1. Research, Methodology, and Ethics
UNIT 2
Research, Methodology, and Ethics

2. Why do we research? People lie!
Why? Because just asking people how they feel or why they acted the way they did can be misleading
People don’t know how they feel
People don’t know why they behave certain ways
People lie!

3. What is the goal of psychology?
The goal of psychology is to develop explanations for behavior and mental processes…explain why we do what we do
A scientific theory is a system of interrelated ideas that is used to explain a set of observations
“Theory” in everyday language is different than in science

4. A good theory…
Effectively organizes a range of self- reports and observations
Leads to a clear hypothesis (prediction)
Stimulates further research or can be replicated
Simplifies and summarizes facts
Produces testable predictions called hypotheses

6. Tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables
Develop a Hypothesis
A hypothesis must undergo rigorous tests before it will be accepted as a legitimate theory
Perform a Controlled Test
Gather data through observation of independent variables
Gather Objective Data
Consider if the data supports or disproves the hypothesis
Analyze the Results
Allow results to withstand the criticisms of the scientific community
Publish the Results and Replicate
Scientific
Method

7. Let’s Do This

8. Popcorn Hypothesis… Develop a Hypothesis – Perform a Controlled test –
If I let you eat snacks in class during the review, then you will score higher on the unit test.
Perform a Controlled test –
Half the class eats popcorn during the review. Half the class does not. All students take the test.
Gather Objective Data –
What were the scores? Separate them into two categories. (snacks and no snacks)
Analyze the Results
How did the snackers do versus the non snackers?
Publish the Results and Replicate
Write results on board in graphs and charts explaining findings

9. Hypothesis say what Hypothesis is usually an “if” “then” statement
All hypotheses must be testable and falsifiable, or shown to be either supported or incorrect
Falsifiability is the possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or experiment. That something is "falsifiable" does not mean it is false; rather, that if it is false, then this can be shown by observation or experiment
Don’t forget your operational definitions !!!!!!!!

10. Variables, they’re kind of a big deal
Independent Variable - A stimulus condition that the experimenter changes independently of all other carefully controlled conditions in the experiment
Dependent Variable - The measured outcome of a study, or the response of the subjects in the study
Stimulus
Independent
(IV)
Result
Dependent
(DV)

11. The Guinea Pigs Confounding Variable
Control Group – Group that is NOT exposed to the independent variable
Experimental Group – Group that IS exposed to the independent variable
Confounding Variable
Variables that have an unwanted influence on the outcome of an experiment.

12. How to keep your experiment on the up and up
Representative Sample:
A sample obtained in such a way that it reflects the distribution of important variables in the larger population in which the researcher are interested-variables such as age, sex, ethnicity, education….

13. How to keep your experiment on the up and up
Random Assignment:
Like selection for the experiment, placement into groups should be done randomly, meaning that each participant has an equal likelihood to be in either the control or the experiment group

14. How to keep your experiment on the up and up
Double Blind Experiment:
An experiment where both the subject and the person administering the experiment do not know the nature of the independent variable being administered

15. Charts and Graphs and Stats, oh my……
Now that you have collected your data what should you do with it?
How should I organize my data?
Histographs, pie charts, line charts, scatterplots, etc…..
What does my data tell me?
Does my data support or disprove my hypothesis?

16. another lecture for another day
Statistics
another lecture for another day

17. And now for something completely different….

18. Types of Research

20. What went wrong?? Overconfidence Bias:
Tendency to think we know more than we do

21. Ex-Post Facto Research
Research in which we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition
Ex: Cancer research. diseases
Sometimes we are unable to do experiments for ethical or practical reasons (we will spend extended time on ethics in research next week)

22. Case Study
Observational techniques that study one person or group in depth with the hope of revealing universal principles
Case studies often suggest further directions for studies, but can be misleading if the person being studied is atypical

23. Naturalistic Observation
Method where subjects are observed in their natural environment
Like all descriptive studies, naturalistic observations do not explain behavior, they describe behavior
Why would it be important for subjects to not know they are being observed?

24. Longitudinal Study
One group or subject is studied for an extended period of time to observe changes in the long term
Positive Aspect:
Same subjects for the entire study
Negative Aspects:
Time and expense

25. Cross Sectional and Cohort-Sequential Studies
look at a cross section of the population and studies them at one point in time
EX: a lot of groups right now
Cohort-Sequential
look at a cross section of population and then studies them over a short period of time
EX: a lot of groups over time

26. Correlation Study
A correlation study is one where researchers try to show the relationship (or correlation) between two variables
Correlation studies are largely based in statistics
It is important to remember that correlation does not necessarily mean causation

27. Surveys
Research technique using self reported attitudes or behaviors of a specific group
What are some dangers of using a survey?

29. Institutional
Review
Board

41. Good News: This is NOT a math class Bad News: We still need to cover statistical analysis

42. Types of Statistics Descriptive Statistics Inferential Statistics
Use measures of central tendency
Mean, median, and mode
Use measures of variation
Range and standard deviation
Inferential Statistics
Estimating what is happening in a sample population
If it worked for this population, we can estimate that it will work for the rest for the population

43. Vocabulary….a necessary evil!

44. Words to know Mean – average of the numbers
Median – middle number of a sequence
Mode – number that occurs most often
Range – difference between highest and lowest values
Outliers – a point that is far away from any other point in the data
Standard Deviation – difference between each point and the mean

45. (add the numbers and divide by the total data points)
Mean
average of the numbers
(add the numbers and divide by the total data points)
Let’s Practice
Find the mean
2,3,3,5,7,9
1,4,5,5,6,8,10
1,2,3,4,6,9

46. middle number of the sequence
Median
middle number of the sequence
(put the points in numerical order and determine which is the middle number)
Let’s Practice
Find the median
1,2,8,5,9
3,6,6,7,8,1
5,5,8,3,9,10,3

47. Mode number that occurs most often Let’s Practice Find the mode
(determine which number occurs most often)
Let’s Practice
Find the mode
2,5,4,7,6,8,8
4,5,7,7,2,9,5
1,2,3,4,5

48. Range difference between highest and lowest values Let’s Practice
(arrange the numbers in numerical order)
Let’s Practice
Find the range
1,5,9,24,3,7
6,0,1,3,8,4
74,58,3,9,2

49. Outlier point that is far from all other points in data Let’s Practice
(arrange in numerical order and determine which is outside)
Let’s Practice
Find the outlier
0,1,3,1,30
45,47,42,98
12,17,9,6,55

50. Standard Deviation difference between each point and the mean
(use intense formula to find the SD of the data!)
Let’s Practice
Find the standard deviation
1,2,3,3,4
0,3,6,4,2
1,5,2,2,4

51. Let the fun begin……..