sdcpsychology.weebly.com · Web viewThe implications of psychological research for the economy. Data handling and analysis Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding

Research Methods AS Student Workbook

Name ClassMethods and Techniques

Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following research methods, be familiar with their use and be aware of their strengths and limitations: Experimental method. Types of experiment, laboratory and field

experiments; natural and quasi experiments. Observational techniques. Types of observation: naturalistic and

controlled observation; covert and overt observation; participant and non-participant observation.

Self-report techniques. Questionnaires; interviews, structured and unstructured.

Correlations. Analysis of the relationship between co-variables. The difference between correlations and experiments.

Scientific processes

Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following scientific processes, be familiar with their use and be aware of their strengths and limitations: Aims: stating aims, the difference between aims and hypotheses. Hypotheses: directional and non-directional. Sampling: the difference between population and sample; sampling

techniques including: random, systematic, stratified, opportunity and volunteer; implications of sampling techniques, including bias and generalisation.

Pilot studies and the aims of piloting. Experimental designs: repeated measures, independent groups, matched

pairs. Observational design: behavioural categories; event sampling; time

sampling. Questionnaire construction, including use of open and closed questions;

design of interviews. Variables: manipulation and control of variables, including independent,

dependent, extraneous, confounding; operationalisation of variables. Control: random allocation and counterbalancing, randomisation and

standardisation. Demand characteristics and investigator effects. Ethics, including the role of the British Psychological Society’s code of

ethics; ethical issues in the design and conduct of psychological studies; dealing with ethical issues in research.

The role of peer review in the scientific process. The implications of psychological research for the economy.

Data handling and analysis

Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following features of data handling and analysis, be familiar with their use and be aware of their strengths and limitations: Quantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and

quantitative data collection techniques. Primary and secondary data, including meta-analysis. Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency – mean, median,

mode; calculation of mean, median and mode; measures of dispersion; range and standard deviation; calculation of range; calculation of percentages; positive, negative and zero correlations.

Presentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, 1

scattergrams, bar charts. Distributions: normal and skewed distributions; characteristics of normal

and skewed distributions. Introduction to statistical testing; the sign test.

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Methods and Techniques: ExperimentsExperiment What is this?

Experimental condition

What is this? Example …

Experimenter

Who is this person? Exactly?

Researcher Who is this person? How are they different from the experimenter?

Control group

What is this? What is it used for?

Confederate What is this? & why use it?

Placebo What is this?

Twin study Explain AO3

Adoption Study

Explain AO3

Longitudinal Study

What is this? AO3

Single-blind Explain Why is this useful?

Double-blind

Explain Why is this useful?

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Types of Experiment

Explanation EvaluationField Experiment

Lab experiment

Natural experiment

The researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing IV. It’s called ‘natural’ as the IV would have changed even if the experimenter wasn’t interested. NB: it is the IV that is natural – not the setting. This type of study can be carried out in a lab setting.

Quasi experiment

How is this different to a natural experiment?

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EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNSExperimental design

This is a set of procedures used to control the influence of participant variables in an experiment. It is how we organise our participants to carry out the conditions in the experiment.

Explanation (and picture) EvaluationIndependent groups design

Matched pairs design

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Repeated measures design

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Just checking …1. Which of the four investigations below

is the lab experiment, the field experiment, the natural experiment and the quasi-experiment?a. Baron-Cohen et al (1986) got

children with Down’s syndrome, children with autism and ‘normal’ children to arrange comic strip stories into the correct sequence. It was found that children with autism performed significantly worse when it came to ordering the strip.

b. Piliavin et al (1969) conducted an experiment on a busy New York subway in which a researcher pretended to collapse. It was found that more people helped when the victim was carrying a walking stick than when they smelt of alcohol.

c. Williams (1986) monitored the change in behaviour of 6-11 year old children in a Canadian town before and after television was introduced for the first time. Significant increases in levels of aggression were observed after the children had access to television.

d. Gilchrist and Nesburg (1952) deprived participants of food and water for four hours and shows them pictures of food. These participants rated the pictures of food as being brighter than the control group who had not been food deprived.

