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Flashcards in Methods Deck (15)
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1
Q

Outline 6 points about interviews

A
  • An interview is a one-to-one conversational questionnaire in which questions are asked by the interviewer and answered by the interviewee
  • Can be asked closed questions = fixed response
  • Can be asked open questions = no set response
  • Structured interview = closed and predetermined so respondent has no options and doesn’t lead to direction of the interview
  • unstructured interview = open for the respondent to lead the question and the course of the interview
  • Semi-structured interview = some fixed questions and some structure regarding questions asked
2
Q

Outline 6 points about questionnaires

A
  • A questionnaire is a series of questions designed to gather information about a certain topic that provides both quantitative and qualitative data
  • Can be asked closed questions = fixed response
  • Closed questions can include yes/no questions or likert scale questions
  • Can be asked open questions = no set response
  • A pilot questionnaire can be conducted to assess potential issues with the main questionnaire
  • Can be given in different forms, e.g. postal questionnaires
3
Q

Give a strength and weakness of questionnaires

A

P - High generalisability
E - Due to the set questions and methods of distribution (e.g. postal) it allows them to be sent on a mass scale
E - Therefore a large, geographically dispersed sample can be obtained

P - Low validity
E - Lack of detail in respondents answers due to predetermined answers from closed questions and unknown social desirability of acquiescence bias or if the respondent misunderstood the questions
E - Therefore reduces credibility of trustworthiness of responses

4
Q

Give a strength and weakness of quantitative data

A

P - High reliability
E - Quantitative data is presented in an objective, numerical form
E - Therefore can be replicated and compared easily due to no interpretation of detail

P - Low validity
E - Data in the form of numbers lacks detail
E - Therefore is narrow in focus and unrepresentative of the complexity of human behaviour

5
Q

Give a strength and weakness of qualitative data

A

P- High validity
E- Ppts can say what they really think about an issue
E- Answers will be truthful

P- Analysis could be subjective
E- Hard to analyse in order to compare responses
E- Answers might be so different that they are difficult to catabolise and results can be long and hard to summarise

6
Q

What is sampling?

A

A method used to gather participants for research

7
Q

Define an ‘opportunity sample’

A

Members of the target population that fit the desired criteria that happen to be available at the time of research

8
Q

Give a strength and weakness of opportunity sampling

A

Quick, easy, and cheap to gain a sample due to using whatever is available at the time and so wouldn’t spend money on other methods

Low validity - experimenter bias may lead researcher to choose a sample that is similar to them in regards to culture

9
Q

Define a ‘volunteer sample’

A

A group of people who put themselves forward to take part in research in response to advertisements

10
Q

Give a strength and weakness of volunteer sampling

A

High ethics - those who decide to put themselves forward for research have given informed consent

Low generalisability - biased towards a certain type of person as ppts select themselves so may be similar in some way, not representative of target population

11
Q

Define a ‘random sample’

A

Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen

12
Q

Give a strength and weakness of random sampling

A

High generalisability- no bias in the way ppts are chosen, everyone has an equal opportunity to be chosen and no one is excluded so sample is likely to be representative of target population

Difficult to achieve - time, effort, money, have to get a full list of specific population and may cost a lot to receive a full list of population

13
Q

Define a ‘stratified sample’

A

Ppts selected according to frequency in population

14
Q

Give a strength and weakness of stratified sampling

A

High generalisability- ensures each subgroup within the population receives proper representation within the sample so can generalise from results

Time consuming - Ppts split into strata

15
Q

Give a strength and weakness of interviews

A

P - High reliability
E - Follows a standardised set of questions that gain quantitative data
E - Easy to replicate and compare results

P - Low validity
E - Lack of detail with mainly closed questions and predetermined answers
E - May not be a true representation of the respondents views