PSYCHOLOGY - Yr 13 research methods

what is thematic analysis

• a form of observation

• analyses communication produced by people eg. speech, email, text, adverts, questionnaire answers

• keeps qualitative data as qualitative

what is content analysis

• a form of observation

• analyses communication produced by people eg. speech, email, text, adverts, questionnaire answers

• turns qualitative data into quantitive

what is coding

categorising data so that they can be counted in a content or described in a thematic

evaluate content analysis

• turns large amounts of data in manageable units

• more objective when counting codes

• can present data on a graph and run statistical analysis on comparisons

• inter-rater reliability can be assessed

• some subjectivity involved -deciding the categories

• lack of internal validity - -do the categories measure what they’re supposed to

• reduces complex info down to a simpler form - so reductionism

evaluate thematic analysis

• data is unmanageable and vague

• subjective

• cannot present data clearly or run statistical analysis

• inter-rater reliability can be assessed, but unlikely to correlate

• maintains the validity, richness and detail of qualitative data

what is a paradigm

A set of beliefs and practices that shape how research is conducted and interpreted, guiding the questions researchers ask and the methods they use.

coined by Thomas Kuhn (1962)

said that social sciences lack a universally accepted paradigm

what is a paradigm shift

when there was too much contradictory research to ignore, so more and more researchers conformed to a universal paradigm.

eg. the shift from Newtonian thinking to Einstein’s theory of relativity in physics

what is theory construction

The process of developing and formulating theories based on systematic observation, experimentation, and induction.

what is hypothesis testing