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Research Methods Lecture 1. What is Science & Defining Research Questions Chapters 1 & 4. What is Psychology?. Study of human behaviour. Why are some people afraid to go on a bus? What intervention(s) are effective in helping people overcome their fears about going on a bus?
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Research MethodsLecture 1 What is Science & Defining Research Questions Chapters 1 & 4
What is Psychology? • Study of human behaviour. • Why are some people afraid to go on a bus? • What intervention(s) are effective in helping people overcome their fears about going on a bus? • What are the characteristics of a persuasive salesperson? • What work-related factors are associated with higher work-related absenteeism?
Scientific Research in Psychology • Helps us fill the gaps in our knowledge about human behaviour.
Scientific Method is Devoid Of: • Personal beliefs • Perceptions • Biases • Values • Attitudes • Emotions
Scientific Method – 5 Steps Asking the Question Problem Identification & Forming Hypothesis(es) Experimental Design & Methods Interpretation & Communication Testing the Hypothesis - Data analysis Collecting Relevant Information (data)
Asking the Question • Problem identification or knowledge gap • Why are some people afraid to go on buses? • Identifying the important related concepts or factors • Demographics • Number of other passengers on the bus. • Afraid in other public places • Afraid in other transportation vehicles • Other fears
Asking the Question • Frame the question as a testable hypothesis. • Scientific hypothesis (expressed as the expected or predicted relationships between variables). • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.”
Experimental Design & Methods • Takes considerable thought and research. • Consider what needs to be controlled in order to get an unbiased answer to the question. • Consider what variables will be manipulated (i.e., controlled by the experimenter). • Consider what variables will be measured as responses to the experimental variables.
Experimental Design & Methods • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Consider what needs to be controlled in order to get an unbiased answer to the question. • Travel on other vehicles in private. • Being in a private place that is not a vehicle. • Familiar but public place • Unfamiliar but public place
Experimental Design & Methods • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Consider what variables will be manipulated (i.e., controlled by the experimenter). • Observe subjects in specific situations (e.g., on bus in public, on bus in private, in car with other people in public, in car by self in public, in public walking, at home by self, at home with others).
Experimental Design & Methods • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Consider what variables will be measured as responses to the experimental variables. • Self-reported anxiety symptoms using a validated scale. • Physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate) • Behaviour (e.g., avoidance, escape)
Experimental Design & Methods • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Decide on which self-report measure of anxiety to employ. • Decide how to measure heart rate (apparatus and who to do the assessment). • Decide who your subjects will be. • Decide how to select your subjects. • Decide how many subjects to assess.
Collecting Relevant Information • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Important to approach the experiment with an attitude of “testing” the hypothesis, not “proving” the hypothesis. • Pilot testing and refinement of methods. • Implementing the methods.
Testing the Hypothesis and Data Analyses • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Using appropriate statistical analyses techniques. • How might we test this hypothesis with the data we collected?
Interpretation & Communication of the Results • “People who are afraid to travel on a bus are also afraid in other public places.” • Provide an interpretation of the results. • Consider problems in the design that might weaken your confidence in the results. • Consider how the results inform understanding about the theory for this question (if there is a theory). • Consider next steps in furthering knowledge about this. • Publish • Responsibility to inform others of your findings.
Characteristics of the Scientific Approach • Control – eliminating the influence of extraneous variables that could affect the observations (confounds). • Operational definition – defining the steps or operations used to measure the phenomenon (e.g., anxiety). • Replication – Reproducibility of the results.
Basic Assumptions Underlying Science • Determinism – belief that there are causes or determinants of behaviour. • Reality – belief that there is an underlying reality or truth in nature. • Rationality – events can be understood through the use of logical thinking. • Regularity – events in nature follow same laws. • Discoverability – it is possible to discover the uniformity or laws in nature.
Objectives of Science • Description • Discover that the phenomenon exists • Demonstrate that the phenomenon exists • Describe its elements
Objectives of Science • Explanation • Why does the phenomenon exist • What causes the phenomenon • Causes are the antecedent conditions that result in the occurrence or manifestation of the phenomenon.
Objectives of Science • Prediction • Ability to anticipate the event. • Knowing the antecedent to the phenomenon allows one to predict the phenomenon.
Objectives of Science • Control • You can manipulate the antecedent conditions and thus control the occurrence of the phenomenon. • Psychologist indirectly influence an organism’s behaviour through manipulating the antecedent events of that behaviour. • You can’t control the behaviour directly but you can usually exert some degree of control over the antecedent events that cause the behaviour.
