Download Research Methods Exam Study Guide: Ethics, Sampling, and Surveys and more Exams Advanced Education in PDF only on Docsity!
SYA4300 Exam 2 Study Guide
three types of protection of participants? - Answer 1. physical harm
- psychological harm 3.legal harm What is protection from physical harm? - Answer Avoid injuries, worsening medical conditions, etc. What is protection from psychological harm? - Answer Avoid inducing stress, embarrassment, anxiety, etc. What is protection from legal harm? - Answer Do not get participants arrested, fired, fined, sued, etc. What is an example of a psychological harm violation? - Answer Milgram obedience experiments What is an example of a legal harm violation? - Answer Humphreys' "tea room trade" study Informed Consent - Answer A legally-binding agreement between researchers and participants Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) - Answer Legal and scientific reviewers of ethical protections in research What are the seven required elements of informed consent forms? - Answer The researcher's name and institutional address Description of the purpose and procedures of the study Disclosure of any risks to participants Statement that participation is volunrary Guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality Statement of any compensation to participants Offer to make findings available to participants When can deception and violation of privacy be allowed? - Answer When the question is vital, there is no other way to get the answer, and you tell the subjects afterwards (post-hoc debriefing) Anonymity - Answer No public disclosure of participant names
Confidentiality - Answer No public disclosure of links of names to data What are two examples of direct political limits on research? - Answer Limits due to politicians (they object on the basis of values) Limits due to national security (military prohibit work on certain groups or countries) What are two examples of indirect political limits on research? - Answer Limits through funding priorities(they support by popularity) Limits due to cost considerations (have limited resources and can't fund all proposals) What is the goal of quantitative research? - Answer To obtain a representative sample using probability sampling (PS) What is the goal of qualitative research? - Answer To obtain a rich, diverse sample using non-probability sampling (NPS) Non-probability Sampling - Answer Selection of cases in a non-random fashion What are the four non-probability sampling techniques? - Answer Purposive (Judgment) Sampling Snowball (Network) Sampling Quota Sampling Deviant (Extreme) Case Sampling JUDGMENT Sampling - Answer Sampling on the basis of knowledge that belongs to a group Appropriate for exceptional, well-informed or hard-access cases "Key informants" or "experts" who have extensive knowledge about the study topic or group of interest NETWORK Sampling - Answer Sampling on the basis of ties in a social network Sample one case in a group network, ask for others in the network, sample them, ask for yet others Quota Sampling - Answer Basically purposive sampling, but among many different groups First identify distinctions among groups to be samples, then obtain "quotas" of cases from each group Appropriate for diverse groups; improves coverage of perspectives Deviant Case Sampling - Answer Sampling of "negative cases" (Exhibit behaviors
clusters Clusters - Answer Natural aggregation of individuals Cluster Sampling - Answer A "multistage" sampling procedure What are the three probability sampling design techniques? - Answer Stratified Multistage Cluster Sampling-another way to reduce MCS errors is to stratify clusters Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS)-gives each cluster a probability of a sampling proportion to its size;reduce bias Weighted Stratified Sampling-stratify and use different sampling ratios to get larger samples What are the eight pitfalls in writing questions? - Answer 1. Avoid technical jargon and abbreviations
- Avoid vague questions
- Avoid long questions
- Avoid emotional language and prestige bias
- Avoid double-barreled questions
- Avoid double (multiple) negatives
- Respondents must be willing and competent to answer
- Avoid leading questions and false premises
Open Questions - Answer Questions where the respondent may give any answer
What are the advantages of open questions? - Answer Respondents can elaborate or clarify meanings
They yield richly detailed, more complete answers
What are the disadvantages of open questions? - Answer Responses are difficult to record; transcribing takes times
Coding of responses is difficult; not well-suited for statistics
Closed Questions - Answer Questions with predetermined codes for responses
What are the advantages of closed questions? - Answer They are easy to replicate to assess reliability
They are easy to code and analyze statistically
What are the disadvantages of closed questions? - Answer Respondents give answers other than the options provided
Responses provide little insight about complex issues
What should a questionnaire start with? - Answer An introduction that includes informed consent items and indicates the length of the questionnaire, followed by brief and clear instructions
Format? Should you use more or less space in a questionnaire layout? Why? - Answer More space
This makes questions easier to read and raises response rates
Contingency Questions - Answer Questions that generate one or more other questions
Matrix Questions - Answer A series of items with the same response categories
What are the two types of self-administered surveys? - Answer Mail-out
What are the disadvantages of phone surveys? - Answer More expensive than mail-outs
Limited interview length; impatient respondents, hang-ups
Limited observations, use of open questions
What are the key issues in telephone surveys? - Answer Random-digit dialing
Managing interviewer bias
What are the advantages of online surveys? - Answer Fast
Accurate (computer checking of responses against options)
Easier to manage complex questions
What are the disadvantages of online surveys? - Answer Expensive; requires computers
No interviewer clarification, observation
Computer limitations; internet users, viruses
What are the advantages of face-to-face interviews? - Answer Highest response rates, even for long questionnaires
