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Research Methods

Research Methods. It is actually way more exciting than it sounds!!!!. Why do we have to learn this stuff?. Psychology is first and foremost a science. Thus it is based in research. Be aware however of two hurdles that tend to skew our logic when we research. Hindsight Bias.

cynthia-mcmahon
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Research Methods

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  1. Research Methods It is actually way more exciting than it sounds!!!!

  2. Why do we have to learn this stuff? Psychology is first and foremost a science. Thus it is based in research. Be aware however of two hurdles that tend to skew our logic when we research

  3. Hindsight Bias • The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you knew it all along. Monday Morning Quarterbacking!!! After the Lebron announced his decision to go to the Heat, ….my husband said he knew Lebron would go where Wade was going. Did he really?

  4. Overconfidence • We tend to think we know more than we do. • 82% of U.S. drivers consider themselves to be in the top 30% of their group in terms of safety. • 81% of new business owners felt they had an excellent chance of their businesses succeeding. When asked about the success of their peers, the answer was only 39%. (Now that's overconfidence!!!)

  5. The Scientific Attitude • Three main components • Curious eagerness • Skeptically scrutinize competing ideas • Open-minded humility before nature

  6. Critical Thinking • Critical Thinking - thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions • “Smart thinking” • Four elements • Examines assumptions • Discerns hidden values • Evaluates evidence • Assesses conclusions

  7. Scientific Method • Observe some aspect of the universe. • Invent a theory that is consistent with what you have observed. • Use the theory to make predictions, a hypothesis. • Test those predictions by experiments or further observations. • Modify the theory in the light of your results. • Go to step 3.

  8. Types of Research • Descriptive • Correlational Experimental

  9. Types of Descriptive Research • The Case Study • The Survey • Naturalistic Observation

  10. Case Studies • A detailed picture of one or a few subjects. • Offers suggestions for further study • Can mislead if is subject is atypical. The ideal case study was John and Kate. Really interesting, but are they typical of all families?

  11. Naturalistic Observation • Watch subjects in their natural environment. • Do not manipulate the environment. • May be done when it is not ethical to manipulate variables • Does not show cause and effect.

  12. Survey Method • Method for understanding the self reported beliefs of a certain group • Works with large groups of data • Can be Descriptive or Correlational • Cheap and fast, most used research method in psychology

  13. Sampling • Population - all the possible subjects in a group you want to study • Random Sampling – a portion of the population that fairly represents the population because each person has an equal chance of getting chosen • Is critical to the validity of the data in a survey Population random sample

  14. Survey Method: The Bad • Low Response Rate • People Lie or just misinterpret themselves. • Wording Effects How accurate would a survey be about the frequency of diarrhea?

  15. Correlational Method • Correlation - expresses a relationship between two variable. • Measures how well one variable predicts the other • Does not show causation • Surveys and Naturalistic observation can use correlational method. As more ice cream is eaten, more people are murdered. Does ice cream cause murder, or murder cause people to eat ice cream?

  16. Types of Correlation Positive Correlation • The variables go in the SAME direction. Negative Correlation • The variables go in opposite directions. Studying and grades hopefully has a positive correlation. Heroin use and grades probably has a negative correlation.

  17. Correlation Coefficient • A number that measures the strength of a relationship. • Range is from -1 to +1 • The relationship gets weaker the closer you get to zero. • Scatterplot – a visual representation of the relationship between the variables • shown as a graphed cluster of dots Which is a stronger correlation? • -.13 or +.38 • -.72 or +.59 • -.91 or +.04

  18. Experimental Method • Manipulation of one or more variables • Shows cause and effect • Laboratory v. Field Experiments Smoking causes health issues.

  19. Theory • An explanation that organizes observation and predicts behaviors or events • A hunch • Ex. • Participating in class leads to better AP scores

  20. Hypothesis • A testable prediction. • Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam

  21. Independent Variable • Whatever is being manipulated in the experiment. If there is a drug in an experiment, the drug is almost always the independent variable. • Example: • Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam • What is the independent variable?

  22. Dependent Variable • Example: • Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam • What is the dependent variable? The dependent variable would be the effect of the drug. • Whatever is being measured in the experiment. • It is dependent on the independent variable.

  23. Operational Definitions • Explain what you mean in your hypothesis. • How will the variables be measured in “real life” terms. • Must be measurable • Allow experiment to be replicated • Example: • Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam • What is the operational definition for Participation? Number of times the student raises their hand

  24. Beware ofConfounding Variables What is a potential confounding variable in our experiment… Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam • A factor other than than the independent variable that might produce an effect on the experiment • Anything that could cause change in B, that is not A. IQ, Personality Traits

  25. Random Assignment • Different than Random Sample • Assigning participants in an experiment to experimental and control groups by chance • Minimizes differences between two groups • Experimental Group – the group that’s exposed to the treatment • Control Group – the group not exposed to the treatment • Who would be the Experimental group in our experiment? • Hypothesis: Students who participate in AP Psych class will score higher on the AP exam The group that participated (raised their hands, were called on)

  26. Experimenter Bias • Expectations by the experimenter that are subtly communicated • Another confounding variable. • Double-Blind Procedure – both the researcher and the participants are ignorant about who is receiving the treatment and who is receiving a placebo ( a dummy medication)

  27. Other Confounding Variables • Placebo effect – an experimental effect caused by expectations

  28. Statistics • Recording the results from our studies. • Must use a common language so we all know what we are talking about.

  29. Descriptive Statistics • Just describes sets of data. • You might create a frequency distribution. • Frequency polygons or histograms.

  30. Central Tendency Let’s look at the salaries of the employees at Dunder Mifflen Paper in Scranton: • Mean, Median and Mode. • Watch out for extreme scores or outliers. $25,000-Pam $25,000- Kevin $25,000- Angela $100,000- Andy $100,000- Dwight $200,000- Jim $300,000- Michael The median salary looks good at $100,000. The mean salary also looks good at about $110,000. But the mode salary is only $25,000. Maybe not the best place to work. Then again living in Scranton is kind of cheap.

  31. Normal Distribution • In a normal distribution, the mean, median and mode are all the same.

  32. Distributions • Outliers skew distributions. • If group has one high score, the curve has a positive skew (contains more low scores) • If a group has a low outlier, the curve has a negative skew (contains more high scores)

  33. Other measures of variability • Range: distance from highest to lowest scores. • Standard Deviation: the variance of scores around the mean. • The higher the variance or SD, the more spread out the distribution is. • Do scientists want a big or small SD? Shaq and Kobe may both score 30 ppg (same mean). But their SDs are very different.

  34. Scores • A unit that measures the distance of one score from the mean. • A positive z score means a number above the mean. • A negative z score means a number below the mean.

  35. Normal Distribution

  36. Inferential Statistics • The purpose is to discover whether the finding can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was collected. • T-tests, ANOVA or MANOVA • P-value= .05 for statistical significance. • 5% likely the results are due to chance.

  37. APA Ethical Guidelines for Research • IRB- Internal Review Board • Both for humans and animals.

  38. Animal Research • Clear purpose • Treated in a humane way • Acquire animals legally • Least amount of suffering possible.

  39. Human Research • No Coercion- must be voluntary • Informed consent • Anonymity • No significant risk • Must debrief

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