year 2 (p1-44) Flashcards
(49 cards)
what are case studies?
in depth research on a single person or small group,
may use several forms of data,
psychologist produces a description of the case followed by an interpretation of the findings
three advantages of case studies
provide in-depth detailed information,
longitudinal research- can see how behaviours develops,
acknowledges the importance of individual experiences, thoughts and feelings - better understanding
five disadvantages of case studies
results can’t be generalised, may not be reliable (recall distorted), time consuming, cause and effect can’t be inferred, ethical issues: confidentiality (people identifiable), could lead to psychological harm (embarrassed)
what is a correlational study?
the analysis of the relationship between two co-variables,
no manipulation of the variables
four advantages of correlations
they measure the strength and direction of a correlation,
no manipulation of variables so useful when practically or ethically not possible to manipulate variables,
may discover a link between two existing variables,
used if psychologists are interested in relationship rather than an explanation
two disadvantages of correlations
no manipulation of variables- impossible to establish cause and effect between two variables, can only suggest relationship.
variables have to be quantified to be measured- can affect the construct validity of the findings
what is a correlation coefficient?
a number between-1 and +1 that represents the direction and strength of a relationship between co-variables
a value of +1 represents a ___ ___ correlation
perfect positive
a value of -1 represents a ___ ___ correlation
perfect negative
the closer the coefficient is to +1 or -1, the ___ the relationship is
stronger
the closer the coefficient is to zero, the ___ the relationship is
weaker
if the correlations coefficient is 0 there is …
no correlation
which way do the dots of a graph go if the correlation coefficient is positive?
bottom left to top right
which way do the dots of a graph go if the correlation coefficient is negative?
top left to bottom left
three differences between a correlation and an experiment
experiment: establishes cause and effect vs correlation: establishes a relationship,
experiment: has IV vs correlation: no IV,
experiment: high degree of control vs correlation: no control
what for of research is content analysis?
observational research
what kind of data does content analysis analyse and what does it turn this data into?
turns qualitative data into quantitative data
what is coding in content analysis?
when the researcher places qualitative data into categories ’coding units’
list the 5 steps in the procedure for content analysis
- data is collected - e.g. tv adverts
- researcher reads through or examine the data - e.g. stereo typing
- researcher identifies coding units - males = jobs, females = home
- data is analysed by applying the coding units - watch adverts again
- a tally is made of the number of times that coding unit appears
six advantages of content analysis
inexpensive and easy to use,
fewer ethical issues - ppts aren’t involved,
high ecological validity- based on real life,
clear summary of patterns,
replicable to check reliability,
allows statistical analysis to be conducted
four disadvantages of content analysis
analysing data can be time consuming,
an individual’s judgment/ interpretation can be subject- reduces validity,
cause and effect can’t be established cos it only describes the data,
removes detail when data is put into coding units
name the most frequently used form of qualitative analysis
thematic analysis
what is thematic analysis?
making a summery of data and identifying key themes (any idea that is recurrent)
what is reliability?
how consistent or dependable a test is,
a reliability test carried out exactly the same as should give the same results