2. Outline what is meant by random allocation and outline one way in which this could be carried out. (3 marks)

3. Explain one limitation of a repeated measures design. (3 marks)

4. Outline what is meant by a matched pairs design. (2 marks)

6. Which of the following is an independent groups design, a repeated measures design or a matched pairs design.a. Depressed patients were assigned

to receive either cognitive therapy or behaviour therapy for a 12-week period. A standardised test for depression was administered and participants were paired in the severity of their symptoms.

b. A researcher randomly assigned student volunteers to two conditions. Those in condition one attempted to recall a list of words that were organised into meaningful categories; those in condition two attempted to recall the same words, randomly grouped on the page.

c. To investigate whether students are more alert in the morning or the afternoon, each student is given a hazard perception test before school and at the end of the day.

7. Explain what is meant by a laboratory experiment (3 marks)

8. Explain one strength and one limitation of a field experiment (3 marks + 3 marks)

8. Explain the difference between a field experiment and a natural experiment (3 marks)

Make sure you link the answers to these just checking questions with the appropriate theoretical information on the previous pages.

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Issues with research designs

Order effect What is this? When could it happen? This can be dealt with

through the use of counterbalancing (see below)

Practice effects

What is this? When could it happen? What effect could this have on the results?

Boredom effect


Fatigue Effect


Counterbalancing

Why and with which research design do we use this?

How does it work?

Random allocation

What is this? When and why is it important?

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Methods and Techniques: CorrelationsCorrelation (correlational analysis)

What is this?

Correlation coefficient

What is this? What does it show?

Co-variables What are these? How are they different to and IV and DV?

Examples?

Scattergram (scattergraph)

Explanation? What is it used for?

Zero correlation What does this look like? What does it mean?

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Negative correlation

What does this look like? What does it mean?

Positive correlation

What does this look like? What does it mean?

Evaluation of studies using correlational analysisStrengths Weaknesses

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Scientific ProcessesAims and HypothesiseAims What are these? Why do we need them in research?

Hypothesis What is this? How is it different to the aims?

Experimental(alternative) hypothesis

H1


Directional hypothesis (1-tailed)

Example: People who do homework with the TV on will produce lower results than those who do homework with no TV on.

Non-Directional hypothesis (2-tailed)

Simply states that there will be a difference between two conditions or two groups of participants.

Example:

How do you decide which type of hypothesis to use?

Null hypothesis

H0


Just checking …1. Which of these are aims

and which is a hypothesis?

a. To see if blondes have more fun than brunettes

b. Arts students are less clever than science students

c. Positive expectations lead to differences in performance

d. Whether alcohol causes goldfish to have poorer memories than no alcohol

2. Decide whether these are directional or non-directional hypothesise.

a. Boys score differently on aggressiveness tests than girlsb. Students who have a computer at home do better in

exams than those who don’tc. Participants remember the words that are early in a list

better than the words that appear laterd. Participants given a list of emotionally charged words

recall fewer words that a list of emotionally neutral wordse. Hamsters are better pets than budgiesf. There will be a difference in the recall accuracy of words

presented in phonetic form and those presented in semantic form

3. For each of the given experiments write a directional and non-directional hypothesis.11

a. A study to find out whether girls watch more television than boysb. A study to see whether teachers give higher marks on essays to more attractive

students than to students who are less attractivec. A study to investigate whether lack of sleep affects schoolwork

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VARIABLESA variable is just a thing – something that can change. For example, noise is a

variable – it can be soft or loud. Concentration is a variable – it can be high or low. Gender is a variable – it can be male or female.

Operationalise

What does this mean? Example …

Dependant Variable


Independent Variable


Levels (conditions) of the IV

What is this? Example: if the IV was ‘noise’ the levels could be loud and soft noise

Just checking…1. For each of the variables

below suggest two possible levels of the IV.

a. Speedb. Jewelleryc. Bananasd. Psychology

students

2. You actually know all about experiments – you conduct them without thinking. For example, when you start a class with a new teacher you see how he or she responds to your behaviour – you might answer a question in class and make a joke on one occasion but no joke the next time to see if she likes jokes. You are experimenting with cause and effect.a. Identify the ‘DV’ in this experimentb. There are two different IVs mentioned. Can you

identify them?

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CONTROL OF VARIABLESThe key to an experiment is that an independent variable (IV) is manipulated (changed) to see how this affects the dependant variable (DV). The only thing that should influence the DV is the IV. Any other variables that might potentially interfere with the IV (or the DV) should be controlled or removed.

Extraneous Variable


Confounding Variable

What could these be? How might they affect the results?

Demand Characteristics

Any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation. This may lead to participants changing their behaviour within the research situation.

Example …

Investigator effects

What does this mean? What can be done to deal with it?