Objectives of Science • In science the term ‘control’ has three meanings: • Check or verification in terms of a comparison (e.g., control group comparison). • Eliminating the influence of extraneous conditions that might cause the results of the experiment. • Being able to produce a change in a phenomenon by manipulating the antecedent events.
Scientific Theory • Theory is the explanation for the phenomenon. • Theories not only describe why or how the phenomenon occurred but also guides the way for further research. • Theories are often referred to as models for a specific phenomenon.
Transtheoretical Model Preparation Contemplation Action Precontemplation Maintenance Relapse (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1992)
Modifiability Dispositional Tendencies High High High Good Low Low optimism Low Poor pessimism RISK-ADAPTATION MODEL Risk-Adaptation Appraisal Salience Attention Consequentiality
Idea Idea Research Question Research Question Literature Review Research Hypothesis Research Hypothesis Literature Review Research Design Research Design Developing the Research Question Model 1 Model 2
Where do the ideas come from? • Everyday life • Practical issues or needs • Past research • Theory
Sources of Research Questions • Everyday life • What are the most effective ways to teach research methods? • What personal characteristics make a favorable impression in a job interview? • What other questions come to mind?
Sources of Research Questions • Practical Issues • Why do some employees have very high absenteeism rates. • Why do more car accidents happen on specific stretches of the road? • Why are most heart attacks on a Monday morning?
Sources of Research Questions • Past research • Knowledge develops in small steps. Rarely does one study answer all the questions to the research topic.
General Health Enhancement Smoking Cessation Program is Associated with Better Smoking Cessation Rates than a Targeted Cessation program J. Irvine, P. Ritvo, A. Matthew, S. Hotz, C. Strickland, R. Gilbert, F. Ashbury, L. Lockyer, & E. Wilson York University & University of Toronto
Rationale • Self-efficacy about smoking cessation is associated with a greater likelihood of successfully quitting smoking. • We hypothesized that assisting smokers to build efficacy about health behaviour changes generally would help build their confidence about quitting smoking and thereby result in higher cessation rates than a program solely targeted to smoking cessation.
Smoking Cessation:Research Question • Does providing smokers with a program that assists them build confidence about health behaviour change generally, lead to higher smoking cessation rates than a program solely targeted to quitting smoking?
Targeted Intervention Physician advice NRT Self-help guide Telephone counseling Confidence-Building Intervention Physician advice NRT Self-help guide Telephone counseling Assessment & additional health interventions tailored to individual preferences Smoking Cessation ProgramsIntervention Elements
Targeted Program • Smoking cessation program based on the transtheoretical model (TTM) developed by the Canadian Council on Smoking and Health (CCSH). • Stage-based intervention guide • NRT • Physician advice • Telephone counseling
Confidence-Building Intervention • CCSH – Stage-based intervention • Confidence-building intervention • Raising self-confidence re: resisting smoking • Building realistic-optimistic expectancies • Energy management • Exercise • Finding social support • Stress management • Controlling alcohol consumption • Better sleep, rest, and relaxation
Self-reported 4-week Sustained Quit Rates at 6-Months Follow-up Intention-to-treat analysis with subjects lost to follow-up (n=158) classified as smokers: P < .05
Conclusions • The addition of interventions assisting subjects to build their confidence about making other health behaviour changes in addition to smoking cessation resulted in higher smoking cessation rates at 6-months follow-up.
Unanswered Questions • What questions about smoking cessation programming remain unanswered by this study? • What questions about smoking cessation programming are raised by this study?
Change in Confidence about Resisting Smoking Self-efficacy increased significantly in both groups (p< .0001). There were no treatment group differences.
Sources of Research Questions • Theories • Summarize & integrate existing knowledge • Suggests new relationships between factors • Helps one make new predictions about a phenomenon based on the theory.
Defining the Research Question • Caveat – Not all ideas are subject to scientific enquire. • Research question must be capable of being confirmed or refuted. • The study must be feasible. • Variables in the problem should express a relationship: • E.g., What relationship exists between two or more variables?
Defining the Research Question - continued • Problem should be capable of being stated in a question form. Examples are: • What is the effect of….? • Under what conditions do….? • Does the effect of….? • A research question defines the area of interest but is not a declarative statement like a hypothesis.
Formulating Hypotheses • Stated in declarative form. • Posits a relationship between variables. • Ideally reflects a theory or body of literature. • Is brief and to the point. • Is testable.
Hypotheses • Scientific hypothesis states the ‘predicted’ relationship amongst the variables. • Null hypothesis is a statement of no relationship amongst the variables.
Assignment • Decide on a research idea. • Write your research question. • Perform a limited literature search related to your question. • Write a brief paragraph as foreground justification for your research question. • Based on the lit search, refine your question.
