IPR - Research methods and Qualitative Research Term 1 week 1-5

Why are research methods important in psychology?

• science of psychology is rooted in systematic observation and evdence

• to systematically understand, test and analyse the behaviour and experience of others

• drect or indirect application

• advancing practical applicatons

what’s Scientific Method

Psychologists follow a process to conduct research (hypothesis, theory, experiment, analysis, conclusion)

Whats research?

Overall process of inquiry (entire study, purpose, objectives and outcomes)

Whats Empirical Research?

Original research based in observable and Measurable behaviour (e.g. peer-reviewed journal article)

Whats design?

how research will be conducted. includes type of study, method of data collection and analysis)

Whats method?

Specific techniques and procedures to collect and analyse data (e.g. tools)

whats hypothesis?

Clear, testable prediction or idea about what you expect to happen

Whats theory?

Broader, established explanation of behaviour / experience based on multiple studies

what human subject research takes place in the department?

• Cognition and memory

• Perception and vision

• Environment

• Motivation and reward

• Eating behaviours

• Child development

• Aggression, fear

• spatial learning

• attention

• leadership, status and power

What animal research happens in the department?

• Evolution of language and vocal communication

• animal cognition

• social cognition

• primate behaviour

• spatial learning

What is Quantitative data?

Numerical data, to quantify variables, statistical estimation or inference

What is Qualitative data?

Non-numerical data (e.g. descriptive, words, experiences, behaviours

What are the types of Quantitative research designs?

• Experimental

• Quasi-Experimental

• Non-experimental

What is a Experimental Research Design?

• Manipulate, control variables - having a say

• Cause and effect relationships

• Example: lab experiments

• As a lot of control can normally establish cause and effect relationships

• most common

What is a Quasi-Experimental Research Design?

• Manipulate, without random assignment (less control than experimental)

• some cause and effect relationships

• example: real-world settings e.g. healthcare

What is a Non-Experimental Research Design?

• To observe and describe, no manipulation

• SUBTYPES - could be measuring prevalence rates- how common or frequent something is

  • Correlational - relation between variables, no causality

  • Descriptive - characteristics pf behaviour -

  • Survey - collect self-report data = collecting ps responses, and reporting it.

  • Observational - natural settings, numeric

Example of Experimantal research design.

Does getting only 4 hours of sleep per night for a week impair cognitive performance compared to 8 hours? E.g. randomly assign participants: Group 1: 4 hours, Group 2: 8 hours sleep measure performance

Example of Quasi-Experimental research design.

Do medical interns working nights (vs. day shifts) show more cognitive errors due to sleep deprivation? E.g. compare interns already assigned on their error rates

Example of Non-Experimental research design

Correlational: Is there a relationship between average sleep duration and academic performance in university students?

Descriptive: What are the typical sleep habits of university students during exam season?

Survey: How do students perceive the impact of sleep deprivation on their mood and productivity?

Observational: How often do students fall asleep during lectures after pulling an all-nighter

What are the types of Qualitative research designs?

• Ethnography

• Phenomenology

• Case study

• Narrative

What is a Ethnography research design?

• Immersion: researcher embeds themselves in the culture/daily life of the participant (e.g. sharing behaviours, language)

What is a Phenomenology research design?

• Studying an event or activity as it happens from different perspectives/insights - lived experiences of a phenomenon

What is a Case Study research design?

• in-depth understanding of one participant (or small number of pps). Contextual - detailed informaton

What is a Narrative research design?

• Gathers data from one or more participants through interviews etc. overtime

• Focuses on the experience of individuals (e.g. students as they progress through university

Example of ethnography

How do night-shift nurses navigate and adapt to chronic sleep deprivation in hospital settings? E.g., researcher spends time at the hospital, observing

Example of Phenomenology?

What is the lived experience of university students coping with sleep deprivation during exam season? E.g. in-depth interviews

Exampls of case study/

How does chronic sleep deprivation affect the daly functioning and well-being of a university lecturer? e.g. interviews or sleep diaries, teaching hours etc.

examples of narratve?

How does a first-year students experience of sleep deprivation evolve over the course of theu academic year? E.g. regular interviews / journal entries on performance and well bwing

Pros of Experimantal research designs?