Social desirability bias

What is this? When could it happen?

What can be done to deal with it?

Randomisation

What is this? Why is it useful?

Standardisation

What does this mean? Why is it important?

Example ...

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EXTENSION INFORMATIONIt would be useful for you to know what these different ‘things’ are but they are not explicitly stated on the specification, hence their classification at ‘extension information’.

Situational variables


Participant effects



Hawthorne effect



Experimenter effects

What is this? When could it happen? How could it affect the results?


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SAMPLING

In any study a researcher needs to select people to take part. The people that are selected are referred to as the sample. This sample is selected from a larger group, referred to as the target population.

A good sample should not be biased and thus should represent the target population. This means that later we can generalise the results of the study to the people in the target population.

Target population

Why do we need this? Are they just the people with a bull’s-eye on their back?

Participants

Who are these people?

Sample Who is this? How is it different to the participants?

How is it different to the target population?

Representative Sample

What makes a sample representative? Why is this important?

Sampling techniquesOpportunity Volunteer RandomHOW HOW HOW

+ + +

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- - -

Systematic StratifiedHOW HOW

+ +

- -

Problems …Bias What does this mean about the results?

Generalisation

Why might this be a problem?

Androcentric / Gynocentric

What is this? How are they different?

Ethnocentric What does this mean?

Participant variables


Attrition What does this mean? In what type of study is this most likely to happen?

Just checking …1. A researcher

investigated the differences between older and young people in terms of

2. A group of psychology students are interested to find out whether college students who like to climb mountains have more extravert personalities than other college students.a. Describe the target population in the study

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their memories. He used an opportunity sample and had a final sample of 8 young people and 14 older people. Explain why this might be a biased sample.

b. Why might the researcher prefer to use a random sample instead of a volunteer sample?

c. How could the researcher obtain a random sample from this target population?

d. Describe how the researcher might select a volunteer sample.

e. Which sampling method is most likely to be biased?

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Pilot studiesThe specification says that you need to know what pilot studies are and the aims of piloting. Previously they have asked questions in the exam where you have needed to identify why a pilot study would be useful in a given example.

Pilot study Define me!

What sorts of things would a pilot study allow you to identify and change?Study Participants

Example past question:Your teacher asks you to carry out an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of a memory improvement strategy for learning a list of 10 words.

Explain why it would be appropriate to do a pilot study before carrying out this experiment. [4 marks]

Plan your answer:Bullet point ideas … Write in continuous prose with

explanation:

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There is a depth/breadth trade off. Students may cover one point in detail or more than one in less detail.

Reliability and ValidityReliability What is this?

External reliability

What is this?

Internal reliability

Define please …

Inter-rater reliability

(inter-interviewer)

What is this? How can we improve this?

Validity What is this? How can we improve the validity of research?

External validity What is this? Why is it important?

Ecological Validity

What is this? Which types of research have high/low ecological validity?

Mundane realism

What is this? How is it different to ecological validity?

Temporal Validity

What is this?

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You will practice applying this knowledge to different research methods a bit later on – at the

moment it is important that you know what these things are and

what they do.

Population validity

What is this?

Internal Validity What is this? Why is it important?

Methods and Techniques: Non-ExperimentalOBSERVATIONSObservation (observational study)

What is this? How is it different from a field study?

Overt observation +

-Covert observations

+-

Participant observation +

-

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You might think that making observations is easy. However there are some difficulties that individuals encounter, such as…

1. It is difficult to work out what to record and what not to record2. It is difficult to record everything that is happening even if you

do select what to record and what not to recordObservational research, like all research, aims to be objective and rigorous. For this reason it is necessary to use observational techniques to enable systematic observation to be made.

Naturalistic observations Controlled observations

Unstructured observational techniques Structured observational techniques

Designing observational studies

Recording data Sampling proceduresWhen we watch somebody perform a particular action we see a continuous stream of action rather than a series of separate behavioural components. In order to make a reliable and objective record of what we need to break this stream of behaviour into different categories. What is needed is operationalisation – dividing the behaviour being studies into a set of component behaviours. For example, when observing infant behaviour we can divide this into component behaviours such as smiling, crying, sleeping, etc. This set of component behaviours is

called a list of behavioural categories. Sometimes each behaviour is given a

code to make recording easier and then the method is called a coding system.

A further method is to provide a list of behaviours or characteristics and ask observers to rate each one using a rating scale.

