Research methods

• Strength of a case study

  • Rich detailed insights
  • Contribute to understanding of typical functioning’s
  • Can generate hypothesis for further studies
• limitation of a case study

  • small sample size = hard to generalise findings
  • final report based on subjective selection
  • personal accounts from patient + family = inaccuracy
• context analysis is a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce.
• coding is the initial stage of context analysis. Turning qualitative data into quantitative data = counting the number of times a word is said
• thematic analysis is a form of content analysis. The process involves identifying themes in the aspect they are studying. More descriptive than coding
• strengths of context analysis

  • can get around many ethical issues
  • many of its study material is already in the public domain
  • high external validity
  • can produce both quantitative + qualitative data
• limitations of context analysis

  • usually analysed outside context occurred = researchers may assume aspects of the context
  • lack of objectivity
• reliability is the measure of consistency. If a particular measurement is made twice and = same then it is deemed reliable
• Test retest is used to test reliability - giving the same test or question to the same people at a different time and if the results are the same = reliable
• inter rater reliability is the extent to which there is a agreement between two or more observers involved in a behaviour or observation
• inter rater reliability is tested by doing a small scale trial run to test whether they apply the behavioural categories in the same way. they must have over 0.8 to have high inter rater reliability.
• to measure reliability the correlation coefficient should exceed +0.8
• if questionnaires have low test-retest reliability it may be requires to deselect or re-write some of the questions.
• to improve reliability in interviews, you should use the same interviewer and if not all same interviewers should be properly trained = less ambiguous or leading questions
• to improve reliability in observation, ensure behavioural categories are operationalised and/or a discussion between observers about there decisions on certain behaviours.
• to improve reliability in experiments there must be standardised procedures
• validity is whether psychological test/observation/experiment produces a result that is legitimate. Whether they measure what they intend to measure + research be generalised outside the study setting
• internal validity is whether the effects found are due to the changing of the independent variable or another factor
• ecological validity is a type of external validity.
• ecological validity is the extent to which the findings of the study can be generalised to the real world
• temporal validity is a form of external validity
• temporal validity is the extent to which findings from research study can be generalised other historical eras
• face validity is whether it appears to measure what it intends to measure
• concurrent validity is the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure
• to improve validity of experiments :

  • have a control group
  • standardized procedures - minimize investigator effects
  • single/double blind
• to improve validity in questionnaires:

  • use lie scales to reduce social desirability bias
  • all data submitted is anonymous
• to improve validity in observations :

  • covert observation = more ecological validity
  • make behavioral categories specific + non-overlapping
• to improve validity of qualitative research:

  • use triangulation
  • use of a number of different sources of evidence
• usual significance level is psychology is what?

  0.05 %
• the calculated value is also known as the observed value
• critical value tells us whether we can reject the null hypothesis or not.
• one tailed test = directional hypothesis
• two tailed test = non-directional hypothesis
• Type I error is when the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate is accepted when it should be the other way around
• Type II error is when the null hypothesis is accepted when it should have been the alternate hypothesis
• what section of the scientific report is the abstract?

  one
• what is the abstract in a scientific report?

  short summary --> includes aims + hypothesis + method + results + conclusions
• the introduction of a scientific report includes relevant theories + concepts
• the method is a scientific report includes

  • design
  • sample - sampling method + target population
  • apparatus + materials
  • procedure - standardized instructions + (de)briefing
  • ethics
• results section in a scientific report should be a summary of key findings

  • descriptive statistics = tables graphs charts
  • inferential statistics = statistical test, level of significance