Qualitative or quantitative?

Research methods and statistics We are learning about...We are learning how to... Qualitative and quantitative data. Content analysis. Bar charts. Gather psychological data. Notice and interpret patterns in research results. Make links between psychological approaches and methods.

Some people believe that men tend to be more focused on themselves as individuals, whereas women tend to be more focused on their relationships with others. If this is true, how might we expect women and men to differ when they are speaking and writing?

Content analysis Aim: to investigate whether women’s and men’s writing reflects a gender difference in self/other orientation. – H 1 : in men’s writing the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ will be used more frequently than in women’s writing. – H 2 : in women’s writing the words ‘us’ and ‘we’ will be used more frequently than in men’s writing. – H 0 : there will be no differences in the frequencies of ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘us’ and ‘we’ between men’s and women’s writing.

Sample Newspaper columns written by female and male journalists.

Coding sheet Female writerMale writer ‘I’ ‘me’ ‘us’ ‘we’

How should we represent the data so we can easily make sense of it?

What are the features of a good bar chart?

– Sensible axis scales – Separate bars – Bars paired for comparison – Axes clearly labelled – Key – Title that says what is shown

Do we accept or reject our hypotheses? What conclusion do we draw? Can we use our investigation as scientific evidence? – Internal validity – External validity

Outside class Write a short report on our investigation. Conduct and make an audio recording of a short interview with a friend: what makes a good lesson at school.

What have we learned? We are learning about...We are learning how to... Qualitative and quantitative data. Content analysis. Bar charts. Gather psychological data. Notice and interpret patterns in research results. Make links between psychological approaches and methods.