Methods in Social Psychology

1. Methods in Social Psychology

2. Why learn about research methods? • It can make you a better thinker • It can help you understand research that you read about

3. Step 1: Make a hypothesis • Hypotheses can come from • Personal experience • Previous research • Theory • Hypotheses must have • Testable variables • Stated relationship

4. What does it mean for a variable to be “testable”? • It must be stated in a way that it could be measured. • Which of these are testable? • Generosity • Blood pressure • Scores on a math test • Love • Attraction • If they aren’t testable, how could you test them?

5. Are these good hypotheses? People in the United States are more violent. Women are better listeners than men. People who own dogs are happier than people who own cats. Meditation makes people calmer.

6. Step 2: Choose a sample • Is your sample randomly chosen from the population? • Is your sample biased in some way?

7. Step 3: Choose a method • Observational research • Correlational research • Experiment

8. Observation • Qualitative(words) vs. quantitative (numbers) • Systematic observation • Participant observation (overt vs. covert) • Nonparticipant observation • Archival or indirect observation

9. Advantages of observation

10. Disadvantages of observation

11. Correlational research • Measure 2 or more variables and relate them to one another • Correlation coefficient that ranges from -1 to +1 • Negative vs. positive correlation

12. Correlation does not equal causation • The more storks there are resting on N. European rooftops, the more births there are 9 months later. • The more people weigh, the higher their salaries. • The larger a woman’s feet, the less trouble she has in childbirth. • The more ice cream being bought in a region, the greater the number of drownings. • The more active children are in Boy/Girl Scouts, the less likely they are to commit a street crime. • People who eat breakfast tend to live longer than people who skip breakfast.

13. Advantages of correlational research

14. Disadvantages of correlational research

15. Experiments • Have to have random assignment • To conditions • Independent variable (one the researcher varies) • Dependent variable (one the researcher measures)

16. What are the independent and dependent variables? • People are randomly assigned to sit in a room that is cold or a room that is warm. Researchers ask them to rate how satisfied they are with their lives. • A researcher drops books in front of randomly chosen people outside the student center to see if they stop to help her pick them up. Sometimes the people are alone and sometimes they are in small groups. • People view one of three advertisements for a product—one uses humor, one talks about the advantages of the product and the last one talks about how much better the product is than the competitor’s product. Then the researcher asks participants how likely they are to buy the product.

17. How do we know if a study is good? • Internal validity—control in the study • External validity—how much it relates to real life • Good research includes replications.

18. Other distinctions from the readings • Lab vs. field research • Basic vs. applied research

19. Research ethics • Informed consent • Risks vs. benefits • Confidentiality • Voluntary • Deception • Debriefing