Psychology: Research methods 17 (Types of data)

What is qualitative data

Qualitative data is descriptive data expressed in words. This would be collected during an unstructured observation, an interview or a questionnaire (open questions) 

What is quantitative data

Quantitative data is numerical data. This is collected during an experiment, structured observation, questionnaire (closed questions) or a correlation. 

strengths of qualitative data

Rich and detailed – participants are able to express feelings and thoughts, so information is more meaningful. So it provides a more insight into real life (validity) 

limitations of qualitative data

• Relies on subjective interpretation by researcher  so may be biased 

• Difficult to analyse – so  can’t be summarised statistically 

strengths of quantitative data

• More objective so less bias 

• Easy to analyse – can be summarised statistically

limitations of quantitative data

Lacks detail so less meaningful. So it provides less insight to real life (low validity)

What is primary data

data collected first-hand, by the researcher through contact with ppts. It is collected specifically for the research being carried out 

What is secondary data

data collected by someone other than the researcher. It pre-dates the current research

strengths of primary data

As the researcher collects the data themselves they can be sure of the quality of it e.g., EVs were controlled 

limitations of primary data

Takes a lot of time and effort to collect 

strengths of secondary data

Data collected by someone else so minimal time effort required to collect it 

limitations of secondary data

Quality of the data may be poor – can’t be sure that the studies were conducted carefully e.g., EVs may not have been controlled 

what is a meta analysis

Meta-analysis (a study of studies)  

Meta-analysis is a particular form of secondary data, they statistically combine the results of several studies that have shared research hypotheses, so that conclusions can be drawn

What are the two strengths of a meta analysis

•  A much larger amount of data is analysed. This means the data is more likely to be reliable (less affected by anomalous results) so results can be generalised over a larger population 

• Allows comparisons to be made between research carried out in different cultures e.g., van Izjendoorn.

What are the 2 limitations of meta analysis

• Publication bias – research journals are more likely to publish studies that show positive findings rather than studies that show no difference. Therefore, meta-analyses may not include research that refutes the hypothesis, therefore the analysis may not be valid.  

 

• Quality of Research - It is important that all the research included in a meta-analysis is good quality. If the research is of differing quality it reduces the validity of the conclusions. One poorly conducted study could place the entire meta-analysis at risk