RESEARCH METHODS FOR GENDER ISSUES:The Procedure of Content Analysis

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Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Lesson 05

RESEARCH METHODS FOR GENDER ISSUES

Content Analysis:

Content analysis is one of the most commonly used methods for assessing the impact of electronic media,

literature, art, textbooks, and oral discussions. Content analysis is done keeping specific goals, objectives,

themes, and constructs in mind.

It is a part of archival research. Concept is an approach for systematically categorizing and analyzing the

content of the behavior or its related aspects or variables being studied. The analysis may cover contents of live

human behavior, books, journals, magazines, poetry, drama, movies, folktales, TV programs, school textbooks

and curricula, advertisements etc.

The Procedure of Content Analysis:

The content of the behavior or its related aspects/variables being studied is systematically categorized with

reference to some theory .The analyst scans contents of live human behavior, books, journals, magazines,

poetry, drama, movies , folk tails, TV programs, school curricula, advertisements etc. according to the

categories under consideration. Once objective identification of specific characteristics of contents has been

done, inferences are made and conclusions are drawn. For example, a number of researches have done content

analysis of TV programs, or textbooks to see how the two genders have been portrayed and presented.

Some other descriptive methods:

· Unobtrusive measures

· Archival data

Unobtrusive measures:

These are a form of indirect observation and indirect ways of data collection. The subjects under study may not

be present at the time of investigation. Information is gathered about the lifestyles, behaviors, and habits of the

people being studied through indicators present in the surroundings. Unobtrusive measures may be used as the

sole source of evidence, or for supplementing or cross-checking information collected through direct

observation.

At times when direct observation is not possible, such measures may replace observation. Physical Traces are

one of the sources of data in unobtrusive measures. Remains, remnants, fragments, objects, and products of

past behavior are used as evidence. For example, information regarding the life style of the women of the Indus

Valley civilization can be obtained by studying the dresses, pieces of jewelry, other bodily adornments, and

objects found through excavations and kept in museums.

Products and Use traces:

Cues to the use or nonuse of objects and items can also be used as evidence e.g. wall chalking, or graffiti on

walls of educational institutions can be used as indicators of how the people at the concerned locations think

about the opposite gender. The products used by people also reveal information about their habits and

lifestyles e.g. cosmetic products used by men and women have been noted through a study of garbage cans.

The researchers observed the contents of the area's garbage bins, instead of interviewing the residents.

Archival data or archival research:

Already existing records, documents, different forms of literature, newspaper items, photographs, movies,

documentaries, biographies, autobiographies etc are used as evidence or information in this type of research

e.g. using newspaper records to study the rate of crime during the past 20 years. Archival data may be used to

supplement data gathered through other sources.

Archives are places where data or Information are stored. Archives can be public or university libraries,

government offices, computerized databases, TV or radio libraries etc.

Experimental Research: Experimental Research is the type of research that brings scientific status to

psychology. It employs experimental method for finding evidence.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Experimental method: refers to using experimentation for studying a phenomenon. Experiments are

designed carefully in order to have carefully tested findings.

Experimental design: is the plan or structure or lay out of according to which an experiment is conducted.

Experiment: is the research procedure whereby the variable of interest (independent variable) is manipulated

and the effect of this manipulation is studied.

The main feature of experimentation is control.

When do we need to conduct experiments?

Experiments are needed:

When we have to test hypotheses, or

When we have to test the impact of a treatment, or program, on behavior.

Experiments are primarily used for investigating cause and effect relationships.

Main components of experimental research:

A hypothesis about the causal relationship.

An independent variable.

A dependent variable.

Manipulation of the independent variable.

Complete control over the dependent variable.

Types of variable involved in an experiment:

Three types of variables are involved in experimental research:

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Control/Intervening or confounding or extraneous variable

Independent:

Variable:

(IV)

Independent variable is the variable that the researcher hypothesizes to be the causal variable. The impact of IV

is investigated in the experiment. IV is manipulated in terms of kind or level.

Dependent Variable: (DV):

The variable thought to be the consequence or effect of IV. It is the measure of behavior on which the impact

of independent variable is being studied.

Control variable:

A potential independent variable that can have an impact upon the dependent variable; it has to be controlled

so that it does not interfere with findings about the impact of IV.

The logic of Experimental Research:

If there is a cause and effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables, then the

manipulation of the independent variable will bring about a change in the value of the dependent variable.

All other variables that can interfere with the findings have to be controlled in order to be sure of the findings.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

A conventional experiment uses two groups of subjects:

Experimental

Group

Groups

in a Typical

Experiment

Control

Group

·Experimental research may adopt two main formats:

Within- Subjects

Design

Experimental

Design

Between- Subjects

Design

Example of experimental research on gender issues:

Although experimental research is used for investigating gender issues, it is not a method commonly preferred

by gender researchers.

Example: The study of the impact of viewing aggressive behavior in cartoons on male and female children:

Two groups of children, one male and one female were allowed to watch a cartoon series containing frequent

acts of aggression.

Their baseline level of aggression and indulgence in aggressive behaviors was measured before hand. The same

were measured after the cartoon- viewing phase.

Both groups showed an increase in the expression of aggression.

Advantages of Experimental Research:

· The element of control gives edge to this approach, strengthening the status of psychology a science.

· We can be sure about the cause and effect relationship.

Disadvantages of Experimental Research:

· The subjects may exhibit artificial behavior instead of natural behavior.

· Subjects may experience stress or pressure that may affect their behavior or performance.

· Experiments are expensive, both in terms of time and money.

· Ethical issues: We can not deceive and keep the subjects in dark about reality; but if we disclose the

nature and purpose of the experiment it may seriously affect the experimental procedure as well as the

findings.

Ex Post Facto Research:

It is a type of Quasi Experimentation, a form of Applied Research. Quasi Experimentation can be taken as

"sort of experimentation", not true experimentation. Quasi Experiments fit into the experimental framework,

although not planned, initiated, or controlled by the experimenter. In such studies the independent variable

occurs, or has occurred, naturally and the researcher studies its impact the way it is done in a laboratory

experiment.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

The difference between the experimental design and ex post facto design:

Experiments involve random assignment of the subjects to the treatment conditions, whereas in ex post facto

research only those subjects are chosen who have already been exposed to theory variable under investigation.

Groups in a Quasi- Experiment:

Exposure group

Comparison group

Ex Post Facto Studies

Ex post facto research is used when the researchers are interested in studying causal relationship between two

variables, but the nature of the phenomenon is such that experimentation is not possible.

For example the impact of isolation for long durations, the behavior of boys brought up as girls, brain damage,

impact of high doses of androgens taken accidentally by pregnant mothers, or exposure to harmful drugs or

chemical substances.

The subject variable is the characteristic of interest and the readings or scores on a chosen aspect of behavior will

be the dependent variable.

Ex post facto research can employ different formats:

Nonequivalent Control Group Design: Two groups are compared, one exposed to the subject variable and the

other taken as the control or no-exposure group.

One-group pretest-posttest design: A design in the before- after format i.e., readings or data before exposure

are compared with those after exposure. It is a weak design involving problems of accuracy of the pretest data.

But at times this is the only resort e.g. when we have to study changes in behavior of acid burn victims, after

being burnt.

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