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Research Methods in Social Psychology

Research Methods in Social Psychology. I. Develop a research question II. Develop a hypothesis A hypothesis is a testable prediction that describes relationships between events. III. Research Design Operational definitions specify how to measure concepts.

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Research Methods in Social Psychology

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  1. Research Methods in Social Psychology • I. Develop a research question • II. Develop a hypothesis • A hypothesis is a testable prediction that describes relationships between events. • III. Research Design • Operational definitions specify how to measure concepts.

  2. Research Methods in Social Psychology (cont.) • A. Correlational Research Designs • Correlation involves assessing the relationship between two or more variables • Correlation coefficient ranges from -1 to +1 • Number gives the strength of the relationship • Sign gives the direction of the relationship

  3. Interpreting correlational results: • Correlation does not imply causation! • Two problems in establishing cause-effect: • Directionality problem – Does A cause B or does B cause A? • Third variable problem – C may cause both A and B

  4. Evaluating Research • Internal Validity: the degree to which a research finding provides clear or compelling information about causality. • External validity: the degree to which a research finding provides an accurate description of what typically happens in the real world.

  5. Evaluating Research (cont.) • To increase the external validity of a laboratory study, increase: • Mundane realism: degree to which the experimental conditions resemble real-world situations. AND/OR • Experimental realism: degree to which the experimental conditions are psychologically engaging.

  6. Experimental Research • Studies that seek to establish cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors while holding others constant. • Independent variable (IV) – the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter. • Experimental group – treatment • Control group – no treatment • Dependent variable (DV) – the variable that is measured as an outcome.

  7. Experimental Research (cont.) • Two essential ingredients of an experiment: • Random assignment – each participant has an equal chance of being in the experimental group or the control group • Holding the other variables constant – the only difference between groups should be the manipulated variable: Everything else must be held constant

  8. Factorial Design • A design in which the levels of 2 or more independent variables are completely crossed.

  9. Main effect • A statistical term meaning that, overall, an independent variable has an effect on a dependent variable.

  10. Interaction • A statistical term meaning that the effects of one independent variable on a dependent variable depend on the level of another independent variable. • The effects of _____ on _______ depend on ______.

  11. Ethics • 1. Deception is allowed, but the benefits of the research must outweigh the costs. • 2. If deception is used, participants must be promptly debriefed at the end of the experiment. • 3. Researchers must obtain informed consent. Participants are to be informed of any risks of benefits of participating in the study and that they may withdraw at any time without penalty. • 4. Researchers must ensure the confidentiality of data.

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