In an unstructured observation data are recorded continuously – every instance of the behaviour seen or heard by the observer is recorded in as much detail as possible. This is possible to do if the behaviours the researcher is interested in do not occur very often.In many situations, however, continuous observation is not possible because there would be too much data to record. Therefore, there must be a systematic method of sampling observations. Event Sampling:

Time Sampling:

Are men or women more physically aggressive during arguments?

Write down the behavioural categories that you might observe

Hypothesis: Men are more physically aggressive during arguments than women.

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Aggressive behaviours

Unstructured observational techniques Structured observational techniques

Advantages of behavioural categories

Disadvantages of behavioural categories

Observer bias

Inter-observer reliability

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Evaluating observational techniquesValidityInternalObservations will not be valid if the coding system is flawed. Validity can also be observed by observer bias – what someone observes is influenced by their expectations. This reduced the objectivity of the observations.

ExternalObservational studies are likely to have high ecological validity because they involve more natural behaviours. What does this mean?

Why might population validity be a problem in this type of research?

How can we improve the validity of observational techniques?

ReliabilityAny tool used to measure something must be reliable. If the ‘tool’ is measuring the same thing it should produce the same result on every occasion. If the result is different then we need to be sure that it is the thing being tested that has changed or is different, and not our measuring tool.

Assessing reliability: What is inter-observer reliability and what can we use to assess this?

Total agreementsTotal observations = >80%

How can we improve the reliability of observational techniques?

Ethical considerations for observational techniquesWhat possible ethical issues are there?

Justify your choices … (PS: it’s ok to have all of them!) How can these ethical issues be dealt with?

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SELF-REPORT METHODSFirst things first:

What are the similarities and differences between a questionnaire and an interview?

How do we write good questions?When writing good questions there are three guiding principles:

1. Clarity2. Bias3. Analysis

How then do we design good questionnaires?Well a good questionnaire should contain good questions (obviously). Some other things to consider when designing a good questionnaire are:Open Questions Closed Questions

What are these? Examples?

What are these? Examples?

Filler Questions:

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Interviews Questionnaires

The Sequence of the questions:

Sampling technique:

Piloting:

++

--

++

--

How can leading questions be a problem in interviews and questionnaires?

Examples …

Why has research told us it is important to try and avoid these?

Likert scale What is this? Example …

Why would researchers rather use an even numbered scale?

Explain how social desirability bias might affect the validity of a study using a self-report technique (i.e. questionnaire or interview).

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………….

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………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………Extension: Lie scale

What is this? What is it used for?

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INTERVIEWS

What is an interview?

Structured interview

What is this?

Semi-structured interview

What is this? How is it different to a structured interview?

Unstructured interview

What is this?

Clinical Interview

How does this fit in with what you already know?

Many of the same issues apply to interviews as we have already discussed when looking at questionnaires, such as the use of open and closed questions, and social desirability bias and issues with

leading questions. But there are also some special strengths and limitations.

Strengths and Weaknesses of interviews in comparison to questionnairesStrengths Weaknesses

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Examples of interviews in psychological researchMost people are law abiding citizens. They know the difference between good and bad. But how do we learn what is good and what is bad behaviour/ the American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg suggested that the way people think about right and wrong is a consequence of maturing – as a child gets older the way they think becomes more sophisticated and this affects their ability to think about moral decisions and ultimately affects their moral behaviour.To investigate this Kohlberg (1978) used imaginary situations (moral dilemmas) such as the example on the right. After considering the dilemma participants were interviewed about their attitudes. For example, they were asked: Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not? [if subject favoured stealing, ask:] If Heinz doesn’t love his

wife, should he steal the drug for her? [if subject favoured not stealing, ask:] Does it make a

difference whether or not he loves his wife? Why or why not? Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger.

Should Heinz steal the drug for the stranger? Why or why not?