Interviewers can observe respondent in context
Interviewers can clarify confusing questions
What are the disadvantages of face-to-face interviews? - Answer Very expensive and time-consuming for training and travel
High potential for interviewer bias; appearance, voice
Large surveys are difficult to coordinate, ensure reliability
What are the roles of an interviewer? - Answer Interviewers as "non-judgmental questioners"
Interviewers as "guides" for respondents
Interviewers as "observers" of respondents
What are the responsibilities of an interviewer? - Answer Appearance and demeanor
Familiarity with the questionnaire
Record responses exactly
Probes - Answer Non-directive questions, with two general uses:
- Gather more information
- A follow-up to incomplete, or ambiguous responses
strengths and weaknesses of surveys - Answer Strengths: allow for highly reliable data,
probability sampling - Answer Draw large sampling frame & sample randomly Draw two samples for each group Problem-experiments usually use small groups (50 cases or less) *no guaranteed comparability
Random assignment - Answer Obtain subjects using any sampling method Randomly assign subjects to the groups This allows comparability & generalizability *no guaranteed comparability
Matched samples - Answer Can increase comparability via controlled assignment Match on variables that could influence the results
Pre-experimental Design Types - Answer 1. ONE-SHOT CASE STUDY
- expose a group to treatment X and measure Y outcome
- ONE-GROUP Pre-test/Post-test Design *include measurement of Y before and after treatment X
- STATIC-GROUP COMPARISON *experimental and control groups, but no pre-test
quasi-experiment - Answer Variations on true experiments;additional elements
- TIME SERIES DESIGN
- one group and one or more treatments; many observations over time 2.LATIN SQUARE DESIGN *many experimental groups; each receive multiple treatments in different sequences 3.FACTORIAL DESIGNS *many experimental groups;each get a combination of treatments
Internal threats to validity in experiments - Answer Due to SAMPLE SELECTION
- selection bias(two groups are not the same) Due to EVENTS DURING THE EXPERIMENT
- history (major events such as elections, violence, accidents, etc. Due to ELEMENTS OF THE EXPERIMENT
- Testing(repeated testing may cause changes in responses) Due to UNEXPECTED SUBJECT REACTIONS -Hawthorne effect (subjects respond to merely being studied
External Threats to validity in experiments - Answer 1.REALISM(treatment of X has no real world relevance) 2.REPRESENTATIVENESS (no random sampling)
natural experiments - Answer Many experiments are impossible under controlled conditions
- horrible events, large scale processes, unexpected problems *often use pre or quasi designs Only way to study key events
Strengthens and weaknesses of experiments - Answer Strengths: they can isolate effects of a causal factor and they are highly structured and can be replicated for reliability Weaknesses: face many threats to validity; hard to manage and they're hard to generalize or show real-world relevance
field research (step 1: preparation) - Answer 1. Read the literature, identify a topic 2.self-evaluation; emotional well being, personal background 3.identify a field site, physical locus of a social world (rich in data, suitable to the topic,
Gaining access and building rapport(step 2 cont.) - Answer 3. Building Rapport -Winning the trust of others; requires patience and talent -affected by your level of involvement, self-presentation, disclosure
Relations in the field (step 3) - Answer 1. EMPATHY and OBJECTIVITY
- EMPATHY: the ability to identify with others views; via PARTICIPATION (allows for an insiders understanding at the cost of potential bias)
-OBJECTIVITY: The ability to encapsulate others views; via OBSERVATION (Minimizes bias due to empathy, at the cost of limited insight)
fieldwork necessarily combines empathy and objectivity (personal feelings do intervene; take notes on them)
- CHANGING RELATIONSHIP DURING FIELDWORK
- even after establishing rapport, relations with informants can change.
- some may "warm up" to the researcher; others become alienated -engage in periodic self-evaluations of relations with group members *especially important when behaviors change rapidly
Making observations(step 4) - Answer 1. WATCHING -Part of fieldwork is paying close, sustained attention; takes practice -Unlike data on a computer screen, events happen and then are gone -Attend to the context; dimensions, lightning, smells, how used -Attend to the characteristics of social activist; gender, ethnicity, etc. -Who interacts with whom ; proximity, posture, behavior
2. LISTENING
-Listening also needs to be focused, sustained; takes practice -Tone of voice, turns of phase, slang, etc. -Note ethical issues with eavesdropping;in public spaces only
- Watching and listening become more focused during fieldwork *Reflects the logic of NPS, as well as increasing knowledge *Both seek confirmation of initial interpretations, new information
in-depth interviews(step 5) - Answer - Differ from structures questionnaire interviews (you can do either in fieldwork)
- much less structured •semi -structured: work from a list of topics or themes •unstructured: no questionnaires or topic list
- in-depth interviews are more free-flowing, conversant *nearly all questions are open; many questions are probes *interviewee has more control over the pace, direction
Types of interview questions - Answer 1. DESCRIPTIVE Q's- begins with these; probes for information
- STRUCTURAL Q's-later on; ask for confirmation of initial interpretation
- CONTRAST Q's-towards the end; understand meaning of distinction
focus group interview - Answer Researcher leads a focused discussion by a group of informants In effect, a semi-structured group interview
4.PERSONAL notes- Feelings, current life issues and events
- A personal journal, but also a data quality check for other notes
Other documentation - Answer Supplement notes with photos, film, sketches, maps, diagrams, etc. •These can summarize many words and may take less time.
Strengths and weaknesses of field research - Answer Strength: very flexible, allows great depth of understanding, highly valid Weaknesses: less generalizable, less reliable
