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Qualitative research in psychology

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Qualitative research in psychology A distinct research process Inquiries of knowledge that are outside the framework prescribed by the scientific method, as well as ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Qualitative research in psychology


1
Qualitative research in psychology
2
A distinct research process
  • Inquiries of knowledge that are outside the
    framework prescribed by the scientific method,
  • as well as assumptions of inferential statistics
  • Important to review modern philosophies of
    science which have set rules for how
    psychologists have thought about research for
    past 80 years.

3
Philosophy of science
  • Understand why how philosophy of science is
    relevant to psychology
  • Appreciate the basic issues of hypotheses and
    disconfirmation
  • Be able to assess the relevance of different
    models of science to different areas of
    psychology

4
What is the philosophy of science?
  • concerned with the question of how we should
    carry out scientific research given our
    understanding of the nature of knowledge.
  • how most scientists actually work given the
    social and practical circumstances of their work.

5
Reality, Knowledge Science
  • Philosophers interested in the relation between
  • Ontology (the study of what actually exists)
  • Epistemology (the study of what knowledge is,
    what we can know and what the limits of knowledge
    are)
  • Methodology (the study of the ways in which the
    world can be studied).

6
Definition Example in physical science Example in psychology
Ontology The study of what actually exists Is space infinite? Is the mind part of the brain?
Epistemology The study of the varieties, foundations limits of what we can know What are the limits to our understanding of the relationship between time space? What kind of limits are there on our understanding of the link between the brain and consciousness?
Methodology The study of means of investigating a phenomenon How should we study time space? How should we study the effects of drugs on consciousness?
7
  • Ontological assumptions
  • ?
  • Epistemological assumptions
  • ?
  • Methodological assumptions

8
What is science?
  • Objective testing of theories based on evidence
  • Public sharing of data
  • Theories competing with each other
  • Careful measurements/recording/data analysis
  • Therefore psychology is a science?

9
Key concepts in philosophy of science
  • Positivism
  • Logical Positivism
  • Disconfirmation
  • Paradigms
  • Anarchy
  • Social Constructionism

10
Comte, Ayer and logical positivism
  • Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
  • three phases of searching for understanding
  • theological metaphysical positive or
    scientific
  • Positivism unity of science project
  • process of induction.
  • Vienna Circle 1920s - logical positivism
  • emphasis on theories logical deduction of
    hypotheses

11
  • Alfred Ayer (1910-89,) Language, Truth and Logic
    1936.
  • a statement can only be true only if
  • (i) it is a self-evident analytic, deductive
    truth (e.g. 224)
  • (ii) the statement matches reality precisely.
  • Statements had to be verifiable to be meaningful.
  • commitment to empiricism, checking ideas against
    the world.

12
  • not about the process of discovery per se - just
    specifying what should be permitted as scientific
    conservative
  • logical positivist criteria - Psychology
    borderline
  • picked up by behaviourism.

13
Positivism
  • Facts
  • Facts
  • More facts
  • Generalise from those facts
  • induction

14
Logical Positivism
  • Theory
  • Verifiability
  • Tests
  • Generalise
  • deduction

15
Disconfirmation
  • Karl Popper (1902-1994) first major attack on
    logical positivism The Logic of Scientific
    Discovery (1935 / 1959)
  • verifiability encouraged confirmation of theories
    rather than genuine discovery consistent
    evidence is merely corroboration.
  • Bold conjectures required by science
  • Disconfirmation/falsifiability principle
    hypotheses need to be capable of being wrong

16
  • Several problems
  • theories and observations are neither independent
    nor neutral
  • science is a practical business - find best
    answer rather than the application of logic

17
Science should proceed in 4 stages
  • Formal Stage. theory checked for internal
    consistency.
  • Semi-formal Stage. separate propositions which
    do/do not have empirical consequences
  • Comparison Stage. new theory compared with
    existing theories If it explains the same/less
    known facts then new theory should be abandoned.
  • Empirical Testing Stage. test hypothesis least
    likely to be true - informativeness.
  • And if prediction not supported? still our best
    guess
  • Criticism scientists propose auxiliary
    hypotheses

18
  • What are the implications of Poppers ideas for
    how we think about psychological research?
  • difficulty arises when considering theories
    rather than hypotheses
  • Theories which are internally inconsistent are
    incapable of being disconfirmed

19
Kuhn and revolution Paradigms
  • Thomas Kuhn(1922-96) scientific progress not a
    purely rational process peaceful interludes-
    normal science where scientists share a paradigm
    - punctuated by violent intellectual revolutions.
  • scientists dont listen to the data
  • Routine procedures and ideas paradigm
  • Normal science
  • Revolutionary science

20
  • most scientists conservative do not abandon or
    revise theory but dismiss data
  • when inconsistent data build up and new radical
    paradigm is offered there is a revolution
  • old paradigm is never decisively shown to be
    wrong but simply withers away as fewer and fewer
    experiments are carried out within its frame of
    reference.

21
  • What are the implications of Kuhn's ideas for how
    we think about psychological research?
  • relationship between evidence theory framed by
    paradigm in which research is carried out.

22
Epistemological Anarchy
  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-94) Against Method 1975
  • No single correct method in science rejected
    realism for a form of relativism
  • in principle all forms of theories are worthwhile
    theoretical pluralism
  • Anything that works is fine epistemological
    anarchy
  • argued theories could not be compared - concept
    of incommensurabilty
  • theories give meaning to facts, not vice versa
  • a form of social constructionism emphasising that
    the world is not singular but plural.
  • Scientific inquiry constructs the objects it
    inquires into, scientific objects are created by
    the very practice of investigation itself.

23
  • Implications of Feyerabends ideas for how we
    think about psychological research?
  • demystifies logical positivism. If no single
    correct method for doing science for all problems
    at all time in all places, then every research
    project has to find its own method.

24
  • Incommensurabilty principle forces us to think
    about each theory in its own terms.
  • emphasises the doubts that logical positivism is
    studying the real world out there.

25
Summary
  • Many different ideas about science
  • Psychology uses logical positivism
  • but may not be always the best choice
  • Qualitative work needs alternative model of
    science
  • Philosophies of science clarify why experimental,
    scientific psychology adopts the practices that
    it does, but also that there are other models
    which can be adopted.

26
Questions to ask
  • What model of science is this study using?
  • Could it have used a different one?
  • What model of science is best for psychology?
  • Should different areas of psychology have
    different models of science?
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