Psychology Chapter 2 Lesson 1 What is Research? By B.A. Loeffler

Main idea Psychologists must first decide how to approach the research issue. Then psychologists conduct the research in one of a variety of ways to test a hypothesis, solve a problem, or confirm previous findings

Pre-Research Decisions Samples Must be representative Random samples Stratified samples(choosing your subjects)

Methods of Research Naturalistic Observation Case studies Surveys Longitudinal Studies Cross-Sectional Studies Correlations and Explanations Experiments

Naturalistic Observation Watching humans or animals in their natural habitat Key is not to be seen or interfere with the subject Dian Fossey

Case Study Intense study of a person or group Observations Tests interviews Does not prove or disprove anything Wealth of information to create a hypothesis

Survey Best way to gather data from large numbers Interviews Questionnaires Many uniform answers

Correlations and Explanations Measures the relationship between two variables or sets of data Positive correlation – data moves in the same direction Negative correlation – one variable increases while another decreases Does not mean the two things are related or effect each other

Experiments Psychologist can control the environment Add or detract variables Independent variable – is changed or altered to observe its effects Dependent variable – effect caused by the independent variable The answer is dependent upon the independent variable Experimental group – exposed to the independent variable Control group – not exposed to the independent variable

Look at your sheet of words and memorize as many as you can in 2 minutes. I predict that with your short term memory you the class will remember an average of 8 words and girls will remember more on average than boys.

J/K My real prediction is that you will get 12 right