Observations
What type of observation involves the participants being unaware they are being observed in a naturalistic environment?
Naturalistic covert observation.
What type of interview has some structure that is provided in the interview schedule?
A semi-structured interview.
What is the definition of a case study?
An in-depth investigation of an individual, small group or organization over a long period of time.
What are two non-probability sampling methods common to qualitative studies?
Snowball and purposive sampling.
What's the key difference between quantitative and qualitative data?
One is numbers, the other is descriptions.
What type of observation involves the researchers observing participants "from the outside" (i.e. not being members of the group)?
Participant observation
How do you call a group interview usually involving around 6-10 participants?
Focus group
True or false: the sample influences the generalizability of a case study?
True. Characteristics of the sample as well as how they were obtained may influence the generalizability of the results.
What are two factors that can influence credibility of qualitative studies?
Triangulation, bias, sampling, replication
What are two of the biggest differences between qualitative and quantitative research?
1) The type of data gathered.
2) Quant studies investigate variables, whereas qualitative often doesn't have variables but tries to get insight into the experiences of individuals.
True or False: Researchers can use handwritten field notes and/or video recordings to gather data and conduct observations?
True.
Unstructured interviews have no structure at all. True or False?
False - they must have SOME structure, including the general topic the questions must be based on.
Case studies are only ever carried out on people with brain abnormalities. True or false?
False.
Arguably, case studies should not be included in the qualitative methods section of the IB Psychology course. Why not?
Because they often use a "mixed-methods" approach, which means gathering qualitative as well as quantitative data.
What is the qualitative equivalent of internal validity?
Credibility.
What is the covert observation equivalent of informed consent?
Retrospective consent
True or False: Focus groups rely on the naturalistic interactions of participants in a group setting to provide rich data.
True
True or false: methodological triangulation is commonly applied in case studies.
True - they use a mixed methods approach, which is methodological triangulation.
True or false: ethical considerations in qualitative studies are very different from ethics in quantitative studies.
False; they're much the same and the same ethical guidelines apply to both.
What is the qualitative equivalent of external validity or generalizability?
Transferability.
Why are most (if not all) qualitative observations naturalistic?
Because if they weren't conducted in a naturalistic setting they'd most likely be used as part of a laboratory experiment.
1) Not everyone is confident in talking in front of others; 2) Participants' might be influenced by the answers of others, 3) There's lots of data gathered at one time - it takes a long time to analyze.
What are two examples of case studies we have seen in class?
SM's and HM's case studies
What is the main difference between credibility and validity?
Validity refers to the influence of variables and establishing relationships between variables. As qualitative research doesn't have this goal, a different concept (credibility) is used
What are two ways researchers can reduce bias from influencing their results?
b) Having their results replicated by someone else
c) using blind designs (single/double blind, etc.)