METHODS OF OBSERVATION

SURVEY METHOD Gathering information by asking directly Series of questions on a particular subject ex. voting preferences, shopping, etc. Not always completely accurate Why?

POPULATIONS Group of people who the psychologist wishes to examine Target Population – the whole group that is to be studied ex. men., women, voters, students, etc Costly and difficult to examine every member of a population

SELECTING SAMPLES Scientifically – make it as close to the target population as possible Want to avoid bias (even if targeting a certain group) Random Sample – Chance selections, can be a good way to create a representation of a population Stratified Sample – Subgroups represented proportionally to the population, same percentage as population

GENERALIZING RESULTS Psychologist must look out for comparing results of one group to others Volunteer Bias – I ideas, beliefs, etc. that may motivate people to participate in a psychological experiment. Those who choose to participate in surveys are different then those who do not. Too much volunteer bias could slant results.

ETHICS IN PSYCHOLOGY

APA ETHICS Standards are set to prevent research or treatments that would be harmful to participants  Ex. Baby Albert Confidentiality – Doctor/Patient Privilege Informed Consent – people agree to participate in a psychological study only after being informed of the risks involved

DECEPTION Sometimes needed in Psychological Experiments to maintain the integrity of the study  EX. New Drug Test APA has set standards of Deception  When the benefits outweigh the harm  When the individual might have participated anyway  When an explanation is given after the study has been done.

ETHICS IN DATA Researchers need to be as objective as possible when performing experiments They need to work in order to keep bias out of their study and looking only at data that favors their hypothesis