• Cause and effect objective

• Replicable

• measureable

Cons of Experimental research designs?

• Ecological validity

• oversimplifying complex phenomena

• lack depth

Pros of longitudinal research designs

changes over time

Cons of longitudinal research designs?

• Time-consuming

• expensive

Pros of correlational research designs/

Relationships and associations

Cons of correlatonal research designs

Cant prove causality

Pros of Descrptive research designs?

Large data, quickly Co

Cons of descriptive experimental designs?

Bias or unreliable responses

Pros of case studies?

Detail from unique cases

Cons of case studies?

Limited generalisability, small samples

Pros of Interviews?

In-depth rich data, captures meaning

Cons of interviews?

Time Consuming (collection and analysis)

Pros of observational research designs?

Natural setting

Cons of observational research design?

observer bias

Pros of Thematic research design?

Patterns and themes - rich

Cons of Thematic research design?

• Research bias

• subjective interpretation

Whats the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative?

• Quantitative focuses on What and how much, Qualitative focuses on how and why.

• Quantitative tests theories and hypotheses, qualitative generates theories based on data

• Quantitative data is analysed using statistical methods, Qualitative data analysed via categorisation and interpretation

When would you use Quantitative data?

• If tou want to quantify behaviour

• establish general patterns

• Tests specific theories or hypotheses

When would you use Qualitative data?

• Explore new research areas or phenomena

• understand deep psychological processes

• study individual experiences

Why are research methods important?

• Ensures study is well- thought out

• Valid and reliable

• Addresses your research question

• Draw appropriate conclusions about our measures

• minimise bias

• increase generalisability

Whats an Independent Variable (IV)?

What we change or manipulate

Whats a Dependent Variable (DV)?

Our outcome, what we measure

Define Extraneous Variable

Other factors that could influence the DV but are not the main focus (should be controlled for)

Define Confounding Variable

Overlaps with the IV and affects the DV (potentially distorts the findings)

Define Demand Characteristics

Participants change their behaviour

how do we control for Extraneous Variables?

1. Control Groups - another group of participants that does not receive the manipulation to the IV

2. Randomisation - randomly assign participants to different groups/conditions

3. Matching - pairing/grouping participants based on certain characteristics

4. statistical control - statistical techniques to account for these effects

5. Holding variable constant - Keep variables constant throughout the study

6. Pre-screen Participants - ask participants to meet a certain criteria to help reduce variability

Define Operationalising Variables?

• Making them measurable or quantifiable

• need to be in a form we can measure or tests

• some constructs not directly observable

• e.g. we cant really measure ‘hallucinations’ but can measure certain factors e.g. frequency, mode, content.

What is sampling?

Individuals or a group of people from a target population to make inferences about the entire / larger population

Representative?

Sample matches the target population

Generalisable

findings can be applied to the larger population (of which the sample was apart of)

What are types of sampling?

• Volunteer

• Opportunity or convenience

• Random

• Systematic

What is volunteer sampling

Participants sign up through adverts

Whats opportunity sampling?

People who are available and willing to take part

Whats random sampling?

When everyone from the target population has an equal chance of being picked

Whats Systematic Sampling?

A system / rule to pick participants e.g. the Nth person from all possible participants

How does poor sampling negatively affect research?

• Increase bias - e.g. for a health survey, you only recruit in gyms you’ll overrepresent those who are more health consciousness

• Reduce generalisability cant go beyond the sample e.g. evaluating a new health app but on gym goers only

• Lack reproducibility e.g. findings may not be upheld in a broader sample

• misleading correlations e.g. if some groups are over or under represented in the sample

• Decrease statistical power, sample may lack size or diversity to detect real effects

• Ethical implications - if a certain demographic are consistitenly excluded from research

Reliability?

Stable and consisten results in different contexts

is it replicable

Validity?

Drawing appropriate and correct conclusions

Types of reliability?

• Test-Retest

• Inter-Rater

• Internal Consistency

What is Test-Retest?

Test produces similar results over time. E.g. same person on two different occasions

Whats the Inter-Rater/

Degree of agreement among different raters when independently assessing or evaluating phenomenon

Whats Internal Consistency?

