Definition of dreams
Explain the conceptual issue of dream definition to research and emphasis pros and cons for qualitative research. 1 page
Psychology move to a natural science 2 pages
Critically evaluate psychologies departure as Aristotle to modern day dreams research.
Emotional processing 2pages & Social simulation theory 2 pages
Critically evaluate the target articles in light of it as a theory in the context of impactful dreams, to be added to existing section on dream theories
Nightmares 1.5 pages
Critically evaluate the target articles in light of the current study, to be added to existing section on types of dreams
Qualitative studies 2 pages
Synthesize and critically evaluate dream studies
Dreams research during Covid-19 Pandemic 2 pages
Critically evaluate the target articles in light of the current study on impactful dreams
Focus mainly on Wang 2020. This study includes the use of prominent theoretical dream models.
Discuss the selected literature in the context of impactful dreams, current research study, counselling psychology. Critically evaluate how the study’s were conducted as the present study elicited personal home reports rather than survey’s etc.
Note Gorgoni suggestion/ findings: : ‘the enormous spread on the web of subjective reports of strong changes in the oneiric activity, with increased dream recall frequency, as well as higher vividness, bizarreness and emotional intensity of their dreams. Such experience led to the rise of many websites that collected dream reports in the COVID-19 period and to a broad worldwide press coverage. This phenomenon is consistent with findings suggesting a strong impact of potentially traumatic collective experiences on dreaming’.
‘Our hypothesis states that changes in dream activity will be explained by both (A) waking experience and, in particular, the emotional features of daily mental activity and (B) parallel changes of sleep pattern’
The above quote from Gorgoni (2021) as the current study is seeking to explore the impact of dreams.
Gap in literature 0.5 pages
To be added to existing gap in literature review
Total 12 pages
Methodology
Methods of collecting dreams and Methodological challenges to dreams research
Explain the various methods and emphasis pros and cons for qualitative research.
Discuss the challenges and discuss challenges in light of a qualitative study. 2 page
Home dreams vs Laboratory dreams 2 pages
Critically evaluate and Discuss target articles in view of and relevance to impactful dreams
Other methods considered
Interpretative phenomenological analysis 1.5 pages
Narrative inquiry 1.5 pages
Narrative Brief & IPA Brief
The text should amount to 1 page of each method not chosen. Discuss the benefits and limitations of the using the method in psychological research. Where is it predominantly used Education health, by who, look for what?
Narrative Example:
Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis Both Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis were considered for this research as both examine subjective experience. Dallos & Vetere (2005) offer a distinction between the two. Discourse Analysis focuses on the interactions, namely verbal conversations, between individuals. Its premise is that individuals’ beliefs, feelings, understandings and meanings are constructed through interactions with others. It follows then that ideas are not enduring qualities and they change depending on whom the individual is interacting with. Narrative Analysis is similar in that its focus is on language, however the emphasis is on the stories people tell about their lives and how these stories impact on the individuals’ sense of self or identity. Narrative Analysis is useful in looking at narratives over time as it connects the past, present and future. Discourse and narrative analysis focus mainly on the stories that individuals tell about their lives and themselves. The first-time mothers interviewed for this research would give a narrative of their experience of becoming mothers which would be influenced by their experience and their interactions with others and a wider society. However using discourse 65 analysis to look at the interview data would keep the analysis at the level of language and how they construct and talk about their experience. For this research I focussed on the subjective and experiential level.
