1 / 9

BHS 204-01 Methods in Behavioral Sciences I

BHS 204-01 Methods in Behavioral Sciences I. Nancy Alvarado, Ph.D. What is an Experiment?. A sample experiment – the Pepsi Challenge. Start with a set of questions: Can people really tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke?

michaela
Download Presentation

BHS 204-01 Methods in Behavioral Sciences I

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. BHS 204-01Methods in Behavioral Sciences I Nancy Alvarado, Ph.D.

  2. What is an Experiment? • A sample experiment – the Pepsi Challenge. • Start with a set of questions: • Can people really tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke? • How is preference for one or the other cola related to being able to tell the difference? • Does it matter which order you drink the two flavors in? • Coke first vs Pepsi first

  3. Finding Answers • How do you answer the questions you’ve come up with? • Experimental design for Pepsi Challenge: • Get a group of people • Let them taste the two kinds of cola • Half taste Pepsi first, half taste Coke first • Ask them questions: • Which is Pepsi? • Which do you prefer?

  4. Making Predictions • A researcher generally has some idea about how the experiment will turn out: • Predictions come from theories, from observations of real life behavior, and from the experimenter’s own experience and beliefs. • State predictions in terms of the experiment: • People will prefer Pepsi, people can tell which is which, order will not make a difference.

  5. Run the Experiment • Collect data • Analyze the data: • Descriptive statistics – summarize data • Inferential statistics – test your results against what might have occurred by chance. • Use the data to test the predictions: • How many people ID and prefer Pepsi vs Coke? • Did order of tasting affect the choices?

  6. Present the Findings • An experiment is wasted if its results are not communicated to the public and to the scientific community. • Vehicles for communicating: • Conferences • Professional journals • Public – press releases, TV, radio, popular books

  7. Questions Lead to More Questions • Does it matter whether the Pepsi is tasted cold or warm? • How do people identify it? • Bubbles – amount of carbonation? • Sweetness – does Pepsi have more sugar? • Are factors beyond taste important to preference? • Brand loyalty, image (rebels drink Classic Coke)?

  8. Terminology • Subject or participant – a person who provides information or data in a study. • Dependent variable – what is measured during your study. • Independent variable – what is manipulated during your study. • Condition – which group a person is assigned to in the study.

  9. What is an Experiment? • A controlled situation in which the researcher manipulates at least one variable in order to observe the effect of that change on subject behavior. • There must be at least one independent variable that is manipulated by the experimenter. • There must be at least one dependent variable that is measured by the experimenter. • Experiments can tell you about causes.

More Related