How well the items on the test (e.g. questions on a survey) measure the same concept

What are the types of Validity?

• Face

• Construct

• Criterion

• External

What is Face vailidity?

It appears to measure what its meant to

Whats construct Vlidity?

It appears to measure the theory / construct it’s meant to

Whats Criterion validity?

How well one measure predicts an outcome based on another measure

what is External Validity?

If findings can be generalised / relevant in other contexts

What are threats to Reliability and Validity?

• Demand Characteristics

• Bias

• Social desirability bias

• Experimenter bias

Pros of qualitative data

• Detail from unique cases

• in depth rich data, captures meaning

• natural setting

• patterns and themes - rich

• fliexibility, adaptable

• uses multiple data sources

• contextualises data

Cons of Qualitative data

• Limited generalisability, small or specific samples

• time consuming (collection and analysis

• observer bias

• researcher bias, subjective interpretation

• complexity in analysis

• researcher presence / interference, or social desirability

What is the purpose of qualitive research?

• to explore new or complex human experiences or phenomena

• focuses on meaninf, concepts, definitions

• captures participants voises and perspectives

• very much focused on the depth and richness of data (deep psychological processes

• often used to study individual or small group experiences

• to investigate contexts, behaviours or cultures

key features of Qual Research?

• Subjectivity - understanding experiences through the eye of the participant

• contextual understanding - importance of social, cultural, and environmental factors

• rich, descriptive data - details and in-depth insights

• flexible - often exploratory, and its open to emerging topics, interests or points of discussion

• semantic analysis - subjective

What is primary data?

data collectec through interviews, focus groups etc.

What is secondary data?

Analysing existing documents e.g. media

Qualitative tyoes of data collection?

• Key: flexible data (research questions / interests can involve

• data driven

• observations, conversations

• artefacts, articles journals etc.

What is a case study?

• Powerful, indepth examinations of a single case / small number of cases

• explores complex issues in detail, considering multiple variables and their interactions

What are the key features of case studies?

• Contextual focus (incl. social, cultural environmental)

• multiple data sources, various ddata collection methods - can collect multiple types of data

• flexibility

What are the different types of case studies?

• Exploratory

• Descriptive

• Explanatory

• Intrinsic

• instrumental

• Collective

Whats an Exploratory case study?

• To explore a new area of research or generate hypothese

• gain insights into phenomena rarely studied

What a descriptive case study?

detailed account of a specific case. Including the characteristics and context without necessarily understand casual relationships

Whats Explanatory case studies?

Explain the reasons behind a particular phenomenon orbehaviour, often exploring cause-andeffect relationship

whats Intrinsic case studies?

Focuses on a specific case, emphasising its uniqueness or significance e.g. genie, Phineas Gage

Whats instrumental case studies?

use a case study to provide insights into broader issue or to develop theories

Whats Collective case studies?

Multiple cases studies simulataneously or sequentially to understand a particular phenomenon across different contexts

Whats an interview?

• Discuss a central topic / theme usually one-to-one

• In depth, rich deatial

• Participant driven - engage and carry on

• flexible - some more controled than pthers

• format / structure should be decided beforehand which should align with research question / objectives

What are the different types of interviews?

• Structured

• Semi-structured

• Unstructured

• focus groups

Whats a structured interview?

• Highly controlled

• prepares, closed-ended questions (limited)

• interviewer asks in a set order / manner

• often only deviates to clarify a point

Pros of a structured interview?

• Easy to replicate and quantify

• Consistency

• can interview larger samples depending on the time

• easy to analyse

• takes less time

• larger samples

Cons of a structured interview?

• Limited flexibility - can’t explore different topics

• restricted exploration

• interviewer / participation bias

• forced answers / irrelevant questions

Whats a semi-structured interview?

• Blend of structed and unstructured format

• has a guide / set of questions

• but can ask additional questions or explore topics in more depth as they arise

Pros of semi-structured interviews

• Some flecibility

• Participant has freedom

• Consistency and depth

• Reliable and comparable data

Cons of semi-structured interviews

• data remains shaped by interview contet

• time-consuming

• quality depends on interviewer skills (probe without biasing)