Research Methodology Crib Notes

Research Process: Problem recognition&definition, Create Research Design, Sampling, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Quality Assessment, Report Results Types of Research: Experimental:(Gold Standard),tests cause& effect between variables. Correlational: (Can be turned experimental), examines relationships between variables. Descriptive: (linked to abnormal psychology), describes characteristics of existing phenomena. Qualitative: examines behaviour &social/cultural/political/etc context.
Common Paradigms: 1.Postivist: Quantitative.,objective researcher,stable law-like reality, experimentation& hypothesizing, scientific methods &rationalistic enquiry. 2.Interpretivistic: Qualitative, subjective researcher, internal subjective reality, interaction&interpretation, contextual&naturalistic enquiry. 3.Constructionist: Four key assumptions: i.Critical of knowledge, assumptions interrogated not blindly accepted, ii.Historical and cultural specifity: recognition of unique contexts and understandings differ across time and space, iii.Knowledge sustained through social processes: endures through dissemination and reconfirmation, iv.Knowledge and social action go together -> produces and is result of social processes.

Ontology
Epistemology
Methodology
Positivist
Objective stable reality
Objective detached observer, nomothetic assumptions
Experimental, quantitative hypothesis testing
Interpretive
Internal subjective experience
Empathetic, observer intersubjectivity
Interactional, interpretation, qualitative
Constructionist
Socially constructed reality, discourse
Suspicious, political, observer constructing versions.
Deconstruction, textual analysis, discourse analysis
*Critical Paradigm: social world shaped by unequal power relationships
Why use Qualitative? Nb of context, treats people as individuals not numbers,more depth&detail on fewer participants, develop theory during process. Why use Quantitative? Gold standard for reasoning,empirical,