Research Methods It is actually way more exciting than it sounds!!!!

Why do we have to learn this stuff? Psychology is first and foremost a science. Thus it is based in research. Before we delve into how to do research, you should be aware of at least two “hurdles” that tend to skew our thinking.

Figure 4.1 How Do You Know What to Believe? Blair-Broeker and Ernst: Thinking About Psychology, Second Edition Copyright © 2008 by Worth Publishers

The Need for Psychological Science  Hindsight Bias  We tend to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it  The “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon  Overconfidence  We tend to think we know more than we do  WREAT  WATER  ETRYN  ENTRY  GRABE  BARGE  OCHSA  ????? CHAOS

Types of Descriptive Research (aka, Non-Experimental) Naturalistic Observation The Survey The Case Study

Naturalistic Observation “Watching” subjects in their natural environment No manipulation of the environment – No interference from researcher – Attempt to see natural/true behavior Examples: – Anthropologist observing wild gorillas – Researcher observing fast food restaurant eating habits of men vs. women

Naturalistic Observation Advantages Observing “normal” behavior Disadvantages Cannot show cause and effect relationship Time consuming No control Difficulty in remaining entirely unobtrusive

Survey Method Questioning a large group of people about their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, etc. Consists of interviews or questionnaires Requires a representative sample Reflects all major characteristics of the population you wish to represent Importance of random sampling Examples: Survey recent retired citizens on their major concerns about life without work

Survey Method Advantages Quick and efficient Interview allows for more clarity and control Open-ended vs. Close-ended Disadvantages Low response rate Dishonesty Wording effects Difficult to gain in-depth info Interview can lead participant

Survey/Questionnaire Introductions Purpose of research Voluntary participation Confidentiality – Information kept in confidence (secret) Anonymity – Participation remains anonymous (unknown)

Example Survey Questions (What’s wrong with them?) In your opinion, how would you rate the speed and accuracy of your work? ___Excellent ___Very Good ___Good ___Fair ___Poor Most Americans prefer to purchase products manufactured in the United States. Do you prefer to purchase products manufactured in the United States? ___Yes ___No

Example Survey Questions (What’s wrong with them?) How much do you approve of the President’s oppressive immigration policy? ___Very Much ___Quite a bit ___Some ___Very Little ___Not at all We live far away from the community health clinic. ___ Strongly Agree ___ Agree ___ Neutral ___ Disagree ___ Strongly Disagree What is your current age? ___ years old ___ years old ___ years old

The Problem with Surveys (examples of the wording effect) “Ignorant” of what is being asked : (from the Louis Harris Poll taken at New York’s American Museum of Natural History) 77% Interested in plants/trees 39% botany 48% fossils 39% in paleontology

Case Studies Obtaining detailed information about an individual or group to develop general principles about behavior Example: – Following the lifespan development of one child from conception to adulthood Advantages: – Useful in studying rare disorders or circumstances – Can generate new questions/topics Disadvantages: – Requires a lot of time, effort, and attention to detail

Problems with Correlations Illusory Correlations When we believe there is a relationship, we tend to recall and notice instances that confirm our belief Examples: – Sugar = hyperactive children – Cold + wet = cold – Weather change = arthritis pain Related to Hindsight Bias Perceiving Order in Random Events Assuming that certain random outcomes are more likely than other random outcomes Examples: – Flipping coins – Hands of cards being dealt – Choosing lottery numbers

Types of Correlation Positive Correlation The variables go in the SAME direction – Both go up Negative Correlation The variables go in opposite directions – One value goes up while the other goes down Studying and grades hopefully have a positive correlation. Heroin use and grades probably have a negative correlation.

Positive Correlation As the value of one variable increases (or decreases) so does the value of the other variable. A perfect positive correlation is The closer the correlation is to +1.0, the stronger the relationship.

Negative Correlation As the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable decreases. A perfect negative correlation is The closer the correlation is to -1.0, the stronger the relationship.

How to Read a Correlation Coefficient

Correlation Coefficient A number that measures the strength of a relationship. Range is from -1 to +1 The relationship gets weaker the closer you get to zero. Which is a stronger correlation? HINT: remember “absolute value”?) -.13 or or or +.04

Figure 4.2 Positive and Negative Correlations Blair-Broeker and Ernst: Thinking About Psychology, Second Edition Copyright © 2008 by Worth Publishers

Correlation Practice IQ/academic success Self esteem/depression Stress/health Shoe size/ grade on next exam Education/income Price of gas/sales of SUV’s

Experimental Method Looking to prove causal relationships. Cause  Effect Laboratory v. Field Experiments Smoking causes health issues.

