Research methods from

Created by

Jess Manton

Cards (95)

What is a target population?
The target population is a group of individuals who meet a particular set of sampling criteria, such as: female, 18 years or older, new diagnosis of type II diabetes, not on insulin.
What is the random sampling method? 
when all members of the population have an equal opportunity to be selected for the study.
E.G names in a hat
What is opportunity sampling?
Taking a sample of people who are available at the time that the study is being carried out and fit the criteria of the research.
E.G walking past
What is volunteer sampling?
Involves participants selecting themselves to be part of the sample
E.g by advertisement
What is snowball sampling?
a method for acquiring a sample of people, in which existing participants suggest names of future participants to be recruited
What samples are the most representative?
Most ➡️ least:
Random
Opportunity
Snowball
Volunteer
Which sample as the most easy to obtain?
Easy ➡️ hard:
Volunteer
Snowball
Opportunity
Random
What are the advantages and disadvantages of random sampling?
Advantages:
Unbiased
Representative
Disadvantages:
Difficult to obtain
High attrition rates
What are the advantages and disadvantages of opportunity sampling?
Advantages:
Quick
Useful for memory
Disadvantages:
Biased
Not very representative
What are the advantages and disadvantages of volunteer sampling? 
Advantages:
Low attrition rates
Disadvantages:
Similar participants
Not representative
What are the advantages and disadvantages of snowball sampling?
Advantages:
Useful for study's on drugs
Quick
Disadvantages:
Biased due to participants having similar characteristics
Not representative
What are the different types of ethics?
Informed consent
Deception
Confidentiality
Debriefing
Withdrawal
Protection form harm
What is informed consent? 
permission granted in the knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits. But not needed in public
What is deception? 
Either withholding information from participants or providing false information. Can be justified if the benefits of the study outweigh the negatives
What is confidentiality? 
All information regarding a patient's condition including types of tests ordered or results is confidential
What is withdrawal? 
Participants can choose to exit study at any time with no consequences or penalties and results also withdrawn
What is debriefing? 
the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants
What is protection from harm?
Participants protected from physical and mental harm
risk assessment must be done before experiment to assess this
contact should be given after to allow protection to be long-term
What is an interview? 
An interview involves verbal communication between the researcher and the subject during which information is provided to the researcher. Interviews may be structured or unstructured.
What is a unstructured interview?
A qualitative interview that has no set questions. Used in clincial settings to learn and help diagnose
Requires attention to personal variables
What is a structured interview? 
a research procedure in which all participants are asked to answer the same questions in a pre determined order
What is a semi-structured interview?
having an outline of questions to follow but with flexibility in a natural environment
How variables influence interviews?
Interpersonal variables
Social desirability bias
Factors such as race and sex
How can interviews be improved?
Clarify ambiguous questions
More results can be collected like tone of voice and body language if assessed
Make it more trailered to the individual
What are questionnaires? 
A type of self report done by a participant only and can be done in any environment
What are advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires?
Advantages:
Generates quantitative data
Convenient
Replicable
Disadvantages:
Low response rate
Central tendency bias
Requires interpretation due to ambiguity
What is a open question?
The participants can provide as much detail as they want
Qualitative answer
What is a closed question?
a question requiring only a short, specific response
Quantitative answer
What is a rating scale?
A rating scale lists an ordered series of categories of a variable that are assumed to be based on an underlying continuum.

Ex. Rate your pain on a 1 - 10 scale with 10 being the worst....
What is a likert scale?
A type of rating scale that typically has four, five or seven categories that address agreement, evaluation, or frequency. It is used to determine the opinions or attitudes of study subjects.

Ex. strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree, strongly disagree.
What is a differential scale?
The postition a person takes that is most representative of their answer between two opposite verbs
e.g
Are you happy?
Unhappy ➡️➡️ happy
What are the advantages and disadvantages of open questions?
Advantages:
More detail
Increases validity
Disadvantages:
Difficult to analyse and compare
What are the advantages and disadvantages of closed questions?
Advantages:
Easy to compare
Generates quantitative data
Disadvantages:
Low quality answers
Not representative
What are the advantages and disadvantages of rating scales?
Advantages:
Show extent of answers
Allow comparisons to be made
Disadvantages:
Ambiguous
Central tendency bias
What is a dependent variable?
The dependent variable is the variable that is measured
What are extraneous variables?
they exist in all studies and can interfere with obtaining a clear understanding the relationships among study variables. Controlling extraneous variables enables a researcher to more accurately determine the effect of an independent or treatment variable on a dependent variable or outcome variable.
What does it mean to operationalise?
Making concepts measurable to test them
Iv = groups/ conditions
Dv = quantitatively measures
What is a hypothesis?
A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested and a prediction of results
What is an alternate hypothesis?
A specific testable prediction containing variables, and will state either a difference or relationship.
What is a null hypothesis?
null means zero. so a null hypothesis states that two variables are not related.