Interpretative phenomenological analysis second examples: a bak
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis There are a number of different methods within phenomenological research methodology. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis or IPA, with its phenomenological slant, was considered as a possible method for this research as it does focus on an individual’s lived experience and how they make sense of that experience. The approach is also interpretative as meaning is constructed through the research process and is a product of the researcher and participant’s interactions as well as how the researcher interacts with the transcripts. Smith highlights the researcher’s role in the research process and states “The participant is trying to make sense of their personal and social world; the researcher is trying to make sense of the participant trying to make sense of their personal and social world” (2004 p.40). McLeod states, “the ‘essence’ of the phenomenon can never be grasped” (1994 p.91); however through the process of trying to grasp the essence an understanding of the various aspects of the phenomenon can be reached. Smith (2004) details what he sees as the three characteristic features of IPA, that it is idiographic, inductive and interrogative. Its idiographic nature comes about through analysing each case fully before moving onto the next case and by analysing all the cases fully before any cross analysis takes place, this enables common themes to be drawn out at the same time as keeping individual narratives. IPA is flexible in its techniques to allow for unanticipated themes to emerge and is therefore inductive. It is interrogative in that the analysis is discussed in terms of relevant psychological literature and aims to contribute to the field of psychology. In terms of interpretation, the text or narrative can be analysed at different levels and from different vantage points
Second example b fei
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis When considering different techniques of analysis Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was an option, as it is a popular and commonly used phenomenological research tool. IPA focuses on peoples perceptions of experience, and what it means to them, making IPA a phenomenological research method. Smith and Osborn (2003) point out the double hermeneutic nature of IPA, in that it considers the role of the researcher through the analysis of interpretation of a participant’s understanding. In this way IPA has a similar methodological outlook as SEA, which was selected for this research, that is they are both ontological in nature. IPA will usually use a small sample size as it’s not concerned with general claims about larger populations, rather it tends to be idiographic. 68 The research method usually employed is that of semi-structured interview. A key feature of IPA is that it uses thematic analysis as the main tool of analysis. This involves a thorough analysis of interview transcripts to identify core themes, through commentary, note-taking and coding, themes are drawn out. The themes are considered in a table, and this is repeated for each participant transcript. Eventually an overriding table of themes will be compiled from all participant transcripts and it will be these final themes that lie at the crux of the findings (Langdridge, 2007). IPA was seriously considered for this research, but was not selected for two main reasons. Firstly, though there is phenomenological literature and philosophy surrounding IPA, ultimately the main process of research is thematic analysis, which is not phenomenological, nor existential in essence. Therefore there was a real concern that in practice it lacked the space to consider interpretation. Considering my role in this research, that is, as a heterosexual member of the Jewish community addressing an issue of conflicting identities, I required an analytic tool that allows clear space for my personal interpretation of the interview data. The concern that this approach is more cognitive, than phenomenological is also highlighted by Smith and Osborn (2003) and Wiling (2001). Furthermore, thematic analysis does not provide a specific framework for analysis of events in relation to time, which is very useful for this research for its focus on a particular momentous event in time.
Further pros and cons can be viewed: https://crow1234.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-interpretive-phenomenological-analysis/
Validity in dreams research 2 pages
Validity
Example 1
The validity of a piece of research is important as it concerns the way in which the research has been conducted and therefore the reliability of the findings. Lincoln and Guba (1989) talk about the trustworthiness of research, which they believe is comprised of four components; credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. These distinctions are more suited to a positivist research methodology; therefore a different view of what constitutes trustworthiness is needed for phenomenological research. McLeod (1994) highlights a number of ways in which phenomenological research can be trustworthy and therefore valid. He believes that there needs to be a clear description of the research 76 procedures so that others reading the research can see exactly what has taken place and how the findings were come by. For phenomenological research, which often stays at the descriptive level rather than developing a theory, the research needs to be contextualised so that it is understood that the knowledge acquired relates to a specific experience within a specific historical, cultural and societal context. A criticism of some phenomenological research is that what is found often merely confirms the assumptions already held by the researcher. McLeod suggests that in order to overcome these criticisms researchers need to consider competing interpretations of the data. The reflexivity of the researcher is also an important aspect of the validity of a piece of research; not only in how they are able to describe how they conducted the research, but how they overcame issues around, building rapport, encouraging disclosure, addressing the power balance. Another way in which the validity of the research can be assessed is how authentic or rich the material is. There are occasions where it is possible to ask participants to comment on transcripts produced for the research in order to gain feedback on its validity, but this is not always possible or desirable. Finally McLeod stresses that despite the small number of participants used for phenomenological research, the researcher needs to demonstrate that the findings are relevant and applicable to other cases.
Total 9 pages