Research Vocabulary

Hypothesis Expresses a relationship between two variables. A variable is anything that can vary among participants in a study. Participating in class leads to better grades than not participating.

Independent Variable aka the “cause” Whatever is being manipulated in the experiment. Hopefully the independent variable brings about change. If there is a drug in an experiment, the drug is almost always the independent variable.

Dependent Variable the “effect” The dependent variable would be the effect of the drug. Whatever is being measured in the experiment. It is dependent on the independent variable.

Identifying Independent and Dependent Variables 1. Developmental psychologists want to know if exposing children to public television improves their reading skills. 2. Behavioral psychologists want to know whether reinforcing comments will make people work harder on an assembly line. 3. A clinical psychologist wants to know whether people who have psychotherapy are more or less likely to have problems in the future. 4. A social psychologist wants to know whether being polite or rude to people tends to make them more cooperative. 5. A personality psychologist explores whether extroverted people have more fun at parties.

Experimental Vocabulary Population: the group from which your participants were drawn from Experimental Group: Group exposed to IV Control Group: Group not exposed to IV Replication: to repeat an experiment, usually with different participants in different situations

Operational Definitions Explain what you mean in your hypothesis. How will the variables be measured in “real life” terms. How you operationalize the variables will tell us if the study is replicable. Let’s say your hypothesis is that chocolate causes violent behavior. What do you mean by chocolate? What do you mean by violent behavior?

1.The teacher wants to find a way to help make Billy act more friendly toward the other children. 2. A psychologist wants to know if his new form of psychotherapy will make people less depressed. 3. College athletes are not as smart as regular students. 4. Overall, senior girls are prettier than junior girls. 5. The school spirit is at an all-time low. How might we operationally define the following?

Sampling Identify the population you want to study. The sample must be representative of the population you want to study. GET A RANDOM SAMPLE. Stratified Sampling

Beware of Confounding Variables If I wanted to prove that smoking causes heart issues, what are some confounding variables? The object of an experiment is to prove that A causes B. A confounding variable is anything that could cause change in B, that is not A. Lifestyle and family history may also effect the heart.

Experimenter Bias Another confounding variable Not a “conscious” act Double-blind procedure can be used to minimize/eliminate it

Another Confounding Variable Placebo Effect – Participants’ expectations that the “treatment” will cause the hypothesized effect

Random Selection & Random Assignment Once you have a random sample, randomly assigning them into two groups helps control for confounding variables Experimental Group v. Control Group Group Matching

Blind procedure An experimental procedure where the research participants are ignorant (blind) to the expected outcome of the experiment Sometimes called single blind procedure

Double Blind Procedure A research procedure in which both the data collectors and the research participants do not know the expected outcome of the experiment. Both groups are ignorant (blind) to the experiment’s purpose or expected results

Statistics Recording the results from our studies. Must use a common language so we all know what we are talking about.

Descriptive Statistics Just describes sets of data. You might create a frequency distribution. Frequency polygons or histograms.

Analyze Results Use measures of central tendency  mean – aka, “the average”  median – aka, “the middle”  mode – aka, “the most common” Use measures of variation (range and standard deviation).

Central Tendency Measures $25,000-Pam $25,000- Kevin $25,000- Angela $100,000- Andy $100,000- Dwight $200,000- Jim $300,000- Michael Let’s look at the salaries of the employees at Dunder Mifflen Paper in Scranton: Median Salary - $100,000 Mean Salary - $110,000 Mode Salary - $25,000 Maybe not the best place to work?

Normal Distribution In a normal distribution, the mean, median and mode are all the same.

Normal Distribution go back

A Skewed Distribution Are the results positively or negatively skewed?

Distributions Outliers skew distributions. If group has one high score, the curve has a positive skew (contains more low scores) If a group has a low outlier, the curve has a negative skew (contains more high scores)

Measures of Variance Range: distance from highest to lowest scores. Standard Deviation: the average variance of scores from the mean The higher the variance or SD, the more spread out the distribution is. Do scientists want a big or small SD? Shaq and Kobe may both score 30 ppg (same mean). Their SDs are very different.

What does Standard Deviation tell us?

Inferential Statistics The purpose is to discover whether the finding can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was collected. P-value=.05 for statistical significance. 5% likely the results are due to chance.

APA (American Psychological Association) Ethical Guidelines for Research IRB - Internal Review Board For Humans and Animals

Animal Research Clear Purpose Needed Treat in a Humane Way Acquire Animals Legally Least Amount of Suffering Possible

Human Research Informed Consent Protect from Harm and Discomfort Confidentiality Must Debrief