METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY Finding a Research Idea Lawrence R. Gordon

Moving on to humans... §Complete Stunkard et al. (1983) body image scale (indicate your sex with M or F in top right corner) 1.Rate your ACTUAL body image by writing “ME” below the figure you most look li 2.Rate your IDEAL body image by circling the figure you would most want to look like 3. Rate the OPPOSITE SEX IDEAL by putting a star above the figure you think the opposite sex would be the most attracted to

The Effects of Sexist Advertisements on Body Dissatisfaction §Lavine, Sweeney, and Wagner (1999) §108 introductory psychology students (51 males, 57 females) – for extra credit §3 conditions (level of the IV) l viewed 15 sexist TV ads and 5 nonsexist ads l viewed 20 nonsexist ads l viewed no ads

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §After viewing the ads, participants completed measures of l attitudes toward feminism l attitudes toward the ads l body image ratings

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §Questions they were addressing: l Effects of feminism on ad attitudes? l Effects of sexist ads on body dissatisfaction? l Effects of gender on body dissatisfaction?

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §Results l Participants rated nonsexist ads better l Feminists rated sexist ads worse l Females with sexist ads reported more body dissatisfaction (saw themselves as heavier) l Males with sexist ads reported more body dissatisfaction (saw themselves as thinner)

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §Conclusions l Feminism was related to lower ratings for the sexist ads (correlational, no cause-effect) l Being female was related to body dissatisfaction in the form of seeing them selves as heavier (correlational, no cause-effect) l Seeing sexist ads caused increased body dissatisfaction (experimental, cause-effect)

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §What can you conclude? l Did being feminist cause participants to rate the sexist ads worse? l Did being female cause participants to report body dissatisfaction in the form of seeing them selves as heavier? l Did seeing sexist ads cause increased body dissatisfaction?

Effects of Sexist Ads (cont.) §What was the IV? §How was the IV defined? §What was the DV? §How was the DV defined? §Do you agree with these definitions? §How could the IV and DV be defined differently, yet still ask the same questions?

OTHER ASPECTS OF RESEARCH §Basic vs. Applied §Laboratory vs. Field §Quantitative vs. qualitative §Asking empirical questions l Operational definitions of IV and DV l Converging operations §So how DO we find research questions?

FINDING RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Role of Theory §Theory: coherent statements about a behavioral phenomenon which: l Summarize l Organize l Tentatively explain l Make predictions §Deduction (general-to-specific) l Prediction (Hypothesis: “If___, then ___.”) l Results: support theory or does not (“test of hypothesis”) §Induction (specific-to-general) l Study outcomes provide basis to modify theory §A GOOD THEORY: productive, falsifiable, parsimonious §“Nothing is as practical as a good theory.”

FINDING RESEARCH QUESTIONS §Observation of everyday behavior §Serendipity §Specific problem needs solution §From other research l Programmatic research l Replication (full or partial) l Extension §From the literature of psychology l Reviews: Psych Bulletin; Annual Rev of Psych l Meta-analyses --- huh?

Meta-analysis §Similar to lit.review in that all relevant research is located and reviewed §But integration of the research is done statistically so that studies are contributing to the overall effect based on sample size §Often done with calculation of Cohen’s d that makes effect sizes out of reported statistics

Doing Meta-analysis §Locate references (like lit.review) §Select, operationalize, and code categories (“qualities”) (like content analysis) §Use a meta-analysis to calculate effect sizes to show overall effects of all of the research taken together §Use qualities to make comparisons among groups of studies (like levels of an IV)

Heavyweight and Self-esteem §Miller & Downey, 1999 §Due to societal values, people who are “heavyweight” may be stigmatized and experience lower self-esteem as a result §But stigmatized people often protect self- esteem by attributing negative interactions to prejudice §Previous reviews have not universally agreed

Heavyweight and SE Procedure §PsychLIT and other databases searched §Coded study qualities l Weight: perceived or actual l Sample sex: female, male, mixed sex §Restricted to what studies report (could not code for dieting history for example) §Calculated and compared effect sizes (91 effect sizes from 71 studies)

Results §Overall effect size: d = -.36 (negative d indicates relation b/w hvywgt and low SE) §Qualities comparisons 1Actual or perceived weight Actual weight: d = -.24 Self-perceived weight: d = Sample sex Female samples: d = -.48 Male samples: d = -.39 Mixed sex samples: d = -.17

Conclusion §Heavyweight is associated with lower SE (may not be able to self-protect due to perceived controllability) §Relationship depends on whether study used actual or self-perceived weight as a measure §Relationship is stronger for women than for men §Other conclusions l relationship stronger for college aged samples

Other Questions To Ask about Research §Internal validity §External validity §Is it meaningful? §Examples