
Different groups are more likely to non respond than others e.g if you were looking to see how people voted but some people can’t read English you’ve missed out the illiterate population
Interpretation Bias
Where researchers interpret the data in the way they want e,g stating someone looked more or less upset
Publication Bias
Not wanting to publish things that don’t fir your agenda
Ontology
How you view the world, how you understand existence
Epistemology
What constitue knowledge there how you do your research
Positivism
Epistemology>
Facts are facts
One valid truth
Interpretivism
Epistemology>
Subjective realities
