1. Research in Psychology

2. Agenda 2. Lecture: Research Methods (20)
1. Bell Ringer: Which perspective would be utilized to study memory loss after a fall? Which perspective would examine religious beliefs and how they affect psychological thought? (10)
2. Lecture: Research Methods (20)
3. Handout 1-11 and Discussion. (15)
4. Introspection Exercise(10)
5. Reading Quiz 1: Chapter 1 (10)

3. Objective
By the end of this lesson you will be able to identify the research methods of Psychology.
You will be able to define research terms.

4. Why do we need research?

6. Intuition and Critical Thinking
Human Intuition is highly limited.
Critically thinking rarely comes easily to us!
Critical Thinking: thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions
examines assumptions
discerns hidden values
evaluates evidence
An awareness to our own vulnerability

7. Hindsight bias – “I knew it all along” phenomenon where after learning an outcome, one believes s/he could have predicted that very outcome
Overconfidence – we think we know more than we actually know
This is why we need psychological science.

8. Natural Observation - Systematic study of behavior in a natural setting
Description:
Careful observation of humans or animals in real-life situations
Strength:
provides descriptions of behavior
Weakness:
DOES NOT explain how or why the behavior occurs – only describes it

9. Example: Jane Goodall’s research was naturalistic observation

10. Case Studies
Description: detailed information gathered over time on a specific individual
Strength: provides descriptive data over a period of time and analyzes new phenomena
Weakness: emotional attachment or personal prejudice to subject can effect objectivity

11. Example:
Studying patients with gunshot wounds to the head over a period of years to see how injuries changed their behavior.

12. Survey Description: a technique for gathering the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of people

13. Strengths:
1.  easy administration, scoring, and statistical analysis.
Weaknesses:
1.  people lie or are opinionated
2.  groups should be representative or data is skewed
3. wording of question can sway answers
Example:
Survey students about their opinions on homework

14. Sampling when doing studies:
Representative samples are necessary because you can’t survey everyone in a given population.
Thus you create a random sample that fairly represents a population. (Every person in a group has an equal chance to participate)

15. Ex. You want to survey the school about attitudes on HW
Ex. You want to survey the school about attitudes on HW. By using a students list where everyone is numbered, you pick as many as possible to participate.
The bigger the sample the better – as long as it is representative.

16. M&M Activity
No, you may not eat your candy. This is an experiment.

17. All the packages together make up the _________ from which we are getting the ___________________, which is each individual package.
Each student who selected a pack of M&M’s have selected a _______________.
Separate the colors on the desk.
population
representative sample
random sample

18. You should have according the the Mars company,
30% brown
20% red
20% yellow
10% green
10% orange
with a total of 24 M&M’s in a pack.

19. Correlational Method
Description: Used to look at relationships between two variables.
Strengths: The stronger the correlation the more successfully one variable can be predicted from the other
Weaknesses: Does not est. cause and effect. Often a 3rd (an intervening variable) involved
Intervening variable – there is a correlation between hospitalization and death. Yes, some people who go to the hospital die, but there could be something else causing the death like illness, not the hospital itself. Illness would be an example of the intervening variable.

20. Example
There is a positive correlation showing that people who go to college will have higher incomes.
an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other

21. Example 2
If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other then this is known as a negative correlation
There is a negative correlation showing that the more education a person has the LESS likely the are to be racist

22. Correlation and Causation

23. Scatterplot
A graph comprised of points that are generated by values of two variables.
The slope of the points depict the direction, while the amount of scatter depicts the strength of the relationship.
Correlational coefficient: a statistical measure of the degree of relatedness or association between two sets of data that ranges from -1 to 1.

24. Perfect positive correlation
Perfect negative correlation
No relationship

25. What is the relationship between height and temperament shown in the scatterplot below?
It shows a moderate positive correlation

26. Experimental Method
Description: researcher manipulates a variable under controlled conditions and observes a response
Strengths: Can establish cause and effect relationships. Experiments should be able to be replicated in order to be found valid and reliable.
Weakness: Because it is done under controlled conditions hard to apply to real world situation

28. Other types of studies
Longitudinal study – study one person or event over a long period of time
Ex-post facto study – study something after it happened naturally – look at effect – seek cause

29. Statistics Measures of central tendency – typical scores
Mean – average of scores
Median: middle score in a rank distribution
Mode: most frequent score
Mode – most frequently occurring score in a distribution
Mean – the arithmetic average of scores in a distribution obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.
Median – middle score in a rank-ordered distribution 29

30. Statistical procedures analyze and interpret data allowing us to see what the unaided eye misses.
Researchers are looking for statistical significance

31. Measures of Variation
Range – difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
Standard deviation – a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean (BELL CURVE)

32. A skewed distribution

33. Closure

34. Directions: For each of the following hypotheses, explain which research method would be best and why that method is best.
If a cancer patient receives chemotherapy, then they will live longer than a cancer patient who does not.
Do people think coffee helps performance at work? 
How does playing a high school sport effect amount of friends you have?
If there are no cars around, then most people do not completely stop at a stop sign

35. If students study more, then they will do better on tests.
What percentage of students actually use the bathroom when they ask to go to the bathroom?
Students behave differently around teachers.
How does laser eye surgery effect vision later in life?