Catch up and review for Exam 1 Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements Quiz 4: Due Fri. Feb. 5 (by midnight) Exam 1: on Tuesday Mixture of multiple choice and short answer Review sessions after labs this week (DEG 19) University college writing help: Online CITI ethics training due week 5 Lab Exercise change. Replaced the ethics exercise with another APA style exercise (Ex 61, LM )

Ethical Responsibilities in Research Two basic categories of ethical concerns: Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners

Scientific Integrity Fraud prevention Replication – repeat a research study to validate results Peer Review – critical analysis of research by peers in the same area Plagiarism – taking credit for another’s work or ideas Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others Two basic categories of ethical concerns: Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners (Integrity, Fidelity & Responsibility) (video | video)video

Ethical responsibility to science Dirty tricks (this will get you thrown out) Questionable tricks (these are a little fuzzier, but be wary) Neat tricks (accepted as okay, and sometimes necessary) Ethics in Science Quiz

Ethical responsibility to science Fabrication of results Little or no attempt to minimize biases from demand characteristics Reformulating your theory as you go Falsifying credentials Plagiarism Little or no attempt to minimize confounds Deliberately hiding (significant) errors in published work DT QT DT NT Ethics in Science Quiz Dirty tricks (this will get you thrown out) Questionable tricks (these are a little fuzzier, but be wary) Neat tricks (accepted as okay, and sometimes necessary)

Ethical responsibility to science Throwing out data Reorganizing order of report of experiments Violations of underlying statistical assumptions Strategic graphing of the data Duplicate publications (presented as new) Selective reporting of the results Leaving out some bad experiments (not bad results) QT or DT QT NT DT depends reason for throwing out Ethics in Science Quiz Dirty tricks (this will get you thrown out) Questionable tricks (these are a little fuzzier, but be wary) Neat tricks (accepted as okay, and sometimes necessary)

Ethical responsibility to society Applying psychological research: Think about the ethics of the application of psychological research findings on video games Gaming can make a better world: Jane McGonigal Video (~ 20 mins)Video Neurogaming: What’s neuroscience and ethics got to do with it? – Exploring ethics video (3 related talks, total ~80 mins)video The ethics of exploiting psychological research in video games: Johnny Soraker video (~15 mins)video

Exam 1 Coverage Textbook (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8), lectures, & labs Scientific method Psychological Science Getting ideas Developing (good) research ideas Reviewing the literature Ethics Basic methodologies Multiple choice and short answer questions

Methods of Inquiry ObjectiveSubjective Analysis Acceptance Authority Instruction Regulation (rules & laws) Tenacity Faith Intuition Type of knowledge Ways of knowing having existence outside of a person’s mind (“real”) existing in a person’s mind Persuasion Rationalism Deduction Empiricism Observation Scientific Method

Methods of Inquiry The Scientific Method A method used to test and analyze claims about behavior Uses systematic observation and experimentation 4 Cannons of the Scientific method: Empiricism, Determinism, Parsimony, Testability A 6 step process observations hypotheses predictions systematic observations new hypotheses predictions systematic observations new hypotheses

Psychology as a science Description of behavior Describe events, what changes affect change, what might be related to what, etc. Prediction of behavior Given X what will likely happen Control of behavior For the purpose of interventions (e.g., how do we prevent violence in schools) Causes of behavior Sometimes predictions aren’t enough, want to know how the X and the outcome are related Develop specific theories Explanation of behavior A complete theory of the how’s and why’s Simplest Complex Psychology’s goals are similar to the goals of the physical sciences (e.g., physics and chemistry) Psychology’s goals are similar to the goals of the physical sciences Psychologists are concerned with the behavior of people (and animals) rather than the physical world.

Research ideas Where do ideas come from? Curiosity Observation Common Sense Past research Identify a problem Evaluating your research ideas Focus: Is your idea specified enough to be manageable ROT rule: Replicable - one time deal? Observable - can you measure it? Testable - can you test it & can you falsify it?

Why review the literature What are the underlying motivations for doing a review of the literature?  Getting ideas.  What has been done, what hasn’t been done?  Understanding the relevant theories.  What variables are important?  Avoid past mistakes. Primary vs. Secondary Sources advantages and disadvantages of each Using PsycINFO

Observational Methods Observational approaches: Data collection How do we observe the behaviors of interest? Naturalistic observation Participant observation Survey & interviews Archival data Systematic (contrived) observation Experiments Advantages and disadvantages of each approach Observation without manipulation Direct Observation

Types of research designs Case studies Intensive study of a small set of individuals and their behaviors Correlational Looking for a co-occurrence relationship between two (or more) variables Quasi-experimental Experimental designs with one or more non-random variables Experimental Investigating the cause-and-effect relationship between two (or more) variables through the manipulation of variables Know the advantages and disadvantages of each type

APA style: Parts of a research report Abstract Body Introduction Methods Participants Materials/Apparatus Design Procedure Results Discussion References The rest Authors Notes, Footnotes, Tables, Figures & Captions The basic parts of a research article:

5 General Principles (& many ethical standards) A. Beneficence & Non-maleficence Protection from harm, Cost/Benefits analysis, Confidentiality B. Fidelity & Responsibility Uphold professional and scientific standards of contact C. Integrity Honesty and accuracy in science D. Justice Freedom from coercion E. Respect for people’s rights and dignity Basic courtesy, Informed consent, Debriefing, Avoid deception APA’s code of ethics

Consider the rights of our participants Institutional Review Board Use of deception Benefits > Risks Informed consent Behave ethically as scientists and practitioners Replication – repeat a research study to validate results Peer Review – critical analysis of research by peers in the same area Plagiarism – taking credit for another’s work or ideas Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others Selected Ethical Standards