1.4 Non-experimental methods
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Transcript 1.4 Non-experimental methods
1.4 NON-EXPERIMENTAL
METHODS: QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe non-experimental methods
Outline important differences between
experimental and non-experimental methods
Explain ethical issues related to interview,
observations and case studies.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Qualitative Researchers are interested in
How people explain everyday experiences
Occurs in a natural setting:
How do people work in teams in the workplace?
How do women experience the transition to motherhood
How do college students adjust to independent living?
Qualitative research is guided by one or more
research questions.
Inductive reasoning: This is an open approach.
Where as hypothesizing is deductive reasoning. A
claim that can be rejected or accepted.
INDUCTIVE APPROACH
No defined variables
Researchers gather information and assess what
they have.
Goal: to describe the meanings attributed to
events by the research participants.
(Not to find a cause and effect)
Findings are more subjective
WAYS OF KNOWING
EXPERIMENTAL VS. NON-EXPERIMENTAL
Non-experimental
Experimental
Hypothesis
Variables
Deductive approach
Objective
Quantitative data
Cause & effect
Statistical analysis
Open research
question
No defined variables
Inductive approach
Subjective
Qualitative Data
Identify
meanings/experience
Interpretive analysis
TYPES OF NON-EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Interviews
Observations
Case Studies
INTERVIEW
Most common way of gathering qualitative data
Interviewing requires training and skill:
Verbal skills
Establish a positive relationship
Interpret non-verbal cues
React to unconscious signs.
participant bias: participants respond the way they
think is appropriate for the interview
Social desirable bias: most people put their best
face on – many won’t reveal the truth.
Interviewer effects: age, sex ethnicity, of the
interviewer that could interfere with the study
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
Structured Interview
Unstructured Interview
Semi-structured interview
ETHICS INVOLVED
Informed consent
Confidentiality
Right to withdraw
UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW
The schedule and topic of the interview is the
only established guideline
Pros: Open ended questions, leads to interests
and motivation of the interviewee.
Cons: difficult to analyze.
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
Preferred method: combines a set of questions,
that permits for open response.
Pros: there will be a number of closed questions
that can be easily analyzed.
Cons:
STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
Questions are clearly established
Order of questions are established
Setting is highly controlled
Pros – easy to analyze and compare
Cons – may appear to be artificial
BE A RESEARCHER
You have been commissioned to carry out
research using interviews on one of the following
issues:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Positive and negative experiences in CAS projects
What is it like to live in a foreign country
Teenagers and drug use and abuse
Prejudice in the classroom
Choose one from the list and consider the
following questions.
1.
2.
3.
How would you carry out the research?
How would you obtain your sample?
What potential difficulties do you anticipate in
carrying out your interview?
OBSERVATION
Observations – describes behavior without trying
to establish cause-and-effect relationship.
Naturalistic Observations take place in a
natural setting.
Data collected: visual, auditory or written
Types of Observations
Non-participant observations
Participant observations
CHALLENGES INVOLVING OBSERVATIONS
Impossible to record everything observed.
Researcher Bias: observer sees what they
expect to see.
Inter-observer reliability: several observers
work in tandem. This helps to overcome
researcher bias.
TYPES OF OBSERVATIONS
Participant observation
Nonparticipant observation
The researcher is part of the group being observed
The researcher is not part of the group being observed
Covert observation: participants do not know they
are being observed
Rosenhan 1973, On Being Sane in an Insane Place.
(Pg.34)
Festinger et al.’s When Prophecy Fails (pg 103)
Overt observations participants know that the
observer is a researcher
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
The researcher becomes part of the group.
The researcher experiences the situation with the
group
What are some issues “covert participant
observers” must deal with?
Recording information accurately
Maintaining objectivity
NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
The researcher is not part of the group being observed
Participants
This
are expected to act in a natural/normal manner.
may trigger reactivity, a change of behavior
Can you think of any issues that might occur in
data gathering as a result of non-participant
observation?
Demand characteristics?
The Hawthorne Effect?
Researcher bias?
How could you overcome these bias effects?
POINTS TO CONSIDER IN OBSERVATIONAL
RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
Is the observation structures or unstructured?
Is the observation covert or overt?
Does the observation take place in a natural or
artificial setting?
ETHICS OF OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
Must have informed consent.
Debriefs the participants after the event
To carry out covert observations, proposal must
be approved by ethics committee
1.
Will the research provide information that will
benefit others?
COVERT PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
ROSENHAN 1973 (PG 34-35)
1.
2.
After reading and viewing the experiment:
What are the ethical issues involved in
Rosenhan’s study?
Was the use of covert observations justified?
CASE STUDIES
Case studies rely on real life data
Behavior
Feelings
Experiences
Thoughts
Measurements may include:
IQ
Blood testing
Survey data
memory
ADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY
Allows for detail study/in-depth investigation with large
group participants with the aim of averaging the findings.
Example: brain damage and memory loss
Twin separation and cognitive development
Data Collection:
Interviews
Observations
Surveys
Questionnaires
Physical exams
Can you replicate a case study?
No – therefore the reliability of your findings are said to be low.
ETHICAL ASPECTS OF CASE STUDIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Protecting the identities of the participants is
vital.
Informed consent
No deception
Right to withdraw
Debriefing
Confidentiality
RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY PG. 37
1.
2.
3.
Read the case (Prezi): Documentary
Complete a key study sheet on the study
Outline 2 ethical problems in this case
What could be the reason that Money continues
to use this case as evidence of his theory of
gender neutrality?
About a Girl: Coy Mathis' Fight to Change
Gender
Read more:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/abouta-girl-coy-mathis-fight-to-change-change-gender20131028#ixzz3BEDBgyOa