1. Research Methods in Psychology

2.
Stop at 6:38

3. Why Must Psychology Use the Scientific Method?
Hindsight Bias
Overconfidence
Perceiving Order in Random Events
Hindsight Bias = the tendency to believe, after an outcome as been experienced, that we would have foreseen it (I-know-it-all-along)
Overconfidence – people tend to overestimate what they know.
Sometimes we perceive meaningful connections among random phenomena. This is called apophenia.

4. Abraham Lincoln John Kennedy Elected to Congress in 1846
Elected President in 1860
Elected President in 1960
The name “Lincoln” contains 7 letters.
The name “Kennedy” contains 7 letters.
Lincoln’s secretary, named Kennedy, warned him not to go to the theater, where he was shot.
Kennedy’s secretary, named Lincoln, warned him not to go to Dallas, where he was shot.
Was assassinated on a Friday.
Lincoln’s wife was sitting beside him when he was shot.
Kennedy’s wife was sitting beside him when he was shot.
John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939.
Was succeeded by a president named Johnson.
Was succeeded by a President named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
Booth fled from a theater to a warehouse.
Oswald fled from a warehouse to a theater.
Booth was killed before his trial.
Oswald was killed before his trial.

5. More on Bias…
Confirmation Bias: Seek out evidence to support our hypothesis and discount evidence that refutes it
Belief Perseverance: Tendency to stick to our beliefs, even when evidence contradicts them
We fall victim to something called confirmation bias, which is the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them. Confirmation bias leads to belief perseverance--the tendency to stick to our beliefs no matter what, even when evidence contradicts them.
Politics
Relationships
Self-Concept

6. Truths about Science Scientific laws must be testable.
Science is NOT proving that something is true.
Science is being able to falsify a theory.
All scientific statements have to be willing to be found wrong.
Scientific laws must be testable. Things that fall outside the testable realm are not scientific (e.g, existence of God).
Science is NOT proving that something is true. Things that have been proven true move into the “scientific fact” arena and are no longer subject to testing (e.g., the Earth is round, not flat).
Science is being able to falsify a theory (prove it wrong). Freud’s theory is unfalsifiable.
All scientific statements have to be willing to be found wrong or they are not scientific. Beware of “scientists” who do not want their theories or findings tested…that’s a red flag for pseudoscience.

7. Theories, Hypotheses, and Scientific Facts
Facts cannot be disputed.
All theories are subject to being disputed if new evidence counteracts it.
Theory—explains known findings and predicts future findings
Hypothesis—tentative prediction that’s tested
Hypothesis—tentative explanation or prediction about something. What we usually start with; what we test through research. Leads to theories.
Theory—a well-tested set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related to each other and predicts the occurrence of untested, unknown events. Can lead to more hypotheses. Ex: Big Bang Theory to explain how the universe was formed.
All theories are subject to being disputed if new evidence comes in that counteracts it.
Facts cannot be disputed. (Example: Germs cause illness.)

8. Science Is NOT a body of knowledge
Is an APPROACH to answering questions.
Uses scientific method to answer questions

10. Operationalization A “recipe” that allows replication
Testable definitions
Allows quantitative measurement
We need a “recipe” so that others can replicate (conduct the same experiment and achieve the same results) our experiments.
Operational definitions are definitions that you can test…a way to assign a number or value to a concept.
Good children get presents.

11. Operationalization Practice
Playing violent video games leads to aggressive behavior.
Students who study with music playing tend to get better grades
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” – do people like each other more or less when they have been apart.
Eating chocolate helps improve your memory.

12. Categories of Research Methods
Descriptive
Correlational
Experimental

13. Descriptive Methods Case studies Survey research
Naturalistic observation-no intervention
Observational Techniques
Lots of detail on single person or group
Case studies
Limited info on large number of people
Survey research
Observational Techniques
Naturalistic observation of subjects in their natural setting; no attempt to intervene
Potential Downfalls: people may alter their behavior if they think they are being watched.
Poor operationalization of variables could influence results.
Case studies—gathering detailed observations of a single individual or group over time (e.g., the case of Henry M., who lost his memory)--can’t generalize to the entire population
Survey research—gather limited information from a large number of people in an attempt to generalize to a larger population

14.
Start at 5:14

15. Surveys
Self-reported attitudes and behaviors via questionnaires and interviews
Problems:
Lack of Random sampling
Poor Survey design
Social desirability bias
Questionnaires (self-report) and interviews to collect information about attitudes and behavior of people
Problems:
Random sampling—getting a sample that is truly representative of the population you’re trying to study
In a random sample, each person in the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample (e.g., drawing names out of a hat…every name must go into the hat in order to have a chance of being selected).
If you don’t have a random sample, your results could lead to sampling bias, which occurs when your sample does not represent your population
Vaping at NDHS as example.
Survey design—asking leading or ambiguous questions
Social desirability bias—subjects answer questions in ways that aren’t necessarily true but are perceived as being socially desirable.

16. I feel welcomed by staff and other youth at the center 5 4 3 2 1
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about the childcare program. 5 indicates strongly agree and 1 indicates strongly disagree.
I feel welcomed by staff and other youth at the center
___________________________________________________________________
Community organizing is hard. Do leadership trainings help you feel prepared for community organizing?
Much more prepared Somewhat more prepared Slightly more prepared Not more prepared
First example is double-barreled – asks 2 questions in one.
Second example is biased.
Third example has a

17. A researcher wants to investigate a unique brain tumor in a twelve-year-old child to see how the tumor affects the child’s behavior. The researcher will conduct a battery of cognitive and physical tests with the child over the course of six months to account for potential changes in the tumor’s size and impact. Which of the following would be the best research method to study this situation?
Survey
Naturalistic observation
Individual case study
Experimental design
Group case study

18. A graduate student wants to conduct a study to investigate people’s opinions about the death penalty. Which of the following techniques would work best for his proposed study?
Individual case study
Experiment
Group case study
Survey
Naturalistic observation

19. Which of the following is MOST important when conducting survey research?
Choosing a representative sample
Choosing a large sample
Choosing a biased sample
Choosing a sample that includes every member of the population
Choosing a sample who answers will likely support your hypothesis