In Europe, a woman was near death from a special form of cancer. There

was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium

that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was

expensive to make but the druggist was charging 10 times what the drug cost to make. He paid $400 for the

radium and charged $4000 for a small dose of it. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only

get together about $2000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist

that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay it later. But the druggist said “No. I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money

from it”. Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the

drug for his wife.Carol Gilligan criticised Kohlberg’s research because it was based on imaginary situations. People might think differently when considering their own moral dilemmas. Therefore, Gilligan and Attanucci (1988) used a different approach. Participants were asked a set of questions about a different approach. For example, they were asked: Have you ever been in a situation of moral conflict where you had to make a decision but weren’t

sure what was the right thing to do? Could you describe the situation? What did you do? Do you think it was the right thing to do? How do you know?Each participant was interviewed individually for approximately two hours, including general questioning about morality and identify as well as the specific questions listed above.The interviews were briefed to ask other questions to encourage the participants to elaborate and clarify their responses. For example, saying ‘is there anything else you would like to add?’Interviewers also asked participants to explain the meaning of key terms that they used, such as ‘responsibility’, ‘fair’ and ‘obligation’.What types of interviews have been used in these examples?

What is the problem with using fictional scenarios?

What could they have done instead?

Why is allowing participants the change to elaborate on their responses a positive?

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Evaluating self-report methodsValidity

The internal validity of self-report techniques is related to the issue of whether the questionnaire or interview really measures what it intended to measure.There are several ways to assess this including:Face Validity:

Concurrent validity:

The external validity of questionnaires and interviews concerns the extent to which the findings can be generalised to other situations and other people. How can the sample affect this?

How can we improve the validity of self-report methods?Internal External

ReliabilityInternal reliability is a measure of the extent to which something is consistent within itself. For example, all the questions on an IQ test should be measuring the same thing. This may not be relevant to all questionnaires, because sometimes internal consistency is not important (e.g. if looking at different aspects of day care and its effects).

External reliability is a measure of consistency over several different occasions. For example, if an interviewer conducted an interview, and then conducted the same interview with the same interviewee a week later, the outcome should be the same – otherwise the interview is not reliable. Reliability also concerns whether two interviewers produce the same outcome (inter-interviewer reliability).

Assessing: Split-half method Assessing: Test-retest method

Improving the reliability of self-report methods

What possible ethical issues need to be considered when using a self-report method? Justify your choices … (PS: it’s ok to have all of them!)

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ETHICSCode of ethics (BPS ethical guidelines)

What is this? Why is it important?

Ethical Issues What are these? Whose experiments brought these issues to the forefront?

Ethical committee

Who are these people?

Milgram’s study of obedience to authorityThe participant’s in Milgram’s study were told that the study concerned the effect of punishment on learning. They were asked for their consent to take part and told that they would be paid $4.50. They were also told that they could withdraw at any time and would still be paid for taking part.

During the experiment, if a participant asked to stop, the experimenter had been instructed to deliver a set of ‘prods’, such as saying ‘it is absolutely essential that you continue’ or ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’.

A. Do you think the deception in this study was acceptable? Explain your answer.B. Do you think Milgram obtained informed consent from his participants? Explain

your answer.C. Did Milgram give participants the right to withdraw from his experiment? Explain

your answer.D. Do you think the distress caused in this study is acceptable?Applying your theoretical knowledge to a new context.Two further studies are described on the right. For each study answer the following questions: Identify at least two possible

ethical issues For each ethical issue, explain in

what way it is an issue in this study.

Describe how you would deal with each ethical issue

Study A In order to study the effects of sleep deprivation students are asked to limit their sleep to five hours for three nights and then sleep normally for the next three nights. Each day the students’ cognitive abilities are assessed using a memory test.

Study B A teacher decides to try a little experiment with her class of eight year olds. She gives half the class a test in the morning and half of them do the same test in the afternoon to see if time of day affects performance.

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Ethical IssuesInformed Consent Deception Right to withdraw

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What is presumptive consent all about?

What is a ‘debrief’? What would be included & why used?

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Peer ReviewThe role of peer review The main aims of peer reviewThe aim of science (psychology is a science) is to produce a body of knowledge through conducting research. In addition to conducting the research what matters is how this knowledge is communicated with the scientific community, and to the wider public.

In psychology, research findings are publicised through conferences, textbooks (apparently), but most often via academic journals (such as Journal of Experimental Social Psychology or American Psychologist).

Before a piece of research can become part of a journal, however, it must be subject to a process of peer review.

This involves all aspects of the investigation being scrutinised by a small group of usually two or three experts (‘peers’) in the particular field. These experts should be objective and unknown to the author or researcher.

a. To allocate research funding

b. To validate the quality and relevance of research

c. To suggest amendments or improvements

Examples of fraudulent research

In 2010 Professor Marc Hauser of Harvard University was found responsible for scientific misconduct related to a number of published scientific papers. His main area of research concerned cotton-top tamarind monkeys and their cognitive abilities. He appears to have drawn conclusions for which he has been unable to provide evidence.

