CHD4630 Methods of Studying Families Children Exam 1 Study Guide What is anecdotal evidence Our unsystematic casual observations of the world around us Examples of anecdotal evidence I have noticed that the students who sit in front of the classroom do better than those who sit in the back When I give my kids candy they get hyper so sugar must cause hyperactivity Major weaknesses in anecdotal evidence 1 Selective Observationi e all women are bad drivers 2 Inaccurate Observationi e all people who shout are violent but maybe someone is in pain 3 Overgeneralizationi e Everyone with beards have body odor 4 Resistance to change The 4 major types of research questions 1 Descriptive research2 Exploratory research3 Explanatory research4 Evaluation research Descriptive Research Focuses on describing the status state of a given phenomenon The emphasis on detailed observation and documentation rather than developing new theories or testing existing hypotheses Describing patterns not comparing and not saying what is right or wrong Directed at making careful observations and detailed documentation of a phenomenon of interest Examples 1 What types of social support are available to teen mothers 2 How prevalent is bullying in private elementary schools 3 What patterns exist in how young children make new friends in preschools Exploratory Research Focuses on generating new explanations and seeking out novel perspectives typically an inductive research approach it can also involve trying to understand the scope of a problem or testing the feasibility of investigating a new phenomenon The researcher rarely knows what outcome to expect Collecting raw data and finding Examples 1 How do teen mothers make use of social support 2 How do abusive parents make sense in abusing their children 3 What parenting strategies are used in second generation immigrant households Explanatory Research Seeks to understand the cause and effect relationships between different phenomenon What most people imagine when they think of research Deductive Research approach Examples 1 Do positive peer mentors reduce teen mother s risk for future pregnancy 2 Does teacher modeling increase friendship behavior in young children 3 To what frequency does poverty affect divorce Evaluation Research A special sublet of Explanatory Research it is trying to evaluate a specific program treatment policy or intervention of interest Cause and effect relationship but with a certain treatment and outcome Examples 1 What are the effects of emotionally focused couples therapy on the frequency of domestic violence 2 Are anti depressants more effective than psychotherapy for treating depression While descriptive research examines the what where and when of a phenomenon Explanatory Research seeks answers to why and how types of questions Paradigm A broad system of beliefs a worldview 2 kinds positivism post modernism Theories A set of systematically interrelated constructs and propositions intended to explain predict a phenomenon of interest within certain boundary conditions and assumptions not just a speculation must be useful Dominant modern scientific paradigm Knowledge is limited to what can be measured or observed Objective truth quantitative research Positivism Post Modernism Hypothesis Concept Newer Inferences are possible about unobserved phenomena Emphasis on subjective interpretation lack of concrete truth Interpretative qualitative A proposed relationship between 2 or more variables The testable version of a proposition The more specific the better The generalizable properties or characteristics of objects events or people an open way of looking at something i e a child s sense of security think abstract idea Pseudoscience Presenting claims that seem scientific but do not meet the criteria for the scientific method and can lead to a lot of problems Risk of Pseudoscience Sometimes claims are presented as being based in science but upon closer examination they do not meet criteria of the scientific method and this can end up hurting people Qualitative Research Realistic life experiences harder than quant The analysis of data such as text data from interview transcripts Sense making or understanding a phenomenon Numerical approach Predicting and explaining a phenomenon Quantitative Research Basic Research Applied Research Research that describes a phenomena research that talks about what exists in the real world i e research on divorce rates or about how people cope with trauma Changing things in reality and how we can create those changes applying and testing research i e can my premarital training program reduce the rate of divorce Inductive Research Deductive Research Triangulation Research that is focused on building new theories taking a set of observations in the world and building theories from those observations The goal of a researcher is to infer theoretical concepts and patterns from observed data Theory building Testing theories falsifying or proving those tests The goal of the researcher is to test concepts and patterns known from theory using new empirical data Theory testing A strategy where 2 or more measurement strategies are used to measure the same phenomenon 3 Principles of The Belmont Report 1 Respect for persons 2 Beneficence 3 Justice Respect For Persons Recognizing Individual Autonomy Voluntary Informed Participation Protection for persons with diminished autonomy The person volunteered to the study and did it because they want to Beneficence Protection of well being Maximize possible benefits minimize possible harm Maximizing the opportunities for people to benefit from your research Do No Harm Justice Nominal Ordinal Interval Who receives the benefits of our research Is the distribution of benefit fair and equal Formulations To each person an equal share individual need The 4 broad principles of ethical research 1 Validity2 Honesty Openness3 Protection of Subjects4 Ethical Use of Findings The 4 levels of measurement 1 Nominal2 Ordinal3 Interval4 Ratio Categories that have no order or no rank Must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive No mathematical interpretation i e Race Color blue or red sex male or female you can t say 2 times male female Categories that have ranking to them Must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive The interval between categories is not mathematically meaningful i e First second third fourth A B C D F grades Ranked categories with fixed differences Allows for most mathematical operations and