- only describe what is happening
Types of Data
-Quantitative : numbers
-Qualititive : detailed emotional information
Methods
- Survey
- Observation
- Case Study
Survey
Two types of survey
- Questionnaire
- Interview
Questionnaire
- large numbers of people can take part
- cheaply and easily
- open or closed questions
| Open Questions | Closed Questions | Scaling Items |
| Qualitative Data | Quantitative Data | Quantitative Data |
| Descriptive information where respondents can explain their response | Numerical information where answers are easily compared | Numerical information where answers are easily compared and indicates strengths |
| Tells us WHAT and WHY | Tells us WHAT but NOT WHY | Tells us WHAT but NOT WHY |
| What do you think about the current state of the health service? | Do you think the health service has a) got better b) stayed the same c) got worse since the collation came to power | I am happy with my body shape 1 2 3 4 5 sa a dk d sd sa – strongly agree a- agree dk – don’t know d – disagree sd – strongly disagree |
Standardisation
- Pilot study should be conducted to iron out any problems.
- Peer reviewed to identify bias and poor wording
- Randomly allocated so people don't automatically agree.
Avoid!
- Double Barral Questions (ones that say "do you agree with .... or do you not? yes or no"
- Presuming Knowledge about topics
- Emotive questions
- Leading questions to condition a response
Advantages
-Cheap
-Large amount of data in a short time
-Large sample
-Generalisation
-Highly replicable
Disadvantages
-Sample bias
-Poor questions can cause problems
-socially desirable answers
Interview
-Conversation for research
-Open or closed questions
-Recorded?
Structured
- Specific questions in advanced
-Only questions asked
-Responses outside the questions not recorded
Unstructured
- Free Range questions
- don't have to stick to those questions
-Respondants can lead interview
Advantages
- Large amount of detailed, rich information
- Meaningful information feelings, beliefs, motives
-Indicate direction for future research
Disadvantage
- Self report methods can be unreliable (inaccurate memories, lies)
- social desirable bias
-Interviewer effect > extraneous variable
Observation
Coducting
- Define type of behaviour to be observed
- Identify time frame
- Develop "observation schedule"
- Define observer role
- Train others
- Conduct observation
- Check data for reliability
Types of Observation
- Natural or conducted in a laboratory
Overt (Disclosed)
- Participants know they are being studied
-Behaviour may be affected (Hawthrone Affect, social desirability, demand characteristics)
Covert(Undisclosed)
- Participants do not know they are studied
-Raises ethical concerns
Observer can be a participant covertly or overtly.
Observer can be a non-participant covertly and sometimes overtly
Observation Schedule
- Audio Recordings
- Video Recordings
- Written Records
Bias
- behaviour of participants affected if they know they are watched
- Ovbservers consciously or unconsciously record some things and not others
- Different observers fill in records differently.
Within - Observer Reliability
- Observer rates a behaviour consistantly on different occasions
Between - Observer Reliability
- Two or more observers obtain the same results when measuring the same behaviour on the same occasion
Inter-Rater Reliability
- Greater the statistical relationship of "within" and "between" observer ratings, the greater the level of inter-rater reliability
Advantages
- high ecological validity
- covert observations eliminate demand characteristics and unnatural behaviour
- ethical
Disadvantages
- replication
-no IV
- less control of confounding variables
Case Study
- highly detailed in-depth study of an individual, group, family, organisation or animal
- retrospective or longitudial
- collection of methods:
Records and case histories - social workers, dr's, psychiatrists
Questionnaires + Psychometric Tests - quantitative measures
Structured or Unstructured Interviews - pastor present thoughts, feelings and behaviour
Experiments - accuratly test performance
Diaries - track thoughts
Observation - behaviour
- involves self report
- carried out in developmental psychology and individual differences
Advantages
- Detailed, rich information on a single case
- high ecological validity
- reveals new information not previously thought of
Disadvantages
- lacks scientific validity
- cant generalise
- unreliable self report
- impossible to replicate
- open to different interpretations
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