In 2011 Professor Diederik Stapel of Tilburh University in the Netherlands admitted inventing data in over 30 different publications. His admissions came after colleagues realised that some of his data were ‘too good to be true’ and spent months observing his work, eventually blowing the whistle on him.

In the light of such prominent cases of professional misconduct Leslie John and colleagues (2012) surveyed over 2000 psychologists asking them to anonymously report their involvement in questionable research practices.

They found that 70% said they had cut corners in reporting data and 1% admitted falsifying data. They concluded that questionable practices may constitute the prevailing research norm.

Evaluation: it is clear why peer review is essential – without it we don’t know what is mere opinion and speculation and what is fact. However, certain features can still be criticised.

Finding an expert Publication Bias

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Anonymity Preserving the status quo

Psychological Research and the EconomyOne of the wider concerns for psychology, as well as science in general, is what the implications of research are for the economy. By ‘implications’ we mean – how does what we learn from the findings of psychological research influence, affect, benefit or devalue our economic prosperity?

Attachment research into the role of the fatherRecent research has questioned the notion that the only important attachment a child forms is with their biological mother, now pointing out the importance of the child forming multiple attachments, most notable of which is that of the father. Although some studies suggest that the father may fulfil a qualitatively different role to the mother; crucially, this role is no less valuable in the child’s upbringing. Psychological research has shown that both parents are equally capable of providing the emotional support necessary for health psychological development, and this understanding may promote more flexible working arrangements within the family.

The development of treatments for mental illnessAbsence from work costs the economy an estimates £15 billion a year. A recent government report revealed that 1/3 of all absences are caused by mild to moderate mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and stress (The Telegraph, 2014). Due to significant research in this area patients are able to have their condition diagnosed quickly and gain swift access to treatment. Many conditions are treated through drug therapies, and referrals can be made by GPs for psychotherapies such as SD and CBT. Individuals can also engage in self-treatment using similar methods.

How might this have an influence on the economy?

How could this positively benefit the economy?

Evaluation of economic impactWhen conducting research, psychologists need to be aware that ethical considerations come before profit and that psychology should not be used to exploit people, as this has

Psychologists must also take care not to become divorced from the consequences of their research by being in the agentic state and not taking responsibility for their actions,

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negative consequences. For example, ironic deviance shows us that if individuals believe a source of informational influence is not genuine, they will not act upon that influence. So if psychologists were perceived to advice a practical application because they had been manipulated to do so, people are not likely to trust such an application.

such as by conducting research into psychoactive drugs that are then misused by profiteering drug companies. As an example of ‘agentic’ behaviour: in one of his variations, Milgram found that if participants only read out the questions and someone else administered the shocks 92.5% of participants obeyed.

As well as contributing to the economy by producing a better functioning workforce, psychological research also cuts down on costs to the health service and to policing, the judiciary, the prison service etc., as psychologically healthy people are less likely to incur costs upon these institutions.

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Qualitative research methodsQualitative research aims to produce an in-depth understanding of behaviour, and, because of the open-ended nature of the research, produce new explanations. The goal is to understand behaviour in a natural setting and also to understand a phenomenon from the perspective of the research participant and understand the meanings people give to their experience. The researcher is concerned with asking broad questions that allow the respondent to answer in their own words, or to observe behaviour.

What type of data do these techniques produce?

Unstructured observations

Structured observations

Questionnaires

Unstructured interview

Content analysis

Case studies

Experiments

Presentation of qualitative researchQualitative research uses smaller samples than quantitative research but usually involves the collection of a large amount of data. The challenge when presenting qualitative data is to find ways to summarise it so that conclusions can be drawn.The first step is to categorise the data in some way: Pre-existing categories Emergent categoriesLater the behavioural categories can then be used to summarise the data. The categories or themes may be listed. Examples of behaviour within the category may

be represented using quotes from participants or descriptions of typical behaviours in that category.

Frequency of occurrences in each category may be counted, thus qualitative data are turned into quantitative data.

Finally a researcher may draw conclusions.

Comparing quantitative and qualitative dataAdvantages Disadvantages

Quantitative data

Qualitative data

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Additional research methods:

Case study AO3

Content analysisThis is the analysis of the content of something. For example, a researcher might study the gender content of magazine advertisements and attempt to describe this content in some systematic way so that conclusions can be drawn. Content analysis is a form of indirect observation, indirect because you are not observing people directly but observing them through the artefacts they produce. These artefacts can be TV programmes, books, songs, paintings, etc. The process involved is similar to any observational study, the researcher has to make decisions about:1. Sampling method

2. Behavioural categories to be used:a. Quantitative analysis:

b. Qualitative analysis:

Example of qualitative content analysis:A Finnish study considered the role of the family in adolescents’ peer and school experiences. They conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 adolescents aged 12-16, using questions such as, ‘what does your family know about your peers?’ These interviews produced 234 pages of notes which were analysed using a qualitative content analysis.1. All answers to the same question were placed

together.2. Each statement was compressed into a briefer

statement and given an identifier code.3. These statements were compared with each other

and categorised so that statements with similar content were placed together and a category (or theme) identified.

4. The categories were grouped into larger units producing eight main categories, e.g.: - Enablement- Support- Negligence

One of the conclusions drawn from this study is the schools should pay more attention to the multiple relationships that determine an adolescents behaviour.

Example of quantitative content analysisManstead and McCulloch (1981) analysed ads on British TV to look at gender stereotypes. They observed 170 ads over a one-week period, ignoring those that contained only children and animals. In each ad they focussed on the central adult figure and recorded frequencies in a table like the one on the right. For each ad there might be no ticks, one tick or a number of ticks.In this study, women were found to be more likely than men to be portrayed as product users, to be cast in a dependent role, to produce no arguments in favour of the product and to be shown at home.

Male Female

Role of central character

Dependent roleIndependent role

Product type used by central character

Food/drink

Alcohol

Body

Household

1. Explain in what way a content analysis is a form of observation.

2. Describe two advantages of conducting this kind of research.

3. How might observer bias affect the findings of a content analysis?

Evaluation of content analysisAdvantages Disadvantages

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Other types of data

Primary Data Explain Example

Strengths Limitations

Secondary Data Explain Example


Associated research method:Meta-Analysis Explain Example


Just checking …Which of the following would be classed as primary and which secondary data?a. An interview about people with OCD about their experiencesb. A comparison of crime statistics in inner city and rural areas to see if there is a differencec. A lab study to see if male or females are more susceptible to visual illusionsd. A researcher examines the transcript of a trial to see if there were any inconsistencies in eyewitness

accounts

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Data Handling and analysisDATADescriptive statistics

What are these? What do they show?

Examples …

Measures of central tendency

What are these? Examples …

Mean What is this? What do we use it for?

How do you work it out? Formula?

Median What is this? What do we use it for?

How do you work it out?

Mode What is this? What do we use it for?

How do you work it out?

Measures of dispersion

What do these show? Example …

Range What is this? What do we use it for?

Worked example (you need to be able to do this in the exam).

Standard deviation

What is this? What do we use it for?

Worked example .

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GraphsLi

ne G

raph

What is this used for? What does it show?

What does it look like?

Hist

ogra

m

What is this used for? How is it different to a bar chart?

Do a little sketch …

Bar c

hart

What is this used for? And how is it different to a historgram?

But how do you draw one?

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Distributions: Normal or Skewed?Normal Distributions

The idea of normal distribution is that for a given attribute, say for example IQ scores, most scores will be on or around the mean. Data that is normally distributed is symmetrical, so that when plotted on a graph the data forms a bell shaped curve with as many scores below the mean as above it (see below).There are several ways that data can be checked to see if it is normally distributed.1. Examine visually: look at the data to see if most scores are clustered around the mean.2. Calculate measures of central tendency: calculate the mean, mode and media to see if they are similar.3. Plot the frequency distribution: plot the data on a histogram to see if it forms a bell-shaped curve

Skewed Distributions: Unless a distribution of scores is symmetrical, as in a normal distribution, it will be skewed (not have an even distribution of scores either side of the mean). Outliers (extreme ‘freak’ scores) can cause skewed distributions.

Positive skew Negative skew

This occurs when there is high extreme scores (or group of scores), Therefore, a positively skewed distribution will contain more low than high scores (the skew having been produced by outlying high scores). Distribution is concentrated to the left of the graph.

This occurs when there is a low extreme score (or scores). A negatively skewed distribution will contain more high than low scores (the skew having been produced by outlying low scores). Distribution is concentrated to the right of the graph.

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Documents

sdcpsychology.weebly.com · Web viewThe implications of psychological research for the economy. Data handling and analysis Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding